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Interestingly Ted Hill has missed more tackles than any other forward in the league this season. He's 7th on a list dominated by 10s and the only forward in the top ten. He has made plenty to be fair (122 made / 22 missed). Decent player though and a small sample size of only 11 games.DragsterDriver wrote:Eddie would ply ewels at 6 ahead of Willis. Ted Hill is getting a rough deal as well.
After the Sarries game, the Wasps twitter feed mentioned that Willis was topping the turnover stats in the Premiership with 28, which was something like 10 more than the guy in second place.JM2K6 wrote:Christ only knows. Maybe he's had too much publicity so Eddie instinctively won't pick himGospel wrote:What's the thinking behind his non-selection? Does Eddie see him as something of a sick-note?JM2K6 wrote:Willis I'd have in ahead of pretty much anyone else, he's ridiculous
I haven’t seen loads of him- seemed like a big lad who can shift? Maybe ewels has gone completely under my radar and is a better player than I thought.Margin_Walker wrote:Interestingly Ted Hill has missed more tackles than any other forward in the league this season. He's 7th on a list dominated by 10s and the only forward in the top ten. He has made plenty to be fair (122 made / 22 missed). Decent player though and a small sample size of only 11 games.DragsterDriver wrote:Eddie would ply ewels at 6 ahead of Willis. Ted Hill is getting a rough deal as well.
Willis is a mystery. He's ace and would add tons to the England setup
Yep,4071 wrote:After the Sarries game, the Wasps twitter feed mentioned that Willis was topping the turnover stats in the Premiership with 28, which was something like 10 more than the guy in second place.JM2K6 wrote:Christ only knows. Maybe he's had too much publicity so Eddie instinctively won't pick himGospel wrote:What's the thinking behind his non-selection? Does Eddie see him as something of a sick-note?JM2K6 wrote:Willis I'd have in ahead of pretty much anyone else, he's ridiculous
It seems odd to ignore him entirely.
At the very least, as a replacement for one of Underhill/Curry if either goes down injured, so that we lose nothing at the breakdown.
Ludlam...?
Meh.
Yeah, Hill can definitely carry, strong in contact etc.DragsterDriver wrote:I haven’t seen loads of him- seemed like a big lad who can shift? Maybe ewels has gone completely under my radar and is a better player than I thought.Margin_Walker wrote:Interestingly Ted Hill has missed more tackles than any other forward in the league this season. He's 7th on a list dominated by 10s and the only forward in the top ten. He has made plenty to be fair (122 made / 22 missed). Decent player though and a small sample size of only 11 games.DragsterDriver wrote:Eddie would ply ewels at 6 ahead of Willis. Ted Hill is getting a rough deal as well.
Willis is a mystery. He's ace and would add tons to the England setup
Harrison is probably Saint's key player and standout forward of the last couple of seasons, but he is persona non grata for England after he got hooked, and that seems to be the end of it.DragsterDriver wrote:Ludlum is pure work rate, spends no time on the floor or out of the game. I think he’s picked solely for his engine? Strange one for sure- at saints Harrison offers more carry, bigger hits, general game influence.
He’s a rare player, looked for all the world he’d never kick on and a switch went and he fulfilled his potential.Double wrote:Harrison is probably Saint's key player and standout forward of the last couple of seasons, but he is persona non grata for England after he got hooked, and that seems to be the end of it.DragsterDriver wrote:Ludlum is pure work rate, spends no time on the floor or out of the game. I think he’s picked solely for his engine? Strange one for sure- at saints Harrison offers more carry, bigger hits, general game influence.
He's looked a bit rubbish at Sarries. Tom Woolstonecroft's been far more impressive for Sarries, imho.inactionman wrote:What's happened to Singleton? Looked good in U20 etc.
They could have at least gone opposite sides to know which is which.Brazil wrote:Sale team for Glaws tomorrow:
Concerning how long Faf's been out for now. On the plus side, the Du Preez twins have managed to break their noses so that they look like mirror images of each other.Spoiler: show
Not as well as last season andbackrow wrote:how has Ben Morgan been playing ? he ever going to feature again for Eng ?
Fuck no. His clearly on Eddie's 'over my dead body' list and he's likely too old to make the next World Cup should we get a new coach.Like the rest of the team, poorly. To be honest I wouldn’t have him starting for Glaws at the moment let alone England. Ackermann is a far better player now.backrow wrote:how has Ben Morgan been playing ? he ever going to feature again for Eng ?
Argentina rather than Japan, I think.geordie_6 wrote:Upcoming England fixtures:
vs Barbarians June 21st
-AIs-
vs New Zealand November 7th
vs Japan November 14th
vs Tonga November 21st
vs Australia November 28th
https://rugby365.com/countries/england/ ... face-tonga
Great player on his day and to be fair to him he’s spent most of this season trying to play while his front 5 have been going backwards.backrow wrote:that is a shame, at one time he was hugely effective - made one break against Aus I think from a kickoff and damn near scored on his own from 40m
There was talk a while back of Ackermann declaring for England when his residency period is completed, has there been any more on that?forrester wrote:Like the rest of the team, poorly. To be honest I wouldn’t have him starting for Glaws at the moment let alone England. Ackermann is a far better player now.backrow wrote:how has Ben Morgan been playing ? he ever going to feature again for Eng ?
Hadn't even heard the intial story. Would he be under old rules (3 years) or new (5)?geordie_6 wrote:There was talk a while back of Ackermann declaring for England when his residency period is completed, has there been any more on that?forrester wrote:Like the rest of the team, poorly. To be honest I wouldn’t have him starting for Glaws at the moment let alone England. Ackermann is a far better player now.backrow wrote:how has Ben Morgan been playing ? he ever going to feature again for Eng ?
