The England Saxons are no longer regarded as the forgotten England team they are very much at the heart and soul of our national set up and with injuries becoming more and more frequent the distance between being a Saxon and running out on the pitch as part of the England match day squad is now smaller than ever... just ask Matt Mullan! The question that I’ve been toying with ever since the squad was announced is just who are the one's to watch out of this extremely exciting Saxons squad personally I think there are a few key forwards and a few stand out backs to watch;
Sam Dickinson, the Northampton Saints powerhouse who has been turning heads since day one of the 2013/14 Aviva Premiership Season. Sam signed for Saints in the summer of 2012 from Rotherham Titans however a broken arm meant that he didn’t play a single game last season... needless to say he has certainly made up for it this year. Sam is a regular feature on the Opta Team of the Week, he picks up Man of the Match awards for fun and anyone who is anyone in English rugby is talking about him... this man is the real deal!!
Someone else who is relatively new on the scene but equally as exciting is Exeter Chiefs' very own Dave Ewers... Dave may only be 24 but my goodness is he one heck of a player, like Sam he is a huge ball carrier, he has a phenomenal work rate and a knack for scoring tries! Already this season Ewers has faced up against more experienced International players, this likes of Sam Warburton, Ben Morgan and Matt Kvesic and every time he held his own and certainly made a nuisance of himself in the best possible way.
Luke Wallace is a name that many people in South West London have been talking about for a very long time, indeed he has already made 70 appearances for Harlequins and last season he captained the A League and LV Cup winning sides. This year he is no longer in the shadow of Chris Robshaw, instead he can be seen stepping out next to his more experienced team mate week in week out, supporting the England Captain and being half of a hugely formidable partnership. What does Luke do so well? Well just about everything, he has great hands... he does sterling work on the floor... he can offload all day long and makes breaks for fun! Luke is one of those players that you thank your lucky stars that he is on your side and not part of the opposition.
Henry Slade has enjoyed a sterling season so far, the improvement that he has shown over the course of 12 rounds of the Aviva Premiership and 6 rounds of the Heineken Cup is visible to all and outstanding. Henry’s game management is tremendous and makes you forget that he is only 20 years old and his kicking off the tee certainly isn’t bad either. Whilst George Ford may be slightly ahead of him in terms of the current England pecking order I wouldn’t be surprised if this time next year, or maybe even sooner, Henry was knocking on the door and competing with Owen and George.
Although Semesa Rokoduguni is set to miss this weekend's fixture due to a swollen knee I couldn't not remove him from this article as he is an extremely special talent. Semesa is a serving soldier in the British Army with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, and by all accounts is a try scoring extraordinaire. Semesa makes things happen from absolutely nothing, he is outrageously fast and has a huge amount of strength in his personal armoury. The statistics and performance that won him the October Gatorade Game Changer Award illustrate his talents beautifully; in one match he covered 106m, registered 13 carries and beat 9 defenders in total... impressive by anyone’s standards! The Bath man has the full support of Mike Ford and all at his club and personally I can see him going from strength to strength and progressing forwards into the EPS Squad.
Wasps’ Joe Simpson has already made over 100 appearances for the club and is in the form of his life, his performance against Exeter in Round 11 sums up just how much he can contribute to a game... in this case he scored a superb try and then made a hugely impressive try saving tackle which kept Wasps’ in touching distance of the Chiefs' before feeding Andy Goode the perfect pass to kick the winning drop goal. Personally I see Joe as a hybrid between Ben Youngs and Danny Care... he has the sniping properties of Danny and the calm tempo of Ben... all in all it is great to see him back in the England set up, fit and ready for action.
As I mentioned at the top of the article this really is one of the most exciting Saxons’ squads that I have seen in a long time and whilst already changes have had to be made due to injuries the group remains jam packed with X Factor and talent. You may have your own personal favourites to add into the equation and at the end of the day it is about how this group of talented individuals gel together as a team. Personally I don't think that this will be a problem and I believe that the Irish Wolfhounds are in for a tough time at Kingsholm on Saturday night.
England Saxons to face the Irish Wolfhounds, Kingsholm, 5pm KO (Sky Sports)
Forwards - Nathan Catt (Bath), Calum Clark (Northampton Saints), Sam Dickinson (Northampton Saints), Dave Ewers (Exeter Chiefs), Jamie George (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Charlie Matthews (Harlequins), Tom Mercey (Northampton Saints), Elliott Stooke (Gloucester), Luke Wallace (Harlequins), Alex Waller (Northampton Saints), Dave Ward (Harlequins), Scott Wilson (Newcastle Falcons).
Backs - Freddie Burns (Gloucester), Elliot Daly (London Wasps), Sam Hill (Exeter Chiefs), Matt Hopper (Harlequins), Dave Lewis (Exeter Chiefs), Rob Miller (Sale Sharks), Joe Simpson (London Wasps), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath), Charlie Sharples (Gloucester)
