England Team After round 1

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My England team just picking on the weekends form (I haven't seen the Exeter-Sale game so please feel free to pick me up on any stand outs from that one).

15. Mike Brown- Solid in all aspects throughout the game on Sat and was a key character in Quins come back, bagged two tries as well to boot.
14. Chris Ashton- Despite a yellow card Ashton showed up well in his first game for Saracens, even getting to crack out the splash as he finished off two tries.
13. Johnathan Joseph- One of the few LI players to come out of the match on Sat with any credit, he was a danger ball in hand with his quick stepping feet.
12. Jordan Turner-Hall- Tacked all game long against Wasps and gave Quins plenty of direction, credited as being key to settling the players in the backs too.
11. Christian Wade- Looked deadly in little to no space against Harlequins, the comparisons to billy wizz will start soon so let me be the first. The new Jason Robinson.
10. Toby Flood- Played a calm and controlled game against LW but still floated some lovely passes out to his wide men. Looks comfortably back on form after the shakes of last season, kicked fairly well too with a change to his style.
9. Richard Wigglesworth- Tried to install and attacking game in to the sometimes cumbersome Saracens back line, generally it worked too.
8. Thomas Waldrom- Carried well and looked dangerous on the counter against LW, one more player with two tries to his name this weekend.
7. Chris Robshaw- Lead Harlequins back from the brink of defeat with plenty of composure, made the right decisions time and again and never stopped carrying and tackling.
6. James Haskell- Tackled anything that moved with real ferocity and was a constant menace on the floor. Made Care's life a misery till he was subbed off.
5. Mauritz Botha- The big hitting Saracems lock got properly stuck in to LI, but also really impressed with his carrying and offloading, are we seeing a new side to the England lock?
4. Geoff Parling- Orchestrated a precise Tigers line out as expected but showed up very well around the park, always gets his legs driving when tackled and capped off a good try too.
3. Dan Cole- Is becoming more and more the standout player for Leicester. Comfortably ahead of Castro now Cole's work on the deck is close to as good as his impressive skill in the scrums.
2. Rob Buchanan- Carried well all over the park and helped lift the pace of the game for Quins with his offloading. Perfect line out throwing too.
1. Joe Marler- A beast in the scrums and another forward more then comfy in the backs, his work in both areas helped drag Quins back in to the game and he lasted the full 80 unlike most other props on the weekend.

So there we go. My form team of the weekend only has three uncapped players in it ( Wade, Waldrom and Buchanan) and has 10 current England EPS players in there (pretty good selections by Lancaster then maybe?) With two ex England players in Wigglesworth and Jordan Turner-Hall.

Interesting...he does like that position doesnt he...

Well he was a 6 in age group rugby. In general Mallinder likes a bruiser in that position.

Yeah ....it'll be interesting to see if he can find form and fitness...and if he might make the AI's

Lawes is such an interesting player. In my opinion, he can be a terrific second row. He is strong enough to dominate most good locks. Could be the type of player which can secure the lineout for a long time to come. Playing him in the back row is a good idea coming back from injury and certainly give a coach good options. As he continues his recovery his speed will come which will help playing in the back row.

If Lawes can focus as a lineout lock, Lawes + Launchbury would be both alliterative and awesome

And in addition to their specialist roles we'd have 2 good flankers on the pitch too and as both can cover 6, we could have a specialist 7 or 8 on the bench

Thats very true CJ...that would be a pairing i think many England fans would enjoy watching...physical, combatative ...and Mobile...

The lock situation is starting to look better than it has since the days of Johnson, Grewcock, Shaw and Kay (not that, that is saying very much).

Lawes and Launchbury could form a seriously athletic/ powerful partnership. Then you could throw in people like Graham Kitchener, Tom Savage, Matt Garvey, Dave Attwood and a bit further down the line guys like Charlie Matthews, George Merrick and Dom Barrow.

Yeah things are definately starting to look up...

Cumbrian wrote:The lock situation is starting to look better than it has since the days of Johnson, Grewcock, Shaw and Kay (not that, that is saying very much).

Lawes and Launchbury could form a seriously athletic/ powerful partnership. Then you could throw in people like Graham Kitchener, Tom Savage, Matt Garvey, Dave Attwood and a bit further down the line guys like Charlie Matthews, George Merrick and Dom Barrow.

I still think Garvey is most likely to be the missing piece of the jigsaw. Lawes and Launchbury looks very athletic, but I don't think the carrying would be good enough. We need a guy who, first and foremost, will take it up over and over again and break the gain-line. I know bulk isn't everything and we want dynamism, but we need an Alberts basically. I think Garvey is the closest thing we have to that, albeit in a different position.

I'm not yappy

I know I am in a minority (of one?) but I still feel Garvey is over-rated on these boards.

If he gets a run of games for LI (is he injured?) I may well change my mind.

ChequeredJersey wrote:I'm not yappy

Of course you aren't, I am.

Launchbury does plenty of carrying

Fixed it CJ...

We definately need a big lump...or real ball carrying wrecking machine.

Hopefully Morgan can improve his fitness and become one of those...but we need another from SR

On the evidence of the Sarries vs. Leicester match Vunipola won't be too far away from a Saxons call up before long!

Anyone else think Vunipola looks about 80? Did he used to do a paper round up K2 or something?

Judging by the weekend so far England need Nick Evans, all the other fly halves are looking pretty average...

What about Burns? Also, not a big fan at all of foreign players switching to English without cause, but if Botica gets going, do you reckon he would want to represent England?

I haven't really seen Burns play but he looked good last season.

Botica could do, didn't his dad play for GB in league? And doesn't he already have a uk passport?