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#Post#: 155735--------------------------------------------------
Re: England Squad
DIR By: MaidstoneQuin
Date: June 23, 2026, 8:11 am
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--- Quote from: Yareet link ---
>
> It’s the safe option but I can understand it. If he took those
three, he’d have to be be happy with Langdon or Kepu playing
79.5 minutes away at altitude in SA. That’s a big ask for a
young player. Even more so for Langdon who is off the back of a
2-4 day party and has missed all the altitude training.
>
> Definitely look at them for the Fiji game or is the squad for
all three games?
>
--- End Quote ---
I was under the impression the squad is as is, as BVR was
included
#Post#: 155736--------------------------------------------------
Re: England Squad
DIR By: RodneyRegis
Date: June 23, 2026, 8:16 am
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I just hate seeing JVR in there.
#Post#: 155737--------------------------------------------------
Re: England Squad
DIR By: RodneyRegis
Date: June 23, 2026, 8:21 am
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Presumably Marchant would have been available for selection?
#Post#: 155738--------------------------------------------------
Re: England Squad
DIR By: RodneyRegis
Date: June 23, 2026, 8:23 am
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--- Quote from: FrostAndFire link ---
>
> Some strange choices.
>
> Calouri was terrible at the weekend, but is selected.
>
> Sela was being smashed in scrums in the same match by the
France XV replacements. Again, selected.
>
> Both players might be good enough one day but really aren't
yet.
>
> Also, Mitchell, Spencer and van Poortvliet at 9. I know they
are the shirt-holders, but they're not the best 9s qualified for
England at the moment, by a long way.
>
--- End Quote ---
Quirke was good when he came on at the weekend. Shame.
I'd put him, Friday and mcparland ahead of those 3 so shame to
see none of them.
#Post#: 155743--------------------------------------------------
Re: England Squad
DIR By: Quinky
Date: June 23, 2026, 10:32 am
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--- Quote from: Brown Bottle link ---
>
> Undroppable? He hasn't been picked, yet.
>
--- End Quote ---
Hence "...going to be..."
#Post#: 155745--------------------------------------------------
Re: England Squad
DIR By: northstand
Date: June 23, 2026, 11:27 am
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Can’t get excited for this ‘tour’
Borekick and gonna get hammered by SA.
I really hope Marcus, Caden and Furbank come back unscathed,
both medically and reputationally.
#Post#: 155760--------------------------------------------------
Re: England Squad
DIR By: JammyGit
Date: June 24, 2026, 3:20 am
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--- Quote from: Yareet link ---
>
> It’s the safe option but I can understand it. If he took those
three, he’d have to be be happy with Langdon or Kepu playing
79.5 minutes away at altitude in SA. That’s a big ask for a
young player. Even more so for Langdon who is off the back of a
2-4 day party and has missed all the altitude training.
>
> Definitely look at them for the Fiji game or is the squad for
all three games?
>
--- End Quote ---
Young player? Langdon is 28 and has 101 premiership appearances
+ 30 in Europe, to go with the England caps he's already picked
up.
#Post#: 155765--------------------------------------------------
Re: England Squad
DIR By: Yareet
Date: June 24, 2026, 3:56 am
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--- Quote from: JammyGit link ---
>
> Young player? Langdon is 28 and has 101 premiership
appearances + 30 in Europe, to go with the England caps he's
already picked up.
>
--- End Quote ---
Apologies, you're correct. I should have said "inexperienced at
this level".
#Post#: 155767--------------------------------------------------
Re: England Squad
DIR By: JammyGit
Date: June 24, 2026, 4:02 am
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Jamie George's first international starts were the 3 Lions tests
in NZ...!
I think there should be no question that Langdon has the various
attributes required to play essentially full matches in SA,
though.
#Post#: 155775--------------------------------------------------
Re: England Squad
DIR By: deadlyfrom5yardsout
Date: June 24, 2026, 4:22 am
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Why Ted Hill should start at blind-side for England against
Springboks
With Maro Itoje rested, getting bench right will be crucial at
Ellis Park — and playing explosive Bath man allows Steve
Borthwick to hold back a premier lock
Charlie Morgan, Senior Rugby Writer
Tuesday June 23 2026, 7.00am, The Times
Flexibility is paramount when picking a squad for a summer tour
because best-laid plans can be shredded in an unlucky instant at
the end of the club season. Take the misfortune of the
Northampton Saints scrum half Archie McParland, who sustained a
nasty cut when attempting to bring down the Exeter Chiefs wing
Campbell Ridl on Saturday. Freak accidents happen.
Still, the imminent meeting with South Africa has felt like a
meaningful milestone for Steve Borthwick since the fixture was
confirmed last autumn. As much as this will be the first Test of
a new campaign for both teams, and the beginning of the
inaugural Nations Championship, we can expect England to have a
strategy tailored to the Springboks.
And the bench for Ellis Park is something Borthwick will have
been mulling over for weeks, if not months, because it is bound
to be a significant subplot in the thin air of Johannesburg.
Whether or not he loads six forwards among the replacements,
using a “bomb squad” against the country that has refined and
evolved that tactic over the reign of Rassie Erasmus, is a key
question.
