Rugby
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England: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Owen Farrell, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 David Strettle, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Ben Youngs, 1 Alex Corbisiero, 2 Dylan Hartley, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Mouritz Botha, 5 Tom Palmer, 6 Tom Croft, 7 Chris Robshaw, 8 Phil Dowson
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Geoff Parling, 19 Ben Morgan, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Jordan Turner-Hall, 22 Mike Brown
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Geoff Parling, 19 Ben Morgan, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Jordan Turner-Hall, 22 Mike Brown
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Keen to see how the Sarries midfield three go. Must offer more threat than the likes of Hape, Tindall etc at least.
Is Dowson an international quality No.8? Not so sure myself. |
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Revolving door at 10 - will be a lot of Scots passing through.
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Unlike previous years, Hodgson will be getting some help from a mobile back row and the man playing outside him at 12. England fans should be very, very pleased by that selection, all the more so because there are in-form players on the bench who can change the game for them.
Delighted to see Dowson get his chance. Looks every bit an international player to me, but like the others in the back row, he might be seen to best effect wearing the number 6 shirt. |
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I will put my Eng fan hat on for a mo and say I am not pleased with the 9 or the 10. I think this is the weak point of the side.
However, I'm happy to give them both another chance given this vastly changed side which I am on the whole very pleased about. Not at all sure Hodgson and Youngs are the future. Just don't ask me to name alternatives  |
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Ah come on, Vis! You want to have your cake and eat it... Farrell is never an international 13, but you've got to be happy with progress. Agree that Dickson should be in there at 9 and probably AN Other at 10, but you must have some experience around the park and they have obviously gone for the familiarity that the 10/12/13 channel has from playing for Sarries.
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Youngs is still dining out on away form in Aus a couple of years ago and hasn't kicked on for me. I'm with Freshy in that Hodgson just hasn't looked good enough at this level when tried before.
OK, given all the other changes I am happy enough. The flip side of course is this is the best chance in years Scot have had of beating the auld enemy. |
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Youngs to me still looks the best option by a distance when on form, but what level he is at now is difficult to work out. The big problem is that if you put Dickson in, the experience level drops another few notches. There are enough debutants and one-cap wonders already.
Where's Sharples? He seems persistently unlucky to miss out. |
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Definitely the most intriguing match this weekend from a rugby and betting perspective.
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Sharples the new JSD.
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What is the plan when Tuilagi returns? Farrell switches to 10?
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i hope so icbd that was my initial thought
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That certainly looks the likely long term plan. It's a bit of an odd one with Farrell doing well at 10 for his club for 2 seasons, then moving to 13 for this one, but he looks easily the best prospect.
Flood's return will cloud things though. Not sure where Lancaster sees him in the pecking order. |
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Hopefully somewhere in the group comprising Tindall, Shaw and Worsley.
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Hopefully indeed Vis, Flood not good enough at even HC level and has been surpassed by Farrell already IMO.
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Probably worth sticking the Scots team in here at some point.
Scotland: 15 Rory Lamont, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Sean Lamont, 11 Max Evans, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 David Denton, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford (capt), 1 Allan Jacobsen. Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Geoff Cross, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 John Barclay, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Graeme Morrison. Date: Saturday, February 4 Kick-off: 17:00 Venue: Murrayfield Referee: George Clancy (Ireland) Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), Leighton Hodges (Wales) Television match official: Tony Redmond (Ireland) |
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Its ok Vis, its not as if 9 & 10 are key positions, & what with the 8 untested at this level, I am sure that it will all gel nicely
 Mind, it could be good from a betting perspective  |
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^ ok so jones has been added but really that is still the scotland backline that can't score tries.
what do england followers make of the options on the bench? a lot of experience on the scotland one (although not any flair) |
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Is the back line that took Treviso apart last weekend?
On one hand, this forum seems to be advocating club form, however when it comes to Ireland, it means tosh! The Munster pack with the Leinster backs, & this Six nations is over beofre it starts  |
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Are you talking about England regarding 8,9 and 10 Freshy, or Scotland?
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Touche RM
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Lol RM, we know Scotland are lacking a little something in quality, we are just deluding ourselves that England are not!
With England at 1.80 agaist the 30/1 rags, & so much potential, it must be free money. It did make me smile when I heard that we had some of the past England football squad giving the current England rugby squad motivational advice, I wonder if they did if for free, not that money motivates them of course.... |
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Surely there must be some value with Scotland on a cap, we don't get as much Northern hemisphere rugby down here as would be useful, but looking at the lineups and RWC form, from a punter's point of view one would think Scotland on a 5.5 start could be good value, no?
