All Black Bench has 50 more caps than the whole England team.

Despite nine changes from the All Blacks team that drew with Australia last month, the starting side boasts 556 caps with 267 on the bench, 16 of the 23 played in the RWC winning squad.

Flood is the most experienced player in the England side with 50 caps. The combined total of England's starting line-up is just 215. 6 England players played at the RWC last year.

Flood (50), Care (33), Tom Palmer (40) and Dan Cole (31) account for 154 of those caps between them. Eight of England's starting line-up count their caps in single figures. Youngs is uncapped.

To put that in context, when England fielded three debutants in their starting line-up against Scotland it was still a more experienced side than this one, with a combined total of 236 caps.

England = Rebuilding (still)

gregortree wrote:England = Rebuilding (still)

and that New Zealand are an ageing team on the slide

Englands problem is that they have never been a team to bring in new players unless they have too.

But now under Lancaster i think that will change, providing that they give him a fair go in the job. And that they do not boot him out at the first loss of tournasment.

...and the point would be?

Stuart Lancaster has two problems:
1) He inherited a squad where Martin Johnson had got the balance of experienced talent and new blood wrong, and had to rebuild because so little of that talent would be available in 2015. That didn't go so badly in the last 6N.

2) He's got injuries to several of his more experienced players - Hartley, Corbisiero, Foden, and a suspension to Ashton - so he's having to rely on some less experienced ones.

The only real option he has to increase the caps in that squad right now is to recall Easter, but that's out of line with the principle of building for 2015.

On the plus side:
a) It means he's building wider group of players who will have international experience and potentially a fair bit of it by 2015
b) There are lots of unproven players in that squad - but also a lot of potential.
c) If he's picked the right group and has a bit of luck with injuries, most of these guys could have 30-40 caps by 2015. That's a solid basis for an RWC bid.

I still dont get what his excuse for picking Waldrom over Easter is though.

SubsBench wrote:

gregortree wrote:England = Rebuilding (still)

and that New Zealand are an ageing team on the slide

absolutely. Owen Franks, Romano, Whitelock, Read, Savea, Ellison, B Smith, Jane, Dagg, Coles, Cane and TKB are all old buggers, right?