England Team Announced - SEVEN CHANGES...!

15. Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
14. Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints)
13. Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
12. Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby)
11. Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
10. Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
1. Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
2. Steve Thompson (London Wasps)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
4. Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers)
5. Tom Palmer (Stade Francais)
6. Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
7. Lewis Moody (Bath Rugby, capt)
8.James Haskell (Ricoh Black Rams).

Replacements:

Lee Mears (Bath Rugby)
David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
Simon Shaw (Unattached)
Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)
Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)
Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
Delon Armitage (London Irish)

What can you make of this selection?

Romania haven't shown much ability this world cup. Never a team to be taken too lightly but they are a long way behind England and a few selections in this team relate to that...

One massive one I don't understand though is why on earth is the substandard Richard Wigglesworth in the replacements instead of the incredibly promising and exciting Joe Simpson?

Mark Cueto back into the back three after an injury, Foden and Ashton will enjoy the experience, hopefully getting a few good tries, a great opportunity to show their running skills, lets hope there are plenty of side steps and great angles, maybe a try like in last autumns Eng vs Oz game from Ashton ?

Centers return Manu and Mike, looked a good center partnership against Ireland and probably the first choice one.

Half backs sees Benny and Jonny given a go. Ben Uoungs although better than wigglesworth by a country mile is not on his best form. Does get England moving faster and has a good vision and reading of the game. JW is JW and this is a great opportunity for him to show his attacking flair that he is famous for when playing at Toulon.

Back Row seems a little harsh on Wood to not be in. I think wood croft and Haskel are the top three players and a combo of to 6.5s and an 8/7 in haskell is probably the best weapon england have... but moody is not a bad player at all and if he can find his best form will be a huge asset. also an inspiring captain.

Second row, well Lawes is out and poor old shaw is probably knackered and best saved for the Scots next week.

Front row sees Cole start his third match, Thompson start ahead of Hartley, and Corbisiero ahead of Stevens. I guess England are thinking this will reduce their front five penalty count which was shocking last weekend, and could have been worse...!

Should be a win at a canter for England, you would expect a 40-50 point win again.


Does England know who their best team is or is there still a lot of experimenting going on? There seems to be a lot of the same trying of different combinations within all parts of the team. The only consistent, certain and solid selections seem to be Foden, Ashton, Tuilagi and Cole. Everything else looks up for grabs.

There are a lot of talented players in this England side, but the machine is not as well oiled as it was going into the Six Nations. This Romania match should help grease the necessary areas.

Completely agree. Wigglesworth offers nothing but a structured game and basics. Doesnt challenge any defences with line breaks.
When partnered with Wilko defences know exactly where the ball is going and its easy to predict. Youngs, Simpson at least offer an extra running threat. As would Care if he was there.

Moody needs more game time, and Wood is still on the bench. Shaw is getting a bit of a rest off the bench after last weeks performance.
I am glad that Cueto is back, I'm not convinced with Armitage on the wing (dispite the trys scored). Fingers crossed that Cuets hits the ground running.

Front row looks capable, scrummage is Romania's most potent attack. I've never been a fan of Wilson (like Wigglesworth, offers nothing but basics). But his inclusion shouldnt harm the result, and we need to spread the work load to the whole squad.

Positives - Banahan not included in the 22. Real bonus - not being rested as he's only made appearances off bench.

Agree with the above comments as would have liked to see Simpson on the bench - we know what Wigglesworth can do and he is not really a 'game changing' player to have on the bench when we need somehting special - Simpson could be.

Hopefully MJ has scared the life out of anyone daring to give away a penalty this week, so I think it will be a uch-improved performance and a comfortable win, maybe by 60 points.

Moody really needs a big game or it's going to be difficult for MJ to justify his selection

This looks like what might be Johnsons first choice side, Easters injury and Lawes' suspension aside.Wilko, Tindall and Cueto have a lot to prove though. Im dissapointed but not amazed hes looking back to the old guard.
Hartley not making the side at all suggests hes comepltly out of favour after his display last week, hes not even given 20 minutes to prove he should be in the side to face Scotland.

