Squad named

[p/d]

Looks balanced selection. Chuffed for Lawrence

[Banquo]

If this (per DT) is right:

England team to face Scotland (possible)
F Steward; M Malins, J Marchant, O Farrell, O Hassell-Collins; M Smith, J van Poortvliet; E Genge, J George, K Sinckler, M Itoje, O Chessum, L Ludlam, B Curry, A Dombrandt.

Replacements: J Walker, M Vunipola, D Cole, N Isiekwe, B Earl, B Youngs, O Lawrence, A Watson.

. . . the consolation is that once everyone is back from injury it can be a lot better.

Quite light and mobile. Tuilagi must have unimpressed in training, ditto Simmonds. I can't see how that midfield will work but fingers crossed. Freeman should be playing but hey, and surprised that Ribbans doesn't feature.

Not sure I'd fancy that team v SA, but we aren't playing them

[Puja]

If this (per DT) is right:

England team to face Scotland (possible)
F Steward; M Malins, J Marchant, O Farrell, O Hassell-Collins; M Smith, J van Poortvliet; E Genge, J George, K Sinckler, M Itoje, O Chessum, L Ludlam, B Curry, A Dombrandt.

Replacements: J Walker, M Vunipola, D Cole, N Isiekwe, B Earl, B Youngs, O Lawrence, A Watson.

. . . the consolation is that once everyone is back from injury it can be a lot better.

I'd actually be pretty happy with that. JVP over Youngs, Smith at 10, OHC given a chance at wing, two actual flankers, Jonny Hill having been fucked off - there's a lot to like there.

Puja

[Mikey Brown]

No Z Fagerson, Watson, Price or Harris. Nel (!), Crosbie, White and Jones start for Scotland. As expected otherwise.

Jones is a bit of a surprise? Richie over Johnny, was that a surprise?

Harris is Scotland’s Farrell. I didn’t believe it was possible until I saw him on the bench. He’s just there in case the defence falls apart I guess. Jones has been playing very well again, though mostly at 12.

Jonny Gray just seems to have been flogged to death over the last few years. I haven’t seen him look particularly fiery or dynamic for a long while. I thought Richie was done by the time he came back to Glasgow to be honest, but he’s looking pretty good after a run of games and even Turner might be able to hit him in the lineout.

[TheNomad]

(if correct) Interesting side - think:
- Malins is lucky
- Ribbans is unlucky
- Willis unlucky, for different reasons

[Banquo]

No Z Fagerson, Watson, Price or Harris. Nel (!), Crosbie, White and Jones start for Scotland. As expected otherwise.

Jones is a bit of a surprise? Richie over Johnny, was that a surprise?

Harris is Scotland’s Farrell. I didn’t believe it was possible until I saw him on the bench. He’s just there in case the defence falls apart I guess. Jones has been playing very well again, though mostly at 12.

Jonny Gray just seems to have been flogged to death over the last few years. I haven’t seen him look particularly fiery or dynamic for a long while. I thought Richie was done by the time he came back to Glasgow to be honest, but he’s looking pretty good after a run of games and even Turner might be able to hit him in the lineout.

I like Harris tbh, he looked good on the Lions tour even going forward. Jonny has been pretty good for Exeter, but its a step up I guess.

[Croft_No.5]

Jones has had 12 on his back, but has mostly been lining up at 13 in play. There is a fair amount of interchanging with Tuipoluto

Works very well for Glasgow

[p/d]

Jones is a bit of a surprise? Richie over Johnny, was that a surprise?

Harris is Scotland’s Farrell. I didn’t believe it was possible until I saw him on the bench. He’s just there in case the defence falls apart I guess. Jones has been playing very well again, though mostly at 12.

Jonny Gray just seems to have been flogged to death over the last few years. I haven’t seen him look particularly fiery or dynamic for a long while. I thought Richie was done by the time he came back to Glasgow to be honest, but he’s looking pretty good after a run of games and even Turner might be able to hit him in the lineout.

I like Harris tbh, he looked good on the Lions tour even going forward. Jonny has been pretty good for Exeter, but its a step up I guess.

Big fan of Harris. Watching him v Ringrose the other week was a cracking battle

[Mellsblue]

Also a big fan of Harris. I think he’d have made our Smith/Ford - Farrell, 10 - 12 combos work quite a bit better than they have.

[Mikey Brown]

It’s tough because he does so many things well, but his shortcomings in attack are often so glaring it’s hard to get past them.

[SDHoneymonster]

That's more of a traditional Scottish backline to my eyes, in that the attacking potential is tasty but it's also definitely got the potential to leak a few tries. Harris has helped them lock down teams defensively - 2021 at Twickenham comes to mind - but something about having a defensive specialist at 13 makes me queasy, even if it's such a difficult position to play defensively.

[Stom]

That Scottish team looks like a club team the number of non Scots in it

[Scrumhead]

I only counted 7 (Schoeman, Nel, White, Jones, Tuipolotu, Steyn, DvdM). That’s quite good for them.

[Banquo]

I only counted 7 (Schoeman, Nel, White, Jones, Tuipolotu, Steyn, DvdM). That’s quite good for them.

who is the odd one out?

[Puja]

I only counted 7 (Schoeman, Nel, White, Jones, Tuipolotu, Steyn, DvdM). That’s quite good for them.

Harris on the bench as well.

Puja

[SDHoneymonster]

Dempsey and Berghan too.

[SDHoneymonster]

Although worth pointing out that although he has the most Welsh name in existence and was raised in England, Jones was actually born in Edinburgh to Scottish parents.

[p/d]

Am I on the wrong board?

[Mikey Brown]

Are we talking residency vs having Scottish family, or are we just talking people with funny names?

[Banquo]

Although worth pointing out that although he has the most Welsh name in existence and was raised in England, Jones was actually born in Edinburgh to Scottish parents.

That was the odd one out.

[Mikey Brown]

Swipe for updated training squad.



Stuart back in?! Who knows if that is just to have a look or there is some issue with Sinkler. I really hope we’re looking at alternatives to Mako.

Not much too much else to read in to this probably except Ben Curry, Mitchell, Watson, Marchant likely still next in line for those positions.

[Raggs]

Sinks nose looked a mess.

[16th man]

No.
Ben.
Youngs.

*goes to find fireworks to set off*

[Mikey Brown]

No.
Ben.
Youngs.

*goes to find fireworks to set off*

Oh I want to believe it but we've all been duped too many times by training squads. Promising though.

Still no place for Ribbans.

[Puja]

No Lawes or TCurry, who are both talking up being available for the Wales game. Maybe Steed Bigman is thinking it's better they have game time under their belts.

Even if Sinckler's fit, I'm still in favour of having Stuart rushed back - Cole's been exceedingly average in his comeback.

Puja