England team for Georgia

As reported in yesterdays Telegraph & confirmed today, Englands team to face Georgia

Matt Stevens
Dylan Hartley
Dan Cole

Simon Shaw
Tom Palmer

Tom Wood
Lewis Moody
Nick Easter

Ben Youngs
Toby Flood

Shontayne Hape
Manu Tuilagi

Chris Ashton
Delon Armitage
Ben Foden

Replacements
Steve Thompson, Alex Corbisiero, Tom Croft, James Haskell, Joe Simpson, Jonny Wilkinson, Matt Banahan

Hape?! I hope not! Moody should be left out as it won't be long till he falls apart again.

Easter is simply too slow.

Other than that I agree with the team.

Pack looks spot on save for the front row. Sherridan will be missed I have no doubt but I would have Thompson on to provide the extra bulk up there in his absence.

The foundation of Scotlands win came from the tight 5 and the grunt you guys have in the boiler room should be enough to win you the match even if its a monsoon like what we played in.

If it's a calm night though your backs will have more than enough firepower and skill to win the match comfortably. England by 10-15

would have liked to see haskell given an opportunity at 8. I don't think Easter is performing well and wood/croft on the flanks with haskell at 8 would be the best back row - unless moody has a stormer!

The thing about Moody is that if he is going to fall apart then at least find out sooner than later.

I've no doubt this will be a tough encounter especially in the forwards so if Moody has a physical weakness that increases the likelihood of an injury then there is a good chance it will happen in this game.

Should an injury occur at least the replacement will have a chance to get some game time before the knock out stage.

Well I think it shows we're not taking the Georgians lightly. Obviously it's not a full strength team, but we can't play the same team every game or we would become exceedingly tired. I suppose Hape has to play to give Tindall a rest. He should be OK against the Georgian backs.

I agree that Thompson may have been a good call for his bulk, the front row will have a tough old battle on their hands. Moody has to play to prove his fitness and I think Easter is a good selection against the Georgians - Haskell is more dynamic but Easter is a better choice against a team trying to go slow through mauls and tight driving plays at the side of rucks.

If we can get the ball out wide to at least Tuilagi then you'd hope that Ashton, Foden and Armitage would be able to run some good lines to cut the weak Georgian backs to pieces. With Shaw on it has to be Deacon on the bench, both of which give us good grunt in the tight.

Overall, we are resting the players we have to (e.g. the old satgers Thompson, Tindall and Wilko) whilst giving Moody a run out to prove fitness and Flood a chance to start a fight back for the 10 shirt.

I'd hope for a win by at least 12 or so, but the way Georgia can play I'd be content with a win by 8 or more. A win by 20 or even 30 would be excellent and would really send out a message. If it stays dry and we front up well then this is a real possibility.

I'm happy with that side, Georgia are the weaker of the sides in the group and we need to give game time to the squad.
Hopefully that includes Simmo this time.

Good enough team for this game.

I'm confused by so many people just wanting bulky players in the pack at the expense of skill. For a long time front rowers have said that it's not the weight that counts but skill and I thought against Argentina that England showed a big lump of a pack isn't enough at this level, we need players that can actually handle a ball and tire the opposition out.

This pack looks a lot more capable of this with the only change i'd make being Haskell in for Easter.

The backs look good although it's a shame the only other 12 in there is Hape, Flutey would offer so much more in this game. I assume Cueto's back problem is still stopping him from playing, will he be sent home in the end?

I expect a few tries from this match, if we can't create against Georgia then we need to really question Brian Smith's role.

yappysnap wrote:

I expect a few tries from this match, if we can't create against Georgia then we need to really question Brian Smith's role.

If we can't create against Georgia!! I would question more than Brian’s role, for example, his, the management & the teams’ parentage for a start

good comment by screaming ad dabs

can't add much more to that than

... COME ON ENGLAND

I think we'll have a harder front row battle against the Romanians to be honest, so it would be better to play Thompson against them. If we play Thompson this week as well then he's played 3 weeks in a row. We need to rotate a little in the next two games, as we'll need our strongest 15 starting against Scotland and in any knock-out games we might be involved in.

Now I think about it, I'm not sure if Mears should have been selected in the squad. A good player and on balance probably our third best hooker, but his weakness is scrummaging and we have nothing but good scrummaging teams in our pool.

I think our bench should look something like:

Thompson
Wilson
Croft
Haskell
Simpson
Wilkinson
Banahan

With Moody an injury doubt the extra back-row cover might be useful on the bench. The only worry would be if Shaw could last the full 80, and I'm not sure if I'd be 100% happy with Palmer and Croft in the second rows. Maybe it would be better if Deacon and Palmer start this one and Shaw starts the next one with Deacon on the bench to take over when Shaw starts to drop off.

In the backs, it would be nice to see Simpson getting some game-time off the bench, we only have one back-up fly-half option and Banahan could cause some damage to tier 2 opposition.

I wouldn't have Wilkinson in there, if Flood had to come off then we'd have Youngs at 10 and Simpson at 9. Or is that crazy?

As a Bath Fan I think Moody is being rushed back.

