Fans furious there are too many Tigers in England's RWC squad
Eddie Jones’ 31-man England World Cup squad has made for some interesting reading with a number of shock call-ups. Bath’s Ruaridh McConnochie and Northampton’s Lewis Ludlam are perhaps the two most interesting call-ups, as is Piers Francis, Ludlam’s fellow Saints player.
But one decision that has surprised a number of fans on social media is not so much the personnel in the squad, but the representation from different clubs.
After the eight-strong contingent provided by Premiership winners Saracens, Leicester Tigers have the most players in the squad with their half-dozen selections. This is despite them finishing in 11th place amid fears throughout the season that they would be relegated.
On the other hand, table toppers Exeter Chiefs only have three players, as have fourth place Northampton, while third place Gloucester only have one.
This has not sat well with some fans on Twitter, who feel some players are in the squad based on reputation rather than form. Then again, when looking at the Leicester squad, it is hard to blame Jones for some of his decisions.
Eddie Jones has named his 31-man England squad for the Rugby World Cuphttps://t.co/K41hq4OZmT
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 12, 2019
Jonny May and Ben Youngs are two favourites for England, and while Youngs’ form may have dipped slightly over the Six Nations, he was never worthy of being dropped. Manu Tuilagi, who fought back from a succession of injuries last season, is another player that was always likely to make it, simply due to the X-factor that he brings.
While there was a large number of fans that believed Premiership player of the year Danny Cipriani warranted a place over George Ford, the Tigers fly-half was one of the team’s only bright sparks last season and has always been part of Jones’ plans.
🐯🐯🐯🏴🐯🐯🐯
Congratulations to the six members of the Leicester Tigers squad who have been announced as members of the 2019 @EnglandRugby Rugby World Cup Squad.https://t.co/jHXtuOzx7j
— Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) August 12, 2019
Therefore, at least four of the Tigers players deserve to go to Japan, albeit off the back of a very poor domestic season.
One area that is contentious, however, is the props. Dan Cole, whose international career looked to be over this time last year after missing out on the tour to South Africa, was selected by Jones ahead of Exeter’s Harry Williams. If this was a 50/50 call for Jones, some may be surprised that he opted for a player from an 11th place club side.
Appreciate @EllisGenge giving some time to talk @LeicesterTigers, @EnglandRugby, @HITZRugby and how proud he is to come from Bristol
https://t.co/uPjmx3vgY9— liam heagney (@heagneyl) June 2, 2019
Likewise, Ellis Genge was awarded the third loosehead prop slot after battling with Exeter’s Ben Moon over the past year. Had Jones opted for the two Exeter props, the squad would have looked slightly more fairly represented.
While the fans certainly have a point about the form of the Leicester players after last season, which will be a concern, it is also hard to argue with many of the selections. This is what has been said:
Bit baffled by the England world cup squad @premrugby Six Leicester players and only 3 @ExeterChiefs and the POY @DannyCipriani87 Sat at home. Hoped to be proved wrong. #WearTheRose
— Olly Priestley (@OlvisIII) August 12, 2019
6 players from 11th place Leicester and 3 from 2nd place Exeter… What could go wrong? https://t.co/9AzqQblpS4
— Oli (@OliPlays13) August 12, 2019
Yeah I know as a Gloucester fan I'll sound biased but having 6 players from Leicester who were nearly relegated (great players but still) and 1 player from Gloucester who comfortably finished 3rd and were the only team anywhere near Sarries and Exeter seems a bit unfair
— Mat Dunnett (@UpTheDoon) August 13, 2019
Unbelievable that Bath and Leicester have so many representatives. Old boys club strikes again!!!
— Louise Jones (@parchot) August 12, 2019
How the hell Leicester have that many I have no idea! Exeter, Gloucester and Quins should have more
— Craig Davis (@craigdvs11) August 12, 2019
Travesty that so many Tigers are picked on reputation rather than form!
— Ryan Morgan (@RyanMorgan1989) August 12, 2019
https://twitter.com/kevin_lsi/status/1161245740376764417?s=20
How on Earth there are that many Tigers players after the last few years God only knows…
— James Tipping (@JamesETipping) August 12, 2019
Questions have also been raised regarding the third most represented side, Bath, who have five players in the squad despite finishing the season in sixth place.
However, both Anthony Watson and Jonathan Joseph missed large chunks of the season, and Sam Underhill also spent time on the sidelines. Those three could have easily helped their club to a higher finish.
Ultimately, Jones knows what he is going to get from many of the Leicester players and while they suffered a terrible 2018/19 season by their high standards, the Australian obviously still has faith in them.
WATCH: England boss Eddie Jones speaks at the announcement of his World Cup squad in Bristol
Comments on RugbyPass
An on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments