England side for the Barbarians game

[Stom]

No Smith, either...

[Puja]

Putting the squad in a useful order:

Forwards
(Mako Vunipola), Saracens
(Joe Marler), Harlequins
Ellis Genge, Leicester Tigers
Beno Obano, Bath Rugby*
Jamie George, Saracens
Tom Dunn, Bath Rugby*
(Will Stuart), Bath Rugby
Joe Heyes, Leicester Tigers*
Simon Kerrod, Harlequins*
Maro Itoje, Saracens
(Charlie Ewels), Bath Rugby
David Ribbans, Northampton Saints*
Ted Hill, Worcester Warriors
Mark Wilson, Newcastle Falcons
Tom Curry, Sale Sharks
(Sam Underhill), Bath Rugby
Billy Vunipola, Saracens
Alex Dombrandt, Harlequins*

Backs
Ben Youngs, Leicester Tigers
Alex Mitchell, Northampton Saints*
Willi Heinz, Gloucester Rugby
Owen Farrell, Saracens
George Ford, Leicester Tigers
Fraser Dingwall, Northampton Saints*
(Jonathan Joseph), Bath Rugby
Ollie Lawrence, Worcester Warriors*
Joe Marchant, Harlequins
Jonny May, Gloucester Rugby
(Anthony Watson), Bath Rugby
Ollie Thorley, Gloucester Rugby*
Elliot Daly, Saracens
Ali Crossdale, Saracens*
Tom de Glanville, Bath Rugby*


Odd balance of the squad. 4 looseheads (albiet two as "Reconditioning", which I don't know wtf that actually means), only 3 locks (with one Reconditioning), only 2 fly-halves and 1 inside centre (or 1 fly-half and 2 inside centres, depending on which way you look at it).

Maybe offers some guides to call-up from the other three teams. You'd've said JHill was a guaranteed inclusion from those 3 locks (Launchbury as well?), but having Dombrandt suggests probably no SSimmonds. The absence of Smith suggests JSimmonds is coming in, with no Redpath possibly suggesting a Devoto recall. Does no Spencer mean Maunder, or is Eddie just sticking with 3 s/hs for the time being?

Most importantly, what on earth is Ali Crossdale still doing there? I mean, he must've impressed in his first week to be kept in when de Glanville was available to come in and hold a tackle bag.

I've just realised that there's no Cokanasiga (not even to be reconditioned) nor McConnochie. Both of those seem surprising.

Puja

[FKAS]

Is de Glanville there as a flyhalf, centre or a fullback? I presume fullback. Slightly odd choice given Eddie has overlooked several Bath EQ back three players who are ahead of him in the pecking order.

I'm still surprised Freddie Steward isn't in there. I thought he'd be the ideal fullback for Eddie at 6ft5 with a good leap he's good under the high ball and kick chase which Eddie likes. He's got a cannon of a boot, his only kick off the tee in professional rugby was an Elliott Daly esque 50m+ kick at an angle which he landed with length to spare. Good at linking with his wingers. Maybe it's because he can actually tackle as the last man, not something Eddie has bothered with in previous selections (Daly, Watson).

At a guess, Baabaas squad;

1. Genge
2. George
3. Kerrod
4. Itoje
5 Ribbans
6. Wilson
7. Curry
8. Vunipola
9. Heinz
10. Ford
11. Thorley
12. Lawrence
13. Marchant
14. May
15. Daly

Dunn, Obano, Heyes, Hill, Dombrandt, Mitchell, de Glanville, Crossdale.

Perhaps giving Youngs and Farrell the week off. Still a bit string for a Baabaas game.

[fivepointer]

Spencer can justifiably feel hard done by. I guess Jones has made up his mind about him.
tdG ahead of Redpath is a bit of a surprise.
Dunn for Singleton, Hill for Ludlow, Ewels for Moon are fair enough and i'm pleased to see Lawrence included. Looks like Heyes is going to in the final matchday 23.
Only 2 FH's in the squad, so both will be involved in the game i'd have thought.
Likely to be quite a strong side, featuring a core of experienced players with a few untested younger ones.
What of the opposition, though? Robshaw and a few of the Saracens players have been announced, but who else is going to play. Presumably only those who play their rugby in England?

[Raggs]

Rumours have Robson, Umaga and Willis in, Barbeary to i believe.

[Peej]

McConnachie not being included when he's arguably done more to merit it as compared to the World Cup Squad is a little strange, as is Spencer's exclusion.

[Banquo]

No Joseph either

[TheNomad]

Agree with a lot of the above.

Lots of positives with some of the right players being picked. But some strange omissions.

McConnachie looks great right now, though you could see he's unlikely to make the next WC
Some obvious youngsters ignored, like Redpath and Smith

Let's see if J.Simmonds gets included. I really hope so. A back line of:

Mitchell/Robson
Simmonds/Umaga
Lawrence (more of a 13, but)
Marchant
...pick any back 3

...looks massively full of promise

[Banquo]

No 12 in the squad, Heinz and Youngs have to be downsides.

[FKAS]

Rumours have Robson, Umaga and Willis in, Barbeary to i believe.

They won't come in until after the Baabaas game as they've got a final to play. Same why there's no Chiefs mentioned.

I very much hope Robson and Willis are involved as they've been on fire. I'd take J Simmonds over Umaga every day on current form though. I guess capping Umaga early is very tempting, Samoa would love to get him involved and he could conceivably get a ton of caps for them over his career. NZ might not be opposed to tempting him back with a view to a potential call up in the future.

