I've been saying Itoje should be England Captain since the 2017 Lions series. Can't believe it's taken this long for England to figure it out. Superb player. I still hope we beat England, but all the best to Itoje in his new role.
Itoje is a winner and that is crucial in a captain. He has the thirst for victory, not just fior plucky losses. He was captain when England won the U2 world cup, won a grand slam with England, won the double with Saracens, and performed excellently in England teams that got silver and bronze world cup medals. Even though England didnt get over the line in 2019 and 2023, Itoje wasimense in bith world cups. I think it is a great appointment.
I'm actually more optimistic about our props than I have been for a while. Genge and Stuart looked good in the November tests, Heyes has come on massively this season and Asher O-F is a prodigy who can play both sides of the scrum. Afo Fasogbon, 20-year-old Gloucester tighthead, is injured otherwise he might have been in the squad too. I would have preferred Beno Obano over Bevan Rodd but realistically that's for third-choice loosehead anyway.
Did you watch Sale v Stormers in the champions cup? Bevan Rodd won so many scrum penalties over Frans Malherbe that Malherbe had to go off with a yellow card. Obviously it's only one match but I've got high hopes for him this six nations.
@edwardharris2388 Yeah, but Malherbe was just back from an injury break and it's one game. Funny things can happen in a single game due to referee interpretation etc, but Rodd has a pretty long history of not quite cutting it scrummaging-wise at the top level. Hopefully the guy has turned the corner (same goes for Heyes) but I'm not going to get too excited over one game.
Looks like Earl is definitely being considered @7 for ENG with Willis @8 & Dombrandt as backup #8, Max Ojomoh would've been great too alongside Bath teammate Ollie Lawrence!
Will Butt & Cam Redpath probably started @12. BATH more than M. Ojomoh this season Seb Atkinson (GLAWS), Dan Kelly (LEI), Alex Lozowski (SARRIES) unlucky
Love your coverage, think the 6n's is going to be a bit tricky, they play a similar game but can see Ireland going all out after last year and France are a different sort of challenge, very dynamic and Scotland wont want to lose their winning streak, all are rightly ranked aove above us. If this was a world cup it'd be a tough group...
Hope England select Earl and Willis together. They’ve been working well at set piece for saracens. Willis to the flank providing more ballast to the scrum and Earl from the base especially with the new law interpretation around offside line at the scrum think his dynamism and footwork could work well
Mark, if you watch the SAR v Castre game you can see why Dan must be on the field as long as he is able and also why George should not be in the squad- no tackles , a carry of 2 metres was his contribution-- just another ruck inspector like Marler and Cole.
@@Macron87 He was poor in the Autumn internationals. I personally think he is past his best and Steve picking three 10’s is a bit much. Four if you include Slade.
He had just got back from injury in the Autumn. He was fantastic in the last six nations and is proven quality. Daly has never let England down, is in fine form for Saracens and is perfect as the replacement if England want to do a 6 2 split.
Hope England select Earl and Willis together. They’ve been working well at set piece for saracens. Willis to the flank providing more ballast to the scrum and Earl from the base especially with the new law interpretation around offside line at the scrum think his dynamism and footwork could work well. Think the fact Steward plays for Leicester does a lot of lifting for his reputation. Guaranteed he wouldn’t be involved for England if he played for Gloucester/Newcastle.
Stewards tackling stats include two “missed” tackles against South Africa. Watch the games. Tell me who would have made those tackles, given the positions the other England players - from their errors - had left him in. The answer is no one would have. Definitely not Furbank.
Good choice, Maro is the only England player who is consistently included when people pick world squads. We are crying out for a ball carrying number 8 so I hope Willis starts with Earl at 7. I think unless England win at least 3 games, which is not going to be easy Borthwick could be toast.
@@tomc2581 teams improving. You can just tell by watching them play. Like lots have said, if ford's kick against all blacks was slightly to the left, if maro had caught the ball on the restart against australia, and if england had a bit more discipline in defence against South africa, people would be talking about them very differently right now.
