Revised EPS announced ahead of the QBE Test Series

Mako Vunipola and Tom Youngs into the squad, Haskell and Monye return. All injury covers.

Lawes and Wood return from injury.

sounds good. what do you mean 'all injury covers'? excited about wood. foden is out whats the status on croft?
i will be at twickenham when fiji roll into town!

Croft is out due to injury.

That's why they called up Haskell.

Also to cover knocks to Lawes and Hartley they've now added Robson and Paice to the squad. Don't really care too much about hooker as there are a fair number out and it was almost 50/50 Paice Vs Mear from who was left standing, but the continued disregard for Garvey is getting JSD in scale

well apparently lawes and hartley got scans on their knees yesterday and results are meant to be available around 5ish. marler now has a tight hamstring and is being replaced by matt mullan.
and does this mean T.Youngs would be the 1st choice hooker if hartley is out?

I'd think it would have to mean that.

Well... it's only Fiji.

My XV I'd expect Lancaster to pick:

1. Marler
2. Youngs
3. Cole
4. Parling
5. Palmer
6. Johnson
7. Robshaw
8. Waldrom
9. Youngs
10. Flood
11. Monye
12. Tuilagi
13. Joseph
14. Ashton
15. Goode

Subs:

16. Paice
17. Vunipola
18. Wilson
19. Botha
20. Wood
21. Care
22. Farrell
23. Brown

Scratch that, Brown and Youngs were sent back to their clubs for the fiji game.

That pack won't be miles off, perhaps Marler might miss out with his knock, and perhaps Botha will play (boo hiss)

But what strikes me with any of those starting is that for England, and how we play, that's a small pack. Either we're going to have to move the ball with much greater speed and better execution or we could be in trouble.

And not just a small pack, but no physical edge to it. Which is why I think players like Attwood and Garvey would be so useful. I'd also wonder with our lack of physicality how hard Wood will find it to shift Johnson even if he's not playing that well.

question marks over marler and palmer. lawes and hartley still unsure about. and the others that have been released to their clubs, after reading the article i didnt take that to mean they were out of contention. obviously unless they're injured.
but now ashton is appearing before a disciplinnary panel today after his 3rd yellow of the season. have to admit he's a great player but he really needs to sort this out.
if he cant play, i'd like to see c. wade given a chance

Shimmy effort that from England. Someone should know the rules and be checking on them.

Had they released Ashton for the Sarries game he wouldn't have been allowed to play with a one match ban. Not that ban will have to be held back for an England game.

Just a poor, poor piece of management

Shimmy was not the word I used

Fercukkit doesn't work either, fun and games with the swear filter, you Illegitimate Love Child.

Clive Woodward, I'm told, has picked the following team in today's Sunday Times:

1 Sheridan
2 Hartley
3 Cole
4 Lawes
5 Parling
6 Robshaw
7 Saull
8 Easter
9 Care
10 Cipriani
11 Ashton
12 Burns
13 Armitage
14 Wade
15 Brown

Has to be out of context, cant see Woodward ever picking Cipriani and a centre partnership like that??? nah.

He's also excluded Tuilagi, and Joseph come to that. His reasoning for the backline is to inject pace, he does note he might pick May ahead of Armitage at 13.

Saull is way out there even for him, though again he's seemingly thinking t'other Armitage or Saull to get a real 7 to scrap on the floor with Pocock et al.

Ashton on the left wing is odd, he's been utter pants whenever picked on the left.

Easter one can argue is the form 8, but he's often been a little wobbly for England in the past. And I don't just mean his waistline.

I can understand Saull and Easter, I think, is the most Woowardesque pick of the lot.

But from the man who championed Wilkinson, Tindall , Greenwood . . . . Cipriani, Burns, Armitage??? must have been drunk.

Cipriani needs no explanation as to why he'd be a bad pick, Burns ok as a creative risk taker but not what you'd expect defensively from Woodward at 12 and Armitage is such a loose cannon, Woodward was never a fan of stupid penalties, how can he pick Armitage?

beardface wrote:I can understand Saull

I can't. He can barely get in the Sarries squad, never mind team, when they've been missing Joubert and Burger.

Saull and Easter is a bit more of a classical back row

beardface wrote:Saull and Easter is a bit more of a classical back row

He's picking injured players. On which basis he must actually believe Robshaw, Saull and Easter is better than Croft, Armitage and Morgan.

Now we're all free to our beliefs. But I really don't know where I'd find the blind faith to want Woody back in rugby if he's going to pick like that. It's more a Stephen Jones selection in the times, i.e. one based on getting a reaction to content rather than a reasonable argument.

also i thought sheridan retired from the international stage after the world cup last year?

its nuts for sure

One thing it is doing is saying the policy of not picking your best players, even if based in France, is nuts. I can agree with Woody on that.

Burns is in for the injured Turner Hall