RugbyRebels

https://www.englandrugby.com/news/artic ... week-squad

Generally pretty good/as expected but Trevor Davison is a real WTF inclusion ...

I assume it’s only for training

Presumably would have been Tom West but for injury and I’d imagine Rodd and/or Hepburn come in after the play offs.

Training squad breakdown:

Props

E. Genge
B. Obano
T. Davison

J. Heyes
P. Hill

Hookers

J. Singleton
J. Blamire

Locks

C. Ewels
C. Munga
S. Robinson
H. Wells

Flankers

S. Underhill
L. Ludlam
T. Hill
G. Martin
L. Ludlow
M. Reid

Number 8

C. Chick
T. Willis

Scrum Half

D. Robson
B. Spencer
A. Mitchell

Fly Half

J. Umaga

Centre

O. Lawrence
F. Dingwall
D. Kelly
M. Ojomoh

Wing

J. Cokanasiga
J. Bassett
O. Hassell-Collins
A. Radwan

Fullback

T. de Glanville
F. Steward
T. Parton

You missed Ted Hill off

So I did ... updated

Squad to be refined 20th June and again post Prem Final with semi losers and then finalists.

Some weird names in there. But no-one has really missed out. No Loader is understandable. There's no Thorley, is he injured? No Isiekwe, showing he's not in thoughts, even without Itoje, Lawes, Launch and Kruis.

Ludlow and Ludlam seems a bit much to me, I'm not a huge fan of either, though I see what they bring. But who has missed out?

Front row - Blamire, Singleton, Genge, Davison, Obano, Hill and Heyes. No Vall R-R but Davison gets a call up? No Tom Dunn and isn't McGuigan the best hooker at Newcastle?
Locks - Ewels, Robinson, Wells, Martin and Munga. In truth we are a bit limited here by Lions, fitness and Ribbans getting banned. Munga is an interesting choice. Lad has lots of potential. Nice to see Robinson get a call. Very good, under rated player to my mind.
Back row - Reid, Ludlow, Ludlam, Willis, Underhill, Chick, and Hill. Think thats fair enough at this stage. Very pleased to see Reid in there and i've liked the look of Chick since he came back from injury.
SH - Mitchell, Robson and Spencer. Surprised Spencer has got a call as Jones seemed to have made his mind up about him. JvP set for the U20's.
FH - Umaga. Doubtless Smith and possibly Simmonds to be added to the squad.
Centre - Dingwall, Kelly, Ojomoh and Lawrence. Good calls. Marchant and POC may be added but this is a good young group to start with.
Back 3 - Hassell-Collins, Radwan, Bassett, Cokanasiga, Parton, Steward and DeGlanville. Loader and Sleightholme a bit unlucky. Has Big Joe done much to warrant selection? Imagine Freeman will be with the U20's.
Inevitably some close calls, some unlucky exclusions and a few good, bold selections.
Think we can safely say that Ford, Youngs and May can take a break this summer.

fivepointer wrote:Front row - Blamire, Singleton, Genge, Davison, Obano, Hill and Heyes. No Vall R-R but Davison gets a call up? No Tom Dunn and isn't McGuigan the best hooker at Newcastle?
Locks - Ewels, Robinson, Wells, Martin and Munga. In truth we are a bit limited here by Lions, fitness and Ribbans getting banned. Munga is an interesting choice. Lad has lots of potential. Nice to see Robinson get a call. Very good, under rated player to my mind.
Back row - Reid, Ludlow, Ludlam, Willis, Underhill, Chick, and Hill. Think thats fair enough at this stage. Very pleased to see Reid in there and i've liked the look of Chick since he came back from injury.
SH - Mitchell, Robson and Spencer. Surprised Spencer has got a call as Jones seemed to have made his mind up about him. JvP set for the U20's.
FH - Umaga. Doubtless Smith and possibly Simmonds to be added to the squad.
Centre - Dingwall, Kelly, Ojomoh and Lawrence. Good calls. Marchant and POC may be added but this is a good young group to start with.
Back 3 - Hassell-Collins, Radwan, Bassett, Cokanasiga, Parton, Steward and DeGlanville. Loader and Sleightholme a bit unlucky. Has Big Joe done much to warrant selection? Imagine Freeman will be with the U20's.
Inevitably some close calls, some unlucky exclusions and a few good, bold selections.
Think we can safely say that Ford, Youngs and May can take a break this summer.

