... for England at Hooker on Friday against France...

1 Shaun Briscoe
2 Tom Briscoe
3 Lee Smith
4 Michael Shenton
5 Ryan Hall
6 Danny MCGuire
7 Richard Myler
8 Jamie Peacock
9 Scott Moore
10 Adrian Morley
11 Gareth Ellis
12 Sam Burgess
13 Kevin Sinfield

Interchange
14 James Graham
15 James Roby
16 Ben Westwood
17 Kyle Eastmond


No Sam Tomkins and only 1 Prop on the Bench... against a big physical French side

Interesting to see Myler getting the nod. I suspect Westwood will come into the back row from the bench and Burgess will do a stint at prop.

Carvell ahead of Westwood IMO

Carvell and O'Loughlin were the top tackle makers v Wales.

Tomkins scored three tries and made three (albeit one with a bit of good fortune)

It really doesn't add up, does it?

What is the French lineup?

Seems a bit strange to me, and it leave me questioning Smith. Does he know what hes doing?

I know we SHOULD beat France quite comfortably, but surely we should have at least 2 props on the bench, even if it meant starting Westwood and putting Burgess on the bench, it would make more sense. Why leave Carvell out though, and put just 1 prop on the bench, when we are playing a physical team like France? Fox ahead of Briscoe on the wing for me too. Lee Smith? Thought we was building for the future?

Some strange decisions from Smith for me, but hopefully they pay off and we get the win, we'll see.

I've been slated on the Leeds board for questioning Lee Smiths inclusion.

But I've had a lot flack on here over the years, so I guess I'm getting immune to it.

Are you surprised. Perhaps you don't shout loudly enough...

FWIW, I agree with you. Smith's inclusion is ridiculous in my opinion, esp. compared with the Australian view on players coming to SL and to a lesser extent the NZ, one too

A load of shyt... oh and australian.

Saving them for the real tests, where they will prove to be totally inadequate.

England are a country mile behind the antipodeans.

Isnt o'lockers out of the rest of the tournament, I am sure I heard that mentioned today by someone...

yep, hes injured.

Having Smith in the team has baffled me.

Carvell played himself out of contention with his crap performance with ball in hand. I'm a fan of his but he was really disappointing, Jordan James knocked him all over the park.

O'Loughlin is out so I'm not sure what point you're trying to make there. I agree about Tomkins though.

O'Loughlin is injured. Tomkins is a stand off and he is going to be behind McGuire in the pecking order, I'm surprised he didn't get a chance as an impact sub off the bench but he may be being rested for the harder games.

Good on Scott Moore, glad we've got him tied to a long contract.

As much as I disagree with some of Smith's selections in the squad (Sykes!) I'm glad he hasn't gone for the headless chicken halfback combination of Tomkins and McGuire that some of the loons on here were advocating.

If he wasn't going to pick Tomkins and McGuire together then he should have put Burrow in the squad

Myler hasn't played for months and i actually think the last decent game he had was for England against France mid season. If he wanted an organising 7 then he should have gone for Burrow every time over Myler.

I honestly can’t see why Myler is in the England squad

Rather bizarre selection.

Carvell should be in ahead of Westwood, Tomkins deserves a place somewhere too.

You can't? Really? I think that's simple. He's Smith's pet project. He certainly [ishouldn't[/i be in the squad, not because he doesn't have talent (I can't honestly remember whether he does!) but because playing one game in three months is no preparation for the Aussies.

I wonder why Smith has put Eastmond on the bench?

I actually think Tomkins will play in at least one of the big games.

For me this France game is about giving Myler another run out to see if he can get some of the rustiness out of the system

Having Eastmond on the bench also appears to me to be a case of easing him into the setup.

Got to say, that side looks pretty damn good. Pace to burn in the backs and the forwards look impressive too, especially with Burgess and Ellis at 2nd row, Ellis a mobile 2nd row forward and Burgess to beef it up cos he is a prop after all. Not bad when Jammer and Roby are on the bench.

This is the type of line up that Saints need to get back to. A big pack but with speed in the backs which we cleary don't have enough of.

And when we get a salary cap dispensation like Wigan had for years we could have a team like that lol



Personally I'd have Westwood sat in the stands with a real 2nd prop on the bench

This England side will get d*cked on by the Aussies and the Kiwi's.

Don't see what all the Lee Smith bashing is about. He's fast. He can play in a number of back positions. He scores tries in big matches.

It's not like we've got plenty of THOSE players in reserve.

Agree.

You play with your best players.

He is better than anything else we have to offer in that area, he is quick, good at high tackling, i mean good in defence and knows where the offside line is, i mean where the try line is.

IMO this is the worst set of backs I've ever seen for a England/GB team. The ain't any wordclass players in the backs and if I'm being honest the backs will cost us games against the Aussies and kiwis.

The pack is very strong IMO and will match or get on top of the kiwis and Aussies.

We've a big tough pack that won't take any crap and will lay the platform for the backs but the backs will let them down.

He's a good Winger, he's not a Centre.

Our best Centre is sat at home watching - Martin Gleeson.