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Mike Brown: Not one Welshman would make the England XV
By Ian Cameron
Former England fullback Mike Brown has claimed that not one Welshman would make the England XV, dismissing the threat posed by Wayne Pivac's men.
After Six Nations opening-round losses, both England and Wales course-corrected against Italy and Scotland respectively in Round 2, and now face a crunch showdown in Twickenham in front of 82,000 fans.
However, Brown doesn't appear to expect the game to be close, at least not if you look at the personnel involved. The Newcastle Falcons back says that unlike Wales' teams of the Warren Gatland era, just one or two of the men in red could make an argument for inclusion in a combined team.
Writing in his Daily Mail column, Brown laments the lack of quality of Pivac's side.
"One of my memories of playing against Wales is the ‘combined XV’ articles that would always be churned out on the week of the game," wrote Brown. "They would cherry-pick the best players from both sides. During the Warren Gatland era, it would always be a pretty even split of English and Welsh.
"Based on what I’ve seen of Wales in the opening two rounds, they don’t have a single player who would get into the England XV right now. Josh Adams has the strongest case, but only because England have been playing a centre and full-back on the wings. People will say ‘what about Louis Rees-Zammit?’ but I would rather have Adam Radwan if you want speed.
"This Wales team isn’t anywhere near the quality of some of their recent line-ups and England should beat them comfortably at Twickenham. If Joe Launchbury comes back at lock with Courtney Lawes on the flank, I can’t see Wales matching their physicality in the pack.
"If England can play with tempo and move the ball to the wide channels, they should cause all manner of problems. Manu Tuilagi is back and that makes England a different beast. It could be close to their best back-line."
Brown is in a good position to talk about Wales, enjoying many a heated battle with the Welsh over the course of his 72 England caps.
He infamously tangled with Sam Warburton in the pool stages of the 2015 Rugby World Cup and enjoyed playing the villain in the annual Six Nations fixture.
"Wales is the game that you always want to win. The rivalry is massive and you get absolutely hammered if you lose."
If nothing else, Brown has certainly given Pivac something to tape to the changing room wall on matchday.
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Latest Comments
You’d think the first step would be taking responsibility for the stupid sh*t you did and to stop blaming other people. Does he seriously think that people believe him when he says it just magically got into his system without him knowing anything about it? You’re gonna notice if you’re on the juice, bruh.
Go to commentsI watch the Reds now, and many of their players, and think back to watching London Irish in their last two years under Michael Kiss. I recall Nick Phipps looking a very competent scrumhalf, Rob Simmons a lynch pin in the lineouts. Both men writen off by many on the rugby sites. There is no question in my mind that Kiss has a very different touch to any coach the Reds have had in years. It will take time, but this team could develop into a very good team, hard to beat by any one down here in the SH. You highlight two players especially, Nick. Vunivalu and Paisami are thriving this year, especially the latter. And so many others. The now heavier Fraser McReight, his great mate Harry Wilson, and the “Fardy” man, Liam Wright. That is only three, ut in reality every player is acroos the whole squad is the better for the new regime.
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