England v Fiji 10/11/12 - Match thoughts & Team
By KBM
November 8 2012
England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster since naming his original Autumn Internationals squad, has been fraught with injuries and we have seen a number of call ups over this last week. However, we now have the team that will take on Fiji and we wish them the very best of luck.
England v Fiji
Saturday 10th November 2012 - Twickenham Kick Off 2.30pm
QBE Internationals
Captain Chris Robshaw - Pictures Empics
Chris Robshaw has been named England Captain for the autumn internationals, the Harlequins flanker said "I enjoyed being captain in the Six Nations and South Africa. It's a real honour to be asked again."
England who pride themselves on their set-piece forward strength, will be looking to dominate at the outset of this match. And England fans will be looking for a win! However, to my mind we need to put in a really good performance over the whole field of play, a win would be fantastic but the performance and team building for the future is more important in my humble opinion.
Good to see Danny Care back at scrum half and we wish him well and look for a good performance. Debut start for Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers) and on the bench Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Joe Launchbury (London Wasps) - Again we wish them the very best of luck and to all of the players and coaches for this new Autumn season.
Tom Youngs Joe Launchbury
Mako Vunipola during the training session at St Georges Park, Burton
England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said: “This QBE International series will be a real marker of where we are as a squad. We are playing four back to back matches in four weeks against the top teams in the world and we are confident we can rise to the challenge. The foundations are in place, now it’s time for us to execute and deliver.
“Fiji is a good first Test for us and we can’t wait to play back at Twickenham. The atmosphere against Ireland back in March was superb and you can’t underestimate what it means to the players to have 82,000 people and the nation behind them.
And what of Fiji well they are involved in a ' club versus country row' at the moment. Alleged claims that French club Racing Metro paid three Fiji players to make themselves unavailable for last year's World Cup and it looks like the IRB will be getting involved with this one.
But to the game well experienced Fiji prop Deacon Manu will lead his country in their Test against England. The 33-year-old, who plays his club rugby for Welsh regional side the Scarlets, previously captained Fiji on their 2010 tour of Europe and also led the side at last year's World Cup.
Deacon Manu, Llanelli Scarlets
Fiji coach Inkike Male said "Manu can play both sides of the scrum but prefers operating as a tighthead prop." "Manu has led the team before and has shown good leadership skills., with his experience and the respect the boys have in him, I am confident that he has the qualities in him to not only lead the front row, but the whole team,"
England Team:
15. Alex Goode (Saracens, 2 caps) 14. Charlie Sharples (Gloucester Rugby, 2 caps)13. Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers, 13 caps)12. Brad Barritt (Saracens, 7 caps) 11. Ugo Monye (Harlequins, 13 caps) 10. Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers, 50 caps) 9. Danny Care (Harlequins, 33 caps) 1. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 3 caps) 2. Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 0 caps) 3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 31 caps) 4. Tom Palmer (London Wasps, 40 caps)
5. Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers, 8 caps) 6. Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs, 3 caps) 7. Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, capt, 8 caps) 8. Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers, 2 caps)
Replacements
16. David Paice (London Irish, 2 caps) 17. David Wilson (Bath Rugby, 19 caps) 18. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 0 caps) 19. Joe Launchbury (London Wasps, 0 caps) 20. Tom Wood (Northampton Saints, 9 caps) 21. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 24 caps) 22. Owen Farrell (Saracens, 8 caps) 23. Mike Brown (Harlequins, 7 caps)
Fiji: 15-Simeli Koniferedi, 14-Samu Wara, 13-Vereniki Goneva, 12-Sireli Naqelevuki, 11-Watisoni Votu, 10-Metuisela Talebula, 9-Nicola Matawalu; 1-Ratu Makutu, 2-Viliame Veikoso, 3-Deacon Manu, 4-Leone Nakawara, 5-Apisolame Ratuniyarawa, 6-Api Naikatani, 7-Malaki Ravulo, 8-Akapusi Qera
Reserves: 16-Seremaia Naureure, 17-Setafano Samoca, 18-Manasa Saulo, 19-Sekonaia Kalou, 20-Iliesa Ratuva, 21-Kelemedi Bola, 22-Josh Matavesi, 23-Ravai Fatiaki
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It is about clubs being made to release players of teams like Fiji without trying to exert pressure on them not to play for their country.
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Re England - some interesting selections with youth and development in mind - eg T Youngs, Vunipola, Sharples. (Not that there's a queue of established alternatives being stood down I hasten to add!) Would have liked to have seen Burns in the mix, instead of Farrell perhaps.
12 remains our biggest conundrum imho.