So what is Eddie going to look for in his forward pack? Physicality I reckon. A presence on the field.
Bobby V to a T. Probably Skelton too.
Up front it means Tupou and Bell when fit probably led the way and you’d have to think he’d be eager to see Eloff’s eligibility.
Gamble would seem a big winner. And it may sound heretic but Hooper may be the loser. Perhaps a good bench option. He’s less about physical presence now and more about workrate. McReight probably falls down the pecking order and Wilson probably needs to work on his repeat effort work to get back in contention. I don’t think Holloway cuts it. Uru perhaps. McMahon (if fit and healthy) for sure. Leota seems to fit the picture too. Hanigan? I wouldn’t write him off.
At lock I think Swain will be his Jonny Hill. Rodda will be back as will Philip. Not so much Neville. Smith a dark horse.
Hooker remains the question. Lonergan’s impact v Wales will shoot him up the list. Mafi a good shot and Nasser, if he gets some games, a roughie.
Not sure about out wide but I think Pasitoa is his type of 10. He loves workrate wingers so Kellaway is king.
Is Stewart the closest to his Farrell style 2nd 5/8th?
Pure footballers too so you’d think Campbell is a big shot at 15. Really not sure how Petaia responds to him. Another that could be made or broken by him.
Some of the armchair speculation I mentioned
Truthfully I'm unsure which way he will pivot with the time remaining (5 games before the world cup). He's always acknowledged the need for cohesion so to make too many left field changes now would be surprising, but who knows. He's made some mention of Tate so Gordon might be dropping down the peaking order.
Does he feel like he can do more with the players who were already called into camp or will we see some surprises make their way in and how much does SuperRugby form count?, because if you want to use the past couple of years with England you could argue that he tends to pick his players irrespective, seeming to like a consistent core. For awhile that was the Saracen's group and the Farrell/Ford axis. I actually suspect that the whole debacle with them and the pay scandal, resulting relegation for the Premiership had more impact than maybe people acknowledge on the English national side.
We are in an odd place as a country, because I'm not sure we have the brutal forward presence of say France or South Africa, we don't have the discipline and contentedness of say an Ireland and we aren't at the same level of basic skills under pressure or ability to play whats in front of us like the All Blacks, we're a bit of a hybrid. The game has slowed down, the ball in play time is low, so yes, I think he may lean towards injecting some more power and physicality into our game, who exactly I'm unsure. Players like Latu, Fa'amausili, Leota, Skelton, Valentine, Uru, Tupuo, BPA, Eloff... etc.. I'm sure will all get looked at. I'm sure he loves the prospect of Kerevi in his team. Gamble could be a change too. Philip I think is a little underrated by many in his impact. I wouldn't be surprised to see him. McMahon I'm less convinced by, though there is that Suntory connection there, so who knows.
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