No 12 in the squad, Heinz and Youngs have to be downsides.

No unusual though. We either play Farrell or Manu there and neither are 12s. At a guess I'd say Lawrence will get a go there before we revert to Farrell.

[Banquo]

Rumours have Robson, Umaga and Willis in, Barbeary to i believe.

They won't come in until after the Baabaas game as they've got a final to play. Same why there's no Chiefs mentioned.

I very much hope Robson and Willis are involved as they've been on fire. I'd take J Simmonds over Umaga every day on current form though. I guess capping Umaga early is very tempting, Samoa would love to get him involved and he could conceivably get a ton of caps for them over his career. NZ might not be opposed to tempting him back with a view to a potential call up in the future.

No 12 in the squad, Heinz and Youngs have to be downsides.

No unusual though. We either play Farrell or Manu there and neither are 12s. At a guess I'd say Lawrence will get a go there before we revert to Farrell.

I reckon Faz will be straight back in. I know it’s not unusual, but it remains a downside and a blind spot.

Looks like JJ’s intl time has gone - he was already behind Slade rightly or wrongly, and now behind at least 3 others.

[Puja]

No Joseph either

Joseph's there! He's being "Reconditioned".

Puja

[Scrumhead]

Likely to be quite a strong side, featuring a core of experienced players with a few untested younger ones.
What of the opposition, though? Robshaw and a few of the Saracens players have been announced, but who else is going to play. Presumably only those who play their rugby in England?

Indeed ... safe to say it won’t be a vintage Barbarians side.

I read elsewhere that the squad can’t include anyone who played in the Premiership last season and will be playing in the Premiership next season as the turnaround time is too short.

With travel restrictions, quarantines and the Pro14(?) having already started, Cotter won’t have that many players to pick from.

He’s just named his first Fiji squad so I’d imagine a few of them will be included.

[Banquo]

No Joseph either

Joseph's there! He's being "Reconditioned".

Puja

Awks . Thanks, I somehow missed despite double checking!

[Banquo]

Wait - there's no Ben Spencer in there.

He's either got an injury/Covid or Eddie agrees with me about putting time into Mitchell being better value than hoping Ben Spencer's having a good day rather than a bad one.

Puja

Have to say I agree with your latter point- he does blow hot and cold. I wish he’d had a lot more consistent 1st choice rugby earlier in his career.

[Mellsblue]

[Mikey Brown]

Is he as effective at 12?

[Scrumhead]

Hasn’t really played there at senior level AFAIK?

Presumably we’ll be looking at Farrell at 12 with Marchant or Lawrence at 13?

[Banquo]

Hasn’t really played there at senior level AFAIK?

Presumably we’ll be looking at Farrell at 12 with Marchant or Lawrence at 13?

I’d think so. Suspect it will be used to give as many first choice players and units a run as possible.

[Puja]

Hasn’t really played there at senior level AFAIK?

Presumably we’ll be looking at Farrell at 12 with Marchant or Lawrence at 13?

I reckon Eddie will be planning on giving him time at 12 and running him at 12 in training. He wants to keep the flexibility of Ford/Farrell/Bosh or Farrell/Bosh/Slade.

Wouldn't be entirely surprised if Eddie ended up putting Marchant on the wing. After all, it's where the Kiwis put him, so there must be merit, and he's neither of the types of 13 that he likes.

Puja

[Peej]

I didn't realise Lawrence was that high in the stats. I know stats aren't the be all and end all, but it's quite impressive in an otherwise struggling Warriors side. I hadn't clocked the lack of a 12 though.

There's zero chance of Umaga being capped by NZ, and while he has talent I would also pick Simmonds ahead of him, as he's been electric since the restart.

[FKAS]

Hasn’t really played there at senior level AFAIK?

Presumably we’ll be looking at Farrell at 12 with Marchant or Lawrence at 13?

I reckon Eddie will be planning on giving him time at 12 and running him at 12 in training. He wants to keep the flexibility of Ford/Farrell/Bosh or Farrell/Bosh/Slade.

Wouldn't be entirely surprised if Eddie ended up putting Marchant on the wing. After all, it's where the Kiwis put him, so there must be merit, and he's neither of the types of 13 that he likes.

Puja

Marchant played wing Vs Tigers and was electric. His style isn't dissimilar to Joseph who Eddie has always kept in and around the squad over the last few years.

I definitely think Lawrence is being lined up as the Manu replacement option. Te'o has brought in as alternate bosh previously. Eddie likes to keep that option available.

[Scrumhead]

Interesting that Lawrence is primarily being seen as a ‘bosh’ option. Sure, he’s powerful, but a lot of his breaks are based upon good lines, footwork and acceleration.

Marchant is actually pretty good on the wing, but he’s an excellent centre. Some have questioned his form, but I think it’s more of a case of him being wasted by Quins’ ‘attacking’ tactics post restart as we’ve really ignored anyone outside of 12 for anything other than chasing kicks. He’s still been top notch in defence. The one game where we actually gave him the ball (vs. Tigers) he scored two tries.

[TheNomad]

They could have done better with the video on that...

[fivepointer]

Lawrence's stats are particularly impressive as he hardly played during the first half of the season.

He''s a power runner with serious acceleration, but he's also got a terrific offloading game. I'm sure he could play 12 if required, though i cannot recall him ever having done so.