England and the November Tests
The November Tests will give us a chance to assess just where Stuart Lancaster's England side are headed before the 2015 World Cup.
The November internationals will give us a real chance to assess just where Stuart Lancaster's England side are headed before the World Cup.
Foundations will be laid across the park, but it's in the midfield where a level of uncertainty prevails.
England are preparing to take on Australia, New Zealand and Argentina without some key players. Manu Tuilagi is the most recent casualty, unavailable because of a pectoral injury which might keep him out until at least November.
The injury to Tuilagi comes on top of the withdrawals of fellow Lions Tom Croft and Brad Barritt. This could give opportunities to players like Jonathan Joseph, Joel Tomkins and Henry Trinder. Many observers are calling for the inclusion of cross-code star Tomkins to give England the pace and explosive power that they'll lose with Tuilagi.
Powerful and quick outside centres can be prone to injury so consuming the right nutrition and Maxiraw bodybuilding supplements can be vital for the squad, especially during the packed out schedule before Christmas. The squad are going to need to keep strong in the gym and eat well.
Lancaster could treat the crisis in two ways. He could experiment in the centre of the park and hope to find some new combinations to take to the World Cup, or he might play it safe in the view that this is amongst England's last high intensity meetings before the tournament.
Lancaster hasn't had it easy in terms of injury, with Ashton and Youngs being the only two backs surviving from his first game in charge.
It appears that England aren't the only team weighing up selection dilemmas for the coming Test series, after Australia controversially dropped Will Genia from the team. Genia hasn't been at his mercurial best in recent times, but then neither have Australia, and he has been forced to play on the back foot for long spells.
It seems then that the Test Series may be short of a few stars across the board, but Lancaster will be keen to focus solely on his own team. Further injuries could turn England's injury worries into a real crisis, and it'll be crucial that recognised centres like Billy Twelvetrees stay fit.