Martin Johnson has just announced his side to travel to Murrayfield on Saturday, and here it is in full.
Joe Worsley will make his first start of the 2010 RBS 6 Nations campaign against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday, replacing Lewis Moody at openside flanker.
Johnno has made one other change to the starting team, with Louis Deacon starting in the second row instead of the injured Simon Shaw.
On the bench, scrum-half Ben Youngs replaces Paul Hodgson and Courtney Lawes comes in as the second row cover.
ENGLAND TEAM
15 Delon Armitage (London Irish)
14 Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
13 Mathew Tait (Sale Sharks)
12 Riki Flutey (CA Brive)
11 Ugo Monye (Harlequins)
10 Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon)
9 Danny Care (Harlequins)
1 Tim Payne (London Wasps)
2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
4 Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers)
5 Steve Borthwick (Saracens, Captain)
6 James Haskell (Stade Francais)
7 Joe Worsley (London Wasps)
8 Nick Easter (Harlequins)
REPLACEMENTS
16 Steve Thompson (CA Brive)
17 David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
18 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
19 Lewis Moody (Leicester Tigers)
20 Ben Youngs* (Leicester Tigers)
21 Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
22 Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
When i read the team like most i was disappointed but not in the least bit suprised, clearly it is the case even at the highest level that it is who you know not what you know, at county level you need to go to the right school at national level you need to be at the right club, people may say i am being bitter but honestly what has Deacon or even Borthwick done at club level let alone international to warrant selection. Shaw yes has proved himself, Monye though he is a bit poor at the moment has in the past proved himself, what qualities do Borthwick and Deacon have that is better than Kennedy,Lawes,Skivington,Hudson? Nothing in my opinion so why is them who are selected and not others, who should be selected I’m not sure. The fact is that clearly nothing is going to change the coaching teams mind they have their favourites and thats that. Johno will no doubt claim he picked excitement in Youngs, but why was Hodgson dropped what has he done wrong? Now armitage deserved to be dropped and everyone would love to see foden in there but no he drops a player who has done nothing wrong and brings in a lad who in all honesty isn’t going to push for a the starting shirt any time soon. Picking Worsley is boring but what i am more shocked about is why Easter is still there, what has he contributed to any of the six nations games really? Nothing, i know there isnt a stand out 8 at the minute for England but Haskell would do, it is clear that nothing is going to make the management team pick and exciting team, they fail to realise that if they did and said team lost the supporters would still be happy that something was tried, but alas we shall just have to be contented with another boring game and total disappoint for the fans.
At last, Johnno is being forward-looking. Moody will not be a Leicester player next season. He had to go.
How disappointing. I’d have thought Johnno would have been more adventurous. We have a very big lumbering 2nd row and the back row will sorely miss Moody who would have forced issues with the half backs and inside centre. I think the biggest issue is the pairing of Care/Wilkinson it hasn’t worked. Care has caused no end of issues for Wilkinson through his insistence on traversing toward Wilkinson before passing. Each time Hodgeson came on those issue dissipated. It is therefore a great disappointment that Hodgeson has been released. Good for his club but….
But we have to be loyal and give Johnno time to develop his coaching team, which still seems to have polarised game plan strategies.
Good luck England.
The thing that really annoys me is that some of these players have played well for England in the past (Delon, Monye, Flutey) yet are not performing at the moment. Do we really want to pick this players and hope they get back to their best in an England shirt? In an ideal world, this would happen BUT it doesn’t in the real world.
That is what really annoys me, you have the in form players there, most notably in Foden and Ashton, but Johnno is so stubborn he shows ‘faith’ in his players. I don’t think it is faith; no one would argue about dropping a poorly performing player for a player in form. Therefore I literally cannot see the logic in it.
Sorry for the rambling rant, I just hate illogical decisions… which unfortunately sums up this management team (why was Palmer called into the squad from outside both squads??? What is wrong with Kennedy in the Saxons??).
Uncle Matt, love your analysis of the Moody scenerio (moving to Bath) and I actually do think you may be right. Johnno and the coaching team obviously have their favourites, but it strikes me as somewhat weird that THEIR favourites wouldn’t feature anywhere near a team then any supporter would pick. Why is this? As i previously stated, the best we can hope for is devine intravention and everyone from captain upwards being sacked and the rfu appointing someone who knows what they are doing – preferably from the southern hemisphere!
P.s Buddha – how long do you think we should give Johnno and he’s team? He’s already had 2 years (Gatland achieved more in 2 months with Wales!!!)
Johnson is a clown, he has to go. I cant be bothered with anything else its all been said, part of me want Scotland to win so that the whole of English rugby can begin a shake down from top to bottom.
Guys, you are all right. Decisions are there to make and you can argue about them but the extreme obvious things like 2nd row is a real problem. Ashton not in or another fine try scorer like James Simpson-Daniel. I do not care but at least one of the on form killers must be in. 12 tries for Ashton (look at his last one against Sale, pure class!) it is not nothing. Lawes is a fantastick 2nd and backrower, very versatile. I also agree on the number 8. Easter is under pressure in my opinion. It means that Johnno will let him stay for 3 more years I am afraid.
I understand the trust in Delon Armitadge as I am a fan of him to be honest you only get the guy better by giving somebody else the chance now. Ben Foden should have played. Now there is no consequence on playing bad so why should you bother after all.
Good luck this weekend, I will be sleeping on the sofa during the match to copy the impact on the game Deacon will have
Deacon, Borthwick and Payne are the Dark Matter of English rugby. If you add up the combined mass, they should be there. If you look at the theories trotted out by insiders (the management), they should have an effect. But no-one has ever observed their impact or proved their existence in the real world. Therefore they only currently exist in theory and are currently of little or no practical use whatsoever.
Otherwise I agree with pretty much all that has been said above. My optimism remains intact, but then again I’m like this http://www.lechatnoirboutique.com/prodimages/Coffee%20Mug%20-%20Far%20Side%20Just%20Not%20Reaching%20That%20Guy.jpg
Dark Matter?? No I think Deacon is the fecal matter of English rugby!