6N Squad

[Mellsblue]

For the sake of repetition, Ford has more than enough evidence showing he can run an attack/passing/positive/
possession based game plan. He’s just playing to instruction at the moment. Moving to a more attack/passing/positive/
possession based gameplan and dropping Ford would be chucking the baby out with the bath water.
Watson is a Lion and is/is very near world class. If he’s fit and on form he’d always be in the team if I were picking.

[FKAS]

IMO, debate about the 11, 13, 14 and 15 shirts remains very much a fringe subject as long as Youngs, Ford and Farrell are at 9, 10 and 12. That trio will always supply slow ball and too much kicked ball for the others to have fair game contributions.

Ford is more than capable of playing attacking rugby. Youngs to though it's been some time since we've seen much of it. You need someone to actually pass to. Expecting Ford to create space for the backs to attack with no runners is vastly overoptimistic. It'll be the same if we select either of the flakey Wasps options or Simmonds or Smith. Dan Carter couldn't have got our Autumn backline moving, there was no balance.

It would cert be good to see some new options examined during the summer if the Lions Tour goes ahead though. There's a distinct lack of competition. At some point there needs to be a challenger for Youngs, ideally Randall.

[Raggs]

Atkinson is already considered flaky..... poor kid has barely got started.

[Mikey Brown]

He’s old news now. Get over it.

[Peej]

Atkinson has actually really shown himself to be pretty physical. Umaga on the other hand, less so.

[Scrumhead]

I honestly think odogwu and Randall are only there to stop Italy and wales capping them

I totally disagree. If we wanted to act like that, there’s plenty of players we could have taken that route with.

For example, we could easily have capped Williams, Tompkins, Rowlands, Redpath in recent times and a good number before that. Thankfully it’s not something we’re in the habit of doing.

It’s fairly rare for Eddie to pick a player and not use them at There are some bad examples like Dunn who has barely been used, but I’d see Randall and Odogwu as similar picks to Furbank. He’s seen something he likes and wants to get a closer look. I think both will see some game time.

[Digby]

I agree we don't look to be negative in capping players simply to limit others, but Eddie has picked a number of players and than forgotten about them in no time. Maybe not Ben Moon who was called up 'cause he was available when some others weren't is my recollection, but Armand, Harrison, Mercer in the back row, Taylor and Hill in the front row, and in the backs Solomona, Lozowski and Francis have all come and gone. Which isn't to say that's unusual, just it's not rare. (Have we picked Maunder to add into that list?)

[Epaminondas Pules]

Atkinson is already considered flaky..... poor kid has barely got started.

Really not sure how he gets that rep after what a handful of games where he's grown with every outing. C'est la vie.

[TheNomad]

Atkinson is already considered flaky..... poor kid has barely got started.

Who said that? I'm amazed, I think he looks super talented

[Raggs]

Atkinson is already considered flaky..... poor kid has barely got started.

Who said that? I'm amazed, I think he looks super talented

FKAS, just a little further up the page. I mean, I already get the feeling that Wasps players get a short shrift from him, as a tigers supporter it's understandable, but that one was a surprise for me too .

[Digby]

I was more taken with the idea Dan Carter couldn't have got that backline moving, which I midge slightly edge on disagreeing with. Though if the point is it'd take the best decision maker in rugby history to make a side function you might want to look at the tactics

[Beasties]

Atkinson has actually really shown himself to be pretty physical. Umaga on the other hand, less so.

Atkinson's a tough little fecker from what I've seen so far, as well as talented.

[Scrumhead]

I agree we don't look to be negative in capping players simply to limit others, but Eddie has picked a number of players and than forgotten about them in no time. Maybe not Ben Moon who was called up 'cause he was available when some others weren't is my recollection, but Armand, Harrison, Mercer in the back row, Taylor and Hill in the front row, and in the backs Solomona, Lozowski and Francis have all come and gone. Which isn't to say that's unusual, just it's not rare. (Have we picked Maunder to add into that list?)

I think that’s part and parcel of being an international Rugby selector.

Armand was harshly treated at the time, but his subsequent drop off probably proves Eddie right.

Mercer, Lozowski and Care were the big causalities after a very poor first half against Japan. Personally I feel like we massively underestimated Japan and the RWC proved what a good side they’ve actually become. I’d have forgiven them. Mercer in particular is a bit of a head scratcher given his form and the fact that we’ve often had issues at 8.

Solomona and Harrison were picked off the back of purple patches of form. They got a chance and presumably didn’t show enough to stay in the picture. I don’t think either are controversial omissions. Same for Paul Hill - he’s not been in the form to be in serious contention for a long time now.

Francis is often in the squad even if he’s lucky to be included.

[Raggs]

Launch and Marler out (Launch injury, Marler personal reasons). Ewels and Tom West are called up.

[Puja]

Launch and Marler out (Launch injury, Marler personal reasons). Ewels and Tom West are called up.

Tom West?! Huh. I suppose he has been in decent enough form, but it's not the first name that came to mind.

I was actually surprised that Marler was in in the first place. With young children and a history of struggling with his mental health on prolonged trips away, going into an 8 week COVID bubble was a lot to ask. Like anyone with a niggling injury, it's better that he doesn't stress it for immediate gain and look to seeing himself fully healthy in the long run.

