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Phil Dowson named England captain vs. Barbarians

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Chjw131
bluestonevedder
DaveM
BamBam
Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler
robshaw4england
Geordie
HammerofThunor
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Phil Dowson named England captain vs. Barbarians Empty Phil Dowson named England captain vs. Barbarians

Post by Cumbrian Wed 23 May 2012, 5:16 pm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/england/9285188/Phil-Dowson-named-England-captain-for-Barbarians-clash.html




The Northampton No 8 takes over the reins from Test skipper Chris Robshaw, who leads Harlequins against Leicester in the Aviva Premiership final the previous day.
Dowson has been a senior figure in Stuart Lancaster's England squad, even after losing his place in the starting side to Ben Morgan during the Six Nations.
With Morgan recovering from a hamstring injury, Dowson will start against a star-studded Barbarians side and he has been chosen as captain ahead of his club skipper Dylan Hartley.
"Phil is one of the key members of out leadership group. He will captain the team on Sunday," said England forwards coach Graham Rowntree.
Hartley is set to play his first game since the Six Nations after serving an eight week ban for biting Ireland flanker Stephen Ferris.

Rowntree believes Hartley is a future England captain but this weekend wanted the Northampton hooker to concentrate on his scrummaging.
"The fact he has been out for eight weeks, I want Dylan to focus on playing, to focus on his game and not be saddled with captaincy issues," Rowntree said.
Dowson's elevation is a reward for his leadership during the Six Nations as a new-look England team defied the odds to finish second in the championship.
And that ability to galvanise a new team is particularly important this week, with 18 members of the touring squad absent on Premiership final duty.
"Phil coped with the disappointment (of losing his place in the team) very well. That is the mark of Phil Dowson," Rowntree said.
"He took it on the chin and we all saw the rise of Ben Morgan towards the end of the Six Nations so it wasn't easy for him.
"But he took it on the chin and never stopped giving his experience to the younger guys and giving to the group. He is a great leader.
"When he makes a point it is worthwhile. We have a strong leadership group at the moment. There are a few guys we could give the captaincy to but we feel Dows is right for this game.
"When you are pulling guys together for the first time, that leadership is important. He will make sure we are right on it.
"This is a proper game, as intense and as big a game as a Six Nations game for us."

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Post by sirtidychris Wed 23 May 2012, 5:40 pm

Great club player but dont rate him at all at international level as he looked under powered and out of his depth during the SN and hardly has alot of international experience to pass on... HOWEVER with waldrom, easter, robshaw in the final Croft and Wood crocked and calum clark in the naughty chair i suppose he is our best option ...would like to see carl fearns getting game time and Tom Johnson...also a shame there is no room for steffan armitage.

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Post by Zander Wed 23 May 2012, 5:53 pm

What about Jamie Gibson aswell? He is more in the mould of an out and out 7.

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Post by Poorfour Wed 23 May 2012, 5:59 pm

Isn't Steffon involved in playoffs as well?
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Post by HammerofThunor Wed 23 May 2012, 7:09 pm

Rowntree specifically mentions Fearns in the article so I'm hoping he gets to start

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Post by Geordie Wed 23 May 2012, 8:03 pm

Yeah...i noticed that about Fearns...he has obviously impressed Rowntree...

Nice to hear...

What chance the last test v SA being

6 Launchbury
7 Fearns
8 Morgan

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Post by Zander Wed 23 May 2012, 8:07 pm

GeordieFalcon wrote:Yeah...i noticed that about Fearns...he has obviously impressed Rowntree...

Nice to hear...

What chance the last test v SA being

6 Launchbury
7 Fearns
8 Morgan

I think that looks a little bit too inexperienced there, but we'll see how it goes. Maybe Robshaw instead of either Launchbury or Fearns and the one missing out gets the bench spot?

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Post by Geordie Wed 23 May 2012, 8:14 pm

But they're very physical...and been playing exceptionally well...imagine if they're flying in the early games?

I know its a bit of a long odds...but who knows...

I actually can see launchbury pushing in to the second row for the middle or last test...he can more than handle the physicality and has been on fire this season....especially with us having quite a lightweight engine room at present...

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Post by robshaw4england Wed 23 May 2012, 8:32 pm

I don't think Dowson should have been given the captaincy, think it should have been given to a guaranteed starter such as Hartley or Foden.

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Post by Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler Wed 23 May 2012, 8:41 pm

robshaw4england wrote:I don't think Dowson should have been given the captaincy, think it should have been given to a guaranteed starter such as Hartley or Foden.

I actualy suspect thats the reason he hasnt been given it ...so they can change again for the summer when the captain they wants is available and everyone will be aware hes was very much a stop gap anyway.

Lancaster doesnt seem to have much luck with his captain candidates

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Post by HammerofThunor Wed 23 May 2012, 8:42 pm

But Dowson is a guaranteed starter because it's just for one non-test. It think it would have been Hartley but for the bite. Foden isn't really captaincy material. No problem with Dowson getting it as long as there are plenty of new caps in the squad. Does anyone actually care about the Barbarian games and their results? Well the Welsh obviously do because they cap them.

