EPS, RBS and ERC

For the uninitiated, that's Elite Playing Squad, the sponsor of the 6 Nations and the European Cup.

So England have their first squad of the new (or temporary, who knows?) era. Stuart Lancaster and his team have perused the options on offer in the Premiership (primarily at the top end, but that is to be expected). The vast majority of the squad was as expected, though there was still the odd surprise, some welcome, some slightly less so if the Twittter traffic yesterday was anything to go by. I managed, when you take into account the 4 injury replacements for the 6 Nations, to get 26 names right, which is a fair stab, and in some cases, you could have given me 4 guesses and I wouldn't have plumped for the name selected.

Forwards
Corbisiero, Marler, Cole, Stevens, Wilson, Hartley, Mears, Webber, Lawes (Parling), Palmer, Deacon (Attwood), Botha, Wood, Croft, Robshaw, Morgan, Dowson, Clark

Without going into too much detail, the surprises are Mears and WIlson in the front row, Palmer, Deacon and Botha in the 2nd row and Dowson and Clark in the back row. In a squad which is full of youth and positive vibes for the future, Mears seems a strange selection. He has struggled with injury recently, resulting in major hooker headaches for Sir Ian McGeechan at Bath, and with younger talent around, such as Paice, Gray and George, such a stop-gap selection surprises me enormously.

Wilson is a solid option, but I fear that the 5 props selected mean more moving left and right for Matt Stevens, which will ultimately be to the detriment of both him and the squad.

The second row is full of surprises for me. Deacon I thought would have, and maybe should have, been jettisoned with the other older members of the squad. He is also injured. George Robson of Quins must be very disappointed to miss out, and I can't help feeling that Deacon has had his day. Palmer is a more than welcome surprise. The only reason I didn't select him was his current residence in France, which I believed meant he was not selectable. His line-out work is exemplary, and for that alone I am glad to see him selected. Parling and Attwood replace Deacon and Lawes for the 6 Nations while they recuperate from their injuries. A big chance for these two to prove they are the long-term answer that Deacon so clearly isn't.

The back row isn't without surprises either, as Dowson and Clark are 2 names that were not really considered ahead of the squad announcement, either by the tv experts or the various bloggers online. Both are solid options, but I can't help feel that Thomas Waldrom is a little hard done by. Already shamefully overlooked for the World Cup, and with many going so far as to say that Graham Henry maybe missed a trick by letting him slip through the net.

Backs
Youngs, Simpson, K. Dickson, Flood, Farrell, Hodgson, Tuilagi, Turner-Hall, Barritt, Ashton, Sharples, Strettle, Foden, Brown, (Trinder), (Goode)

The backs have a strange look to them, with only three centres and only three wingers. That said, Farrell, who seems to be the one the press are fixated with, has been playing centre all season and Trinder is added for the 6 Nations. Flood's injury may well force England to play Farrell at 10, but with Hodgson in the squad, it would be a shame not to use him. The inexperience of the back line would be eased by an older head at 10 while Flood recovers (if indeed he is out). It doesn't proffer much in terms of attacking rugby though, as Saracens, effective though they are, are not exactly purveyors of the beautiful game, and a line of Hodgson, Farrell and Barritt (in Tuilagi's absence) would suggest a dose of realism over expansive game.

The wings offer different things, Ashton with his finishing prowess, Strettle with his all-round game and Sharples with his electric pace. Brown will give continued pressure to Foden, who has never had it easy in terms of his place, as Armitage pushed hard while he was around. Foden is the incumbent, but Brown has impressed and will be ready to step in at the slightest sign of weakness.

Dickson has forced his way into the reckoning in recent weeks with some sterling performances, but I think Youngs holds the aces at scrum half still. Simpson can be considered lucky, as he hasn't performed well in recent weeks, and Danny Care's indiscretions have possibly given him one last go.

Finally, Trinder and Goode step up as cover for Flood and Tuilagi. Strange one that; Trinder for Tuilagi I get, but why Flood should be replaced by Goode (the one similarity is their rhyming names) I don't know. Full back for fly half...?

