England name Curry twins, one uncapped player for start in Ireland
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Steve Borthwick has named his England team to play Ireland away in this Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations opener, making five changes from their last outing against Japan in the Autumn Nations Series.
The Japanese were defeated 59-14 to put an end to a five-match losing streak and nine weeks on from that success, the head coach has included the Curry twins for a first-ever Test start together, called up the uncapped Cadan Murley for a start on the left wing and also selected a six/two forwards/backs bench split.
Three of the starting changes are in the backs, with Freddie Steward taking over at full-back from the injured George Furbank, Murley taking over from Ollie Sleightholme on the wing while the fit-again Alex Mitchell is restored at scrum-half in place of Jack van Poortvliet after missing the entire Autumn Nations Series with a neck injury.
In the pack, Luke Cowan-Dickie starts at hooker in place of the injured Jamie George while Ben Curry is named as the starting openside for the unavailable Sam Underhill. Curry will pack down with his brother Tom, the first time the pair will start an England Test together, and they will be joined in the back row by regular No8 Ben Earl.
On the bench, Borthwick has gone with six forwards. Theo Dan will cover at hooker for the promoted Cowan-Dickie and he is joined by Fin Baxter, Joe Heyes, who is named in place of Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Ollie Chessum, who comes in for Nick Isiekwe, Chandler Cunningham-South and Tom Willis, who edges out back Tom Roebuck, the last day’s 23rd man. The back-up half-backs will continue to be Harry Randall and Fin Smith.
Borthwick said: “We are looking forward to the challenge of facing the tournament favourites. We know it will be a tough contest against a team that is very familiar with each other. We will need to work tirelessly and maintain our discipline from the first whistle to the last. England versus Ireland in Dublin is a huge occasion, and we will be ready to face it head-on.”
England (vs Ireland, Saturday)
15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 35 caps)
14. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 15 caps)
13. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 31 caps)
12. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 69 caps)
11. Cadan Murley (Harlequins, uncapped)
10. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 39 caps)
9. Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 18 caps)
1. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 66 caps) – vice-captain
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks, 44 caps)
3. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 45 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 88 caps) – captain
5. George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 19 caps)
6. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 56 caps)
7. Ben Curry (Sale Sharks, 6 caps)
8. Ben Earl (Saracens, 37 caps)
Replacements:
16. Theo Dan (Saracens, 16 caps)
17. Fin Baxter (Harlequins, 6 caps)
18. Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 7 caps)
19. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 23 caps)
20. Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 11 caps)
21. Tom Willis (Saracens, 1 cap)
22. Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 11 caps)
23. Fin Smith (Northampton Saints, 6 caps)
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We’re behind on player development in NZ. We still think we know it all and therefore still have amateur age systems in place we call professional because the people in it are paid.
Players like Prendergast and Finn Smith already have a few seasons at top club level under their belt and are now test players, at an age when NZ players make their debuts in SR. 21 is young now. Dan Carter was an AB at that age. Jacomb is 23 already. Never mind France, where talented young players are loaned out to clubs in lower leagues where they play men instead of boys. The ProD2 toughens you up pretty quickly. It’s where real talent goes that is too good for the espoirs (U21).
Our development is all over the place. Club, school, then back to the club, NPC, SR, ABs. Leinster is a good example. They decide how schools play, who plays and in what position. Schools play the ‘Leinster way'. French clubs have academies where kids enter as young as 12. They have clear pathways on their player development. What position(s) they play etc. Our schools are only interested in themselves.
SR clubs need the same control over schools in their catchment area as Leinster has. That would be a start.
Go to commentsI’d love to know the odds on a Western Force/ Highlanders final?
If Barrett and Ioane keep this lacklustre form up, they should not make the ABs squad. Getting outplayed by a whole team of young and inexperienced players should not win you any favours.
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