Love Ben's insights, always worth a listen. Also, while I'm sure Dan Cole neither needs or cares about internet comments from randos like me; Dan Cole will forever be an England Rugby legend, I do hope he does gets a return to twickenham one day.
Would love to hear the real reasons why Ben Spencer has been binned. Won’t happen but cmon Steve tell us why Ben Spencer is not ahead of JVP and Randall at the very least.
Congratulations Maro. Must be an amazing moment for him and his family. A shout out to Saracens also. The club has produced the last three England captains 👍
He didn’t do much right either, Spencer Randall and JVP all got opportunity in the autumn and none of them them staked a claim on the jersey. Might as well keep the younger scrum half’s and develop them for the future. Spencer is great for bath but he was average for England.
You wouldn’t bring him off the bench to inject pace late in the game, and you wouldn’t start him over Mitchell - so it’s a no brainer. He’s unfortunate, but he didn’t take his chance in the autumn
Best balance in the back row for me is willis at 8, hill at 6 ,earl at 7. Willis and hill are not just contact seekers but look for space too additionally they would add to the lineout.
This is my view - as someone that follows Wales closely as well. If your coach is a former forward (Borthwick, Gats), backs are often treated as disposable commodities. It’s the same in cricket: coaches are often former batsmen: the batting lineup always stays the same and the bowlers are chopped and changed.
I agree. As a Saints fan, I cannot understand why Borthwick has not paired Mitchell with Fin Smith (at 9 & 10 respectively) for more than 20 minutes during an in- game substitution. This is the pairing that works at Northampton & presumably, the England coach has picked them because of their form & what he has witnessed there at club level.
Saints fan here - Spencer being left out super harsh. Reckon 6 Nations has to be Borthwick's last chance before bringing in a world cup coach - if they don't perform England really need to right the ship with enough time to have a good run in Australia.
As a bath fan i do think Spencer is extremely harshly treated by England. Was winning when taken off in the autumn and never been backed with a run of games. But what I understand even less is how Tom Dunn never gets a look in at hooker. He's been absolutely immense for Bath every week for years, and is part of a pack thats dominating the Prem. Likewise Beno Obano - though i understand he's had some massive injury problems whenever hes looked likely to get a call-up.
So Earl is being considered @7 for ENG then with Willis & Dombrandt in the squad?! Max Ojomoh would've been great too alongside Bath teammate Ollie Lawrence!
Jamie George is competing with Theo Dan & L Cowan-Dickie. Some quality 2.s like Harry Thacker, Gabriel Oghre, Curtis Langdon r not in squad. Maro Itoje’s the first name on ENG team-sheet
Great video Ben and well done for all the service you gave England. Please could you let me know why Lewis Ludlam is not in the squad. For me LL is the best no7 in the premiership this season. I can understand the disappointment with Dan Cole, who has also given great service to England. One of his replacements is Asher Fordjour, whom I am sure will be one of England's key players over the next few years. AF can play both tight head and loose head just like Jason Leonard. AF is very strong and has the explosive pace of a winger!! I also think Jamie Blamire and Raffi Quirke should be in the squad. Mario being captain is a positive move and like you said he will successfully guide the team through the last quarter of the match.
Do you mean Ludlow? Ludlum is playing in France now. If Ludlow - I’d say he has had his chances in the past and didn’t take them. And now.. well, there are so many options in the back row, I don’t think there is space for him, and he’s 30 now.
Ben - who would you and Dan select for your 23 V Ireland? I think we would all love to hear your insights into an actual match day selection. Very difficult I appreciate! Dan's knowledge on the props would be great as well. What about Fasogban and Sela and the other U20 stars coming up including Asher, Pollock, Pepper etc.
Henry slade must have some dirt on borthers, hes been terrible for england for years. Aside from a few 50/50s its probably close to a full squad. More than the personel, they need to drop the extreme defence rush and focus on effective tackling. 2/5 this 6N
@06alepea1 exactly, and how did they go? He lacks the physical stature to be a running threat at test level and for the same reason he isn't a defensive asset, look at the size of SA, France, NZ, Australias outside centres. He was a fine player but he isn't justifying keeping out a younger gun, IMHO
@@06alepea1😂 ‘crucial’ he made zero line breaks, zero dominant tackles, hardly beat any defenders and made very few metres in the ENTIRE Autumn series. You can view the stats on the England rugby site - he offers no running threat at all which teams have figured out and he is a serious weak link defensively. There’s no way he should start.