Puja

[Raggs]

Launch and Marler out (Launch injury, Marler personal reasons). Ewels and Tom West are called up.

Tom West?! Huh. I suppose he has been in decent enough form, but it's not the first name that came to mind.

I was actually surprised that Marler was in in the first place. With young children and a history of struggling with his mental health on prolonged trips away, going into an 8 week COVID bubble was a lot to ask. Like anyone with a niggling injury, it's better that he doesn't stress it for immediate gain and look to seeing himself fully healthy in the long run.

Puja

He's consistently made a lot of decent tightheads look average, brilliant scrummager. The rest of his game isn't there yet (not a bad pick and go game), but he could easily be a Marler mk2, solid scrummager who won't let you down, and makes a decent 3rd choice backup to Mako/Genge normal pairing.

[Mikey Brown]

Shame to see Launch miss out after such an enjoyable revival for him as an England starter.

I was surprised to see Marler there in the first place too.

[fivepointer]

Thought it might be a bit of an ask for Marler to stay in a bubble for 8 weeks. Anyone with a young family is going to find that very hard.

West has been playing well enough but i would have gone for Val Rapava-Ruskin.

[JellyHead]

England's game is based around a solid set piece and tennis. If West is as good in the scrum as suggested above it makes sense given the time scale and the complementary abilities of the rest of the pack.

Haven't seen enough of either player to form my own opinion of their abilities.

[twitchy]

It's been a constant deluge of good news this week hasn't it.

[Scrumhead]

Launch and Marler out (Launch injury, Marler personal reasons). Ewels and Tom West are called up.

Tom West?! Huh. I suppose he has been in decent enough form, but it's not the first name that came to mind.

I was actually surprised that Marler was in in the first place. With young children and a history of struggling with his mental health on prolonged trips away, going into an 8 week COVID bubble was a lot to ask. Like anyone with a niggling injury, it's better that he doesn't stress it for immediate gain and look to seeing himself fully healthy in the long run.

Puja

He's consistently made a lot of decent tightheads look average, brilliant scrummager. The rest of his game isn't there yet (not a bad pick and go game), but he could easily be a Marler mk2, solid scrummager who won't let you down, and makes a decent 3rd choice backup to Mako/Genge normal pairing.

Yeah. I’d agree with that. West’s carrying (at least at Premiership level) is pretty good too.

I can understand why Rapava-Ruskin would be there or thereabouts, but I’m not disappointed with West getting the call.

I’m pretty disappointed with Launch being out. He had a great ANC.

[Raggs]

Tom West?! Huh. I suppose he has been in decent enough form, but it's not the first name that came to mind.

I was actually surprised that Marler was in in the first place. With young children and a history of struggling with his mental health on prolonged trips away, going into an 8 week COVID bubble was a lot to ask. Like anyone with a niggling injury, it's better that he doesn't stress it for immediate gain and look to seeing himself fully healthy in the long run.

Puja

He's consistently made a lot of decent tightheads look average, brilliant scrummager. The rest of his game isn't there yet (not a bad pick and go game), but he could easily be a Marler mk2, solid scrummager who won't let you down, and makes a decent 3rd choice backup to Mako/Genge normal pairing.

Yeah. I’d agree with that. West’s carrying (at least at Premiership level) is pretty good too.

He's OK, I'd certainly not be considering him as a proper carrying option for international though. His workrate is good, and I doubt he hurt his chances when he chased Priestland all the way to the tryline on Baths first score, it's that sort of pig headed effort to offset a potential 2 points that Eddie will like.

[Scrumhead]

It's been a constant deluge of good news this week hasn't it.

Same old sh*t for a while now ... the story of the 20s ...

[FKAS]

Tom West?! Huh. I suppose he has been in decent enough form, but it's not the first name that came to mind.

I was actually surprised that Marler was in in the first place. With young children and a history of struggling with his mental health on prolonged trips away, going into an 8 week COVID bubble was a lot to ask. Like anyone with a niggling injury, it's better that he doesn't stress it for immediate gain and look to seeing himself fully healthy in the long run.

Puja

He's consistently made a lot of decent tightheads look average, brilliant scrummager. The rest of his game isn't there yet (not a bad pick and go game), but he could easily be a Marler mk2, solid scrummager who won't let you down, and makes a decent 3rd choice backup to Mako/Genge normal pairing.

Yeah. I’d agree with that. West’s carrying (at least at Premiership level) is pretty good too.

I can understand why Rapava-Ruskin would be there or thereabouts, but I’m not disappointed with West getting the call.

I’m pretty disappointed with Launch being out. He had a great ANC.

At 24 I suspect Eddie sees West as a potential project. Get him into camp and get the coaches pushing his development. Mako and Marler both into their 30s just gives an option for the future. Rapava-Ruskin at 28, good player but not the same development possibilities given his age. Genge and Obano will almost certainly start and bench. Looking forward to seeing Obano get a go at international level.

[stevedog1980]

Launch and Marler out (Launch injury, Marler personal reasons). Ewels and Tom West are called up.

I was going to ask about Launchbury, I rate him really highly but don't keep up to date with current events in English rugby. When I saw the squad posted on the SMB I was wondering why he wasn't there and popped in to see what the EMB thought of his omission. If fit, I assume most of you would have wanted to see him start?