I dont think the 7 changes waarants an "!", its no great suprise. The Georgia side was a bit of a mish mash of experimental combinations.

As for Wiggles ahead of Simpson Id guess the thinking is that hes a very differnet player to Youngs with strong tactical kicking whereas Youngs and Simpson are both primarily runners.

Theres certainly no excuse for England not winning this at a canter.
Part of me hopes Wilko is iffy and Flood gets 40 good minutes to prove he should start against Scotland, same for Tindall (dissapointlingly Hape doesnt even get a look in) and Cueto gets replaced by Armitage who has justified his inclussion in the squad despite the doubters (me)
I noticed the "good" Dr Venter was in the press slating Tindall, for once I was inclined to agree with him. He doenst offer much as an attacking force form 12.

Im happy to see Banahan has been left as a squad makeweight, hes a useful utility player to have in teh squad but I dont see him as a starting center or wing...and with Armitage in shouldnt be on the bench

rugbyfan - lets hope that they are much improved after their 'clear the air' talks earlier in the week. Would love to see a 60 pointer, but not sure if the points difference is going to be that much more than Georga.

Barring 1 or 2 selections I think most people are happy with this team to win. I'm glad that Mears is included, I dont see him being anything more than 3rd pick in this squad, but it would be great to bring him on in 2nd half when things open up a bit more, and hopefully the Romanian pack is a little tired.

Haskell at no.8 - Hmmmm, if Easter doesnt play soon surely there isnt any point in taking him to the knock-out stages. If thats the case, do we keep Waldrom and he must play against Scots (cant have 1st cap in a quarter-final).

propdavid_london wrote:

Haskell at no.8 - Hmmmm, if Easter doesnt play soon surely there isnt any point in taking him to the knock-out stages. If thats the case, do we keep Waldrom and he must play against Scots (cant have 1st cap in a quarter-final).

I've been impressed with Haskell - for me he's now the first choice number 8. If Easter is ruled out then Waldom could be on the bench for the Scotland game, but we need to pick our first choice 15 v Scotland and that means Haskell at 8. Unless Moddy has a great game v Romania I'd like to see Wood, Croft and Haskell in the back row for the Scotalnd game.

rugbyfan wrote:

propdavid_london wrote:

Haskell at no.8 - Hmmmm, if Easter doesnt play soon surely there isnt any point in taking him to the knock-out stages. If thats the case, do we keep Waldrom and he must play against Scots (cant have 1st cap in a quarter-final).

I've been impressed with Haskell - for me he's now the first choice number 8. If Easter is ruled out then Waldom could be on the bench for the Scotland game, but we need to pick our first choice 15 v Scotland and that means Haskell at 8. Unless Moddy has a great game v Romania I'd like to see Wood, Croft and Haskell in the back row for the Scotalnd game.

I agree rugbyfan

Haskell, Croft and Wood is the only combo worth keeping.

assuming that they don't want to risk Stevens after he seemed to pick up a knock last week? or maybe they just want Mears and Wilson to get involved? Like many, very disapointed to see Wigglesworth on the bench, such an uninspiring player...

Apart from that, no problems with the team, and it does have a "strongest available XV" ring to it.

Sorry people, but Simpson showed his distribution to be slow and hesitant in his first game in an England shirt, whereas Wigglesworth has shown he can be dependable and consistent. I realise that Simpson could be a "game changer" coming on, but I feel that MJ sees Youngs as the exciting option and Wigglesworth as the reliable back up.

For our backs to play well we need quick ball and Simpson failed to provide that. Worth another go in the future? Probably, but after the slightly lack lustre display against Georgia it looks like Johnson wants a massive score and a quality display from many of his first choice players against Romania.

Wood, Croft, Haskell - would be a good combination. Not sure its a WC winning combo though.