So now, the pontificating can move on a level. For ten days or so, the game has been to pick 32 from a list of 200 or so. Now, we have to pick 15 (or 22) from 32. This should be a lot easier, given positional limitations, but there are those (Farrell being the obvious candidate) who can function effectively in more than one position. I'm sure this will provoke much more animated discussion as the lead up to the first weekend of the tournament continues.

A brief thought of that first weekend now: when the fixtures were established, little could people have known that the first round would involve three big grudge matches (so to speak) with very recent (2011) history. Scotland vs England sees a repeat of the match which sealed Scotland's World Cup fate back in late September. On home territory, and with a much more settled squad, they will be confident of going one better. Wales and Ireland go head to head on the same weekend. A repeat of a World Cup Quarter Final which, beforehand, most people had Ireland winning. Ireland though were clearly reading their own press and over-confidence saw them failing to reach their first World Cup semi final. 4 months later and they have a chance to right that wrong, to a certain extent.

Finally, France welcome Italy in what is traditionally a relatively innocuous game in Paris. France won't be troubled, but given the defeat in Rome last year, Italy will be brimming with confidence in Paris for the first time. That said, that Rome defeat being so fresh in many memories will ensure that complacency will not be an issue. Given that it will also be the first game in charge for new coach Philippe Saint-Andre, I think you can safely say the French will be ready.

A more detailed preview will follow later of course...

Finally to Europe and Round 5 this weekend of the two trophies. The English sides showed sides of improvement last time round and Leicester will need to continue that progress in Ulster if they are to progress. Clermont should romp home against Aironi to put themselves within a Home win against Ulster of the Quarter Finals. Much could be decided this weekend, but traditionally, Round 5 sets the experts going and the graphic designers of Sky Sports will be creating "What if?" slides from Monday onwards. Another weekend of non-stop action awaits though, and as ever, you can read all about it, and the various qualifying permutations, here on either Sunday night or Monday morning.

I will hopefully have some more news to divulge to you then too. (That's called a teaser) ;-)

England Squad Announcement

Wednesday sees Stuart Lancaster's first meaningful day in his role as Interim Coach, or as I prefer to call him, Coach. The announcement of the EPS (Elite Player Squad or any other name you wish to give it) is the announcement of the direction that the House of Lancaster will take.

Let me get one thing off my chest before we go any further. The use of the word Interim is pointless. He is the Coach. Everyone knows it, everyone understands it, so why bother using the word interim? He is on a short-term contract, but he is the coach.

With that out of my system, time to look at the fruits of his first few weeks labour. He has traveled the grounds of the Premiership extensively, usually alongside his sidekick Muttly, sorry Rowntree. Every possible candidate for the 32 EPS places has had the coach's attention for at least 80 minutes, and after a meeting with Rowntree and his other principle assistant Andy Farrell, Wednesday sees the 32 names announced for the first time.

We've heard the rumours of those who are being overlooked and those who aren't happy with it. Mark Cueto and Nick Easter seemingly falling into the latter category, Wilkinson (retirement - ha), Shaw, Palmer, Tindall and many others have been jettisoned, as the new management team look to leave its stamp on the year ahead.

As every other blogger has seemingly had their go at picking the 32, I thought I should probably do the same. There have been some strange selections in the lists I have seen and heard. Steve Borthwick in Will Greenwood's list for example, Tom Palmer, who is in France, also getting named. I believe mine will be closer to the mark, but then I would say that wouldn't I?

Front Row
There are some interesting choices in the front row. Loosehead sees a relatively young survivor of the World Cup in Alex Corbisiero, and it would be a major surprise were he not to be included. This leaves a straight fight for the second spot between, as I see it, the future, loose option that is Joe Marler, whose scrummaging is maybe slightly weaker but whose hard yards in the loose and ball carrying would give England a dynamic option, and the more experienced Nick Wood of Gloucester, who is without doubt one of the better scrummagers in the Premiership, but whose loose game is a fair way behind Marler. A touch pick for sure, and while Wood may be the better short term option, I think this squad will be a very foward looking one and therefore expect Marler to get the nod.

