Here’s the England line-up for the game against Italy on Saturday, with Andy Goode lining up at fly-half.
Mike Tindall returns in midfield and Steffon Armitage will win his first cap.
Any thoughts? Is it a Goode decision at fly-half?
England team:
D Armitage (London Irish); P Sackey (Wasps), M Tindall (Gloucester), R Flutey (Wasps), M Cueto (Sale Sharks); A Goode (Brive), D Care (Harlequins); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), L Mears (Bath), P Vickery (Wasps), S Borthwick (Saracens, capt), N Kennedy (London Irish), J Haskell (Wasps), S Armitage (London Irish), N Easter (Harlequins).
Replacements: D Hartley (Northampton), J White (Leicester), T Croft (Leicester), J Worsley (Wasps), B Foden (Northampton), S Geraghty (London Irish), M Tait (Sale Sharks).
Hope Goode is picked for the Wales game too , that’s just what we need Shane , Byrne , Halfpenny , Phillips , Henson etc etc to be able to run at a prop shaped outside half , rubbing my hands already at the thought :-)
the only thing that worries me more than the selection of goode is the prospect that he may have a good game…
just checked the handicaps for games this weekend, england are getting a 14-16 points start depending which bookie you go to; ireland slight favourites with 2-4 point start and wales 4-6 pt faves over scots. is it treacherous to admit to quite fancying italy to beat us at 8/1?