England Changes Vs Ireland?

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I thought it was a good all round team performance from England against the Scots, particularly in the pack but I do not think anyone had a bad game as such. England showed the intent to move the ball quickly throughout the game, this did leave them open to turnovers and counter attacks, as a result of this the likes of brown and Goode were stretched defensively. So despite what could be perceived as flaky defensive displays I think Lancaster will continue with, what has been his policy up to this point, and try to pick the same team next week.

At this point I have to say that Mike Browns positioning and decision making out on the wing was directly responsible for the Scots first try, in a game where England are not so dominant up front it is errors like this that could lead to crucial scores. I thought Brown was excellent again in attack and want to see him in the team vs Ireland. I am sure im not the only one who would like to see brown at full back and a winger brought in but I dont think Lancaster will do this as there are no wingers in the squad demanding selection. Wade should be in the squad.

Apart from that we have the potential return of Tuilagi. Now, a fit and firing tuilagi is a certain starter but the policy is play your way back in, and he should be given every opportunity to do so from the bench, if he does come back firing then the question of who he replaces will be asked on the next test weekend.

The only other selection questions may come from injuries and knocks that tend to emerge in the days after a test match but the only one I have heard is Morgans ankle and nothing to suggest he is not fit, if he isnt, its Haskell for me. Haskell is unfortunate not to be in the side anyway, different player to morgan but against a strong Irish back row it could be a benefit having him there.

Lads, you’ll have to forgive me as I don’t watch much prem rugby so I’ve not seen a whole heap of Joe Marler (aside from a few HC games where he was very good) but is he as strong a scrummager as Corbisiero? I seem to remember that England made hay with our scrum last year even before Ross went off but that Corbisiero was doing most of the damage. Is he injured by the way?

Mickado

Don't think he's as strong or a famed scrummager... didn't he get bested by the AUS scrum in the AI from what I recall. He's a bit on the light side right, more mobile then a big lump like Adam Jones.

I think Marler and Corbs are actually quite similar, but Corbs is just further along with his progression. Both are good in the loose, although I think Marler is probably slightly supior in terms of carrying. Corbs at the moment is the more destructive scrummager, but he plagued by injury at the moment.

He's got terrible knees, and they keep flaring up. Think he's had surgery and keeps having them flushed out. Could be looking at the rest of the season away from rugby, which is worrying for a prop so young.

fa0019 wrote:Mickado

Don't think he's as strong or a famed scrummager... didn't he get bested by the AUS scrum in the AI from what I recall. He's a bit on the light side right, more mobile then a big lump like Adam Jones.

He wasn't the best scrummager, but Rowntree has worked his magic again and improved his set piece work no-end.

Against Oz, he wasn't great, but he injured his MCL early on and struggled in the scrums from that point on. He was excellent against Murray at the weekend, and also showed his deft skills with ball in hands.

Thanks lads, would you expect England to be able to target Ross as effectively with Marler starting?

As with any team the TH is the lynchpin but it's particularly the case for Ireland because we have no depth what so ever in that position. Ross goes, we're boned. Ross lasts 80 mins, we could be in with a shout.

Joe Marler previews the weekend game:

http://www.quins.co.uk/matchdaytv/?play=media&id=14312

Mickado wrote:Thanks lads, would you expect England to be able to target Ross as effectively with Marler starting?

As with any team the TH is the lynchpin but it's particularly the case for Ireland because we have no depth what so ever in that position. Ross goes, we're boned. Ross lasts 80 mins, we could be in with a shout.

I think Marler will give it a good go, definitely. To be honest, I reckon we'll see Hartley start for his extra weight in the front row, which should also help Marler against Ross.

Marler dealt very comfortably with Murray, so Rowntree's doing something right. It's going to be an intriguing battle in the front row, certainly!

Marler's technique and actual scrummaging are actually pretty good now. However, he's still very naive and when Alexander started using dark arts on him he didn't know how to adapt. That was the issue more than injury IMO. If the scrum is "fair" I reckon him and Ross will be about evens, but Ross is probably wilier than Marler, who can be hot headed. O'Shea seems to be cooling him and other Quins players (Care, Brown) down but Ireland could exploit that