Tighthead is a little more straightforward in my eyes. Dan Cole is the quiet unassuming character who gets on with things. After a slight dip in form at the World Cup, he seems to be back to something approaching his best. Matt Stevens too, since he has been focussing on the tighthead side rather than trying to be Mr Flexible, has made steps to somewhere near his best. I wouldn't be surprised if the pair get selected. Their form is reasonable, and their experience in a relatively young squad would be invaluable. Only Paul Doran-Jones, on current form, may disturb this pair.

Hooker is both easy and difficult. Dylan Hartley is the experienced man, he is probably the best hooker in England at the moment (well, in England and qualified to play for England). He is a shoe-in for one of the places. The second is a little more open, and most Premiership hookers have been mentioned in respect of the second place: Webber of Wasps, were he able to throw, would be the perfect foil for Hartley. His throwing though is at times abysmal, and England cannot really afford that. Paice of London Irish, Gray of Quins and George of the Jungle, sorry Saracens, are also in line, but Lancaster has Webber with the Saxons last year, and I suspect that will be the weight that tilts it in Webber's favour.

Second Row
Injury, retirement and deciding to play abroad have robbed England of Lawes, Deacon, Shaw and Palmer, from the rather disappointing World Cup second row. It always surprised me that, for someone who exhibited such qualities as a player in that position, Martin Johnson never managed to get anything out of his chosen second row forwards. Lancaster has effectively a blank sheet, though Lawes would be a certainty were he not injured. I still suspect Lawes will get an EPS place, as he should be fit for summer's Australia tour and the winter arrival of the Southern Hemisphere sides. Who joins him though? Robson of Harlequins is in good form, Attwood of Bath too seems to be on the road back to his best, and slightly left-field for me given his injury record and his lack of game time in recent weeks, Parling of Leicester would also get the nod from me.

Back Row
I'm pretty certain that, given the euphoria surrounding his performances this season in both victory, and latterly in defeat, Chris Robshaw will be named in the list. He may well be up for the captaincy eventually too, but for now he, Tom Croft and Tom Wood will waltz into Lancaster's squad. Three places to fill then, including the key Number 8 position. Specialists need to be picked there for me, and they also need to be people who take the game to the opposition at pace. Easter's time has been and gone, despite his recent lean look and performances, and as such, I would opt for Waldrom of Leicester and Morgan of Scarlets. Morgan is another of those who I believe has had a whisper from Lancaster, which explains the timing of his announcement that he would be choosing England ahead of Wales. The final back row position is a tricky one too, but I would go for Seymour of Sale, who is a proper number 7, though if slightly unfit given the clonking he took at Leicester last weekend, then Saull of Saracens would be a hair's breadth behind him on my list

Half Backs
Scrum half is a problem area for me, so I'm picking three to keep options open. Youngs and Simpson will be in there, and given recent performances Dickson of Northampton should also get his first shout. Watching him behind a dominant pack is a joy. His pass is unfussy, accurate and quick, his defence is stout and his kicking game, while never going to reach the heights, is more than good enough.

Fly half sees another tricky decision given the injury to Toby Flood, who is still hopeful of returning for the Scotland clash. I would pick him anyway, along with Owen Farrell. The third name (needed given Flood's injury and Farrell's likely use in the centre) is anther tricky one. I like Burns, but I think he is too green, I really like Lamb, but he is a little inconsistent and I used to love Hodgson, but the key words there are 'used to'. I've seen enough in Lamb to want to take the risk on him, but think Lancaster will opt for the slightly steadier Burns.

Centres
Manu Tuilagi is as near to the first name on the squad list as they come. If only they could find a way of inserting some common sense into him.... Alongside him is a tricky one, with youth being required. I've never understood why Dan Hipkiss was so consistently overlooked by previous coaches, but think he is likely to miss out again, and much as I like Smith of Leicester, I can't see him getting a go unfortunately. I see Trinder getting a call, Barritt, who has played Saxons and is a key member of Andy Farrell's Saracens backline and Banahan, who has the ability to play centre or wing, but who I would like to see being given a run at centre. Turner-Hall will be unlucky and miss out.