As an England fan I'm pretty happy with the squad. I will be interested if dombrandt stays once Underhill is back fit but the back row should be CCS, Earl and Willis given current form. As a bath fan it's a shame for Spencer. Mitchell should be the starting 9 going forward and Randall is an exciting replacement off the bench to keep pressure on. In a close game, I'd far rather have Spencer than JVP but borthwick is clearly building his squad for the future and Spencer is just too old unfortunately
Back row and back three still not decided, injuries aside. Chessum second row. CCS, Earl and Willis is a perfect combination. Freeman, Roebuck and Steward is a meaty back three, not particularly quick but doesn't have to be against Ireland, France however is a different matter.....
Wing has always been a luxury for us for some reason. We’ve been stacked for years. I like Hassell Collins, I think he’s just been unlucky with the depth we have.
Of all the current potential wings I just don’t see OHC as anywhere near the top of the pile, he just isn’t consistent and is ok all round without any real stand out attribute.
I disagree in some ways. I think the issue is that we haven’t had many world class wings. The last one we had was Watson. We’ve certainly had many, many classy wingers, just not few that would be close to a world XV.
Better to have an 80 minute player as captain if you can. I expect J.George to be subbed sooner than previously and Borthwick should be trying to get more minutes into Theo Dan.
Especially pleased to hear your comments on Spencer. He was solid enough in the Autumn and simply looked like he just needed a little more time to gain attacking confidence. Was super frustrating to see him binned off like that. What is it you suspect Borthwick doesn’t warm to there?
Would have preferred the below: Pollock over CCS Barbeary over Dombrandt Porter/Quirke over JVP Hartley instead of Slade Blake/Blamire in over LCD/George Carpenter/Hendy in over Daly (imagine if Arundell was back this year from France)
Pollock needs more time to develop. Especially when there’s so many options ahead of him. Barbeary has been ok for Bath. Other options should be ahead of him. Porter has been average for Quins for a while. Quirke is perennially injured. Hartley barely plays for Saracens. Blake and Blamire not been playing any better than LCD or George. Also can’t bin off that much experience in one go. Daly in because IFW and Furbank are both injured. Bring in Carpenter and/or Hendy and you’ll have a back 3 with maybe 25 caps between them… Also, Arundell has been rubbish for Racing all season.
As a bath fan, no. Talk about a well rounded game then Mitchell is your guy with Spencer just behind, all be it with Spencer being a form player for what feels like forever Alex is Englands bolt on 9. Randall is class and I don’t dispute him being in the squad. JVP however, I see him as nowhere near AM, BS, HR and not even close at that. I just don’t see it. Let me know your thoughts!
Congrats Maro ….. I see you growing into the legend that Martin Johnson was and is … Willy John will be so so happy … I think a lot of proper rugby people see you in the same mould … Well done fella 👍
Itoje is known for antagonising the opponents, so controlling himself and the team to not throw penalties away...he might have been a good captain 9 years ago, now he has no credibility.
Love Ben's insights, always worth a listen.
Also, while I'm sure Dan Cole neither needs or cares about internet comments from randos like me; Dan Cole will forever be an England Rugby legend, I do hope he does gets a return to twickenham one day.
As a scrum coach he would be excellent!
Would love to hear the real reasons why Ben Spencer has been binned. Won’t happen but cmon Steve tell us why Ben Spencer is not ahead of JVP and Randall at the very least.
Congratulations Maro. Must be an amazing moment for him and his family. A shout out to Saracens also. The club has produced the last three England captains 👍
@@Neil-u4m Is that a good or a bad thing?
This is great content, excellent delivery and a balanced assessment of the squad.
Delighted to see Murley given a chance at last. Totally agree about Spencer.
Ben Spencer completely mugged off, didn't do much wrong in the autumn internationals with England winning the games when he got subbed.
JVP better than Spencer? Not for me. He is Baths rock. I always feel there’s a little bit of boys club network with Borthwick.
He didn’t do much right either, Spencer Randall and JVP all got opportunity in the autumn and none of them them staked a claim on the jersey. Might as well keep the younger scrum half’s and develop them for the future.
Spencer is great for bath but he was average for England.
@@baileyelson4008agreed on that. Spencer’s service for England was very slow, even when presented with clean ball.
He's never been good for England and has been opportunities. He can only play if he starts Nd obviously he won't because of mitchell.