Haskell has been a bit of a revelation at 8 recently. He's previously had poor games there, at Stade he was always behind Parrise and mostly played on the flank. I do hope its just a gametime issue there and the more he plays the pivot the more he will understand the role.

There is plenty of pace in that back-row, but who brings the Dog? The dark arts of a Hill+Back? Lawes, when not suspended offers some grunt.

screamingaddabs wrote:Sorry people, but Simpson showed his distribution to be slow and hesitant in his first game in an England shirt, whereas Wigglesworth has shown he can be dependable and consistent. I realise that Simpson could be a "game changer" coming on, but I feel that MJ sees Youngs as the exciting option and Wigglesworth as the reliable back up.

For our backs to play well we need quick ball and Simpson failed to provide that. Worth another go in the future? Probably, but after the slightly lack lustre display against Georgia it looks like Johnson wants a massive score and a quality display from many of his first choice players against Romania.

Quick ball was failed to be produced by the forwards and Georgia being saavy at the breakdown and less to do with Simpsons distribution. How long did Simpson get 20-15mins?

propdavid_london wrote:Wood, Croft, Haskell - would be a good combination. Not sure its a WC winning combo though.

Haskell has been a bit of a revelation at 8 recently. He's previously had poor games there, at Stade he was always behind Parrise and mostly played on the flank. I do hope its just a gametime issue there and the more he plays the pivot the more he will understand the role.

There is plenty of pace in that back-row, but who brings the Dog? The dark arts of a Hill+Back? Lawes, when not suspended offers some grunt.

Agree - it's not a 'world class' back row - we could do with an out-and-out 7 and a heavyweight ball carrier - but we simply don't have anyone to fit the bill. I like Wood and Croft, but they are a little lightweight when facing a big opposition back row, as SA showed us last year. However, its the best we have and certainly not a 'bad' back row.

Yeah, he didn't get long, but every time he got the ball he wandered about for a few steps, went to pass it once then eventually passed it after about 2-3 seconds of possession.

I think he's a good player who could add something to the team in time, but that performance was not good enough. If the forwards give slow ball the scrum half needs to be sharp to prevent it being even slower.

[quote="screamingaddabs"]Sorry people, but Simpson showed his distribution to be slow and hesitant in his first game in an England shirt, whereas Wigglesworth has shown he can be dependable and consistent. I realise that Simpson could be a "game changer" coming on, but I feel that MJ sees Youngs as the exciting option and Wigglesworth as the reliable back up.

quote]

for me I'd rather have a potential 'game changer' on the bench than someone 'dependable and consistent'. it's more likely later in the comp that England will need to chase a game, rather than close one out. Barring injury to Youngs in a game, I can't see a situation arising when MJ would tactically bring on Wigglesworth.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:assuming that they don't want to risk Stevens after he seemed to pick up a knock last week?

I'd say it's more to do with the amount of scrums he collapsed against Georgia. It looks like Jonno has put his foot down and made an example of him and hartley.

rugbyfan wrote:

for me I'd rather have a potential 'game changer' on the bench than someone 'dependable and consistent'. it's more likely later in the comp that England will need to chase a game, rather than close one out. Barring injury to Youngs in a game, I can't see a situation arising when MJ would tactically bring on Wigglesworth.

Fair enough, and I can see the benefit of that, but I think that MJ's way of doing it is to start with Youngs and expect him to last the game. Wigglesworth is the injury cover. I really wish Simpson had played better when he did come on, and I also think he should have had more time earlier in the competition/warm ups. I can see the argument for playing in this game too, but I can also see what MJ is thinking. Simpson didn't play well in his (admittedly short) time on the pitch, just because he's a 606 darling doesn't mean he played well and doesn't mean he should be selected. Wigglesworth is far from rubbish, he does the basics well and actually has a bit more to his game than that too. Simpson might win you a game, but he could very well lose you one too. Wigglesworth is the more sensible "percentages" choice, and that's why Johnson has gone for him - it's a fair opinion to want Simpson for his "game changing", but that's not the way MJ sees it and I don't think it's a bad decision to go with Wigglesworth.

roddersm wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:assuming that they don't want to risk Stevens after he seemed to pick up a knock last week?