England have assembled a six-two bench in 16 of their past 17
Test matches, the only exception being last year’s
weather-interrupted win against the USA in Washington DC. It is
an approach that suits them, chiefly because of their back-row
depth. More than once, Borthwick has finished a game with five
back-rowers on the pitch: three in conventional positions plus
Chandler Cunningham-South or Ted Hill covering lock and either
Ben Earl or Alex Dombrandt at centre.
To beat the Springboks — even to come close, frankly — England
will need to summon an intense, accurate performance. Hit the
heights of their display in Paris three months ago and they have
a chance. Borthwick must nail selection in every spot of his
match-day squad. Numbers 19-21, or his back-five “finishers”,
feel particularly important because we can rely on South
Africa’s pack to be formidable.
Context matters, here. England have rested Maro Itoje, while a
calf complaint has sidelined Cunningham-South. In the absence of
Fin Baxter and Will Stuart, Ellis Genge (80 caps) and Joe Heyes
(22) lead the propping pecking order by a distance. The four
remaining props in Borthwick’s touring party — Beno Obano, Asher
Opoku-Fordjour, George Kloska and Vilikesa Sela — have a
combined tally of 11 caps among them. Unless Borthwick holds
back Genge and Heyes, there are going to be relatively
unfamiliar faces in England’s No17 and No18 shirts. That
heightens the scrutiny on No19.
Previously, Borthwick has used Cunningham-South or Hill there,
trusting one of these explosive athletes to grit their teeth in
the second row if required. He also saw the benefit of having a
specialist lock there when Charlie Ewels rose to nab a lineout
in the dying moments of the victory over Argentina in November.
Ballast and set-piece nous will be essential for the entire 80
minutes against South Africa, who will challenge England’s
scrummaging and mauling mettle.
George Martin’s return is timely in that regard. His influence
on the 2023 World Cup semi-final became clear when he followed
Joe Marler and Dan Cole to the touchline. Once those three were
replaced, England’s scrum faded badly. Tellingly, Martin started
and stayed on for 75 minutes when the Springboks visited
Twickenham a year later.
Borthwick’s triple open-side ploy will surely be put on pause
against bruisers such as Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit,
Siya Kolisi and Jasper Wiese. Accepted wisdom suggests that
Borthwick will keep Ollie Chessum at blind-side flanker, where
the latter started in France at the end of the Six Nations, and
team Martin with Alex Coles in the engine room. One of Ewels or
Arthur Clark, who is raw yet highly rated and hefty, would be
the candidates for No19 if Borthwick wants a specialist lock on
the bench.
Even with three second-rows in the starting pack, Hill at 19 is
a risk because you are then dependent on two of Coles, Martin
and Chessum lasting the whole match at altitude and Martin has
been a 50-minute impact man since coming back to fitness. For
all Hill’s assets, England will not want him scrummaging in the
second row against South Africa’s blunt force.
Borthwick could have Hill among the replacements, as well as
Ewels or Clark, but then he would only be able to pick three,
rather than four, from Tom Curry, Ben Earl, Guy Pepper, Henry
Pollock and Greg Fisilau across the 23. Unless, that is, he
delves into the Erasmus playbook and pulls the jaw-dropping
stunt of a seven-one bench split. The theatre of that would be
quite something and we know Borthwick has been pondering ways to
implement it.
A more realistic curveball would be starting Hill at blind-side
flanker and holding back one of the premier locks; maybe Martin
to bolster the green props on the bench. It would be foolish to
predict too much from Friday’s uncapped hit-out in Vannes, but
one of the few positives, along with a sturdy outing at
loose-head prop for Opoku-Fordjour, was the energy of Hill in
the No6 jersey. Hill has searing pace and spring to aid the
England lineout. Then again, Borthwick will almost certainly
want 50 minutes, rather than a mere half-hour, out of Martin.
Coles was magnificent for Northampton in the Gallagher Prem
final, but could he be the kind of cool, cerebral figure needed
to steward the final quarter? That way, Chessum and Martin would
maintain their club partnership and could be supplemented by
Hill.
Whatever happens, the England replacements will have huge roles
to play. This is nothing new. Before the 2019 World Cup
semi-final defeat of New Zealand, Eddie Jones famously read out
the team that was going to finish the match. More than ever,
though, in-game changes govern impetus and players are asked to
empty the tank before being swapped. Tom Curry was exceptional
for the British & Irish Lions in relatively short bursts last
summer, for instance, coming off around the 55-minute mark in
the first two Tests.
As noted by the South African journalist Jon Cardinelli this
week, Erasmus will reconfigure the Springbok bench in the
absence of RG Snyman and Kwagga Smith, men who have been bomb
squad saboteurs over the years. To stay in the fight and avoid
being blown away, England need to get their bench right.
My XV for Ellis Park
George Furbank; Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Tommy Freeman, Seb
Atkinson, Cadan Murley, Fin Smith, Ben Spencer; Ellis Genge,
Jamie George, Joe Heyes, George Martin, Ollie Chessum, Ted Hill,
Tom Curry, Henry Pollock
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