England U20 team to play France announced

First topic message reminder :

Nothing from Cumbrian yet, so I'll fill in. Team for tomorrow's U20 semi-final against France has been announced on the RFU website (http://www.rfu.com/News/2011/June/News%20Articles/200611_Eng_V_France_Team_JWC.aspx) and is as follows:

15 Ben Ransom Saracens
14 Jonathan Joseph London Irish
13 Guy Armitage London Irish
12 Owen Farrell Saracens
11 Christian Wade London Wasps
10 George Ford Leicester Tigers
9 Chris Cook Bath Rugby
1 Mako Vunipola Saracens
2 Mikey Haywood Northampton Saints
3 Will Collier Harlequins
4 Joe Launchbury London Wasps
5Charlie Matthews Harlequins
6 Matt Kvesic Worcester Warriors
7 Matt Everard Leicester Tigers
8 Alex Gray (C) Newcastle Falcons
Replacements
16 Rob Buchanan Harlequins
17 Ryan Bower Leicester Tigers
18 Sam Twomey Harlequins
19 Sam Jones London Wasps
20 Dan Robson Gloucester Rugby
21 Ryan Mills Gloucester Rugby
22 Marland Yarde London Irish

Noticeably weaker than the side that played the Baby Boks, with the absence of Thomas (tighthead) and Daly (outside centre), both of whom I suspect are injured, although annoyingly there is no update in the article. The good news is both replacements are strong, Collier is a huge unit and Guy Armitage (brother of Delon and Steffan) played superbly when he came on against South Africa.

The other good news is that surely this is our best wing combination with both Joseph and Wade massive natural talents with a lot of experience for their age. With Yarde on the bench and the error prone Andy Short in the stands that's as good as it gets.

The biggest problem for me is the reshuffling of the back row with Kvesic going back to the blind side and Everard coming back in for Jones, it seems to be a massive step backwards to the games where England got beaten up badly at the breakdown. I simply can't understand why that combination is preferred, Everard is a penalty machine while Kvesic looks like a pretty special openside to me. Hey ho.

Good luck tomorrow to the lads, looks like a good even match, but England are unbeaten this season and I think that if only they can keep discipline at the breakdown they will have too much for France again.

HammerofThunor wrote:I hoping for a WC backrow of Moody, Easter, Croft, Wood, Haskell and Robshaw. No out and out 7, one out and out 8, but still...

I'd pretty much agree with that. We're not the only ones struggling for so-called "specialists" in the back-row. Looking forward I wonder if Narroway has had his chips after his recent comments or if Johnson will see it as just frustration. He's never quite stepped up as I expected after the good tour to NZ he had in 2008.

Montague Withnail wrote:I think he was originally a prop that went the other way.

Where is Juggler these days?

You'll find him kicking about on rugby rebels