I'd say it's more to do with the amount of scrums he collapsed against Georgia. It looks like Jonno has put his foot down and made an example of him and hartley.

pedantic corner: he didn't "collapse" the scrums, he just wasn't binding properly. The scrums were still standing when Kaplan blew against him as I recall...

Mad for Chelsea wrote:

roddersm wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:assuming that they don't want to risk Stevens after he seemed to pick up a knock last week?

I'd say it's more to do with the amount of scrums he collapsed against Georgia. It looks like Jonno has put his foot down and made an example of him and hartley.

pedantic corner: he didn't "collapse" the scrums, he just wasn't binding properly. The scrums were still standing when Kaplan blew against him as I recall...

England were under a lot more pressure than they anticipated in the front five in set piece and loose play, one of the reasons for giving away so many penalties. Let me stress that they could have given away a lot more penalties too, particularly in the first half.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:
pedantic corner: he didn't "collapse" the scrums, he just wasn't binding properly. The scrums were still standing when Kaplan blew against him as I recall...

True. I stand corrected. The point remains though, it was a very poor display from Stevens and no doubt he was one of the guys Haskell was referring to in his media outburst.

Well lets see how HAskell gets on. England need a more mobile pack, but if hes going to retain the 8 shirt he has to show he has the basic skills down ( eg controlling the ball at the base of the scrum).
As LOL said, its his chance to prove hes a good 8 ( the "best in the world" was a bit OTT) and can hack it at this level. Most fans have never been 100% happy with Easter, seeing him as acceptable and the only viable option. Now we have to look elsewhere Im behind Haskell, but yes if hes poor then the fat Kiwi should get a go.


England have no excuse but to win this comfortably. Romania have looked pretty weak so far, and arent as physical as Aregntina or Geworgia so should give England more opportunity to actually play ( dissapointing that Flood, Armitage and Hape are left out) the way they want to and get the backs into the game earlier.

maestegmafia wrote:Romania haven't shown much ability this world cup.

I have to assume from that that all you saw of Romania v Scotland was the result.

Am I the only one that would have Flood ahead of Wilko?

Stevens carrying a knock.

Given Foden has nothing to prove and some minor injury concerns surely it would have been better to rest him and have Delon in instead. Delon has been great so far - hes set up a lot of tries also by being in the right place at the right time and making crucial passes.

Would also have like to have seen Flood starting. His running game was looking good against Georgia and it would be nice to see him getting more time and working back to form.

Romania have a very capable pack - Marius Tincu in the center of it is a real threat. Outside the pack the Romainans are very similar to Georgia. With straight running on the fringes and in the middle - ball rarely making it to the wings.

I am surprised that Flood doesnt get another start, fingers crossed he will come on at 60mins and then still be fresh for the Scots.

Armitage at 15 would have been another option - stick Foden on the bench if you must but he's played every game so far hasnt he?

lostinwales wrote:Stevens carrying a knock.

Given Foden has nothing to prove and some minor injury concerns surely it would have been better to rest him and have Delon in instead. Delon has been great so far - hes set up a lot of tries also by being in the right place at the right time and making crucial passes.

Would also have like to have seen Flood starting. His running game was looking good against Georgia and it would be nice to see him getting more time and working back to form.

Makes sense but I guess tehy want to see how Cueto functions with Foden and Ashton as a unit, to allow a fair assemesnt of whether Armitage or hium should start against Scotland.
Certainly cant say that they are taking this game lightly. The forwards are always more of a worry for injuries than the backs (as has been proven so far in the tournament) so the decision to go with a forward heavy squad isnt looking so bad.

