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England trial matches? Picking four XVs from the Premiership

By Alex Shaw
What would a regional trial match look like in England? (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

There are few more compelling spectacles in either code of rugby than the State of Origin in Australia, something which Union has tapped somewhat into with the North vs South trial match that took place in New Zealand on Saturday.

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Although it wasn’t played at the same intensity as the notoriously fiery State of Origin, the All Blacks trial match displayed phenomenal levels of skill and has tickled the rugby world’s fancy at a time when the international rugby calendar has been decimated and the return of club rugby has been impacted by short turnarounds, heavy rotation and new law amendments.

The concept of a North vs South trial match in England would struggle due to the heavy concentration of professional clubs in the southern half of the country, though that doesn’t mean potential State of Origin-esque fixtures couldn’t work. Prior to professionalism, rugby in England had an established history of regional competition based around the designations of London & South-East, West Country, Midlands and North.

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Jack Willis on his England dreams, injury recovery and Wasps’ resurgence in the Premiership

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Jack Willis on his England dreams, injury recovery and Wasps’ resurgence in the Premiership

We have split the current pool of players in the Gallagher Premiership up into the respective regions that they came through at the junior academy level or, should they not have come through a Premiership junior academy, whichever Premiership club they first joined as a professional rugby player.

London & SE

15. Elliot Daly

14. Anthony Watson

13. Jonathan Joseph

12. Owen Farrell

11. Joe Cokanasiga

10. Marcus Smith

9. Ben Spencer

1. Joe Marler

2. Jamie George

3. Kyle Sinckler

4. Maro Itoje

5. George Kruis

6. Nick Isiekwe

7. Ben Earl

8. Billy Vunipola

There is an abundance of talent to pick from in this populous region that not only boasts three Premiership clubs – four if counting players from London Wasps before the move to Coventry – but also a wealth of high-level rugby-playing independent schools. Understandably, Saracens’ recent domestic and European dominance shows up in the composite side.

With the Berkshire pair of Jack and Tom Willis unable to crack the final XV, as well as talents such as Nathan Earle, Joe Marchant, Joe Launchbury and veteran full-backs Mike Brown and Alex Goode missing out, there is no lack of competition in the London & SE region.

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West Country

15. Jack Nowell

14. Jonny May

13. Henry Slade

12. Sam Hill

11. Ollie Thorley

10. Joe Simmonds

9. Dan Robson

1. Mako Vunipola

2. Luke Cowan-Dickie

3. Marcus Street

4. Jonny Hill

5. Charlie Ewels

6. Zach Mercer

7. Sam Underhill

8. Sam Simmonds

Another rugby stronghold, the west comprises Exeter Chiefs, Bristol Bears, Gloucester and Bath, with the four clubs enjoying rare dominance over football in their respective cities and surrounding areas. Like London & SE, the West Country does not lack for productive rugby nurseries and that is reflected in the amount of players in the country’s elite player pool that hail from the region.

Any XV that can leave out Ellis Genge has to be quite the group, whilst Jack Maunder is knocking repeatedly on the door behind Dan Robson. Emerging back rower Richard Capstick will push for his inclusion soon and Tom Dunn is hard done by as he has to compete with incumbent England deputy Luke Cowan-Dickie.

Midlands

15. George Furbank

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14. Ollie Sleightholme

13. Manu Tuilagi

12. Billy Twelvetrees

11. Alex Lewington

10. George Ford

9. Ben Youngs

1. Alex Waller

2. Alfie Barbeary

3. Dan Cole

4. Courtney Lawes

5. Alex Moon

6. Ted Hill

7. Will Evans

8. Lewis Ludlam

On paper, the Midlands squad should be competitive with the two previous regions, with players coming out of the professional academies at Worcester Warriors, Wasps, Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers. That said, it is a heavy a mix of younger players with potential and experienced Premiership performers, without necessarily the international recognition that London & SE and the West Country both have.

Moon, Barbeary, Evans and Sleightholme embody the youth element to the XV, whilst few players have exhibited the durability and consistency in the Premiership that both Waller and Twelvetrees have. The squad leans heavily on Leicester academy products, though that could change in the coming years with a number of Northampton products beginning to knock on the door of club and country.

North

15. Simon Hammersley

14. Zach Kibirige

13. Sam James

12. Mark Atkinson

11. Josh Hodge

10. Toby Flood

9. Danny Care

1. Ross Harrison

2. Tommy Taylor

3. Kieran Brookes

4. James Gaskell

5. Josh Beaumont

6. Tom Curry

7. Ben Curry

8. Mark Wilson

With Leeds Tykes having fallen away and Newcastle Falcons facing their fair share of challenges in recent seasons, the North XV is understandably a little understrength in comparison to its three rivals. Sale Sharks’ contingent has also been impacted by Mike Haley and Will Addison both opting to represent Ireland in recent years.

Youngsters such as Tom Curtis and Will Haydon-Wood could push Flood out of the mix in the coming years, whilst Sale will be hoping that their South African influx doesn’t prevent their talented academy crops from taking the next step.

Outcome?

It’s hard to look beyond the London & SE side, who boast almost an entire XV of England capped players, with plenty of depth and competition that would make up an enviable set of replacements. Opting for Danny Cipriani at fly-half over Smith would ensure an all-capped XV, too.

The biggest challenge would likely come from the West Country, with the core of the squad making up the foundation of the successful Exeter side in recent seasons. If the tight five can hold up against the formidable London & SE group, the West Country would have every chance of pulling off an upset.

The Midlands group could give both London & SE and West Country a run for their money on their day, though they lack for the quality throughout the squad of their more southernly rivals. As for the North side, it does not lack individual talent, but to compete at the international level with the more stacked sides on offer elsewhere would be a challenge.

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J
Jon 14 minutes ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

30 Go to comments
j
john 2 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

15 Go to comments
A
Adrian 4 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

15 Go to comments
T
Trevor 7 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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