Picking an England form XV as the Gallagher Premiership returns
The Gallagher Premiership made its long-awaited return on Friday night, as Harlequins hosted Sale Sharks at the Stoop and upset the odds, turning over the touted title challengers, 16-10.
Saturday saw the bulk of the action, with varying levels of quality, before Wasps pulled off a 34-21 win over Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens on Sunday, in what was arguably the pick of the weekend’s games.
England head coach Eddie Jones was on hand in the East Midlands to see the likes of Jack Willis and Jacob Umaga impress for Lee Blackett’s side, something which should put plenty of questions in his mind as he prepares to name his squad for the upcoming ‘Eight Nations’ tournament this autumn.
We have run the rule over the six games from the re-opening weekend of the 2019/20 Premiership season and put together a form England XV from Round 14.
15. Mike Brown, Harlequins
The veteran full-back looked at close to his best on Friday night, defusing the Sale kicking game and providing a reliable last line of defence on the few occasions that the side from the North-West were able to string together an attack. He also provided plenty of energy and incision in attack, too, joining the back line with good effect and showing plenty of ambition on the counter-attack.
14. Ollie Thorley, Gloucester
Thorley reinforced his claims that he should be in and around the England 23, as he took full advantage of a Worcester Warriors side that were reduced to 14 men. His raids down the right wing brought plenty of gains for Gloucester, whilst Zach Kibirige also impressed later in the weekend for Wasps.
13. Ollie Lawrence, Worcester Warriors
A strong all-round performance from Lawrence who showed off his maturing defensive and kicking games, to go with his innate attacking ability. There was little even Lawrence could do to rescue Worcester after Melani Nanai’s red card, but he was still a threat on both sides of the ball and did his best to put his name among the likes of Manu Tuilagi and Jonathan Joseph moving forward for Jones.
12. Billy Twelvetrees, Gloucester
The former British and Irish Lion was the glue in a solid Gloucester win, keeping the scoreboard ticking over with his boot, as well as moving the ball into space and allowing the players outside of him to flourish. An England recall is unlikely at this point, though he was the standout inside centre over the weekend of rugby.
11. Josh Bassett, Wasps
An explosive Nathan Earle pushed Bassett close, but the Wasps man was in clinical form at Franklin’s Gardens. England’s depth at wing is impressive and Bassett would be a left-field call to make the cut at this point, though he did himself no disservice with his display on Sunday.
10. Jacob Umaga, Wasps
Umaga has become one of Jones’ favoured youngsters over the last year and he has been involved in England squads as a result of his impressing performances at club level. With Lima Sopoaga having had his fair share of struggles since moving from the Highlanders, Umaga has been able to make the most of the playing time that has come way, not least so on Sunday.
9. Ben Spencer, Bath
A lively debut for the former Saracen who just edged out Dan Robson. Any suggestion that he was a ‘system’ scrum-half who was only able to flourish as a result of playing for Saracens was quickly dismissed on Saturday, in a sharp, incisive and high-tempo outing for his new club.
1. Ellis Genge, Leicester Tigers
Leicester were competitive with Exeter for much of the game at Sandy Park and there were green shoots of optimism for new head coach Steve Borthwick. Genge’s work in the tight and in the loose was impressive and he is putting himself in a good position to make the most of Mako Vunipola’s time in the Greene King IPA Championship.
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, Exeter Chiefs
It’s tough to leave out Tom Dunn, who finished with two tries against London Irish, though Cowan-Dickie’s overall impact in the loose just saw him pip the Bath man. Like Genge, Cowan-Dickie will be viewing the next 10 months as an opportunity to take control of an England jersey whilst its incumbent is playing in the second tier of English rugby.
3. Will Stuart, Bath
Bath’s tight five were all in good form against Irish and Stuart continues to look like an international-calibre tighthead. He has an unenviable task ahead of him, displacing British and Irish Lion Kyle Sinckler, but outings such as the one on Saturday are only going to further reinforce his position as the clear deputy to the Bristol Bears tighthead.
4. Maro Itoje, Saracens
A solid set-piece showing for Itoje, who helped lay the foundations in Saracens’ bonus point loss to Bristol. Jones will not forget about his talismanic second row anytime soon, though good performances in the tail end of this Premiership season will only help him retain his place during his time in the Championship and/or abroad.
5. Jonny Hill, Exeter Chiefs
Hill has been knocking on England’s door for a while now and with George Kruis heading to Japan, Nick Isiekwe not yet involved for Northampton and Courtney Lawes deployed on the blindside, it was his chance to steal the spotlight on Saturday. His efficiency at the lineout helped Cowan-Dickie have such a prolific game and vice versa.
6. Ted Hill, Worcester Warriors
Having been named Worcester’s youngest ever captain at 21, Hill looked to the manor born on Saturday. Not only did he cruise over for an early try, he also displayed all of the physicality and work rate that has separated him from the crowd in the past, as he helped mitigate Worcester’s early drop down to 14 men.
7. Jack Willis, Wasps
An all-action performance from the flanker and he continues to put his hat into the mix to break up the vaunted partnership of Tom Curry and Sam Underhill. His committed play was a key component in Wasps’ win over Northampton and it was also enough to see off the challenge of the effective Ben Earl for Bristol.
8. Zach Mercer, Bath
We’ve moved Mercer over from six to accommodate both Hill and Willis, but with all three excelling in the six jersey this past weekend, it just goes to show the riches England have to call upon in terms of versatile blindsides. He was the primary ball-carrier in the Bath pack on Saturday, in what was a notable 80-minute showing from Stuart Hooper’s forwards.
Comments on RugbyPass
He is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
2 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
1 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
2 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
9 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
9 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
39 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
86 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
14 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to comments