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Hi StonedCrow
Could be but new England management and players make this hard tae call. Ive put a bet on Auld Scotia but lookin tae trade for a small profit. Scotland willnae fear them in forwards, I dinnae reckon, but the backs are the danger and the unknown. Forecast lookin guid anyway - cauld an wet  |
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if scotland lose this then Robinson will have some serious questions to answer for the first time since he became coach imo.
he seems to be hoping forward power will to be too much for the England 8 and they will struggle for possession & has been very conservative with playing parks to kick for field position & Lamont to bash it up the middle. when you look at the number of tries Edinburgh have been scoring then I think a lot of us were hoping Blair & Laidlaw would get the nod. maybe in terms of winning, whether it's ugly or not, he may have done the right thing but when people are paying as much as £75 for a ticket then a try every now & then would be nice. |
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He cant do much about the classic Scottish weather though NL, so this team looks fairly well suited to the conditions. It's very much the case that he seems to pick conservative and non-scoring teams regardless of conditions though and that is the problem.
You are right though, a win here and Robinson looks good, a loss and he is going to be fearing for his job. The advantages lay with Robinson and Scotland for once, they are going to have to make the most of it. |
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there were grumblings starting after the WC that Robinson could not settle on his best team and could not decide on his half backs in particular.
also he picked a captain he then dropped and some of his replacement decisions seemed strange, particularly taking off Jackson for Parks v England when he appeared to be the most influential player on the pitch at the time. as for the weather, they don't seem to have a clue. Early in the week snow was forecast, then possible sleet/rain now they say it may be dry but misty. Or D: All of the above  |
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It appears to be a battle between high pressure and low pressure with nobody quite sure which will get the upper hand. Someone should run a book on it....
Stuart Barnes said on rugby club last night that Robinson had changed his 8,9 and 10 for each of his 3 biggest games of late, and the captain I think. Continuity not his strong point. Oddly that was Johnson's only redeeming factor. |
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With Edinburgh flying and England in transition, this looks the ideal time to take them on in a game of rugby. As nl says, why not go out and have a go? We already know that Scotland are capable of matching England physically. Laidlaw being left out for Parks beggars belief when Parks is sutrggling to keep hold of his shirt at Cardiff. He almost deserves to lose for leaving out a player like Kellock, someone who it seems most Scots would follow to hell and back.
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Parks
 surely Scotland need to score from the backs somehow to win this match. |
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Disagree re Kellock, Gray is first name on the sheet and Hamilton has been tearing it up for Glaws. Bench role is fine by me.
Parks and the penalty/turnover machine that is De Luca is my worry although with Lamont at 12 he probably wont see the ball. Looking forward to seeing the big Zambabwian rumbling it up from 8. |
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What about Hamilton the penalty machine ging? Gives his fair share away and offera very little of the leadership you see from Kellock. Gloucester have been demolished at times up front this season with him packing down.
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We must have been watching different Glaws matches Dunc
 I'm happy for Robinson to bring the steadying influence of Kellock on with 20-25 minutes to go as that's when Scotland usually start flapping and throw away their leads. |
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And their matches.
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In fairness if Scotland lose it's unlikely that it will be down to Hamilton starting over Kellock. More likely those playing 9/10/12/13.
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Yup
Ansbro is a big loss. If he was fit I think you would have seen Morrison at 12 and Ansbro at 13. WTF is De Luca being given another chance? Would far rather see Evans there it's not as if Scotland are short of wingers. Robinson is a decent coach but a shyte selector and he also can't manage his bench effectively  |
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aye how many times have we heard that robinson is an "excellent coach but............"
at least he can shuffle that backline about and would not be that surprising to see Lamont end up the wing with evans at outside centre to morrison. lots of options, all fairly mediocre options, but lots of them. |
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I'm baffled by this idea that Morrison is an international player. Never worked it out. Some top quality players knocking around that Scottish backline but it never seems to work as a unit. I would rather see Lamont-Evans in midfield, to give a proper mix, but am happy to see Jones on the wing. Quite like him.
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i don't get the fuss with geoff parling
dickson should be starting at 9 imo looking forward to the new centre line up... exciting and a modern approach |
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Struggling to see a why a reason not to lump on England much as they are untested,Scotland can't win by battering them up front even if they do manage it.
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