Polynesian All Star XV

Vs New Zealand

What's your team? Don't see many changes needed to be honest, not from within that squad anyway and I think they will stick with the EPS

Based on likely players available:

Corbisiero
Youngs
Cole
Launchbury
Parling
Wood
Robshaw
Morgan
Care
Farrell
Brown
Barritt
Tuilagi
Ashton
Goode

Paice, Wilson, Vunipola, Lawes, Youngs, Burns, Joseph

interesting that you left out flood. tbh i agree with you from 1 to 23. but i get a sense that lancaster is a bit scared to leave him out right now

unless he is injured?

Yes, that's based on Flood being injured. For myself I would not, as yet, have Farrell in the EPS, and possibly I never would. But he is there as of now and as such seems the most likely to start.

Following have been released to their clubs;

Botha, Biggs, Dickson, Dowson, Flood, Johnson, Palmer, Sharples, JTH, Waldrom and Wood

So it would seem Corbisiero who I don't think has trained this week is expected to play. Irish will be annoyed if they get him back injured, again. He doesn't play much for them, he'll probs miss the 6N and could be off to Saints at the end of the season.

Lawes has been retained over Botha.

And Flood is out with Burns staying with the matchday squad.

Should have kept Biggs and Dickson over AN Other back and Youngs

JJ is a centre right? Chance for seeing 20-30 mins of Burns and JJ for Farrell and Barritt?

Would like to have seen Biggs stick about, he's a top finisher and one I actually feel will be the one to watch when it comes to the Lions next year.

If Englad play a system of Goode stepping up into the line as a 2nd play maker is Biggs what you'd want?

Really need player who can add coverage as a 15, which I assume is why they first moved Foden, and are now playing Brown out there.

Also in the England system the wing needs (in attack) to worry less about being a classic winger, and rather judge when to come off the blindside.

I like Biggs as a player, and I think it's good he's been called up. But with Wade, Eastmond, Yarde, Watson knocking around he may be lucky to get a run in an England shirt.

But he is playing well, and he's a left winger.

That is my point - he is a left winger; I don't see the point in playing a FB on the wing just to cover your FB

If you need to play someone out of position to cover someone else then the system IMO is wrong

And to be fair...whilst Sky were praising the SAffies for using their wings to cover when the FB was tied up...Brown didn't seem to do that good a job of covering FB from the wing in defence...almost as if he felt 'I'm a winger, I've got to stay out here'.

He may not have done a good job on the wing, but he's likely better at filling in at 15.

I'm not sure there is a point, as I wouldn't use my 15 as a 2nd play maker. But if England do cotinue such a plan there's a very good reason to have a full back on a wing

So we are agreed that FB shouldn't be the 2nd playmaker

That is good

And yes if they intend to do that then they need someone like Lewsey or Jason Robinson who are equally capable in both positions.

It is hardly as if having Goode at FB means that his club score a barrel-load of tries

Good to see that the English Women are 2-0 up in their 3 match series against the Silver Ferns

I think using Goode is an option. But relying on him to be in the line causes as many problems s it solves.

Flood has taken a lot of flak, but in reality he has had very reduced options with two non passig centres, even if they're better than before.

And Sarries in their last few games have been much better, hope that continues.

i like goode as a 2nd playmaker. and may work better when foden comes back, brown was good with ball in hand but didnt read plays aswell and cover.
why has wood gone? does this mean lancaster is looking at haskell? gotta say i prefer wood. and correct me if i'm wrong but has he left a replacement back row?? unless you count lawes.

Nick Wood not Tom Wood has been released

Meeeeeeat, my apologies for not being clear on Tom Wood Vs Nick Wood.

And the 15 stepping up can work, it's not just we saw it work vs Fiji, but Barnes did it to us a week later to great effect. Of course one could say that still only shows it works against poor teams.

ahh ok quind no worries. here goes

New Zealand team to face England
15 Israel Dagg
14 Cory Jane
13 Conrad Smith
12 Ma’a Nonu
11 Julien Savea
10 Dan Carter
9 Aaron Smith

1 Tony Woodcock
2 Kevin Mealamu
3 Owen Franks
4 Sam Whitelock
5 Brodie Retallick
6 Liam Messam
7 Richie McCaw
8 Kieran Reid

Replacements:
16 Dane Coles
17 Wyatt Crockett
18 Charlie Faumina
19 Luke Romano
20 Victor Vito
21 Piri Weepu
22 Aaron Cruden
23 Ben Smith

England team to face New Zealand
15. Alex Goode (Saracens, 4 caps)
14. Chris Ashton (Saracens, 27 caps)
13. Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers, 15 caps)
12. Brad Barritt (Saracens, 9 caps)
11. Mike Brown (Harlequins, 9 caps)
10. Owen Farrell (Saracens, 11 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 26 caps)

1. Alex Corbisiero (London Irish, 16 caps)
2. Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 2 cap)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 33 caps)
4. Joe Launchbury (London Wasps, 2 caps)
5. Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers, 10 caps)
6. Tom Wood (Northampton Saints, 11 caps)
7. Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, capt, 10 caps)
8. Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby, 7 caps)

Replacements
16. David Paice (London Irish, 4 caps)
17. David Wilson (Bath Rugby, 21 caps)
18. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 2 cap)
19. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 14 caps)
20. James Haskell (London Wasps, 43 caps)
21. Danny Care (Harlequins, 35 caps)
22. Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby, uncapped)
23. Jonathan Joseph (London Irish, 3 caps)

If Lancaster still wants a second playmaker come the 6N and insists on the current centres, I think we could well see Eastmond play as he has been coming inside as another playmaker recently. And if he decides to run it, Wade aside, I haven't seen any better this season.

Well that was a fantastic win for England, though I'm inclined to think NZ were not sufficiently recovered from the bug in their camp.

I've never seen a NZ side be that soft at the breakdown, even if getting beaten they give more grief in this area.

England put them under pressure, and were excellent value for the win, and they'll take a lot from it which is cool. But it's not that England won which has me thinking NZ were a little sick, it's that they got battered in too many areas.

England still have a lot of work to do. Today was about stopping NZ playing, and going forwards we'll need to add to that. But that's for another day, today was a great day.

Having watched it again (or perhaps the 1st time properly), NZ don't look 100%, but our performance would have challenged them regardless. Interestingly, it didn't look like a one-off performance to me, no individual player seemed to do anything fantastically exceptional compared to their normal good standard. A few small changes and adjustments, and things came together.

Hopefully we'll see it continue, and if we do, the 6N should be a lot of fun. Especially if Wales find their feet again and France keep going strong.

We did put pressure on them. But there's only one bigger points defeat in the entire history of NZ rugby, and we're not that good.