I know I don't rate Borthwick, but I'm getting more pessimistic about the players too. If you think who's top class, Itoje isn't as influential as he used to be, Tom Curry and Underhill can't stay fit, Dombrandt was exposed against Toulon, Marcus Smith has x-factor, but the England centres haven't yet functioned with him and none of the back 3 compare to France. I wouldn't be surprised to see Steward and Freeman playing 12 and 13 in a few years.
@Macron87 I dunno, I was a big believer in the England forwards and crap coaching and selection of the backs being the issue. I'd pick pretty much the Northampton backline given they'd actually have a clue together. However at the weekend, a lot of the England forwards got their asses handed to them, so I'm even less confident than usual!
@ I will say this, the fact that the RFU haven't picked a head coach with any success in Europe in a very long time tells you something. I really wonder what would have happened if Shaun Edwards and Mark McCall would've been given a chance in the last 15 years.
@ yeah, but it’s sad times when we can’t even afford to keep our best players in the country, and therefore not in the team. Our team is fine, but if we were taking full advantage of our resources we wouldn’t let players like, Arundel, Marchant, Willis et al play abroad when they could be killing it internationally.
Fairly happy with the selection. A couple of minor quibbles but not with any of the likely starters. England need to be aiming for 4 wins, although that's going to be quite a big ask if our defence isn't significantly better than it was in the Autumn.
Not exactly a exciting progressive selection ☹ very disappointing , - George - Curry's - Dombrandt - Ford - Slade - Dingwall - Roebuck - Daly whats the point .. Where are the likes of Langdon - Oghre - Fasogban - Pollock - Pearson , and C.Atkinson - S.Atkinson - Anyanwu - Hassel-Collins and Hendy , at least O-Fordjour - T.Willis and T.Hill have made the cut 🙄. About time we found another captain , though not impressed with Itoje's selection , George is not exactly the best English Hooker these days and age is against him . Oghre , Cowan-Dickie - Langdon and Blamire in my eyes are far better . Its not all about the age profile and more about selecting those in form .
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
The time is right for Itoje's captaincy I reckon. He has been a heck of a player for a long time and has seen it all .
Thank you Mark. I hope that they go well. Looking forward to seeing Itoje as captain. Just hope he doesn't get injured
I've been saying Itoje should be England Captain since the 2017 Lions series. Can't believe it's taken this long for England to figure it out. Superb player. I still hope we beat England, but all the best to Itoje in his new role.
Itoje is a winner and that is crucial in a captain. He has the thirst for victory, not just fior plucky losses. He was captain when England won the U2 world cup, won a grand slam with England, won the double with Saracens, and performed excellently in England teams that got silver and bronze world cup medals. Even though England didnt get over the line in 2019 and 2023, Itoje wasimense in bith world cups. I think it is a great appointment.
Yeah man I think it makes a lot of sense too
I'm actually more optimistic about our props than I have been for a while. Genge and Stuart looked good in the November tests, Heyes has come on massively this season and Asher O-F is a prodigy who can play both sides of the scrum. Afo Fasogbon, 20-year-old Gloucester tighthead, is injured otherwise he might have been in the squad too.
I would have preferred Beno Obano over Bevan Rodd but realistically that's for third-choice loosehead anyway.
Did you watch Sale v Stormers in the champions cup? Bevan Rodd won so many scrum penalties over Frans Malherbe that Malherbe had to go off with a yellow card. Obviously it's only one match but I've got high hopes for him this six nations.
@edwardharris2388 Yeah, but Malherbe was just back from an injury break and it's one game. Funny things can happen in a single game due to referee interpretation etc, but Rodd has a pretty long history of not quite cutting it scrummaging-wise at the top level.
Hopefully the guy has turned the corner (same goes for Heyes) but I'm not going to get too excited over one game.
AOF is not a prodigy. He’s a young, inexperienced guy, that may make something of himself. Might not.
