Can’t agree that we are fooked in the front row

If we go into the big games with a front row rotation of Sam Burgess, George Burgess, James Graham and Chris Hill we will be very strong

McNamara has dropped a bit of a clanger by selecting Tom Burgess over Crabtree or even someone like Luke Burges or Alex Walmsley. If George is injured next week then Sam comes back in as a direct replacement.

lets now drop this big burgess sentiment thing that's going on,as tom sadly is nowhere good enough at the minute for a spot in england's 17 man squad

Matchday 17 Forwards
Props - Hill, S.Burgess, G.Burgess, Graham
2nd rows - Ferres, Westwood
Loose - O'Loughlin
Sub back rower - Ablett or Farrell

Sub back row may be an issue and it would've been interesting to see Farrell get a game yesterday but when I saw the strapping on Watkins knee then maybe that's what's swaying the pick to Ablett.

T.Burgess should be no-where near the squad never mind the 17, he's gash, completely innocuous and offers nothing.
Picking him over the likes of Crabtree is completely and utterly mental, it must stick in the craw for him (crabtree) to watch the crap thrown up by this 2nd rater..

Picking Sam Burgess in the front row when both his running and defence are far more important wider out is dumb. Part of the reason he was knackered against Aus was he was doing a massive amount of work out wide shoring up the right side defence.

McNamara needs to get rid of the halfback on the bench - although if Roby could do 80 mins it would be very useful to have a utility back available.

I'd rest Hall and Roby for the Fiji game, start McIlorum with Burrow off the bench and give Charnley and Briscoe a chance to stake a claim for the no. 2 shirt for the QFs and beyond. I'd also give Widdop 80 minutes at 6.

I'd go something like:

Tomkins
Charnley
Cudjoe
Watkins
Briscoe
Widdop
Sinfield
Hill
McIlorum
Graham
S Burgess
Ferres
O'Loughlin

Burrow
G Burgess
Mossop
Farrell

Presuming Hardaker doesn't feature, that would mean 23 of the 24 man squad have played at least one group game.

agree, still cant believe crabtree didnt get selected..even more so after watching tom burgess playing for England.

I wouldnt rest anybody - go with the best side we can - its 5hit or bust this game

It's not really resting, more looking at other options.

It's basically a choice of Briscoe or Charnley for one wing spot.
The Sinfield/Chase with Widdop on the bench system doesn't work for me. I think Widdop should be given a start to see if the attacking structure looks better. This frees up a bench spot, so it's worth looking at McIlorum and Burrow to spell Roby. Players like Ablett and Westwood haven't offerred much for me, so I'd look at using Sam Burgess in the backrow and give Liam Farrell some game time.

How is it 5hit or bust exactly? Fiji will be a physical side but any 17 we put out should have enough to beat them. We're pretty much guaranteed qualification anyway unless Ireland pull off the shock of the century!

(as I've posted before) For me, Sinfield to hooker doesn't work.
If you want to spell Roby, then spell him with an actual hooker, which means if you want also Widdop to play, then you start him.

I think the strongest team is

Sam
Briscoe
Watkins (maybe hardaker needs to be given a shot to stake a claim for centre)
Cudjoe
Hall
Sin
Chase
Graham
Roby
Hill
Ferres
Westwood
Sol

Surgess (to play prop)
Gurgess
Burrow
Farrell (needs to be given a go)

hardaker sent home

that solves that little issue then.

Thought he would have done a job though.

As a curve ball how about Westwood as impact prop from the bench and Ferres/Farrell 2nd row with Ablett providing cover from the bench for centre/2nd row.

Wigan fan in 'let's pick all the Wigan players' shock selection.

Mossop and McIlorum are so far of the standard required it isn't even funny.

Believe that if you want, I've made some suggestions for next weeks team based on the squad available. Mossop is inconsistent, on his day he's a beast, but on others he's totally anonymous. I think Tom Burgess has had 2 games now and not really offerred much, so I'd give Mossop another go.

Ablett's selection continues to baffle me and Westwood is turning in to a liability with stupid penalties. Liam Farrell is the other option in the 2R who hasn't been looked at yet.

If you want to believe McIlorum is below the required standard then fair enough, I personally think he would suit international test rugby just fine. I'd have no problem with Roby playing the full 80 in the knock out games, with 4 forwards on the bench, but for the Fiji game I'd start McIlorum and spell him with Burrow.