@ roddersm

I'd say Wilson and Mears are in this week’s 22 because they will get no more game time, unless they play out of their skin of course. But more realistically just Jonno giving everyone at least one run out this world cup (against the weakest team in the pool) before the crunch vs Scotland and knock out stages.

Capping guys so that they are not just RWC passengers is Hardly sending Stevens and Harltey a message.

WarLord - By that logic, we should have been starting Banahan.

I would hope that he doesnt make any more appearances in the remaining games. He was a bit of a wasted seat on the plane (should have taken Monye or Sharples, or even Flutey)

@ propdavid_london

Banahan and Simpson have made their cameos against Georgia

Mears and Wilson will make theirs against Romania.

Last week Matt and Joe had to do something spectacular to change the status quo and this week its up to Lee and Dave….not saying they can’t do it but even with Stevens niggle and Hartley’s yellow card I don’t see Wilson and Mears as the solution to a non existent problem.

I personally feel that Wigglesworth is getting unfair flak. He was hampered by a poor performance from the pack in the first 60 minutes who gave away penalties galore. Also the backrow were thoroughly outplayed which led to stodgy ball and unwanted pressure on Wigglesworth which he dealt with calmly.

By the time Youngs came on the Argentinian pack was softened up and when reinforcements in the pack arrived he was behind a dominant pack.

Much easier for a scrum half to play behind a pack with the upperhand.

Wigglesworth's defence was excellent and he made one particularly obvious try saving tackle.

Youngs was good when he came on but coming on against a knackered Argentinian pack with the English pack having the upperhand makes his job infinitely easier.

In my opinion Youngs didn't look great against Georgia and neither did the much hyped Simpson add anything to the party.

Propdavid_london "Wigglesworth offers nothing but a structured game and basics". An excellent quotation from yourself.

Oh and stuff like:"Quick ball was failed to be produced by the forwards and Georgia being saavy at the breakdown and less to do with Simpsons distribution. How long did Simpson get 20-15mins?"

Quick ball wasn't generated in the Argentinian game in the first 60 minutes was it?

A structured game and good basic core skills are very handy!

Stevens was in particular was very poor against Georgia so deserves to be dropped. Hartley was poor too so his absence is unsurprising too. Both will probably be on the bench for the crunch match with the Scots.

Good team.

I assume a few players are being rested amd MJ wants to look at some of the very fringe players in this match eg Wilson and Mears. I was really hoping to see the Croft, Wood, Haskell combo start though.

One other point.

Any one concerned that this is Tuilagi's 5th game now with only 1 match off?

Assuming he'll play against Scotland and will be needed in the knock outs, then that's at least 7 international matches on the bounce.

I was expecting him on the bench for this one and either the dreaded Hape/Tins combo or Banahan coming in to the centres.

I hope MJ knows what he's doing as the other option is that he isn't planning on using Manu in the big games...

@beshocked

Exactly Stevens and Hartley did struggle (but in all fairness Georgia do pride themselves in producing strong scrimmaging props who would always fancy a tussle with the best of other nations) but given a choice between them and Mears/Wilson on the bench I know who I would want to come on to make an impact.

Looks like Johnson is going with his 1st XV. Should be a big score to England here.

Like many, I would start with Shaw and Wood and put Deacon and Moody on the bench were I choosing a 1st XV, and I'd have Hartley on the bench ahead of Mears, but otherwise the selections make sense.

luckless_pedestrian wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Romania haven't shown much ability this world cup.

I have to assume from that that all you saw of Romania v Scotland was the result.

Ok that was n unfair comment, I did watch the game.

Should have said that Romania didn't show anything that should trouble England. Taking their game against Argentina in to account

beshocked - structured game and core skills are very handy (for club level). Surely at INternationals we should demand more than the basics being done well.

Wigglesworth was also poor in the warm-ups, but Danny Care stood out playing behind a similar pack display.

