You ARe The Coach - Who Do You Pick?

Following on from the previous articles that have discussed the England team selection - Imagine you're the coach. In your opinion, what are the first three positions/skill set you fill on your team sheet if you are an international coach in order of importance?

1) Back row balance
2) Fly half
3) set piece

I'm with CJ - you'd do it in terms of balanced units, some of which overlap so you might need to go back and tweak as the side emerges

One way would be:
1) Back row
2) Centre pairing
3) 8, 9, 10, 12 - do they complement each other? If not, rethink 1 & 2
4) Front row
5) 2, 4, 5 - will they work well together? Do you have the right balance between the scrum and the lineout?
6) 11, 13, 14, 15 - will they play off each other well? Does the attacking strategy work the way you want? Are they strong enough defensively?

An alternative would be to work out the spine (2, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15) and then fill in the rest around them.

Another option is to look at the individuals who have the most influence on positions other than their own. Players with huge workrates and good decision-making ability like Hill, Catt, Robshaw and Cole make it easier to pick the rest of the squad.

1) Michael Jones at 7
2) Victor Matfield
3) Dan carter

Then build the rest of the team.

1. Tight head - then rest of the front row. Can't do anything without the front row
2. Back row - got to be able to retain and compete at the breakdown.
3. 10 - got to play in the right territory.

All depends what you have availabile:

- Is there a group of leaders you can build the team around? Start there.

- Are there forwards who will deliver good set pieces? Next step.

- Is there a reliable goal kicker. Fit him into the team.

If you have a core group of leaders, strong set pieces and a 10 who will land you points then you have a real blue print for success.

Stag, Don't forget personal favourites of the coach who in no way validate their inclusion with any kind of form or potential but who sure as night follows day will be on the team sheet! Balshaw, Borthwick, Donald, Ali Williams and Piri Weepu to name a few examples.

Or! Fan-power inclusions. The most famous one I can think of was the disasterous inclusion of Norm Berryman for the All Blacks, who almost singlehandedly managed to squander a 15 point lead in 3 minutes through a series of doomed kamikaze endeavours. A suicidal act of selection short-sightedness that is captured for posterity through the perjorative phrase "Berryman played one Test for the All Blacks, as a replacement against the Springboks in 1998. Berryman now occasionally shows his skills in Western Australia, playing 3rd Grade for the Kalamunda Bulls" Ouch.

Firsat 3 things I would look at:

1) Backrow blend- can't do anything without getting your hands on the ball
2) Front Row- Got to retain the ball, and have a strong set piece. Plus, a good opportunity to squeeze out penalties, or concede them if you're not proficient enough.
3) 9&10 axis- the deliverer and the playmaker. The 10 is the puppet master!

anotherworldofpain wrote:Stag, Don't forget personal favourites of the coach who in no way validate their inclusion with any kind of form or potential but who sure as night follows day will be on the team sheet! Balshaw, Borthwick, Donald, Ali Williams and Piri Weepu to name a few examples.

Or! Fan-power inclusions. The most famous one I can think of was the disasterous inclusion of Norm Berryman for the All Blacks, who almost singlehandedly managed to squander a 15 point lead in 3 minutes through a series of doomed kamikaze endeavours. A suicidal act of selection short-sightedness that is captured for posterity through the perjorative phrase "Berryman played one Test for the All Blacks, as a replacement against the Springboks in 1998. Berryman now occasionally shows his skills in Western Australia, playing 3rd Grade for the Kalamunda Bulls" Ouch.

Didn't they lose that match anyway?? So was it entirely his fault?!

Ireland's 3 most important positions are:

Tighthead
Tighthead backup
Tighthead reserve if the first two are injured!

Seriously though

1. Flyhalf (most essential)
2. Centre (creative muscle to turn a lightweight zig zag attack against the toughest defences into something that goes forward)
3. A totemic lock

bluestonevedder wrote:

anotherworldofpain wrote:Stag, Don't forget personal favourites of the coach who in no way validate their inclusion with any kind of form or potential but who sure as night follows day will be on the team sheet! Balshaw, Borthwick, Donald, Ali Williams and Piri Weepu to name a few examples.