Wingers
With Banahan in the centre and able to slip to the wing, I am going for three form players and a slight wildcard. Ashton, of course, will walk in to the list. I think he will be joined by the hot property of the moment, Sharples, and the forgotten man of English rugby Strettle. The final name on the list is someone who, whenever they have stepped up a level, have made an instant impression: Wade, young and inexperienced though he is, is the nearest England will come to another Jason Robinson, and needs to be involved sooner rather than later.

Full Backs
Easy. Foden and Brown. Brown's form allied with Armitage's consistent run-ins with the authorities and his rumoured future departure to French shores should see the two form guys of the Premiership selected.

So there you have it, a list of 30. A mix between what I would do and what I expect Lancaster et al to do.

Forwards (16)
Corbisiero, Marler, Hartley, Webber, Cole, Stevens, Lawes, Attwood, Robson, Parling, Croft, Wood, Robshaw, Seymour, Waldrom, Morgan

Backs (16)
Youngs, Simpson, Dickson, Flood, Farrell, Burns, Tuilagi, Trinder, Barritt, Banahan, Ashton, Strettle, Sharples, Wade, Foden, Brown

Here is a back-up 15, any of which are feasible selections:
Front row: Wood, Gray, Doran-Jones
Second Row: Garvey, Gaskell
Back Row: Saull, Narraway, Gibson
Half Backs: Hodgson, Hodgson
Centres: Turner-Hall, Smith
Wings: Monye, Armitage
Full Back: Goode

A fascinating time of year. No doubt some of those names mentioned will lead you to laugh or call me crazy, but rugby is all about opinion. You've seen mine, why not tell me yours?

@theeggchaser on Twitter or Comment here. Thanks for reading, see you soon

England Back On Track As Ireland Continue To Falter

The sun greeted the kick-off at Lansdowne Road (to me, irrespective of sponsorship deals, it will always be Lansdowne Road). Ireland, unconvincing in their warm-up games so far, welcomed England, unconvincing in their warm-up games so far. Injury concerns on both sides of the tape, and Hendrie Fourie went straight into the side having been out of the World Cup 30 earlier in the week. England's Grand Slam dreams had been dashed in this very stadium 5 months previously, when they gave their least convincing performance in some time, but Ireland sensed blood that day and there was something at stake then.

After the Irish version of the Haka, a rendition of the uniting Ireland's call, England started ominously. 2 minutes of possession, Fourie to the fore on three occasions, before a series of big Irish tackles drove them back to such a disorganised extent that Wilkinson tried a drop from near halfway. England were buoyed by this though, and took the lead on 5 minutes, before Ireland had been out of their half. Haskell picked up and hit the blind side from a scrum, quick ball for once allowed England to ship it wide through Wilkinson and Tindall, where Tuilagi exploited the gap with great pace and power to stroll home untouched. Wilkinson added the conversion, and England had a deserved 7-0 lead. 

Ireland seemed to wake up with this though, and twice earned penalties in England's half. The first they tried the corner route, but a bad line-out thwarted this. The second was nearer to the posts, following a late charge on Murphy, and O'Gara slotted this between the sticks to get the Irish on the board at 3-7. No sooner this though, than England's tight 5 put a huge squeeze on in front of the Irish posts, and the Irish had to stand up and concede an easy penalty for the metronomic Wilkinson to stretch the lead to 7 once more.

Ireland continued to push for the try, spurning 2 more kicks at goal and Redden somehow finding Cueto when with a little care, the corner was begging. Cueto's interception was the only way England could have avoided conceding, but Redden really should have done better. On 18 minutes, England were pinged bizarrely by touch judge Poite for a forward pass. Poite is an up and coming official, who referees the scrums as well as anyone, but his vision was somewhat errant on this occasion. Ireland got another penalty under the sticks for a breakdown infringement. Advantage was played before the penalty was given, and the bad news for Ireland was that David Wallace, the influential back row forward, was seemingly severely injured in the advantage play; another victim of a last minute injury?

O'Gara kicked the penalty, and Wilkinson retorted following a high tackle on the Irish 22 to make it 13-6 to the English, who looked far more incisive, probably due to the combination of quicker ball and Tuilagi's presence. Tuilagi was making his presence felt at both ends of the pitch and only a great last-ditch tackle by Murphy prevented a 3rd try in a game and a half in an England shirt. A little bit of chess followed, with the only incident of note being the precautionary removal of Heaslip with a slight injury, before O'Gara slotted a 3rd penalty following another England penalty, after which referee Nigel Owens gave the England captain the traditional warning of 'next cynical one goes for 10 minutes'.