Simpson had 15 or 20mins - the ITV coverage was so poor that I didnt know when he came on.

beshocked wrote:I personally feel that Wigglesworth is getting unfair flak. He was hampered by a poor performance from the pack in the first 60 minutes who gave away penalties galore. Also the backrow were thoroughly outplayed which led to stodgy ball and unwanted pressure on Wigglesworth which he dealt with calmly.

By the time Youngs came on the Argentinian pack was softened up and when reinforcements in the pack arrived he was behind a dominant pack.

Much easier for a scrum half to play behind a pack with the upperhand.

Wigglesworth's defence was excellent and he made one particularly obvious try saving tackle.

Youngs was good when he came on but coming on against a knackered Argentinian pack with the English pack having the upperhand makes his job infinitely easier.

In my opinion Youngs didn't look great against Georgia and neither did the much hyped Simpson add anything to the party.

Propdavid_london "Wigglesworth offers nothing but a structured game and basics". An excellent quotation from yourself.

Oh and stuff like:"Quick ball was failed to be produced by the forwards and Georgia being saavy at the breakdown and less to do with Simpsons distribution. How long did Simpson get 20-15mins?"

Quick ball wasn't generated in the Argentinian game in the first 60 minutes was it?

A structured game and good basic core skills are very handy!


Stevens was in particular was very poor against Georgia so deserves to be dropped. Hartley was poor too so his absence is unsurprising too. Both will probably be on the bench for the crunch match with the Scots.

I'm not tyring to knock Wigglesworth - i think he's a very good player with a good pass, kicking game and picks the right options. he's played well for England and I think he'll feature more in the future. All I am saying is that I would prefer to have more of a running/line breaker player on the bench. In games when England may be 10 points down with 20 minutes to go it's good to have people on the bench that can really impact on a game and opena defence.

maestegmafia wrote:

luckless_pedestrian wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Romania haven't shown much ability this world cup.

I have to assume from that that all you saw of Romania v Scotland was the result.

Ok that was n unfair comment, I did watch the game.

Should have said that Romania didn't show anything that should trouble England. Taking their game against Argentina in to account

Have to agree with you on that. They are clearly the weakest side in the group, that Scotlands B team played like a heap of poo doesnt affect England. The gulf is considrable, there is no excuse for them to not win comfortably having named a strong side.

The problem is that at international level players need a little bit more about their game then just being very good at the core skills.

Wigglesworth isn't and his kicking has been poor on top of that, having him at 9 makes life tougher for who ever's at 10 as defences can drift knowing that Wigglesworth won't challenge them.

He's a perfectly good third choice, but not a starter. Nore is Simpson from his display, but with care's injury one of them has to and to be honest i'd go with Wigglesworth, but just ask him to run every so often and kick a bit less!

The gulf between England and Scotland or between England and Romania?

rugbyfan wrote:

I'm not tyring to knock Wigglesworth - i think he's a very good player with a good pass, kicking game and picks the right options. he's played well for England and I think he'll feature more in the future. All I am saying is that I would prefer to have more of a running/line breaker player on the bench. In games when England may be 10 points down with 20 minutes to go it's good to have people on the bench that can really impact on a game and opena defence.

This does rather assume we will be in the position of chasing a game and not closing the game out does it not? A slightly negative view point I would argue. In games where we have a 1 point lead and need to see the opposition off with 10 mins left, would you prefer Wigglesworth or Simpson?

I get a sense that this might be the game where England start to get the campaign going. A good 50+ win here will set them up nicely against the Scots.

Reading espnscrum it also looks like Romania are resting some key players for the Georgia game. We could be seeing a cricket score here if the England backline clicks.

screamingaddabs wrote:

rugbyfan wrote:

I'm not tyring to knock Wigglesworth - i think he's a very good player with a good pass, kicking game and picks the right options. he's played well for England and I think he'll feature more in the future. All I am saying is that I would prefer to have more of a running/line breaker player on the bench. In games when England may be 10 points down with 20 minutes to go it's good to have people on the bench that can really impact on a game and opena defence.

