England v Barbarians

First topic message reminder :

With a few posts on the topic of the 40 man squad Lancaster will select next week I started to think about who might feature in the game against the Barbarians at the end of the month and maybe play themselves into the squad for the first test against the Boks.

So, given that the Premiership final is the same weekend, make an assumption about what teams will be playing on the Saturday and therefore what England squad you would select for the Sunday.



Quins v Tigers


Corbisero
Hartley
PDJ
Botha
Robson (Palmer might be playing that weekend if Stade claim 6th)
Dowson
Fearns
Morgan
Dickson
Farrell
Strettle
Barritt
Joseph
Ashton
Foden

Mullan
Lindsay
Garvey
Gibson
Spencer
Burns
May

?

Please - no more talk of Banahan as a 12, or on the wing for that matter!

Actually mentioning the B word directly is bad luck

Ok well I just thought the inclusion of Banahan at 12 would give a better balance, and as much as I hate to say this 'Geordie' but i doubt Fitzpatrick is a realistic option.

Therefore I feel Waldouck would be my option at 12. A player who only a couple of years ago was destined for greatness, like his best friend Cipriani, only to have a setback in his career due to injury.

He's been looking pretty good though, in what has been a very poor Wasps side.

I'll take Waldouck over the B word

I think Lancaster will take this seriously - this is the first game together for his new coaching team (and Catt's first 'international' game) and SA will be a real challenge. I therefore would be amazed if an u23 side was picked. I'm assuming only Quins and Tigers players won't be available (and that no u20s players will be selected with the JWC just about to start):

Corbisero (if fit, otherwise Mullan (if fit) otherwise Wood)
Hartley
PDJ
Botha
Robson
Launchbury
Fearns/Gibson/Johnson
Morgan
Dickson
Farrell
Ashton
Barritt
Joseph (assuming Trinder isn't fit)
Strettle
Foden

Whitehead
Thomas
Attwood
Fearns/Gibson/Johnson
Thomas
Burns
May

Miller is unlucky, but I don't think you can afford the luxury of a specialist FB on the bench. However, we had one during the 6 Nations so it isn't impossible. Wade is also very unlucky and could certainly feature.

I'm pleased with our options at 7, given how many players are unavailable.

Dave...you've picked Robson at second row...who is quins.

Replace with Garvey and champion...

Damn it, I had Robson/Myall and then decided that was a cop out!

I'm sticking Myall in, as I don't think the England coaches rate Garvey. I should say I do rate Garvey, but his treatment by the Saxons was very strange.

Also, England could do worse than have a look at young Sam Jones at 7 - I think he's got something about him.

I take your point Dave, and it seems like Lancaster takes each game pretty seriously from a youth point of view. He included Launchbury for example but only to get a feel for the training environment.

If I were advising him however, I think I would encourage a more Johnnoesque sort of selection for the Baa Baas. There is pretty much nothing riding on this game, unless we lose by 50+ points which would be extremely unlikely. There aren't many games where young up and coming players can test themselves against some of the best in the world, and the outcome is relatively meaningless.

Taking into account the potential Tigers v Quins final, and the resting of some regulars this would be my team:

1. M Mullan
2. J George
3. P Doran-Jones
4. M Garvey
5. C Day
6. C Fearns
7. G Mercer
8. B Morgan
9. R Wigglesworth
10. F Burns
11. C Wade
12. B Barritt
13. J Joseph
14. J May
15. R Miller

16. T Lindsay 17. R Harden 18. D Attwood 19. T Johnson 20. H Thomas 21. G Ford 22. M Benjamin

I think that it's a reasonably well balanced team, with a few more familiar faces in there to add to their relatively little experience. I feel Barritt needs an opportunity to show what he can do in attack rather than everything depending on him being a defensive lynch pin.

Barritt, Morgan, Wiggs etc.. are mixed with some guys who have been sticking their hand up for inclusion. The likes of Garvey, Mullan, Burns and Joseph have all been playing very well. Then there's a few more developmental choices such as George, Ford (probably not selected by Cockers), Wade and May.

Actually the more i think about it CHJW i think many players might not have played for quite a while...so this may be a good chance to put out the first team..or as close as possible to give them a run out before the SA tour.

I'm sure in future years this game will feature plenty of uncapped youngsters, but if England have a poor tour in SA then we proably won't be top seeded in the next WC. Catt needs to work with as many of the players who will start the 1st test as possible, and as he has defensive duties too that means forwards as well as backs.

Christ almighty does that mean we can be treated to Owen Farrell kicking the living daylights out of the ball for 80 minutes then? Or if when it is put through the hands (heaven forbid!) that the pass is ensured to be three feet behind the receiver?

Probably....although you would hope catt would try to have a little influence straight away.

I would certainly have Burns in the squad for that game and Hodgson aswell.