My Englands musings...

I havent contributed to this board for a while because, a) I'm embarrassed and b) i'm embarrassed. However, I have now found time to gather my thoughts following Englands shambolic WC campaign....

For me, I'd like to see the following putting their branded/non-branded gumshields away:

- Mike Tindall
- Lewis Moody
- Nick Easter
- Simon Shaw (great servant but way too old)
- Steve Thompson
- Johnny Wilkinson
- Mark Cueto

These guys owe it to the up and coming youngsters to get 4 years prep time before the 2015 RWC. We will lose some key 6N matches along the way, we'll fall behind the French and Welsh for a while, there will be some pain, some lows, the occasional high, culminating in a Grand Slam win in April 2015 and a WC win 6/7 months later. (Well I can dream!)

Joking aside, we have to see progression over the next couple of years. We havent seen this at all recently and to be honest, us progressing any further in this WC would have papered over the chronic cracks we have in our beloved establishment.

Should Johnno stay or go?
I really dont know about this...I'm sure we havent seen the best of Johnno the Manager yet, but he is fiercely loyal to ex team mates and so very stubborn and set in his ways. I'd feel much better about things if he had just held his hands up and said, "look guys I got it wrong". But he doesnt and probably never will...which as an England fan, I find infuriating.

Fly Half...
All of a sudden, this is a problem position for England. Wilko is on the wane and Flood is not the authorative figure that is need in that position. Should Owen Farrell or Billy Twelvetrees be given a go?

Front Row...
So long have England been known as a formidable pack over the years, but now they are getting bullied all over the park. Matt Stevens and Dan Cole are not up to the job. What we need are some really nasty, grizzly props who show no mercy and intimidate front rows like the Welsh and South Africans do.

Foreigners...
We have to stop our reliance on players qualifying through residency and concentrate on homegrown and home born talent. Manu Tuilgangi has probably been our best attacking threat this WC so I dont want to cut off the nose to spite the face, but at the moment, we are strangling the life out of these up and coming kids who have aspirations to pull on the great white jersey.

Style of play...
England need to work out a style of play they want and just stick to it. We also need to be picking the best players on form and not players living off past reputations...can we say that Mike Tindall has been one of the best centres in the country over the last 5/6 years??? If Youngs is our 1st choice Scrum half, do we have a game changing replacement on the bench? (on that note, why oh why was Joe Simpson not given more game time?)

Just a few of my thoughts for starters...