England's World Cup Journey Has Begun

Last weekend saw the start of England’s World Cup journey at Twickenham with the Aviva Premiership final on Saturday between Saracens and Bath then the following day Stuart Lancaster was able to have a look at the fringe players when the Red Rose took on the Barbarians as they all fight for a place to get into the 31 man squad.

Let’s start with the Aviva Premiership final and even though players, coaches and fans were focused on this game, which Saracens won 28 – 16 and Owen Farrell picked up the man of the match, people will be looking at that game with positions up for grabs as 18 members of the 50 man training squad were a part of this match.

The big one was the battle for the England fly half shirt and even though we knew what we were getting with Farrell and George Ford.

The big question mark was how will both players handle the pressure and on Saturday it was Farrell. Yes, you can easily make a case for him to be sin binned or sent off for his two minute tackle on Anthony Watson. However, he wasn’t and went on to score 18 points (one try, two conversions and three penalties) and won MOTM.

While Ford scored 17 points (one conversion and five penalties) from the tee which shows his kicking has improved all season. His overall kicking game during the final was below par, mainly due to the pressure the Sarries defence put Bath under, but he has that x factor as he can create something out of nothing and when the team is in attack mode it’s some of the most beautiful rugby being played.

Meanwhile, on Sunday Danny Cipriani showed what he can do when given an opportunity playing at 10 and after scoring two tries, kicking all 10 conversions and a penalty. The Sale man finished with a 33 point haul in a flawless afternoon which saw the 27 year old also move to fullback and produced a classy finish to score the final try of the game.

This is why it was such a shame he was arrested for drink driving and with RFU officials looking into what happen, and given how Lancaster wants his players to be role models plus the RFU will not want to have another disastrous off the field World Cup like in 2011, things don’t look good for Cipriani.

If Cipriani is kicked out of the squad then it will be a great opportunity for Northampton’s Stephen Myler and Exeter’s Henry Slade to get the final fly half spot. We know what we’re getting with both players it just depends on how well they’ll train.

I think Myler might just get picked due to how reliable he is with the boot and this could be his last chance to be in an England squad with someone as talented as Slade rising through the racks.

Another position up for grabs is replacement hooker with Dylan Hartley going from starting 15 regular to being kicked out. All signs point to Tom Youngs wearing the number two jersey when England kick off against Fiji, but you now have Bath’s Rob Webber, Luke Cowan – Dickie from Exeter and Aviva Premiership winner Jamie George all competing to be Youngs’ understudy.

After losing his starting place in the Bath squad to Ross Batty it’s hard to see Webber getting his chance and I thought he wouldn’t even get into the 50 man squad, but he showed how much of an impact player he is coming off the bench during the Aviva Premiership final which could put him in good stead.

In the same match George produced another stellar performance by showing pace to score a try but also in his set piece scoring a lineout success of 100% and this is on top of a great season.

Compare that with Stuart Barnes’ new man crush Cowan – Dickie who had a great game in the loose against the Barbarians, but his lineout throwing was poor and because of all of that, I think George has a better chance of being on the replacements bench against Fiji.

One player which needs to be talked about is hat trick hero Christian Wade, who was described by Miles Harrison as a sports car, however, the Wasps winger could and should have scored four tries in the 73 – 12 massacre against the Baabaas.

After previously omitted Wade showed why he can be England’s lethal weapon and with David Strettle moving to France next season, there’s a chance the Sarries wingman could be dropped in favour of the 24 year old.

It’s not just Wade, who could see this as a lifeline, but also Semesa Rokoduguni who has been treated unfairly after making his debut against New Zealand in the autumn he was unable to follow it up due to a hip injury and has never been picked since.

Recently he’s becoming the Roko of old with a well-crafted assist for Kyle Eastmond’s try in the semi – final against Leicester then in the Aviva Premiership final the winger made 85 metres and 12 ball carries.

As well as pace he adds physicality on the wing, which could come in handy as most nations now have a physical wingers just look at George North for Wales and New Zealand’s Julian Savea. 

We also like an underdog story and we have it in Maro Itoje. The Saracens lock/back row is slowly becoming a force to be reckoned with and even though he’s only made 26 first team appearances. Highlights this season have been his performance against Clermont in the Champions Cup semi – final and captaining Saracens to the LV Cup. 

You can tell the England camp think highly of the 20 year old as in one year he’s moved from winning the Junior World Championship to being in the training squad for the RWC and he has a real chance of making it into the final 31 man squad. The same goes for Saracens for next season he’ll be permanently in the starting 15 and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’ll be the next captain after Alistair Hargreaves.