Smith nailed his colours to the mast
Lynagh and Kenningham too. Fantastic to see so many young players excelling.
Hopefully he will not ruin them
Who do we play in the league during the autumn internationals and training weeks? Is it Saracens, Wasps and London Irish or will players also miss the game on 4 Dec too v Tigers away?
Worst case for us......
Baxter
Wilson
Kerrod
Lewies
Symons
Chisholm
Evans
New Kiwi Guy (forgot his name)
Care
Allan
Murley
Andre
Northmore
David
Green
Botta
Riley
Collier
Lamb
Wallace/White
Stafford
Edwards
Chisholm
Thats still a pretty useful side. Considering the sides we play will be missing a couple as well. Im still think we will have a couple of our boys back anyway.
I can see a scenario where Eddie starts Ford and brings Marcus on to finish teams off. Think he'll get the Tonga game at least and maybe that changes. Changing away from Youngs-Ford-Farrell would be a complete shift and I'm not sure Eddie's amenable to that, but it probably needs to happen pre-world cup. Transitionally, Randall - Smith - Farrell or Youngs - Smith - (someone else) might work. Think you need to keep one of the old guard in there at first and that's probably what we'll see.
Dombrandt could also be used similarly off the bench but my preference would be to start him, Curry and Simmonds, with Simmonds at 6. He just offers so much more than the other options at 8.
I'd personally like to see this:
4 Itoje
5 Hill
6 Simmonds
7 Curry
8 Dombrandt
9 Randall
10 Smith
With bench options being:
19 Lawes
20 Kenningham
21 Youngs
22 Ford
I can see a scenario where Eddie starts Ford and brings Marcus on to finish teams off. Think he'll get the Tonga game at least and maybe that changes. Changing away from Youngs-Ford-Farrell would be a complete shift and I'm not sure Eddie's amenable to that, but it probably needs to happen pre-world cup. Transitionally, Randall - Smith - Farrell or Youngs - Smith - (someone else) might work. Think you need to keep one of the old guard in there at first and that's probably what we'll see.
Dombrandt could also be used similarly off the bench but my preference would be to start him, Curry and Simmonds, with Simmonds at 6. He just offers so much more than the other options at 8.
I'd personally like to see this:
4 Itoje
5 Hill
6 Simmonds
7 Curry
8 Dombrandt
9 Randall
10 Smith
With bench options being:
19 Lawes
20 Kenningham
21 Youngs
22 Ford
I like the idea, Kid, but as mentioned above, I think apart for Tonga, where he may start with quite a few changes, EJ is likely to remain somewhat conservative and go for Youngs-Ford/Farrell with Curry/Underhill and Simmonds at 8; second half, for impact and if Englands front 5 have worn down SA and Aus (which I doubt they'll do) then bring on more speed with Randall/Smith and Dombrandt at 8.
There is a case for starting with the speedsters and running their packs around to tire them out early, but it's a gamble as it's difficult to see how England will be in control early in a game against NZ/SA/Aus or France - or Ireland/Wales/Scotland on last years performances...
Ford has been dropped from the squad. I know it's only a training squad, but the media and Ford himself certainly think he has, anyway! The problem is if Youngs and Farrell continue to stink out the place at 9 and 12 :(
I don't think Simmonds makes it at 6, he's 8 or bust; Lawes performed excellently on the Lions tour and Eddie's a fan of putting him at 6, so it's a tossup as to which of Lawes/Curry/Underhill gets put there.
I also think Dan Robson is a better all-round player than Harry Randall - agree with you about Randall being a bench option for raising the tempo, but Robson is the guy I'd trust to do all the scrum half things well, not just the running.
Love to see Randall in a Quins shirt, but he'd be costly...
Eddie has said he is looking at a tall rangy blindside flanker. So I can see Lawes starting at 6. Other options there are Ted Hill and Keningham, also Capstick at Exeter.
You need the extra lineout jumper in the international game. Otherwise the likes of SA will squeeze you out of games. Against NZ it's not so bad hence he went with Curry and Underhill at flanker in the semi final.
There are so many good players knocking around.
My England team would be:
1. Genge
2. LCD
3. Sinclair
4. Mark
5. Hill
6. Law's
7. Underhill
8. Domborant
9. Robson
10. Smith
11. Radwan
12. Tulangi
13. Slade
14: Lynagh
15. Stewart
Eddie has said he is looking at a tall rangy blindside flanker. So I can see Lawes starting at 6. Other options there are Ted Hill and Keningham, also Capstick at Exeter.
You need the extra lineout jumper in the international game. Otherwise the likes of SA will squeeze you out of games. Against NZ it's not so bad hence he went with Curry and Underhill at flanker in the semi final.
There are so many good players knocking around.
My England team would be:
1. Genge
2. LCD
3. Sinclair
4. Mark
5. Hill
6. Law's
7. Underhill
8. Domborant
9. Robson
10. Smith
11. Radwan
12. Tulangi
13. Slade
14: Lynagh
15. Stewart
You'd put Ghenghis Cant ahead of Mahler?
Love to see Randall in a Quins shirt, but he'd be costly...
Yes but sadly Danny can’t go on for ever🥲
Yes but sadly Danny can’t go on for ever🥲
9 worries me a lot. While Danny made a few mistakes last night, he's significantly responsible for the pace we play at. The last backp 9 we had who felt like he wasn't a step down in tempo was Dickson.
Love to see Randall in a Quins shirt, but he'd be costly...
He's coming to Quins for sure. He had a lengthy chat with Dombrandt on the pitch after the game.
Actually maybe Dombrandt is off to Bristol.
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