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Comments
ArmchairGeneral says...
Wade may have a very short international future if those S.Af kickers target him. Benjamin is more of an international. Wade reminds me of Garvey who was unfortunate not to get an England, a tough but probably correct call. Some guys are good club players but not internationals Wade, and perhaps Hodgson fit that. Agree Stevens should also not be in the mix... Also agree Joseph at 13 especially as yesterday Manu was off form and Farrell is better at 10..
Posted 10:55 27th May 2012
lawynd says...
@NHsaints - Benjamin's issue has been that he's playing for the team that scored the fewest tries in the AP last season; if the ball never reaches the wing there's not a lot you can do really. He's got a lot to do to fill Alesana Tuilagi's boots but if he's going to realise his potential there aren't many better places to do it than at the team that have scored the most tries in the AP!
Posted 00:13 26th May 2012
Jediboy says...
Really looking forward to seeing Wade in an England shirt. I must hope England get the ball to him.
He's got a bright future.
Posted 21:40 25th May 2012
makemehappy says...
Haven't heard any reviews of Fearns at all, nor seen him play, which is odd since I frequently watch English rugby games on tv.
Posted 18:57 25th May 2012
melkdave says...
Well a good solid team from SL ,and nice to see England using it as a proper preparation match.I also would have liked to see OF start at 10 and JJ at 13with Benjaman and Goode starting with C.Wade and Mullan.But the backline is solid so no real complaints .Hoping the match is going to be a cracker and that England get a real workout and hopefully show some attacking creativatity
Posted 18:17 25th May 2012
APV1 says...
@ yelloj321 - they're all a darn-sight better than you, I imagine!
Posted 16:21 25th May 2012
NHsaints says...
hmm alot of good picks there, nice to see lancaster mixing it up where johnson didn't (no easter or tindall when both are available) it'll be interesting to see how this backline runs with a man as good as christian wade outside them...he's absolute lightning fast and I'd put money on him scoring most times he pulls on an england jersey...also nice to see fearns and johnson getting starts as both are quality back rowers. Also it's good to see how much depth we have now...3 potential starting wingers, 3 looseheads, 2 quality tightheads (plus wood coming through from gloucester), countless Flankers and plenty of good 8's. About 5 international standard second rowers, 4 scrum halves competeing for the jersey, 2 good 10's with guys like Ford and Flood on backup, still not too many top quality 12's in the picture but Barrett is good and Twelvetrees or allen could probably fill the gap even better, we have Foden, Brown and Goode for 15's (now those are some good 15's) and tuilagi and trinder ect who can cover 13. People big up Miles Benjamin but he just doesn't score as much as Wade and that's what we want from him...
Posted 15:55 25th May 2012
redcoat2806 says...
Happy with everyone except Stevens. He tried his hardest to screw everything up when he came off the bench during the six nations :
"hands off white" (5 seconds later Stevens is still tugging at the ball) "oh a penalty? For Wales to level the scores? Nice one Stevens cheers".
Plus his scrummaging has been suspect recently. Would like to see Mullan given a decent run and for Stevens to put in a big performance
Posted 15:50 25th May 2012
pierredelot1 says...
Seems that he's feilding a conservative side here. Whats he expecting to find out that we don't know already about this Saracens back line. Solid in defence but unable to really cut loose and score in attack, i do hope I'm wrong but it looks a bit " Same old England" Hopefully Joseph will get a chance to show some true pace in the middle. Stephens does have a lot to prove and I've got the feeling he's not going to do it yet again, he just hasn't quite got it at the top level. Back row interesting, oh that a great No 7 could be found somewhere, England have none, Wales have two great ones.Fearns has a chance of showing something, lets hope so.But its only a BaaBaas match so avoiding injury will be top of the agenda, followed by entertainment, barely worth the entrance fee if it pans out as usual.
Posted 15:32 25th May 2012
yelloj321 says...
Good Lord that's a poor team.
Hodgson isn't even HC standard never mind international standard. Tom Johnson, Lee Dickson, Phil Dowson and Carl Fearns are useless.
Posted 15:14 25th May 2012
chesh10 says...