Or! Fan-power inclusions. The most famous one I can think of was the disasterous inclusion of Norm Berryman for the All Blacks, who almost singlehandedly managed to squander a 15 point lead in 3 minutes through a series of doomed kamikaze endeavours. A suicidal act of selection short-sightedness that is captured for posterity through the perjorative phrase "Berryman played one Test for the All Blacks, as a replacement against the Springboks in 1998. Berryman now occasionally shows his skills in Western Australia, playing 3rd Grade for the Kalamunda Bulls" Ouch.

Didn't they lose that match anyway?? So was it entirely his fault?!

Yeah, they lost. Hence the phrase "managed to squander" appearing in the text.

anotherworldofpain wrote:

bluestonevedder wrote:

anotherworldofpain wrote:Stag, Don't forget personal favourites of the coach who in no way validate their inclusion with any kind of form or potential but who sure as night follows day will be on the team sheet! Balshaw, Borthwick, Donald, Ali Williams and Piri Weepu to name a few examples.

Or! Fan-power inclusions. The most famous one I can think of was the disasterous inclusion of Norm Berryman for the All Blacks, who almost singlehandedly managed to squander a 15 point lead in 3 minutes through a series of doomed kamikaze endeavours. A suicidal act of selection short-sightedness that is captured for posterity through the perjorative phrase "Berryman played one Test for the All Blacks, as a replacement against the Springboks in 1998. Berryman now occasionally shows his skills in Western Australia, playing 3rd Grade for the Kalamunda Bulls" Ouch.

Didn't they lose that match anyway?? So was it entirely his fault?!

Yeah, they lost. Hence the phrase "managed to squander" appearing in the text.

My apologies, I read 'almost managed to single handedly squander' as they hadn't lost. No criticism intended AWOP.

1) The pack
2) The halfbacks
3) The rest

bluestonevedder wrote:

anotherworldofpain wrote:

bluestonevedder wrote:

anotherworldofpain wrote:Stag, Don't forget personal favourites of the coach who in no way validate their inclusion with any kind of form or potential but who sure as night follows day will be on the team sheet! Balshaw, Borthwick, Donald, Ali Williams and Piri Weepu to name a few examples.

Or! Fan-power inclusions. The most famous one I can think of was the disasterous inclusion of Norm Berryman for the All Blacks, who almost singlehandedly managed to squander a 15 point lead in 3 minutes through a series of doomed kamikaze endeavours. A suicidal act of selection short-sightedness that is captured for posterity through the perjorative phrase "Berryman played one Test for the All Blacks, as a replacement against the Springboks in 1998. Berryman now occasionally shows his skills in Western Australia, playing 3rd Grade for the Kalamunda Bulls" Ouch.

Didn't they lose that match anyway?? So was it entirely his fault?!

Yeah, they lost. Hence the phrase "managed to squander" appearing in the text.

My apologies, I read 'almost managed to single handedly squander' as they hadn't lost. No criticism intended AWOP.

Yes, the almost part referred to the singlehandedly, and not lost. I see my grammar was not clear. Apologies.

...managed to squander, almost singlehandedly.... would have been more correct. Thankyou for point it out.

No no, I think it was fine AWOp, just the way I interpretted it. It's been a long day, and I've been reading way too much at work!

No, I think you were correct.

Clever, clever fishing by AWOP here indeed. But no bites. Except me sort of.

Fly half being the most important player is a complete myth and rubbish.

15 players all doing their jobs well is all you need.

Forwards being more important as it starts with them.

Scrum, lineout, breakdown, ruck, maul are all of equal importance..

Not even Dan Carter could have saves the Cardiff Blues.

KickAndChase wrote:Clever, clever fishing by AWOP here indeed. But no bites. Except me sort of.

Apply Occam's razor. KaC, I'm just joining the debate, not on a fishing excursion!

RogerLewis wrote:Fly half being the most important player is a complete myth and rubbish.

15 players all doing their jobs well is all you need.

Forwards being more important as it starts with them.

Scrum, lineout, breakdown, ruck, maul are all of equal importance..

Not even Dan Carter could have saves the Cardiff Blues.

So all 15 players are important. Grand, Roger - we all agree. But that wasn't the question or proposition put to us. Choose 3 positions you personally see as focal points...whilst always understanding they will need 12 good team mates around them to function properly.

England;
1. Front row
2. Second row
3. Fly-half.