Agreed. Harsh on Dunn, but then Eddie always has been. Surprised Will Stuart and Thorley are not involved?

Sleightholme failed an HIA at the weekend so that might be why he’s not included.

I’d expect the following to be in contention from the play off sides:

Bristol: Earl, Malins, O’Conor, Randall

Exeter: Devoto, Hepburn, O’Flaherty, J. Simmonds

Harlequins: Marchant, Northmore, Smith

Sale: Beaumont, B. Curry, Quirke

Probably missing people but those are my immediate thoughts ..

Stom wrote:Some weird names in there. But no-one has really missed out. No Loader is understandable. There's no Thorley, is he injured? No Isiekwe, showing he's not in thoughts, even without Itoje, Lawes, Launch and Kruis.

Ludlow and Ludlam seems a bit much to me, I'm not a huge fan of either, though I see what they bring. But who has missed out?

Pretty sure Isiekwe is injured. He’s missed a good few games for Saints now.

Agree on Loader.

A bit harsh on McGuigan but Blamire looks like he has a lot of potential.

Scrumhead wrote:

fivepointer wrote:Front row - Blamire, Singleton, Genge, Davison, Obano, Hill and Heyes. No Vall R-R but Davison gets a call up? No Tom Dunn and isn't McGuigan the best hooker at Newcastle?
Locks - Ewels, Robinson, Wells, Martin and Munga. In truth we are a bit limited here by Lions, fitness and Ribbans getting banned. Munga is an interesting choice. Lad has lots of potential. Nice to see Robinson get a call. Very good, under rated player to my mind.
Back row - Reid, Ludlow, Ludlam, Willis, Underhill, Chick, and Hill. Think thats fair enough at this stage. Very pleased to see Reid in there and i've liked the look of Chick since he came back from injury.
SH - Mitchell, Robson and Spencer. Surprised Spencer has got a call as Jones seemed to have made his mind up about him. JvP set for the U20's.
FH - Umaga. Doubtless Smith and possibly Simmonds to be added to the squad.
Centre - Dingwall, Kelly, Ojomoh and Lawrence. Good calls. Marchant and POC may be added but this is a good young group to start with.
Back 3 - Hassell-Collins, Radwan, Bassett, Cokanasiga, Parton, Steward and DeGlanville. Loader and Sleightholme a bit unlucky. Has Big Joe done much to warrant selection? Imagine Freeman will be with the U20's.
Inevitably some close calls, some unlucky exclusions and a few good, bold selections.
Think we can safely say that Ford, Youngs and May can take a break this summer.

Agreed. Harsh on Dunn, but then Eddie always has been. Surprised Will Stuart and Thorley are not involved?

Sleightholme failed an HIA at the weekend so that might be why he’s not included.

I’d expect the following to be in contention from the play off sides:

Bristol: Earl, Malins, O’Conor, Randall

Exeter: Devoto, Hepburn, O’Flaherty, J. Simmonds

Harlequins: Marchant, Northmore, Smith

Sale: Beaumont, B. Curry, Quirke

Probably missing people but those are my immediate thoughts ..

Dombrandt, too, surely...

Think Loader is injured.

So many names missing due to jamboree, summer break and club commitments it doesn't really matter, which looking at the list of players is just as well

Stom wrote:

Scrumhead wrote:

fivepointer wrote:Front row - Blamire, Singleton, Genge, Davison, Obano, Hill and Heyes. No Vall R-R but Davison gets a call up? No Tom Dunn and isn't McGuigan the best hooker at Newcastle?
Locks - Ewels, Robinson, Wells, Martin and Munga. In truth we are a bit limited here by Lions, fitness and Ribbans getting banned. Munga is an interesting choice. Lad has lots of potential. Nice to see Robinson get a call. Very good, under rated player to my mind.
Back row - Reid, Ludlow, Ludlam, Willis, Underhill, Chick, and Hill. Think thats fair enough at this stage. Very pleased to see Reid in there and i've liked the look of Chick since he came back from injury.
SH - Mitchell, Robson and Spencer. Surprised Spencer has got a call as Jones seemed to have made his mind up about him. JvP set for the U20's.
FH - Umaga. Doubtless Smith and possibly Simmonds to be added to the squad.
Centre - Dingwall, Kelly, Ojomoh and Lawrence. Good calls. Marchant and POC may be added but this is a good young group to start with.
Back 3 - Hassell-Collins, Radwan, Bassett, Cokanasiga, Parton, Steward and DeGlanville. Loader and Sleightholme a bit unlucky. Has Big Joe done much to warrant selection? Imagine Freeman will be with the U20's.
Inevitably some close calls, some unlucky exclusions and a few good, bold selections.
Think we can safely say that Ford, Youngs and May can take a break this summer.

Agreed. Harsh on Dunn, but then Eddie always has been. Surprised Will Stuart and Thorley are not involved?

Sleightholme failed an HIA at the weekend so that might be why he’s not included.

I’d expect the following to be in contention from the play off sides:

Bristol: Earl, Malins, O’Conor, Randall

Exeter: Devoto, Hepburn, O’Flaherty, J. Simmonds

Harlequins: Marchant, Northmore, Smith

Sale: Beaumont, B. Curry, Quirke

Probably missing people but those are my immediate thoughts ..

Dombrandt, too, surely...

Yes ... I’m an idiot

Digby wrote:So many names missing due to jamboree, summer break and club commitments it doesn't really matter, which looking at the list of players is just as well

Positive as ever I see

Scrumhead wrote:

Digby wrote:So many names missing due to jamboree, summer break and club commitments it doesn't really matter, which looking at the list of players is just as well

Positive as ever I see

To be honest...I'm not sure I see many of those players challenging the England squad for any real games. Not any time soon, just any time.

Obano, Heyes, the hookers, Munga, Robinson, Hill, Martin, Willis, Mitchell, Umaga, Lawrence, Dingwall, Ojomoh, Coka, TdG, Steward and Parton are all potential England players, imo, but the others...not so much.

Disappointed that we've gone for Robson and Spencer rather than leaping straight to JVP (although at least there's no Heinz), but otherwise a generally decent squad. I'd've had Loader ahead of Bassett/Radwan and I'd've liked him to take a look at PCokanasiga as well (although don't know which of the centres I'd suggest dropping for him).

Overall, I think that's a good training squad and I'm happy for so many bright young things to be getting a look at the higher level and the benefit of the experience of Jones/Mitchell on their development.

Puja

Stom wrote:

Scrumhead wrote:

Digby wrote:So many names missing due to jamboree, summer break and club commitments it doesn't really matter, which looking at the list of players is just as well

Positive as ever I see

To be honest...I'm not sure I see many of those players challenging the England squad for any real games. Not any time soon, just any time.

Obano, Heyes, the hookers, Munga, Robinson, Hill, Martin, Willis, Mitchell, Umaga, Lawrence, Dingwall, Ojomoh, Coka, TdG, Steward and Parton are all potential England players, imo, but the others...not so much.

Some will be released after next week, some will play the A game and may never appear again, some will make it through to the senior squad and some will win 20+ caps.
There's enough good players and players with potential to make these games worthwhile and interesting.

Incidentally good to see the games are going out live on Channel 4.

fivepointer wrote:

Stom wrote:

Scrumhead wrote:
Positive as ever I see

To be honest...I'm not sure I see many of those players challenging the England squad for any real games. Not any time soon, just any time.

Obano, Heyes, the hookers, Munga, Robinson, Hill, Martin, Willis, Mitchell, Umaga, Lawrence, Dingwall, Ojomoh, Coka, TdG, Steward and Parton are all potential England players, imo, but the others...not so much.

Some will be released after next week, some will play the A game and may never appear again, some will make it through to the senior squad and some will win 20+ caps.
There's enough good players and players with potential to make these games worthwhile and interesting.

Incidentally good to see the games are going out live on Channel 4.

