England v Samoa - Who should play?

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You are limited to the 28 man squad that Lancaster retained - what would be your team?

England Squad

Loose-head prop
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
Matt Mullan (Wasps)

Tight-head prop
Kieran Brookes (Newcastle Falcons)
David Wilson (Bath Rugby)

Hooker
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
Rob Webber (Bath Rugby)

Lock
Dave Attwood (Bath Rugby)
George Kruis (Saracens)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)

Back row
Calum Clark (Northampton Saints)
James Haskell (Wasps)
Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)(c)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)

Scrum half
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)

Outside back
Brad Barritt (Saracens)
Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints)
Kyle Eastmond (Bath Rugby)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
George Ford (Bath Rugby)
Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby)

Back three
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby)
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby)
Marland Yarde (Harlequins)

bedfordwelsh wrote:Not seen any of the game but heard it was a bit scrappy and not the best of performances is that fair?

Any players enhance/damage their reputations?

Scrappy? Well, I thought the team looked a little frenetic at the start then settled into a more mundane approach. No one really embellished their reputations, I thought.
Ford was OK and certainly should be in the 10 jumper next week.
Samoa ran up the pooper at England; Haskell, Robshaw, and Morgan combined for 45 tackles (according to Scrum.com), and Wood added another 8 after he came on. But we know those boys can tackle, so no news there. Neither Haskell nor Robshaw did anything with ball in hand, just a few carries overall, not sure why as that is a good area to attack. If that was a game plan, then not a good one. If that was Ford, then Haskell needs to flex his pecs at him.
Farrell was generally anonymous, one carry, but made his tackles, as one would expect.
Watson still seems to be on the cusp of something, but has got to take that step forwards.
May had his two tries, but something still nags at me about him, though not sure what.
Youngs was OK at 9 but just that. Improvement over Care, who I also think needs a rest.
Twelvetrees was interesting in his short time out there. Wonder if he is in the picture for starting against Oz?

Thought Farrells only real appearance was in the rucks and two good mauls, perhaps he should play 6?

Rest of the team were a mixed bag, as you'd expect of a team out of form and desperate for the win. Probably the most depressing thing was the moment we scored that third try the intensity plummeted and we just switched off.

Ford and the back three went particularly well though. Morgan was probably the best forward and the replacement lock looked good too.

As to our problems before the game.

6 - Hask didn't really do much
9 - Youngs seemed the same as Care tbh, still too many dodge kicks
12 - Farrell at least showed he shouldn't be in the team, did anyone notice if the two fly halves approach worked?

Yep morgan has made a case. But is he any better or different to billy? There seem like for like IMO

Care is still better than Young's. But its great to play Young's in some games because we need him up to speed if we have to call on him.

Haskell has to stay due to his set piece and knarley in your face play.

Ford should stay on I suppose. His cross field kick was special. We need that something extra. But everyone seems to forget how good Farrel was in the 6nations.  He isn't one dimensional . I just think its been a tough season .

How many times did England drop the ball in dangerous positions...Brown (again ) and Attwood are two that spring to mind straight away.

Ford needs to start...having a 10 that has the defence guessing its a huge positive.

Back 3 worked well...Brown needs to put some glue on his hands mind.

Robshaw nearly 20 tackles...wow. Haskell disappointed.

Haskell showed in that game why despite being the most capped player on the pitch he's never been able to nail down a place in the squad.  A player of his experience, leadership and size should have had far more impact in a match against Samoa.  Most of the game I'd forgotten he was playing.

Yeah I was one of the ones shouting for Haskell to start but he didn't really take is chance like I expected him to.
Means Tom Wood will start next week.

GF

I didn't see much of Haskell but thought it may just have been our quite high-up seats. Were Croft to return to his 2013 end of season form would you consider putting him back in? Wood/Haskell's role is meant to be a sort of turbo Robshaw. Not quite as many rucks, tackles or carries, but each one of them slightly harder and faster. If they're not doing that, would it be worth bringing someone like Croft back for his pace out wide and lineout work? If Ford does nail the 10 shirt then we'll be starting to spread it wider earlier which could suit someone like that.

In all honesty Thomh Ive never been a fan of Croft. Would rather have Wood there even If ive been critical of his recent performances.

However I do understand the attacking benefits you get with Croft - something I have been shouting for from our pack for ages. If we can cope with a drop in physicality he brings at 6 then I guess its certainly an option, and if we continue with Ford at 10 may be a weapon.

My view of Croft has swayed between extremes but in a certain gameplan he's incredibly dangerous. We don't currently seem to have a 6 who's making great inroads in carrying so I'd definitely be keen to see him in a team with players like Ford, 36, Burrell, Tuilagi and Watson in the backline for him to run off.

thomh wrote:My view of Croft has swayed between extremes but in a certain gameplan he's incredibly dangerous. We don't currently seem to have a 6 who's making great inroads in carrying so I'd definitely be keen to see him in a team with players like Ford, 36, Burrell, Tuilagi and Watson in the backline for him to run off.

That's been one of my biggest gripes.

Croft is good carrying in open spaces, but against the top sides space is at a premium and you need people to make good yardage in more confined and physical spaces; less rangy, more dynamic drive in the legs, the odd slight shift in direction and upper body power for a strong handoff.  Ewers looks like one of the few players in England who could fulfill that role, he's also got a huge engine and workrate, he'll tackle his heart out.  If he's ever fit again Fearns could be another option, with maybe a bit more breakdown presence about him.

niwatts wrote:Croft is good carrying in open spaces, but against the top sides space is at a premium and you need people to make good yardage in more confined and physical spaces; less rangy, more dynamic drive in the legs, the odd slight shift in direction and upper body power for a strong handoff.  Ewers looks like one of the few players in England who could fulfill that role, he's also got a huge engine and workrate, he'll tackle his heart out.  If he's ever fit again Fearns could be another option, with maybe a bit more breakdown presence about him.

I'm not saying he's the answer but what you are inferring about Croft is that he is found wanting against the best teams, and yet his best performances have probably been against France and of course against the Boks on the Lions tour.

And Harlequins of course...

lostinwales wrote:

niwatts wrote:Croft is good carrying in open spaces, but against the top sides space is at a premium and you need people to make good yardage in more confined and physical spaces; less rangy, more dynamic drive in the legs, the odd slight shift in direction and upper body power for a strong handoff.  Ewers looks like one of the few players in England who could fulfill that role, he's also got a huge engine and workrate, he'll tackle his heart out.  If he's ever fit again Fearns could be another option, with maybe a bit more breakdown presence about him.

I'm not saying he's the answer but what you are inferring about Croft is that he is found wanting against the best teams, and yet his best performances have probably been against France and of course against the Boks on the Lions tour.

I'm not saying that all, there's more to Croft than as a carrier, but as a carrier (the aspect we were discussing) he's effective in the open spaces and those opportunities don't come up that often against the well organised defences of the very best sides. Against sides like NZ, SA and Ireland you're going to get more use out of carriers that make big ground in traffic.

As one aside, that's the first time England have played Samoa under Lancaster and Robshaw so it also counts as their first win.

The main name missing from their list of scalps is South Africa. We could meet them at the World Cup - specifically, if we are runners-up in our group and they win theirs - but it could end up being two years before we play the Springboks again.