Going back a fair way now, the most recent that would have been is the 2014 Autumn Internationals.backrow wrote:that is a shame, at one time he was hugely effective - made one break against Aus I think from a kickoff and damn near scored on his own from 40m
He qualifies at the start of next season I think, came over just before they changed the rules. He’s on record saying he’d be interested in playing for England and given what’s happened to him in the last few weeks I don’t think he’s in any rush to go back to SA.geordie_6 wrote:There was talk a while back of Ackermann declaring for England when his residency period is completed, has there been any more on that?forrester wrote:Like the rest of the team, poorly. To be honest I wouldn’t have him starting for Glaws at the moment let alone England. Ackermann is a far better player now.backrow wrote:how has Ben Morgan been playing ? he ever going to feature again for Eng ?
Indeed - the same tweet from Wasps pointing out his turnover stats also added his other starts for the Sarries matchsockwithaticket wrote:The thing about Willis is he'a not just a groundhog. He puts in the big momentum halting tackles every team craves now and although he's a pretty big fella, he's been carrying like a much bigger one. He seems to have a really high work rate (important Eddie metric) and is a line out option, albeit probably not a specialist.
He'll be a big loss at the end of the season. Despite his body shape (DragsterDriver wrote:Rob Webber was unreal last week, superb.
) he's still playing at a really high level and is a cracking foil for Akker. 
I still think he's a better 7 than anything, but while he's predominantly playing at 8 for Saints that's the only place he might be considered for England - where he's definitely in the tried, tested, discarded category.DragsterDriver wrote:He’s a rare player, looked for all the world he’d never kick on and a switch went and he fulfilled his potential.Double wrote:Harrison is probably Saint's key player and standout forward of the last couple of seasons, but he is persona non grata for England after he got hooked, and that seems to be the end of it.DragsterDriver wrote:Ludlum is pure work rate, spends no time on the floor or out of the game. I think he’s picked solely for his engine? Strange one for sure- at saints Harrison offers more carry, bigger hits, general game influence.
What's the story with McGinty, will he be back at all this season?45jumper wrote:He'll be a big loss at the end of the season. Despite his body shape (DragsterDriver wrote:Rob Webber was unreal last week, superb.
Mind you, we have some brilliant talent coming through at hooker - Dolly, Langdon and Ashman to name but three. Neild is still at the club but his contract is up in the summer and his development has stalled due to injuries, and the fact he's seemingly caught between playing hooker or blindside.
Looking forward to the Gloucester game tomorrow, a big test for us. If we could grab a win we'd be perfectly placed with Faf and Lood due to come back into the side next week
Yeah that was my thought.Oxbow wrote:Harrison deserves to be in the England squad way more than Ludlam, but, Eddie.
yeah would seem to fit Eddie hybrid-backrow mould, certainly no smaller than Wilson either is he?Raggs wrote:Always surprised Harrison didn't get another shot in camp. He's very much a size of the fight, rather than size of the dog, but he's extremely determined player. Though there may be parts of his game that just aren't upto it, that we don't notice so easily.
Not crazy at all. I've thought the same when looking at the likes of Nadolo (insert any giant Islander playing wing and barreling through people for fun). If they'd been trained up in the back row a bit earlier, they'd be devastating no.8s. According to wiki at least, Big T is heavier than, but the same height as, Bill Mata.Double wrote:While we're on the subject of Saints no. 8s and their continuing search for a 'big bloke', am I completely insane for thinking that they might be sitting on a potential great 8 in Naiyaravoro?
If you look at all the good parts of his game, it's stuff traditionally done by an 8 - first phase crash ball, midfield link to outside backs, carrying the ball from the backfield. Add to that, he'd never have to kick a ball, wouldn't keep being caught out of position as the last defender, and wouldn't keep getting bundled into touch trying to throw a speculative offload.
You'd say there's specialist skill, but he played there against Leinster and pulled the ball out of a reversing scrum like he'd been doing it his whole life.
8s also tend to be a big defender and he's really not.Double wrote:While we're on the subject of Saints no. 8s and their continuing search for a 'big bloke', am I completely insane for thinking that they might be sitting on a potential great 8 in Naiyaravoro?
If you look at all the good parts of his game, it's stuff traditionally done by an 8 - first phase crash ball, midfield link to outside backs, carrying the ball from the backfield. Add to that, he'd never have to kick a ball, wouldn't keep being caught out of position as the last defender, and wouldn't keep getting bundled into touch trying to throw a speculative offload.
You'd say there's specialist skill, but he played there against Leinster and pulled the ball out of a reversing scrum like he'd been doing it his whole life.
flaps how do you keep up with Prem rugby out here? NBCSN, Rugbypass, or something else?mr flaps wrote:Our depth and quality of players really is incredible. Look at the state the Irish are in after another good hiding, I bet they wish they were moaning about the best players being left out while they’re still winning.
Out of this group only 2 have been in a 6 nations squad, Devoto has had about 2 minutes and Watson hasn’t played. 13 might be at bit of a reach but there’s already 3 in the squad, 4 if Daly played in his best position. Hooker and 12 are the only problem positions.
1. Moon
2. Taylor
3. Hairy Williams
4. Atwood
5. Hill
6. Hill
7. Willis
8. Dombrandt
9. Robson
10. Cipriani
11. Cokanasiga
12. Devoto
13. Lawrence
14. Nowell
15. Watson