You wouldn’t bring him off the bench to inject pace late in the game, and you wouldn’t start him over Mitchell - so it’s a no brainer. He’s unfortunate, but he didn’t take his chance in the autumn
Best balance in the back row for me is willis at 8, hill at 6 ,earl at 7. Willis and hill are not just contact seekers but look for space too additionally they would add to the lineout.
This is my view - as someone that follows Wales closely as well. If your coach is a former forward (Borthwick, Gats), backs are often treated as disposable commodities. It’s the same in cricket: coaches are often former batsmen: the batting lineup always stays the same and the bowlers are chopped and changed.
I agree.
As a Saints fan, I cannot understand why Borthwick has not paired Mitchell with Fin Smith (at 9 & 10 respectively) for more than 20 minutes during an in- game substitution.
This is the pairing that works at Northampton & presumably, the England coach has picked them because of their form & what he has witnessed there at club level.
Saints fan here - Spencer being left out super harsh. Reckon 6 Nations has to be Borthwick's last chance before bringing in a world cup coach - if they don't perform England really need to right the ship with enough time to have a good run in Australia.
I agree- feels like a Southgate situation
Ok who is a realistic replacement for Borthwick?
@@06alepea1maybe not realistic but I’d love them to find a way to bring in Edwards.
@@06alepea1 Saints head coach - he has aspirations
As a bath fan i do think Spencer is extremely harshly treated by England. Was winning when taken off in the autumn and never been backed with a run of games.
But what I understand even less is how Tom Dunn never gets a look in at hooker. He's been absolutely immense for Bath every week for years, and is part of a pack thats dominating the Prem. Likewise Beno Obano - though i understand he's had some massive injury problems whenever hes looked likely to get a call-up.
Tom Dunn can’t throw the ball
Congrats, Maro 🎉 done put in the work
So Earl is being considered @7 for ENG then with Willis & Dombrandt in the squad?! Max Ojomoh would've been great too alongside Bath teammate Ollie Lawrence!
Ojomohs form has been unbelievable
Are you suggesting that dombrandt starts for england? 😅
@ No, suggesting that Tom Willis will be starting @8 with his Saracens teammate Earl @7 & Dombrandt as backup #8.
great intel
Jamie George is competing with Theo Dan & L Cowan-Dickie.
Some quality 2.s like Harry Thacker, Gabriel Oghre, Curtis Langdon r not in squad.
Maro Itoje’s the first name on ENG team-sheet
Great video Ben and well done for all the service you gave England. Please could you let me know why Lewis Ludlam is not in the squad. For me LL is the best no7 in the premiership this season. I can understand the disappointment with Dan Cole, who has also given great service to England. One of his replacements is Asher Fordjour, whom I am sure will be one of England's key players over the next few years. AF can play both tight head and loose head just like Jason Leonard. AF is very strong and has the explosive pace of a winger!! I also think Jamie Blamire and Raffi Quirke should be in the squad. Mario being captain is a positive move and like you said he will successfully guide the team through the last quarter of the match.
Do you mean Ludlow? Ludlum is playing in France now.
If Ludlow - I’d say he has had his chances in the past and didn’t take them. And now.. well, there are so many options in the back row, I don’t think there is space for him, and he’s 30 now.
Ben - who would you and Dan select for your 23 V Ireland? I think we would all love to hear your insights into an actual match day selection. Very difficult I appreciate! Dan's knowledge on the props would be great as well. What about Fasogban and Sela and the other U20 stars coming up including Asher, Pollock, Pepper etc.
Henry slade must have some dirt on borthers, hes been terrible for england for years. Aside from a few 50/50s its probably close to a full squad. More than the personel, they need to drop the extreme defence rush and focus on effective tackling. 2/5 this 6N
Slade was crucial for the blitz defence in last year’s 6N and the summer tour.
@06alepea1 exactly, and how did they go? He lacks the physical stature to be a running threat at test level and for the same reason he isn't a defensive asset, look at the size of SA, France, NZ, Australias outside centres. He was a fine player but he isn't justifying keeping out a younger gun, IMHO
@@06alepea1 😆
@@06alepea1😂 ‘crucial’ he made zero line breaks, zero dominant tackles, hardly beat any defenders and made very few metres in the ENTIRE Autumn series. You can view the stats on the England rugby site - he offers no running threat at all which teams have figured out and he is a serious weak link defensively. There’s no way he should start.
@@06alepea1crucial to what a defence which has more leaks than a rusty collider? Hardly an advert for keeping him in the squad.
