Comments on: Poll: Who should captain England for the Six Nations?

By: Stumpy

Stumpy — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 20:05:03 +0000

Steve Borthwick has shown an ability to hold a team of “less injured than others” together over the autumn series. Why should he not be selected for the captains role for the six nations?

By: charles

charles — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 05:11:37 +0000

The best thing for any rugby team is stability particularly in the key positions.

The England selectors have, for whatever reasons, chopped and changed and now need to settle their squad by picking genuine leaders in the key positions.

One wag suggested Lewis Moody as skipper – with his injury record and propensity for getting yellow carded – you’re having a laugh!

By: Geoff M

Geoff M — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:29:43 +0000

Maybe it’s time to revisit the rationale for having a captain who is selected for all of a series of games i.e. 6N?
As the squad, let alone the team changes with injuries, tactics, opposition etc. why not follow the system of picking the team and then selecting the captain for the game?
I actually voted for Nick Easter despite him not captaining Harlequins.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:36:01 +0000

One thing — among the thousands of others — that worries me is Andrew and Johnson’s excuse that 40% of their players were injured this autumn. They imply that the natural state of things is that all players are fit and available, and that everything will be fine when things return to that state. With any luck, Armitage, Tindall, Sheridan and the like will be back for the Six Nations — but who knows who else will be injured by then? The IRB clearly aren’t interested in making any sensible changes, and the accountants aren’t going to declutter the fixture list by getting rid of ridiculous competitions like the Anglo-Welsh and Challenge cups, or extra Test matches that don’t really mean anything. I suspect that we’ll see more first-choice England players moving to France, or possibly even further abroad, in the next couple of years just so that they can keep playing into their 30s.

So Moody might be playing well at the moment — although he’s not “keeping Rees out of the side”, Bazza, injury is — but the odds are against him staying fit all the way through the Six Nations. If this is going to be the way of things in the modern game, at least in England, then the England manager’s job is always going to be to cobble together 22 players from whoever is still standing. Another reason why a rotating captaincy makes the most sense.

By: mooresy

mooresy — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:13:50 +0000

Borthwick is so off the pace he should have been dropped from the Eps, the only reason he is still in the Eps is because Rees is injured and the Leicester coaches don’t want to pair Kennedy with Shaw so the line-out will work which has always been the better option since the year dot!!

By: Damon

Damon — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 22:15:41 +0000

Don’t see a stand-out captain amongst them. But you pick your best available 15 and then choose a skipper. Borthwick doesn’t make the starting 15, although possibly the bench. My England 2nd row would be Shaw & Kennedy. Maybe Kennedy could grow into the captaincy but I can’t see how he could walk into it from day 1. I agree with all the previous contributors who stress how important it is to have a captain who can work on the referee about what’s going on in the front row. That’s Borthwick’s biggest weakness; he just doesn’t do it. Back row should be Croft, Moody & Haskell:- but I don’t see a captain there. Hodgson? At least he’d be close enough to the referee all the time. I’ve captained a team from no 9 before and it does give you an advantage over the other side’s skipper (unless he’s a no 9 too!)

By: Rod Davis

Rod Davis — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:26:50 +0000

I think Croft plays the right ‘go forward’ style which Englands’ forwards seem to have forgotten how to play. With him leading from the front the rest will have no choice but to follow. While we’re at it,lets get rid of this ‘ guard / bodyguard’ static bull and get back to playing rugby as it was intended.

By: goodNumber10

goodNumber10 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:55:19 +0000

to be perfectly frank it’s not the captain that’s the problem.

it’s the lack of leaders through the team. Look at SA, they have a cpatian at prop/hooker, how can he watch and observe the game?

Answer he can’t, he relies on Botha and Matfield, Du Preez, and a spine of other players to feed him the info he needs and so on..where is that in the england team. Nobody talks to anybody else, there is little or no communication so how can you expect anyone to lead that team.

By: Jim Graham

Jim Graham — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:34:06 +0000

How about none of the above

Borthwick – not good enough player proven to be anonymous as a leader
Wilkinson – is to be fair pretty busy already
Moody – One of the few standouts in the team, but lets be honest he is not a thinker so the captaincy would get in the way of him making a nuisance of himself.
Hartley – Has the passion, though presently not a cert of the team sheet and prone to the red mist (that said so was Jonno)
Haskell – Finally playing at 8 (though still learning), but a penalty machine!
Hodgson – nope
Easter – Lacks any sort of presence for england, i know he has a lot of fans but I like to see an aggressive carrying 8 more in the mold of Laurence D
Tindall – Clearly fragile, other wise would probably be a good shout.
Vickery – needs to focus on his scrumaging and staying in one piece.
Croft – along with Moody the only other thing we can currently be pleased about in the forwards.

Oh dear it appears that we have run out of options.

Bring in Kennedy and Shaw (I would like to see Attwood get a run from the bench, but have no issue with Lawes),

Give Shaw the captaincy, an old head in form with the passion and determination that is missing, I agree with Mike T on this one!

By: Mike T

Mike T — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:51:06 +0000

I may be in the minority but, despite his age I would go for Shaw. He is the one player who is fervent in wearing the England shirt and his experience would bring out the best from lesser players