Picking an England 23 for the summer internationals
The England Test series during a British and Irish Lions year is always one for experimentation given the number of players that are missing.
England have travelled to Argentina during the last three Lions tours, but this year they host the USA and Canada, as well as an England A fixture against Scotland A. The visiting sides’ rankings may allow Eddie Jones even more room for experimentation this summer as he begins to blood in new players for the 2023 World Cup, while still maintaining a degree of experience in his squad.
So this is what England’s matchday squad could look like this year:
1 ELLIS GENGE
Though a mainstay in Jones’ England squads, Ellis Genge has only started three Tests since the World Cup, and only nine out of his 28 caps. With Mako Vunipola on Lions duty, he has an opportunity to start.
2 TOM DUNN
With Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie away with the Lions, the door has been opened for Bath’s Tom Dunn to step up.
3 WILL STUART
Having served as Kyle Sinckler’s deputy over the past year, Bath’s Will Stuart should again fill in for the Bristol Bears tighthead after his recent call-up to the Lions squad.
4 CHARLIE EWELS
With 21-caps to his name since 2016, Charlie Ewels is not a fresh face in the England lineup, but given the depth in the second-row, he has been in and out of starting XVs.
5 DAVE RIBBANS
Always impressive for Northampton Saints, Dave Ribbans was called into the England squad midway through the Guinness Six Nations but didn’t get his chance to earn his first cap.
6 TED HILL
Worcester Warriors captain Ted Hill earned his only England cap in 2018 at the age of 19, but has been overlooked by Jones since then. He offers something in the No6 shirt that few of his England competitors do and should earn his second cap this summer.
7 BEN EARL
Sam Underhill always remains a popular option at openside flanker, but these Tests provide Ben Earl the chance to make his first start. The Bristol Bears loose forward has solely been used as a ‘finisher’ by Jones in his first 13 caps.
8 ALEX DOMBRANDT
One of the players whose omission has caused the most controversy over the past 18 months, Harlequins’ No8 Alex Dombrandt’s level has not dropped, and even though Billy Vunipola is not on the Lions tour, the 24-year-old deserves his chance.
9 HARRY RANDALL
An ankle injury during the Six Nations ended Harry Randall’s chances of making his first England appearance, but he is nearing a return and should be in contention for England.
10 MARCUS SMITH
One of the form players in England this year, it would be a shock if Quins’ Marcus Smith did not earn his first cap this summer. The 22-year-old’s attacking mindset is a departure from how England have played over the past year, but he could be the shake-up that is needed.
11 OLLIE HASSELL-COLLINS
The 66-cap Jonny May could provide some experience amongst some green three-quarters and will want to put his Lions disappointment behind him. If Jones is more daring though, London Irish’s Ollie Hassell-Collins has made a strong case to play all season.
12 PIERS O’CONOR
A classy operator in the midfield for Bristol, Piers O’Conor faced the Barbarians in 2019 alongside Smith and Dombrandt, but has also failed to make a Test appearance. He has struggled to curry favour with Jones in recent seasons but always performs for the Bears.
13 OLLIE LAWRENCE
Jones has clearly earmarked Ollie Lawrence as one of his future stars and has been keen to throw him in at the deep end, though the 21-year-old’s Test career has failed to ignite in his previous six appearances. Then again, he has not had the easiest of opponents to start his Test career.
14 OLLIE THORLEY
Paolo Odogwu may have been in line to earn his first cap before picking up his ACL injury, but Ollie Thorley is another player who has been in and around England training camps, but only has the one cap. With Anthony Watson and Elliot Daly in South Africa, this could be the Gloucester man’s chance.
15 MAX MALINS
His selection at fullback against France and Ireland in the Six Nations (though he was forced to withdraw from the latter) suggested Jones views Max Malins as England’s next fullback, and he could further cement that place.
16 ALFIE BARBEARY
Capable of playing at hooker or the back row, Wasps’ 20-year-old powerhouse Alfie Barbeary must feature if fully fit, and provides great cover on the bench.
17 BENO OBANO
Bath’s Beno Obano was given a taste of Test rugby in the Six Nations and will hope to build on that this summer.
18 JOE HEYES
Jones is not short of tighthead options, even with Sinckler gone. Exeter’s Harry Williams has Test experience, but in terms of youth, fellow Exeter prop Marcus Street and Leicester’s Joe Heyes have bright futures. Having made England’s Six Nations shadow squad, Heyes may be ahead of the bunch here.
19 NICK ISIEKWE
Capable of covering the second row and back row, Nick Isiekwe is a powerful option to provide an impact from the bench.
20 GEORGE MARTIN
Like Isiekwe, the 19-year-old George Martin is a versatile option from the bench, and a player Jones clearly likes the look of.
21 DAN ROBSON
Another player who has caps to his name, twelve, but no starts thus far, Dan Robson will have the chance this summer to stake a claim for the No9 shirt.
22 JACOB UMAGA
Joe Simmonds and George Ford are options this summer, meaning the fly-half stocks are high, but Jacob Umaga was in the England shadow squad this year, and looks to be ahead of Simmonds in terms of the next generation of No10s.
23 HENRY SLADE
The 38-cap Henry Slade could provide some experience to the bench, although Joe Marchant and 20-year-old fullback Freddie Steward could work their way in.
Comments on RugbyPass
Big difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 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.
30 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 comments