Revised EPS announced ahead of the QBE Test Series

woop woop woop ]


GLAAWWWSTERRRR

Burns and 36 called up

good, both deserve a shot.

Launchbury called up too now to cover a knock to Palmer.

So a lot of these boys that a lot of people are clamouring for are obviously right on the edge of selection. Lets hope they all put in a good days work at every opportunity and make it stick.

Well they couldn't have been much further down. I'm glad Launchbury is now in the EPS, even if it does tend to suggest even more though that Botha is nailed on for selection - heh ho

Launchbury is a quality player for Wasps.

Having worked for QBE for almost 13 years it seems weird to see our name splattered all over the rugby! When I joined we were comparatively tiny and didn't sponsor anything. I'd love to say it was down to me but it certainly wasn't

Though it does have the advantage of being able to score loads of corporate tickets for the games

Joe Marler
Tom Youngs
Dan Cole
Tom Palmer
Geoff Parling
Tom Johnson
Chris Robshaw
Thomas Waldrom
Danny Care
Toby Flood
Ugo Monye
Brad Barritt
Manu Tuilagi
Charlie Sharples
Alex Goode

Replacements:

David Paice (London Irish), David Wilson (Bath), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Tom Wood (Northampton), Ben Youngs (Leicester), Owen Farrell (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins)

Happy Goode got the nod

dont like sharples but oh well. could be worse

Neither winger is a creative soul at heart, but at least Monye has been called up on this seasons form. Sharples is in the EPS based on form from a long time back.

Still Sharples is fast, and that counts. So lets see how he does.

Worth noting again if the England management were paying attention there's no reason Ashton wouldn't have been available.

Whys that Quin? The Ashton thing?

Ashton was cited for a suspect tackle (shoulder charge really) against Saints. The citing was the equivalent of a yellow card, and he'd already had 2 yellos this season.

3 yellows that clsoe together leads to a one match ban

Had England 'released' him to play for Sarries the one match ban would have taken place for the Sarries match he was never going to play in.

As England didn't release him the timing of the ban commenced after the Sarries match such he would then miss the Fiji match.

Had England released him I think everyone would have known what they'd done, but as long as no one said anything we'd have had Ashton available.

So England may have acted in the wider interests of the sport is one view, the other they've missed a trick as they weren't paying attention.

I'm sure someone would have spotted the trick, and it wouldn't have surprised me if Lancaster were using it as a punishment against Ashton?

Not buying that. If being tough on those who need it was important to Burt he wouldn't have put Calum the Arm Breaker Clark into the England A squad

ahh well it all went well anyway. actually tbf sharples had a pretty good game
i was there in the south stands!! awesome day!

If you were they how did they handle Goode stepping up into the line as a 2nd receiver, or optional 1st receiver on the shortside? i.e. did anyone drop back to act as a sweeper with Goode up in the line?

well it was generally what ever side they were attacking, the opposite winger would drop back unless he was running a pre-planned move. i.e. if goode was attacking left, the right winger would drop back and act as sweeper.
also it gave flood more options obviously and so his game was more varier making it hard to predict, this is where he is much better than farrell, and he often played more flat than usual. also i noticed tuilagi was never as affective in the 6 nations because he was often stationery when recieving the ball, i think goode's organization and involvement meant that tuilagi could get some speed up before he was given the ball, so he made much more of an impact, shown in his two tries
also tom youngs was very impressive, he's dynamic, kinda like a szarzewski figure

Allen, Botha, Burns, Corbisiero, Dickson, Dowson, Haskell, Joseph, Lawes, Monye, Morgan, Robson, Twelvetrees

13 players released back.

So no left winger, again.

surprising actually, i was impressed by monye. always have been. also still prefer morgan to waldrom. also like corbs and lawes, though with our strength in debth in those areas i can see why