@@Macron87 That literally applies to all prodigies 😆
@@mattmasksforehead620a prodigy doesn’t have the “might” attached. They’re already operating at the highest level.
Looks like Earl is definitely being considered @7 for ENG with Willis @8 & Dombrandt as backup #8, Max Ojomoh would've been great too alongside Bath teammate Ollie Lawrence!
Will Butt & Cam Redpath probably started @12. BATH more than M. Ojomoh this season
Seb Atkinson (GLAWS), Dan Kelly (LEI), Alex Lozowski (SARRIES) unlucky
Is ojomohs handling less of a liability than Lawrence’s?
Love your coverage, think the 6n's is going to be a bit tricky, they play a similar game but can see Ireland going all out after last year and France are a different sort of challenge, very dynamic and Scotland wont want to lose their winning streak, all are rightly ranked aove above us. If this was a world cup it'd be a tough group...
This a great analysis. Going to be an interesting tournament.
Hope England select Earl and Willis together. They’ve been working well at set piece for saracens. Willis to the flank providing more ballast to the scrum and Earl from the base especially with the new law interpretation around offside line at the scrum think his dynamism and footwork could work well
the first two games are going to decide it all for England really it's make or break for them
Mark, if you watch the SAR v Castre game you can see why Dan must be on the field as long as he is able and also why George should not be in the squad- no tackles , a carry of 2 metres was his contribution-- just another ruck inspector like Marler and Cole.
... agreed, there's 3 other teams equally as optimistic, plus 4 teams showbagging for a Lions spot - how fantastic, PommyJon in Oz
Daley and Ford must have some incriminating pictures of Borthwick to keep getting picked.
😂
I don’t understand the criticism of Ford. That looks pretty ridiculous to me.
@@Macron87 He was poor in the Autumn internationals. I personally think he is past his best and Steve picking three 10’s is a bit much. Four if you include Slade.
He had just got back from injury in the Autumn. He was fantastic in the last six nations and is proven quality. Daly has never let England down, is in fine form for Saracens and is perfect as the replacement if England want to do a 6 2 split.
😆
The HMS England continues to cruise unapologetically towards the iceberg I see.
Hope England select Earl and Willis together. They’ve been working well at set piece for saracens. Willis to the flank providing more ballast to the scrum and Earl from the base especially with the new law interpretation around offside line at the scrum think his dynamism and footwork could work well.
Think the fact Steward plays for Leicester does a lot of lifting for his reputation. Guaranteed he wouldn’t be involved for England if he played for Gloucester/Newcastle.
Another year of frustration coming up.
Maro! 💪🏿
Stewards tackling stats include two “missed” tackles against South Africa. Watch the games. Tell me who would have made those tackles, given the positions the other England players - from their errors - had left him in. The answer is no one would have. Definitely not Furbank.
Furbank is a real loss
Not really.
Good choice, Maro is the only England player who is consistently included when people pick world squads. We are crying out for a ball carrying number 8 so I hope Willis starts with Earl at 7. I think unless England win at least 3 games, which is not going to be easy Borthwick could be toast.
Had England not scraped that win against Ireland last year, he'd be gone already
Earl at 7? Why? His tackling isn’t the best and his jacking is poor. Willis at 8 and Curry at 7. Chessum at 6. Underhill at 7 if fit.
@@Macron87 the tacking is a good point. No arms tackles from him essentially lost england the games against France and new zealand...
@@tomc2581 teams improving. You can just tell by watching them play. Like lots have said, if ford's kick against all blacks was slightly to the left, if maro had caught the ball on the restart against australia, and if england had a bit more discipline in defence against South africa, people would be talking about them very differently right now.
@@tomc2581certainly doing a lot of heavy lifting on his record post WC
I know I don't rate Borthwick, but I'm getting more pessimistic about the players too. If you think who's top class, Itoje isn't as influential as he used to be, Tom Curry and Underhill can't stay fit, Dombrandt was exposed against Toulon, Marcus Smith has x-factor, but the England centres haven't yet functioned with him and none of the back 3 compare to France. I wouldn't be surprised to see Steward and Freeman playing 12 and 13 in a few years.