This does rather assume we will be in the position of chasing a game and not closing the game out does it not? A slightly negative view point I would argue. In games where we have a 1 point lead and need to see the opposition off with 10 mins left, would you prefer Wigglesworth or Simpson?

Crazy idea but why not just carry on playing Youngs for the full 80 maybe?

Unless he's injured but then that could happen in the first few minutes.

I hate these 60min changes just for the sake of it.

yappysnap wrote:I hate these 60min changes just for the sake of it.

Hear hear!

screamingaddabs wrote:

rugbyfan wrote:

I'm not tyring to knock Wigglesworth - i think he's a very good player with a good pass, kicking game and picks the right options. he's played well for England and I think he'll feature more in the future. All I am saying is that I would prefer to have more of a running/line breaker player on the bench. In games when England may be 10 points down with 20 minutes to go it's good to have people on the bench that can really impact on a game and opena defence.

This does rather assume we will be in the position of chasing a game and not closing the game out does it not? A slightly negative view point I would argue. In games where we have a 1 point lead and need to see the opposition off with 10 mins left, would you prefer Wigglesworth or Simpson?

yes it does! I'm positive overall - I think England have as much chance as France, Ireland and Wales of reaching the final - but in your scenario I'd keep Youngs on for the last ten mins, why replace him at all? (unless injured)

Yappysnap you beat me to it!!

luckless_pedestrian wrote:The gulf between England and Scotland or between England and Romania?

England an Romania, although Im hoping theres quite a gulf between Englands performance and Scotlands in that game. England are a better side than Scotland, Scotland played well below themselves. I honestly dont see any reason why England should struggle in this game other than a truely woeful performace.

There's no doubt that England should win and win well; but we've seen already in the group that they've struggled against teams with committed, physical packs and hard runners. Saturday will tell us if they've learnt their lessons!

Think the backrow balance of Croft, Wood and Haskell last week looked a hell of a lot better when Moody went off.
Really impressed with Haskell at the moment. His work rate is huge, always there to make the tackles, running good lines and always seems to make ground on his carries. Needs to work on scrum skills, but I think he has done enough to earn every supporters respect at least.
I think Wood is the richard hill-esque player for england. He's not always in the limelight, but does the nitty gritty work at the breakdown, slowing ball and also carries well when given the chance (setting up Ashton's first). Very good player indeed.
Have been a big fan of moody for years, but I think he's passed it now. I admired him for his leadership skills, but those have been missing as of recent.

yappysnap wrote:

screamingaddabs wrote:

rugbyfan wrote:

I'm not tyring to knock Wigglesworth - i think he's a very good player with a good pass, kicking game and picks the right options. he's played well for England and I think he'll feature more in the future. All I am saying is that I would prefer to have more of a running/line breaker player on the bench. In games when England may be 10 points down with 20 minutes to go it's good to have people on the bench that can really impact on a game and opena defence.

This does rather assume we will be in the position of chasing a game and not closing the game out does it not? A slightly negative view point I would argue. In games where we have a 1 point lead and need to see the opposition off with 10 mins left, would you prefer Wigglesworth or Simpson?

Crazy idea but why not just carry on playing Youngs for the full 80 maybe?

Unless he's injured but then that could happen in the first few minutes.

I hate these 60min changes just for the sake of it.

I wouldn't bring Wigglesworth on for the sake of it. I also hate subs for no reason. If Youngs was injured though I would bring on Wigglesworth. The plan would be for Youngs to play a full game.

I'll pre empt the response:

"why not have Simpson to give you the option to chase the game - leave Youngs on if you have a slim lead"

That's fine unless Youngs gets injured.

If Youngs gets injured whilst you're ahead in a close game you are putting a lot of burden on a young guy with very little experience who could well lose you the game (in the same way he can win them for you). Simpson is the risky option, Wigglesworth the percentages option.

I'v got the answer! how about put Simpson AND Wigglesworth on the bench! Bring Simpson on if we're losing and Wigglesworth on if Youngs gets injured!