I don't think England’s problems are the players that they have its the fact that there is no leadership on the pitch, think back to 2003 Vickery, Johnson, Back, Hill, Dallaglio, Dawson, Wilko etc... the list goes on all of these could have captained the side, ok Wilko is there but he seems too laid back nowadays, apart from Moody England are short of leaders on the pitch, and boy does Johnson know it.

definatley short of leaders - but that 2003 was exceptional in it's leadership, it had 4-5 players who could have been good captains. On a positive note there are lots of young players in the team, so in four years they could be considered as experienced leaders.

true but as a Bath Fan I won't be happy if he limps off the field again, his already made of glass as it is

fair enough - I'm sure the sale fans aren't too happy that sheridan has gone home injured, especially after he missed so much of sale's season last years as well, but in rugby it's country before club, as opposed to the frequent situation in football.

true but as a Bath Fan I won't be happy if he limps off the field again, his already made of glass as it is

What did you expect, hiring a player like Maddog in the twilight of his career?

I don't understand what Hape brings to the England team. He just doesn't seem to be involved in the games he plays in (which I have seen).

The team for Georgia was always easy to predict as there was likely to be a large degree of squad rotation.

If that is the team, I got it mostly correct in an old post

https://www.606v2.com/t13581-will-joe-simpson-start-against-georgia

Wouldnt at all be suprised by Youngs Flolod starting, its pretty clear England missed those to playing effectivly. Youngs needs gametime and Flood needs to prove he has some kind of form ASAP if they are going to go back to plan A which was these two.
From a squad rotation point of view it makes sense too.

The back 3 they doint exactly have much choice , aside form starting banahan, whilst cueto is injured.

Interesting you have Moody listed there, his injuries not so bad then?
That also means Tindall can be rested/hidden/executed for high treason/dropped for being rubbish as they have a captain again.

Shaw's bulk will be much needed in this contest, and I think the Shaw/Palmer combination is the right one.

The key here will be to keep the ball moving, and in that regard Youngs and Flood, with Wood and Moody on the flanks, is the right call. It's going to be a stern test for Stevens and Corbisiero at prop. The Georgians have a tough front row.

Hape was always going to feature at some point, and Georgia aren't the most threatening attacking side, so he ought to be able to shut them down in midfield.

I think England will win, but I don't see a bonus point.

Guys, the only person to blame if England lose this is the ball

Well it's my stag do this weekend so we better not lose. How the fudge I am going to get up in time after tomorrow night is a very hard question though! I think Beer breakfast is a necessity. Get back on the horse/hair of the dog and all that...

Is Moody 100%fit?..If he is then he should be given a chance, if he is not 100% fit then he should not be no where near the team imo.

A back line of Wood, Croft, and Haskell, would be awsone.

Its boring I know but England must improve its discipline this time out. Another display like the Argentina one would be catastrophic.

Moody needs to build up some match fitness and a RWC is not the time or place to do it. I fully expect him to be on his way back to blighty very soon.

will the dwarves play....good lineout option

We have already succumbed to dwarfism. Lee Mears is in the squad but only Manu can throw him 20 yards.

Lee Mears is a giant of a man and is under used by Eng

BATH_BTGOG wrote:Lee Mears is a giant of a man and is under used by Eng

Despite being dropped for not being good enough

"Lee Mears is a giant of a man and is under used by Eng"

Most things are relevant to a measuring point. If you think Mears is a giant then I guess you were one of those poor unfortunate dwarfs being thrown around in Queensland.

Hape is probably the only one i wouldnt have picked.

Lee Mears was a British Lion and a good one at that.

BATH_BTGOG wrote:Lee Mears was a British Lion and a good one at that.

Which presumably why he got dropped for not being good enough

I imagine we'll see Banahan come in at 12 some when in the second half unless one of the wings is having a shocker.

Or MJ may decie to play Simpson on the wing for the last 10 if he is going to come on and give Youngs the full 80.

Just a note to the OP (or one of the mods if they wouldn't mind doing it), you have Corbs starting and on the bench. He is on the bench, with Stevens starting at loose-head and Dan Cole at tight-head.

Well done, I was wondering when someone would spot the deliberate error.

A pint of beer is yours if I'm ever in the same pub as you

Any one notice that the England team announcements seem to get less and less discussion...

A sign of a settled side? Or just that we only like going on about the team after a particular thumping loss/triumphant victory when we can all be hysterical.

yappysnap wrote:Any one notice that the England team announcements seem to get less and less discussion...

A sign of a settled side? Or just that we only like going on about the team after a particular thumping loss/triumphant victory when we can all be hysterical.

We aren't so Yappy as other nations I guess ;-)

Bravo sir

BATH_BTGOG wrote:Lee Mears was a British Lion and a good one at that.

You're having a laugh now mate. You would be forgiven for thinking that Lee Mears has someone in his pocket to even get anywhere near the England team. He is extremely overated at test level and how he even gets a AP start baffles me.

A sign of a settled side? Or just that we only like going on about the team after a particular thumping loss/triumphant victory when we can all be hysterical.

I think it's more a case of not being sure what our best side is. We've all got opinions and few of them are the same. I'm not sure about our locks, our back row, our centres and even what and when in the halfbacks. Not because we're rubbish, but because we have a lot of good players (except perhaps in the centres).

I think Jonno has done an amazing job in his first coaching position to get England where we are. But the Board seems to have been obsessed with internal politics (damn them! ) and not given him and the squad the attention and support they deserved. The result is we are a year behind where we ought to be. There's a lot to do in a short time...