With reagrds to wingers, Charnely had a much better 2013 season than Briscoe but struggled a bit against Oz. Briscoe took his chance and had a good game, but against a much lower calibre of opposition. Hall is a shoe-in, so I would play both of the other 2 against Fiji to see who impresses the most to get the other wing spot later in the tournament.

McNamara has said he will use all the squad at some point so you would think the fringe players who have yet to feature would get game time this week. Hope this clears things up for you, though I'm sure you'll continue to believe it's Wigan bias on my part.

Nope still bias. Mossop shouldn't be anywhere near the squad although agreed on Tom Burgess. Westwood in the last game (from what I recall) only gave one questionable penalty away but when you are involved in as many tackles he is that it is understandable that he will give the odd penalty away purely due to the law of averages.

McIlorum I just don't get. He is neither quick or has good vision and game awareness and is more prone to giving penalties away than Westwood as he can be niggly and rather snide. Roby to start with maybe Burrow as an interchange.

Mind I do think Farrell should be given a chance.

If you bear in mind that this weeks match is essentially meaningless then there is no good reason not to play anyone yet to have a game, ie Burrow, McIlorum and Farrell. Even if England were to lose to Fiji they would still qualify in third, probably to face Samoa rather than France in the quarter final. I don't think playing the three players mentioned would cause England to lose, but would help squad harmony. Should Mossop get another go? Well George Burgess has a niggle, a week off may be beneficial, I would give him another go this week and also play Sam Burgess at Prop alongside Hill and Graham in the rotation.

McIlorum at hooker with Westwood, O'Loughlin and Ferres in the backrow. Farrell and Burrow making up the bench. Backs I would leave as is.

Whatever the 1/4 final selection I would bring Ablett back on to the bench, all very well saying Farrell, Ferres, whoever would do as well/better, he has done a decent job and crucially adds versatility if a back is injured during a match. That is an important criteria when there is not a lot between players. I actually think Ferres and Ablett have been the best two second rowers in the first two games, but we all know that Westwood can be a beast so merits another shot to hit his straps.

Farrell, along with Burrow and McIlorum have all committed several weeks to this squad and all merit a match imo, I would be surprised if anyone in the squad had an issue with that, some would certainly have an issue if it didn't happen.

The only downside to finishing 3rd is the likelihood of playing Australia in the semi final. However, Fiji should be easily beaten whichever team we go with on Saturday.

But the flip side to that is that an England vs Samoa QF, live on BBC, would be much better for the tournament as a whole than one against France.

This isn't park football, it's test match footy. I was suprised burrow was even selected. He doesn't offer what we need at this level. (im a leeds fan btw) He played well against a rabble of a kiwi team in 2007, and did well in the final dead rubber group game against the kiwis in 2008.

Burrow as an impact player wouldn't work. If we are going to go down the impact hooker route, my preference would be for micky mac to start, with roby from the bench. I like the way McIlorum goes about his business and his style suits the opening exchanges of a physical contest against the likes of samoa and NZ. If it's a halfback to provide impact you stick with widdop because of his quality and also his versatility to cover potential injuries in the backs (see warrington gf). Obviously you don't select a player to cover hypothetical injuries, that's just a helpful bonus that he offers.

I'm not an advocate of Banana rotating the team for the sake of testing out players who haven't played. I think he should play the best team, the team he would play in a final against australia and make only the appropriate adjustments for poor performance and injuries.

The only adjustments i would make to the team last week is to bring surgess back in for turgess who over 2 games hasn't done enough to retain his place. Ryan hall has, obviously, so we leave him out purely to select the other winger spot going into the knock out stages. It's difficult to compare briscoe v ireland with charnley v aus, so play them both against fiji and whoever outperforms the other wins their spot for the quarters and should they play poorly, they lose it to the other for the next game.

Hopefully, by the timethe semi and final roll around, our key combinations will have all racked up decent game time together and we'll have a decently well oiled machine. Remember, theres been tournaments in the past where we've practically had a different halves combination every week, and they've just looked like headless chickens.

Pick the best (fit) team you can in every game for me.
You can choose a formation that better suits the oppositiono f course, but not just for the sake of it

I don't think that any of the Quarter Finals are scheduled for BBC TV.

Might be wrong though.

I think they have the option to show one 1 or 2 IIRC