Yesterday Stuart Lancaster
announced the 34 individuals who will be going into the England Training Camp
on Monday before the forthcoming 2013 QBE Autumn Internationals. This
announcement didn’t provide us with too many surprises, after a few weeks of
speculation and some clear stand out performers in the Aviva Premiership, the
entrance of Joel Tomkins, Henry Trinder, Tom Johnson and Luther Burrell into
the squad was to be expected. You suspect that Dave Ewers will be feeling
slightly aggrieved today… after a huge start to the season and being the force
behind so many of Exeter’s sterling performances, many thought that his name would be announcement yesterday too. However as Stuart rightly points out there is still
a little way to go before the 2nd November and in rugby anything can
happen. Let’s be clear that isn’t him wishing injury on any of his players but
with a big weekend of Amlin Challenge Cup and Heineken Cup Rugby ahead it
always a possibility. For many people yesterday’s announcement reaffirmed why
Stuart Lancaster and his coaching team should be in charge of England, they
pick based on form and talent as opposed to by the rule book or age… refreshing
isn’t it!!
There was one black cloud
shadowing the announcement and that was the news that Alex Corbisiero
has been added to our injury list. Although Alex isn’t totally out of the
series, a two week rehab period after draining fluid on his knee certainly isn’t
ideal. The 25 year old proved to the rugby world how formidable he is Down
Under and the reliability and solidity that he provides to England is
un-rivalled. His alternatives Joe Marler and Mako Vunipola are certainly not
bad players however they just don't quite match Corbs’ all-around game. Fingers
crossed that the England Medical Team can work some magic and have him fit and
ready to go asap.
It would be remiss of me not to
say a few words about our new entrants and the “Central” debate. Tom Johnson’s
and Luther Burrell’s club forms have been well documented, they are two men who
have had blistering starts to the season and who thoroughly deserve their call
ups. Luther is a power player and critically one who can continue to deliver
that power for the full 80 minutes. He is a big man who carries the ball
superbly, has quick hands and gets over the gain line almost every time.
Clearly this is important as in the past we have seen England struggling to
break defences and make those all-important meters phase, after phase, after
phase. Tom Johnson’s road back into the England EPS Squad has been due to his
return to superb form and this was assisted greatly by Rob Baxter. The level headed
Director of Rugby has guided his man away from the self-doubting over analyser
that he one was to the more self-assured and confident player that he is now…
and it shows on the pitch. Now is the time for Tom to continue that momentum and challenge for a
starting shirt.
Henry Trinder has entered the EPS with a bang, leapfrogging Jonathan Joseph in the Saxons. I think that JJ would be the first to say that he is form hasn’t continued to progress at the lightning speed that it was, in fact ‘stagnant’ is probably the best word to describe him right now. There is no denying that he has a lot of natural talent, but he hasn’t pressed on in the way that he should and has had a ‘quiet’ first few Rounds at Bath. On the other hand Henry Trinder is in the form of his life and has been one of the shining lights in an inconsistent Gloucester side. The man with arguably the best left foot step in the Aviva Premiership brings a new dimension to the 13 shirt, which is likely to be the one he gets to face the Wallabies with Billy Twelvetrees at 12. He is a born try scorer and strong at the breakdown and whilst he is slightly smaller than Manu (let’s face it who isn’t) he does bring a huge amount of excitement and zest to the 13 shirt.
Saracens’ Joel Tomkins is the final man to arrive into the EPS squad and into the running for a centre jersey. He has firmly established himself as a great Rugby Union player and has certainly shaken off any doubters who thought that the cross code switch might be too much for him. Joel is a superb off-loader in the tackle and reads the game brilliantly… if there is an overlap he will find it and when you add these attributes to his strong defence and you realise why Stuart rates him so highly and just why he has progressed so quickly in the world of Rugby Union.
Henry Trinder has entered the EPS with a bang, leapfrogging Jonathan Joseph in the Saxons. I think that JJ would be the first to say that he is form hasn’t continued to progress at the lightning speed that it was, in fact ‘stagnant’ is probably the best word to describe him right now. There is no denying that he has a lot of natural talent, but he hasn’t pressed on in the way that he should and has had a ‘quiet’ first few Rounds at Bath. On the other hand Henry Trinder is in the form of his life and has been one of the shining lights in an inconsistent Gloucester side. The man with arguably the best left foot step in the Aviva Premiership brings a new dimension to the 13 shirt, which is likely to be the one he gets to face the Wallabies with Billy Twelvetrees at 12. He is a born try scorer and strong at the breakdown and whilst he is slightly smaller than Manu (let’s face it who isn’t) he does bring a huge amount of excitement and zest to the 13 shirt.
Saracens’ Joel Tomkins is the final man to arrive into the EPS squad and into the running for a centre jersey. He has firmly established himself as a great Rugby Union player and has certainly shaken off any doubters who thought that the cross code switch might be too much for him. Joel is a superb off-loader in the tackle and reads the game brilliantly… if there is an overlap he will find it and when you add these attributes to his strong defence and you realise why Stuart rates him so highly and just why he has progressed so quickly in the world of Rugby Union.
So what is next for our EPS Squad??
Well firstly all of the players have the small matter of a weekend of European
Rugby ahead of them with the Amlin Challenge Cup and Heineken Cup, then once
that is out the way it is time for England Camp Number 1. Camp 1 will be the
start of their England journey together where partnerships will be rekindled,
calls set, moves locked down and a lot of hard work will be put in. It is
understood that during Camp 1 Stuart will announce his Captain and although he
has said on a number of occasions that the most important thing is to have a
strong core leadership group the position of Captain is still a rather important decision! Will the armband be returned to
Chris Robshaw? Or will Tom Wood retain it after his successful tour of
Argentina? Of course there is a third option, a player who is guaranteed his
position on the field and has huge leadership qualities, however given the
level of competition for starting shirts the overarching question is whether or
not anyone truly fits into that category??
So once again we are left on
tender hooks waiting for the snippets of information that we are allowed to
know from inside camp and hereon in the media announcements get progressively
‘meatier’… next stop the Captain and after that the match day 24 to face
Australia.
