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No room for returning England stars according to the Twitterati
By Josh Raisey
After England were dealt the boost of quartet Ben Te’o, Jonathan Joseph, Brad Shields and Joe Cokanasiga being fit to face France this weekend, fans have given their thoughts on Twitter as to what team Eddie Jones should field.
After such a brilliant performance against Ireland in Dublin last week, it is no surprise that the majority of the fans do not want to see any changes for ‘Le Crunch’ at Twickenham this Sunday (apart from the necessary injury replacements).
The fans were particularly insistent that Jones does not tamper with the back-row upon Shields’ return, as they were superb at the weekend. Mark Wilson put in another tireless shift in the six shirt, making the second most tackles. In fact, he was one of England’s standout performers in the Autumn as well, and despite Shields looking to be a favourite of Jones’, it would be grossly unfair to drop him. Likewise, Tom Curry’s presence at the breakdown, as well as his speed around the field, will also mean that Jones will struggle to justify dropping him.
With Nathan Hughes coming on from the bench in testing circumstances at the weekend and playing in the second-row, he does not merit being dropped from the bench either to make way for Shields.
Similarly to the back-row, it seems unthinkable that the Australian would consider tampering with his centre combination of Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade after an imperious performance in Dublin, regardless of how well Te’o and Joseph have performed in the past.
While almost all the fans were most vocal about the back-row, some were calling for the 21-year-old Cokanasiga to find his way onto the bench for the France match. He certainly does not warrant replacing Jonny May or Jack Nowell, but after such a dominant display last time he wore an England shirt in the Autumn against Australia, Jones will surely be tempted to give him another chance.
One thing that was mentioned by the fans that all England supporters would agree on is the fact that there is an incredible strength in depth to the squad, shown by a number of high-quality players missing out.
This is what the fans had to say:
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Starts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
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