Mick Mannock wrote:
England: Brown; Watson, Joseph, Farrell, May; Ford, Care; M Vunipola, Hartley (capt), Cole, Launchbury, Itoje, Lawes, Robshaw, Simmonds.
Replacements: George, Hepburn, H Williams, Kruis, Underhill, Wigglesworth, Te'o, Nowell.
Wales: Halfpenny; Adams, S Williams, Parkes, Evans; Patchell, G Davies; Evans, Owens, Lee, Hill, AW Jones (capt), A Shingler, Navidi, Moriarty.
Replacements: Dee, W Jones, Francis, B Davies, Tipuric, A Davies, Anscombe, North.
Anyone fancy doing a head to head?
Let's see if all these Welsh doom-sayers can bring themselves to commit to England players being individually better.
I'll bite. Disclaimer - English, not Welsh.
Brown vs 1/2Penny: In my view, 1/2Penny. Close, as I think Brown will bash his head through walls rather than lose, but 1/2Penny is a good defender too, has flashes of inspiration and a better boot. If Watson was here for England I would go for him. Shame L Williams isn't around.
Watson vs Adams. Watson. Scoring tries, solid, seriously put forwards recently as the best wing in the NH. Adams unproven as yet.
Joseph vs S Williams. Joseph. Great try scoring record, great defence. Not the best hands and not a smasher but quick and clever. S Williams a few years ago may got closer, but the Welsh seem to think he has lost his pace.
Farrell vs Parkes. Farrell. In most world XVs a few months ago. Not everybody's cup of tea. Doesn't seem to excel at any one element of 1st 5/8 play, but is pretty decent at all of them. Up against a newbie.
May vs Evans. May. Too fast, plus running great support lines these days instead of crabbing. While not a FB, has learned from being played there.
Ford vs Patchell. Actually bloody close here. Ford has not been playing in a good Tiggers team and Patchell looks excellent. Ford however has far more experience. Probably shades it but I am not sure.
Care vs G Davies. I would probably take Davies. Unless Care has one of his 'on' days I just don't think he is great at SH basics.
M Vunipola vs S Lee. Mako. Lee has never convinced, however strong he is. Mako has been better in the scrum, definitely a better link man.
Hartley (capt) vs Owens. Owens. Hartley always seems a bit beige as a player. Good thrower though... Owens just about.
Cole, vs Evans. Cole. I have been a big critic but actually against Italy he was great. If he plays like that again he may get back to the rock we remember.
Launchbury vs Hill. I would take Launchberry over pretty much anybody. Just everywhere. Strong in the scrum.
Itoje vs AWJ. AWJ. On last year's form, Itoje, but he hasn't been as dynamite this year. AWJ is always absurdly good against England, its like they press a button in his brain.
Lawes vs Shingler. Tough. Probably 50/50 Lawes is good but I still think a bit too slow to turn and get up. But he is a quality player and a better carrier.
Robshaw vs Navidi. Robshaw. Captain reliable. England don't want a fetcher, don't need one.
Simmonds. vs Moriarty. Until last week I would have said Moriarty all day, but now, Simmonds. Play like he did last week and he should be our starting 7 when BV comes back.
Benches:
England by a distance. Tips and North are threats, but Wales pretty callow otherwise, particularly front row. Underworseley and Teo will improve defence and attack respectively. Nowell is looking really, really good.
So what is that: England 10, Wales 5, with England winning the bench, Wales maybe get +1 for Scarlets understanding.