That is *excellent* news! Good work RFU! I was resigning myself to having to get Sky again for a month. Is that the A game as well?

Puja

Scrumhead wrote:Agreed. Harsh on Dunn, but then Eddie always has been.

Is it? given that he's still banned. IIRC he'd have been play to play in the A game IF Bath made the SF to count against his ban. Which we haven't.
We have though been given a Covid walk-over since then, which may or may not extend his ban by an extra week.

Of course, if I'm remembering wrongly, and he is available - then it's harsh, especially given the quality of who IS there as hooker

Stom wrote:

Scrumhead wrote:

Digby wrote:So many names missing due to jamboree, summer break and club commitments it doesn't really matter, which looking at the list of players is just as well

Positive as ever I see

To be honest...I'm not sure I see many of those players challenging the England squad for any real games. Not any time soon, just any time.

Obano, Heyes, the hookers, Munga, Robinson, Hill, Martin, Willis, Mitchell, Umaga, Lawrence, Dingwall, Ojomoh, Coka, TdG, Steward and Parton are all potential England players, imo, but the others...not so much.

I’m not sure on Munga. He’s young so has time to improve, but at the moment I don’t see anything that makes me look at him as a test player in the making.

Dan Kelly has every chance I’d say. For an inexperienced player, he has not looked at all out of place for Tigers and with the paucity of options at 12, he and Ojomoh have got a real opportunity to provide an option in a problem position.

I also think Reid is good enough. His problem is the quality of competition in the back row, rather than a lack of ability IMO.

I think Robinson is an interesting one - a bit of a late bloomer a la Mark Wilson. He’s been genuinely very good all season and might surprise a few people.

Which Tyler wrote:

Scrumhead wrote:Agreed. Harsh on Dunn, but then Eddie always has been.

Is it? given that he's still banned. IIRC he'd have been play to play in the A game IF Bath made the SF to count against his ban. Which we haven't.
We have though been given a Covid walk-over since then, which may or may not extend his ban by an extra week.

Of course, if I'm remembering wrongly, and he is available - then it's harsh, especially given the quality of who IS there as hooker

I thought his ban was served but perhaps the COVID cancellation stops that.

Scrumhead wrote:

Digby wrote:So many names missing due to jamboree, summer break and club commitments it doesn't really matter, which looking at the list of players is just as well

Positive as ever I see

If I alluded to being giddy either no one would believe me, or more likely they'd look at the training squad and how far it is from an actual England squad and simply think I was taking the piss.

It's fine, there's nothing especially different to be done in the circumstance, it's just not especially relevant

Stom wrote:

Scrumhead wrote:

Digby wrote:So many names missing due to jamboree, summer break and club commitments it doesn't really matter, which looking at the list of players is just as well

Positive as ever I see

To be honest...I'm not sure I see many of those players challenging the England squad for any real games. Not any time soon, just any time.

Obano, Heyes, the hookers, Munga, Robinson, Hill, Martin, Willis, Mitchell, Umaga, Lawrence, Dingwall, Ojomoh, Coka, TdG, Steward and Parton are all potential England players, imo, but the others...not so much.

To be fair that is 18 of them.Only 5 have caps, so 13 of the 21 uncapped players, which is near enough two thirds potential internationals from a training squad. And if nothing else it should build competition for places.

Digby wrote:

Scrumhead wrote:

Digby wrote:So many names missing due to jamboree, summer break and club commitments it doesn't really matter, which looking at the list of players is just as well

Positive as ever I see

If I alluded to being giddy either no one would believe me, or more likely they'd look at the training squad and how far it is from an actual England squad and simply think I was taking the piss.

It's fine, there's nothing especially different to be done in the circumstance, it's just not especially relevant

You could have been drinking

Epaminondas Pules wrote:

Digby wrote:

Scrumhead wrote:
Positive as ever I see

If I alluded to being giddy either no one would believe me, or more likely they'd look at the training squad and how far it is from an actual England squad and simply think I was taking the piss.

It's fine, there's nothing especially different to be done in the circumstance, it's just not especially relevant

You could have been drinking

If only, I miss drinking