Bit of an energy sponge, arent you?
@Macron87 I dunno, I was a big believer in the England forwards and crap coaching and selection of the backs being the issue. I'd pick pretty much the Northampton backline given they'd actually have a clue together. However at the weekend, a lot of the England forwards got their asses handed to them, so I'm even less confident than usual!
@@somersetfan1You call it confidence, I call it the kind of boring negativity that you get from an annoying wing of England “fans”
@ I will say this, the fact that the RFU haven't picked a head coach with any success in Europe in a very long time tells you something. I really wonder what would have happened if Shaun Edwards and Mark McCall would've been given a chance in the last 15 years.
Steward is the form Fullback for England even if Furbank were fit, gets far too much stick
Realistically with their resources England’s goal should be to win the 6 Nations every year
What resources please explain?
Have you read the news?
All our cash goes to the big-wigs 😔
@@thereader6667 that wasn't what he was saying. It's the usual tripe about player pool etc
@ yeah, but it’s sad times when we can’t even afford to keep our best players in the country, and therefore not in the team. Our team is fine, but if we were taking full advantage of our resources we wouldn’t let players like, Arundel, Marchant, Willis et al play abroad when they could be killing it internationally.
@@thereader6667 very true
Fairly happy with the selection. A couple of minor quibbles but not with any of the likely starters.
England need to be aiming for 4 wins, although that's going to be quite a big ask if our defence isn't significantly better than it was in the Autumn.
Can see that France,Ireland or Scotland will be thinking they can beat whatever Team england put out coz defensively they are poor😮
I wouldn’t say so
Looking forward to a 5th possible sixth placing for ros bif.
😂😂😂 yeah let's see
Forget Crecy, Agincourt, Waterloo and rescuing you from the clutches of Germany twice and move on.
@@johnpoile1451 Why are you going on about wars and battles in a rugby video? Get a grip.
Mmm… roast beef
@@Macron87and Yorkie puddings
What's the point of 3 vice captains. Seems utterly pointless!
so a all internationals all gona miss this weeks heinken cup games?
they don’t join international squads until after those games are over
@@raghallaighj aw cool thanks for that
Itoje has always been a shithouse and a bit immature. But hey give him a chance lets see
Itoje's 30yo old now.
Immature shit, like pissing off Faf De Klerk in 2018 SA tour, is past
@@tobyslater2011 Like i said, lets see what he does
In what way? Genuinely give me examples. People say this but can never back it up
@AbeHopwood ua-cam.com/video/Sz7wmOQeTZY/v-deo.html&ab_channel=AndrewForde
@_wayne_6565 what's the problem? A little soft are we?
IFW is a big miss.
Not exactly a exciting progressive selection ☹ very disappointing , - George - Curry's - Dombrandt - Ford - Slade - Dingwall - Roebuck - Daly whats the point .. Where are the likes of Langdon - Oghre - Fasogban - Pollock - Pearson , and C.Atkinson - S.Atkinson - Anyanwu - Hassel-Collins and Hendy , at least O-Fordjour - T.Willis and T.Hill have made the cut 🙄.
About time we found another captain , though not impressed with Itoje's selection , George is not exactly the best English Hooker these days and age is against him . Oghre , Cowan-Dickie - Langdon and Blamire in my eyes are far better . Its not all about the age profile and more about selecting those in form .
Looks like there might be an some other motives behind this one
what would those motives be, then?
itoje was u20 captain as well, but given he get yeloow carded a lot due to his role maybe not best choice but deserved
@iamnutty8471
1 yellow card in 88 England tests (1.14%)
18 in 175 saracens appearances (10.29%)
So personally I wouldn’t say that is “a lot”
@@willfieldsendfacts v perception
Had we managed to keep Felix jones I'd say we are in with a chance of the title, but I can see past France this year