As an England fan I'm pretty happy with the squad. I will be interested if dombrandt stays once Underhill is back fit but the back row should be CCS, Earl and Willis given current form. As a bath fan it's a shame for Spencer. Mitchell should be the starting 9 going forward and Randall is an exciting replacement off the bench to keep pressure on. In a close game, I'd far rather have Spencer than JVP but borthwick is clearly building his squad for the future and Spencer is just too old unfortunately
Back row and back three still not decided, injuries aside. Chessum second row. CCS, Earl and Willis is a perfect combination.
Freeman, Roebuck and Steward is a meaty back three, not particularly quick but doesn't have to be against Ireland, France however is a different matter.....
We were winning both games when Spencer came off wern't we ? JVP needs a good 6n.
Delighted for Willis !
Great decision and congratulations to Maro. Will it affect his game?
Great insight as always. Thank you and looking forward to the 6 nations coverage
Wing has always been a luxury for us for some reason. We’ve been stacked for years. I like Hassell Collins, I think he’s just been unlucky with the depth we have.
Its the position most dicatated by natural talent (physical and instinct) and England have an enormous talent pool.
Of all the current potential wings I just don’t see OHC as anywhere near the top of the pile, he just isn’t consistent and is ok all round without any real stand out attribute.
Similar to JVP, good moments but 0 consistent impact on the game (bar the past few weeks where OHC has been in form)
I disagree in some ways. I think the issue is that we haven’t had many world class wings. The last one we had was Watson. We’ve certainly had many, many classy wingers, just not few that would be close to a world XV.
Better to have an 80 minute player as captain if you can.
I expect J.George to be subbed sooner than previously and Borthwick should be trying to get more minutes into Theo Dan.
Especially pleased to hear your comments on Spencer. He was solid enough in the Autumn and simply looked like he just needed a little more time to gain attacking confidence.
Was super frustrating to see him binned off like that.
What is it you suspect Borthwick doesn’t warm to there?
That he didn’t play for Leicester
Sadly I think the England ship has sailed for OH-C, he's behind Murley, MFW, Sleightholme etc. Spencer omission is very harsh.
I’d love to see Willis, Cunningham south and underhill all on the pitch at the same time
Underhill likely to miss the entire 6N with injury… gutted.
Caelan Murley :D
Has Coley ruled himself out or been let go?
How many vice captains?
Murley time
Would have preferred the below:
Pollock over CCS
Barbeary over Dombrandt
Porter/Quirke over JVP
Hartley instead of Slade
Blake/Blamire in over LCD/George
Carpenter/Hendy in over Daly (imagine if Arundell was back this year from France)
Pollock needs more time to develop. Especially when there’s so many options ahead of him.
Barbeary has been ok for Bath. Other options should be ahead of him.
Porter has been average for Quins for a while. Quirke is perennially injured.
Hartley barely plays for Saracens.
Blake and Blamire not been playing any better than LCD or George. Also can’t bin off that much experience in one go.
Daly in because IFW and Furbank are both injured. Bring in Carpenter and/or Hendy and you’ll have a back 3 with maybe 25 caps between them…
Also, Arundell has been rubbish for Racing all season.
Most of these you have mentioned will not be able to handle the international stage yet
As a Bath fan I think that Harry Randall is the best scrum half in the country.
As a bath fan, no. Talk about a well rounded game then Mitchell is your guy with Spencer just behind, all be it with Spencer being a form player for what feels like forever Alex is Englands bolt on 9.
Randall is class and I don’t dispute him being in the squad. JVP however, I see him as nowhere near AM, BS, HR and not even close at that. I just don’t see it. Let me know your thoughts!
Baffling how Ben Spencer is not involved
Harry Randall was the least impressive of the England HB's in the autumn tests.
Congrats Maro ….. I see you growing into the legend that Martin Johnson was and is … Willy John will be so so happy … I think a lot of proper rugby people see you in the same mould …
Well done fella 👍
Itoje is known for antagonising the opponents, so controlling himself and the team to not throw penalties away...he might have been a good captain 9 years ago, now he has no credibility.
Dombrandt???
Can’t do it at intl level. Fab for Quins but it doesn’t transfer
I think if Underhill were fit, Dombrandt would not be in the squad. Earl is in the squad as a 7, so England need another out-and-out 8.
@ Tom Willis. In the squad and best stats in the Prem as an out-and-out 8.