England team: Robinson, Lewsey, Noon, Catt, Sackey, Barkley, Perry, Easter, Rees, Corry, Kay, Shaw, Vickery (captain), Regan, Sheridan. Replacements: Chuter, Stevens, Borthwick, Moody, Gomarsall, Farrell.Cueto, Dallaglio & Worsley miss out completely. Robinson switches to 15 and Sackey, Corry and Easter come in.
Wilko is still out and apparently Barkley is off to have a scan on his hip, if he is ruled out that leaves Catt at 10 and Farrell having to play so we have a kicker!! Althou if my memory serves Gomarsall used to be able to kick so perhaps that would make more sense that playing Farrell.
I don't understand why Dallaglio was dropped completely, he would still have been a more useful impact player than either Borthwick or Moody, and Corry could have acted as 2nd row cover......and as previously stated Lewsey should be at 15.
3 comments:
Hmmm.
Agree with you about Dallaglio. Will be interesting to see what press statements he makes - I hope he isn't disruptive as Carling predicted he would be! But having said that I would always have Moody on the subs bench - he has proved time and again that he does give impact from the bench but the risk is that he gives away penalties too.
I don't understand this kicker stuff - sure we want Wilkinson to be the kicker and he can't be, but we have five kickers in the squad (in order): Wilkinson, Barkley, Farrell, Catt, Gomarsall. It was an old Clive Woodward thought to make sure that the likes of Dawson and Gomarsall could kick so that he didn't have to select a player purely for his kicking ability if Wilkinson got injured.
I don't think we need to worry too much - if Barkley can't play, Farrell would have been in the team on merit I reckon, not just because he is the kicker. Having said that, Tait would make a far better partner for him than Noon....I'm not sure what has happened to him in terms of Ashton's thinking!
With Vickery suspended, I am pleased that Stevens has been given a chance. I would have had him in my starting XV from the beginning. Also, it's good to see Sackey starting. He offers raw pace which is something that is lacking in this team.
I think his bench doesn't make sense. With 3 locks starting, having a fourth on the bench limits the plays that England can have. I've mentioned it before but Haskell should have been taken for his impact sub role that he plays well for Wasps.
Slightly puzzled by the complete exclusion of Worsley, who is possibly the best defender in the squad. Admittedly, he rarely plays for England as well as he does for Wasps, but he has pedigree when it comes to stopping big runners, and the South Africans will have plenty of those.
Aside from that, the fly-half one is fairly simple, either Catt plays 10 and Farrell does goalkicking from inside centre, or we risk Olly Barkley if he's about 80% or better, and hope Wilkinson is back the following week if he gets injured again. Tait incidentally, along with Hipkiss, is ill, and in isolation, which is why there's a spare spot on the bench at the moment for a back.
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