@armchairgeneral
I think Benjamin's impending move to Leicester will be the making of him (as well as Adam Thompstone, making the Leicester back 3 look very dangerous all of a sudden)
He was playing at quite an unattractive club in Worcester meaning he's less likely to be noticed but at Leicester he'll be at the fore. He's solid in all areas, extremely quick and is a fair size too. Wade is more electric, but I reckon Benjamin will come on strong for 2015
Posted 13:50 25th May 2012
chesh10 says...
dissapointed by the inclusion of Hodgson, but if he was going to be in he'd start, as having Goode and Hodgson on the bench wouldn't make a lot of sense.
Interested to see the backrow go, particularly the flankers and hopefully barritt can get his offloading game going, rather than just crash bash.
Hoping the electric Wade doesn't get flustered on his basics (which I feel are a little short of where they need to be) and that Joseph and Goode get some game time
Posted 13:47 25th May 2012
Bones7 says...
@ armchairgeneral, I definitely think Benjamin should be involved. He's huge, quick, got great hands, awesome in defence. Probably lacks the top end pace of Wade and the agility but he's not massively off and he makes up for it by being far far more solid. Fearns and Johnson will be very good I think, can't wait to see them in action!
Posted 13:26 25th May 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
Would think Miles Benjamin deserved to be ahead of Wade. He's maybe not got Wades x factor in attack but that's debatable and he's more complete in his all round game and experience with Saxons U20s etc
Posted 12:49 25th May 2012
TVaddict says...
Fair enough, but I don't see the point of starting Hodgson. He doesn't have anything to prove as we know what he's capable of, he has tons of experience, he's not the future, and he'll be lucky to get a place in the 22 squad in South Africa. We're likely to place Farrell at 10, so why not let him get some more experience in the position?
I really hope Joseph gets longer than the last 10 minutes to show what he's capable of.
Posted 11:55 25th May 2012
sirtidychris says...
Good to see we can field such a strong team with all the leicester and harlequins players missing. Bit worried by a lack of creativity between 10-13 will be interesting to see if we start to develop a bit more attacking flair with catty replacing Farrell as backs coach or whether we will continue with the aggressive defensive and chargedown charlie approach to winning !
Posted 11:44 25th May 2012
benski says...
This is going to be a great game!
Posted 11:42 25th May 2012
rugby_rockstar says...
Nice to see Goode covering FB. in a unimaginative sarracens team , his counter attacking shines like a lighthouse in a foggy night.
Talking of rubbish attacking invention I want to see the saracens midfield show us what they can bring to England. It's a huge game for Owen Farrell because I'm not the only one questioning his invention and attacking threat. Time to front up Owen.
Posted 11:18 25th May 2012
APV1 says...
It's a good looking team. I'd prefer to keep OF at 10, as he's the future as far as I can tell. Perhaps OF at 10, JJ at Centre and CH on the bench might have been better...
Matt Stevens has a lot to prove (to me, if nothing else, and that is obviously very important to him!). I used to rate him when he was with Bath, but I've not been so impressed since his return, especially at Test level. I know he "plays both sides" but is LH his preferred?
Good to see Wade, Fearns, Johnson and D-J get their well-deserved start too.
C'mon England!!!!
Posted 11:10 25th May 2012
jestnation says...
I'm glad that we're clearly taking the game seriously and that the new boys will have a really solid team to slot into.
Would have loved to see Joseph start at outside centre as I think that he would have had a chance to sparkle but I guess we're a bit afraid of a Tait/Henson situation happening as Kirwan has picked a pair of beasts in the centres for the Baa Baas. However that midfield looks horribly short of either invention or linebreaking power.
Would liked to have seen Mullan get a start. I know Afoa is a tank but I think Mullan could handle him and we're certainly not going to learn anything about Stevo that we don't already know.
Like the look of the back row and eager to see what they can do in attack of what should be a strong scrummage.
In short I think SL has been a little over conservative but I do understand why. Delighted to see Wadey get a chance to sparkle and I think if Joseph, Mullan, Goode & Launchbury get decent run outs then it'll be well worth it.
Posted 11:10 25th May 2012