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Post by Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler Wed 23 May 2012, 9:01 pm

Well the article quoted above seems to suggest Rowntree takes it seriously,, hes not opposed to it being a cap international...but it is a sideshow when half the best players are missing even before you account for injuries etc

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Post by BamBam Wed 23 May 2012, 11:08 pm

Does anyone know when the team is named to face the Barbarians

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Post by DaveM Wed 23 May 2012, 11:09 pm

Fearns is going to have a long international career, probably moving between the three backrow positions. I think he falls into the category of so good it doesn't matter hugely where he starts.

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Post by bluestonevedder Thu 24 May 2012, 9:34 am

Great to see Fearns get the special mention at the end of the article. There's something about him as a player, I get the impression he's a hard guy and doesn't take a step back. Could be perfect in the SA Tests. Would like to see:

6. Fearns
7. Robshaw
8. Morgan

Bench: Haskell

at some point on the tour. Provides real grunt and go forward, as well as tireless and hard tackling.

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Post by HammerofThunor Thu 24 May 2012, 10:29 am

He certainly looks like he's had a hard life. He looks about 40 but he's only 22

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Post by bluestonevedder Thu 24 May 2012, 10:31 am

HammerofThunor wrote:He certainly looks like he's had a hard life. He looks about 40 but he's only 22

Haha, he does. He plays like he's got a lot more experience too. Great talent.

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Post by Chjw131 Thu 24 May 2012, 11:18 am

For the Baa Baa's I think we'll see:

6. T Johnson
7. C Fearns
8. P Dowson

19. J Gibson

Launchbury will be benched as the SR option I think.

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Post by Chjw131 Thu 24 May 2012, 11:23 am

Dowson is mature in terms of attitude and club rugby and i'm sure he'll be a great help with some of the young players, but is he really an international No.8?

My verdict would be no, and it concerns me when a coach can pick a backrow of 6. Croft 7. Robshaw 8. Dowson and expect that combined with a rarely-carrying front row or No.5, to give you enough go-forward ball. The balance of the pack needs to be right, and with a TH & LH who don't favour carrying much and just Botha in the SR, the backrow needs to add some impetus.

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Post by bluestonevedder Thu 24 May 2012, 11:33 am

Dowson is not an international 8, or any other back row position to be honest. Unfortunately, I think his time was a few years ago, but he never got the chance. Now he's made the EPS, he's out of his depth. I thought he was pretty useless going forward during the 6N. His defence was good. I can't remember him providing any good attacking platform from the base of a scrum or ruck, and he constantly seemed to be forced back in contact. Still, maybe an open Baa Baa's game will be suited to him- he agile and quick, so could do well. We'll just have to see.

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Post by propdavid_london Thu 24 May 2012, 3:15 pm

BaaBaa's named -

Barbarians: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Mike Tindall, 11 Iain Balshaw, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Akapusi Qera, 7 Johnnie Beattie, 6 Ernst Joubert, 5 Anton van Zyl, 4 Mark Chisholm, 3 John Afoa, 2 John Smit (capt), 1 Neemia Tialata.
Replacements: 16 Benoit August, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Pelu Taele, 19 Raphael Lakafia, 20 Jerome Fillol, 21 Felipe Contepomi, 22 Sailosi Tagicakibau.

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Post by bluestonevedder Thu 24 May 2012, 3:39 pm

Good looking squad for the Baa Baas that.

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Post by BamBam Thu 24 May 2012, 3:55 pm

How good is Stephen Donald at throwing miss passes ...

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Post by DaveM Thu 24 May 2012, 8:27 pm

Chjw131 wrote:
The balance of the pack needs to be right, and with a TH & LH who don't favour carrying much and just Botha in the SR, the backrow needs to add some impetus.

You don't think Cole and Corbisero (or Marler) like carrying? I think thjey are all excellent ball in hand, with Cole having improved a lot recently.

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Post by thomh Thu 24 May 2012, 9:14 pm

PSW

I'm not sure what point you're making there, but Robshaw has already been announced as the captain for the summer tour. Dowson's not even a stop gap really. It's just a one-off selection. Wouldn't be surprised to see him captain the midweek side in SA though.

Rowntree has said that they just want Hartley to focus on playing in this one after his time off, and in terms of Foden I always think full back is too far away to be a real leader from anyway.

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Post by flankertye Thu 24 May 2012, 11:45 pm

bit strange qera is 8 and Joubert is at 6?

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Post by yappysnap Fri 25 May 2012, 7:10 pm

Even if it means they (Baabaa's) hump us I hope that we see a performance from them with all of the dedication and conviction we know they can produce rather then the horror that was the Oz match.

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Post by flankertye Fri 25 May 2012, 7:54 pm

Pretty decent england team. Is Stevens on his good side or not? Can never tell with the useless lump...

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