A fired-up Croft and Healy exchanged pleasantries on the floor a couple of minutes before the half-time break. Healy lost a contact lens, England didn't lose Croft. Ireland pushed hard during the last 90 seconds, but solid scrambled defence from the away side saw them take the changing rooms with a 4 point lead. 3 important players, 2 Irishmean (Wallace and Heaslip) and 1 Englishman (Cueto), plus the back-up England flanker Fourie, had limped off during a tough first half in Dublin.

Half time Ireland 9 England 13

One minute into the second half, and Chris Ashton was the man who paid the penalty for England's persistent infringement at the breakdown, as he received a yellow card from Mr Owens before O'Gara hit the post with the subsequent penalty. England's 14 men did what short-handed sides need to do. They kept the ball in hand and shared the workload amongst themselves. Tindall, captain for the day, weighted a kick through perfectly for Delon Armitage who dropped over for England's second try to provoke strains of Swing Low Sweet Chariot... strains which were booed and whistled down by the home fans. Wilkinson had the last word from the touchline to make it 9-20.

The usual raft of second half changes, along with a torrential downpour, made continuity difficult in the second half, and both sides seemed pretty niggly meaning lots of penalties. With the rains come Flood, but not here as Wilkinson remained on the field with Wigglesworth who had a quietly efficient game. As usual in such circumstances, the kicking game comes to the fore, and Sexton, who had replaced O'Gara, and Armitage, both put in a couple of magnificent kicks. Inspirational moments were few and far between in a messy second half though, and with the ball more and more resembling a bar of soap, errors killed most positive intentions. It had become a game for the grafters, and the rise to prominence of O'Connell in green and Tindall in white was evidence of that. 2 of the doughtiest scrappers had big second half impacts. 

As the last ten minutes arrived, and with the conditions not improving, Armitage badly sliced a kick from his own 22 allowing the solid Ireland line-out a good position from which to build an attack. Clean ball came, and Ireland went through the phases, but all was a little slow due to both excellent defence in midfield and the rain, and the attack petered out in an England line-out on the other side of the field. Any semblance of Irish penetration had completely gone now, as they missed D'Arcy and O'Driscoll (who wouldn't) and the game finished in a straightforward England win. A game which clearly lacked the intensity of this morning's battle in Brisbane, but then there was nothing on this one.

Final Score Ireland 9 England 20

Men of the Match - Manu Tuilagi and Mike Tindall. An early try, some destructive tackling, a finely placed kick and the required penetration in midfield. Impossible to split these two, who give England a promising partnership in their problem position at last. They're not Carling and Guscott, they're not O'Driscoll and D'Arcy, but they're a good unit. 

Thoughts

Ireland finish their World Cup warm-up matches with a record of Played 4, Lost 4. Any forward momentum, any optimism, any warm feeling has been completely dispelled by a dreadful August. Admittedly, they missed O'Brien, O'Driscoll, D'Arcy and were further reduced during the game with the loss of Wallace and Heaslip. Their performances have left them thankful that they are in a pool that shouldn't cause too many problems (Australia aside, they should beat Italy, USA and Russia). There is no way though that they can compete with the probable Quarter Final opponents, South Africa. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though here. Declan Kidney is a shrewd coach, and assuming all his big names come through their various trials and tribulations, I'm sure he'll have picked them up by the time they land in New Zealand.

England however will bounce toward the plane after recording their first win in Dublin since they were crowned World Champions in 2003. I was a little nervous going into this game given the result in Cardiff 2 weeks ago, but another solid performance up front, where there are options across the board now for England, allied with improved performances at half back and the emergence of a centre partnership worthy of the name, means Martin Johnson can look forward to his World Cup with a little more confidence than he otherwise would have.

I hope you've enjoyed my take on today's two big Internationals. I will be back with the Pool C and D previews during the week. Keep the comments coming and follow me on twitter for more succinct comment and views.