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The England Thread

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Dunno actually. Ashton went on record as saying he wanted to play specialist full-backs only, so Olly Morgan & Balshaw both got a go in the 6 Nations this year, but he seemed to recant quite quickly as Lewsey was back there for the French game & neither Morgan or Balshaw (or Mike Brown who played in the Saffie losses) is in the running for a place in the squad.

In our last 6 Nations game Ashton went for Cueto ahead of Lewsey so that may be a clue as to how he's thinking. Cipriani, who did well for Wasps at 15 towards the end of last season, is another option & I guess that's why he's still in the squad rather than as a fly-half option as we've also got Wilko, Hodgson, Barkley & Flood as 10s.
 

reptillia

School Boy/Girl Captain
True, from what I've seen of Cipriani he seems to be a player who could either do something brilliant or give the ball away, I haven't seen much of him TBH.
Also number 8? (it's just question after question with me :laugh:) Dallaghlio (spelling?), Corry?? Easter???
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
True, from what I've seen of Cipriani he seems to be a player who could either do something brilliant or give the ball away, I haven't seen much of him TBH.
Also number 8? (it's just question after question with me :laugh:) Dallaghlio (spelling?), Corry?? Easter???
Dallaglio for mine. Can't see why a bloke who'll be 35 by the time the tournament starts has been brought back in if he's not going to play. Corry may even get a go at lock as he did towards the end of our 6 Nations campaign.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Corry at lock? He's a bit short for that, isn't he?
Dunno how tall you think Corry is, but he's about 6' 5". Hardly a shortarse, even in today's terms.For mine he's a better lineout jumper than, say Simon Shaw who's 6' 9" as well. Shaw's such a big unit (used to be 21 stone) the props struggled to get him up.
 

Perm

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Dunno how tall you think Corry is, but he's about 6' 5". Hardly a shortarse, even in today's terms.For mine he's a better lineout jumper than, say Simon Shaw who's 6' 9" as well. Shaw's such a big unit (used to be 21 stone) the props struggled to get him up.
I'm afraid I don't work in your fancy system of feet and inches, roughly how many centimetres is that?
 

steds

Hall of Fame Member
Well some of us rate him, but unfortunately we don't pick the squad. Leaves Tom Rees as our only specialist open side too, so really can't see the logic. Hey-ho. 8-)
Without looking I'd guess he'd have about ten caps, mainly from the bench. It's infuriating because, as well as being a decent ball-winning 7, he's tall so he's another line-out option too. FTR I rate Rees above him, but if he's crocked now we'd have to go with Moody who's really more of a 6-and-a-half than a 7.
What's the difference between blindside and openside?
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
What's the difference between blindside and openside?
The openside has to be a genuine 'fetcher' of the loose ball.
Pretty much what Perm says. Both flankers are really the guys who look to secure possession (which is why league with its uncontested recycling of possession did away with them) but opensides (as the name suggests) in scrums pack down on the side where the scrum-half will (probably) be looking to pass the ball to his 10, so a good 7 will always be looking to collar either before they get the chance to do something with it.

Blindside flankers (in theory) have less space to cover than their mates on the openside, so tend to be bigger & probably do more actual ball-carrying like a No 8 would too.
 
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steds

Hall of Fame Member
Oh ok. Just wondered why Farrell couldn't do it if he was in the squad. He sure as hell isn't a centre.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Love the talk from Dallaglio in that article...one of my favourite English players...

Did I just say that?
Getting soft in your old age. :p Actually with a name like Lawrence Bruno Nero Dallaglio he probably sounds one of the least English players ever.

Anyway, Paul Weaver in The Guardian lists a "possible" (meaning he's probably heard something from someone) England 30. Linky.

Possible squad

Forwards

Andrew Sheridan
Kevin Yates
Phil Vickery
Matt Stevens
George Chuter
Lee Mears
Mark Regan
Steve Borthwick
Martin Corry
Ben Kay
Tom Palmer
Lewis Moody
Joe Worsley
Lawrence Dallaglio
Dan Ward-Smith
Tom Rees

Backs

Nick Abendanon
Andy Gomarsall
Peter Richards
Shaun Perry
Jonny Wilkinson
Charlie Hodgson
Toby Flood
Mike Catt
Mathew Tait
Mike Tindall or Jamie Noon
Jason Robinson
Mark Cueto
David Strettle
Paul Sackey


No Lewsey the obvious shock. No quite sure how Abendanon is preferred to either him or Cipriani myself, but there you go. Be interesting to see how close he gets.
 

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