England v Wales Saturday 7/2/2026, ITV, 4.40pm

[Danno]

Obviously, I hope IFW is fully fit.
If not though, then I strongly disagree with you two; Max to OC, Tommy to wing

FTR I was not being serious

[FKAS]

Obviously, I hope IFW is fully fit.
If not though, then I strongly disagree with you two; Max to OC, Tommy to wing

FTR I was not being serious

I know, if you were being serious you'd have suggested.

11. Arundell
12. Steward
13. Dingwall
14. Freeman
15. M Smith

23. Daly

Only logical solution.

[Which Tyler]

I would agree with you that your suggestion would result in the strongest XV for a one-off match. However, with all due respect to the Welsh, this game isn't just about our strongest XV for the next match - we should be looking to get time into our new first choice centres and build that combination. Daly is... fine, I guess, and should be good enough for Wales at home.

Puja

That's fair.
Though I stand by my "it's too early for Freeman as an international OC" - whilst granting that he's not far off, and there's only so many tests before RWC27

[p/d]

I anticipate that we underestimate that Welsh back line …… but that will be in line with over hyping ours.

[Mellsblue]

Balls: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union ... 9ke53yvp3o

Hopefully there's nothing to it and he's fine by Saturday, but if he isn't able to be fit, I hope that we slot Daly in rather than mess Freeman about. I'd probably prefer Murley to Daly, but it'd be asking a lot to hoik him out of the A game and back into the squad to learn the plays, especially if there's a chance it'd all be for naught and IFW would make the game anyway.

Puja

Strange way of proving there isn’t a god but I suppose it’s good to finally have a definitive answer.

[twitchy]

The ads were jarring, but I got used to them. As long as they have a hard time limit which doesn't creep up.

[Oakboy]

I anticipate that we underestimate that Welsh back line …… but that will be in line with over hyping ours.

Will the Welsh backs get much ball (other than kicking back our kicks)?

[Epaminondas Pules]

I would agree with you that your suggestion would result in the strongest XV for a one-off match. However, with all due respect to the Welsh, this game isn't just about our strongest XV for the next match - we should be looking to get time into our new first choice centres and build that combination. Daly is... fine, I guess, and should be good enough for Wales at home.

Puja

That's fair.
Though I stand by my "it's too early for Freeman as an international OC" - whilst granting that he's not far off, and there's only so many tests before RWC27

I agree. I'm not overly concerned right now, and think it is worth looking at seriously. I'm a bit more concerned about it being learned at the highest level, but the coaches trust him enough to go for it, but there's still a lot of questions for him to answer in that position, such as link play especially longer hands, defensive positioning and execution. He's a bloody good rugby player, a truly menacing runner, and has a deftness to his hands, but 13 is a very different ask, especially defensively and the length and direction of passing off both hands. He could be a real weapon, or he could be a Reiko Ioane at centre, a great strike runner with largely fuck all else.

[FKAS]

I would agree with you that your suggestion would result in the strongest XV for a one-off match. However, with all due respect to the Welsh, this game isn't just about our strongest XV for the next match - we should be looking to get time into our new first choice centres and build that combination. Daly is... fine, I guess, and should be good enough for Wales at home.

Puja

That's fair.
Though I stand by my "it's too early for Freeman as an international OC" - whilst granting that he's not far off, and there's only so many tests before RWC27

I'd argue that we don't have a better option at 13 han Freeman available. His mixture of power, pace and positioning is all excellent. Question marks over his softer skills remain but nothing Sam Vesty and England can't help him bring forward I wouldn't have thought.

[Epaminondas Pules]

I anticipate that we underestimate that Welsh back line …… but that will be in line with over hyping ours.

The Welsh backline absolutely has the ability to throw some attacking punches and cause us issues. And ours isn't truly frightening. There's proper threats for sure, but it's not a shit your pants backline by any stretch, yet.

[Puja]

I would agree with you that your suggestion would result in the strongest XV for a one-off match. However, with all due respect to the Welsh, this game isn't just about our strongest XV for the next match - we should be looking to get time into our new first choice centres and build that combination. Daly is... fine, I guess, and should be good enough for Wales at home.

Puja

That's fair.
Though I stand by my "it's too early for Freeman as an international OC" - whilst granting that he's not far off, and there's only so many tests before RWC27

I agree. I'm not overly concerned right now, and think it is worth looking at seriously. I'm a bit more concerned about it being learned at the highest level, but the coaches trust him enough to go for it, but there's still a lot of questions for him to answer in that position, such as link play especially longer hands, defensive positioning and execution. He's a bloody good rugby player, a truly menacing runner, and has a deftness to his hands, but 13 is a very different ask, especially defensively and the length and direction of passing off both hands. He could be a real weapon, or he could be a Reiko Ioane at centre, a great strike runner with largely fuck all else.

Is it really him learning it at the highest level though? He's played centre more times than he has wing this season (this will be his 6th start at 13, vs 4 at 14, and 1 at 15) and has played it at various other points in his career. Yes, he's not the *most* experienced centre, but this is a distance away from MSmith at 15, where it was solely going to happen at international level - Saints appear keen to play him there as well.

On a similar note, I was startled to see Ollivon wearing 4 for France last night and looked it up to see when he swapped - he's had 6 games at lock in his entire career of which 5 of them were this season (2 for France, so only 3 club games there) and the other was a random one-off back in 2020.

Puja

[Captainhaircut]

Players “out of position” is definitely a bigger thing on this board than it is in reality. Saffas have been playing players all over for ages, French do it a lot too. It’s sometimes about getting the best players on the pitch and fitting the game plan.

Obviously a handful of positions are set (front row, scrum half) but good players can move between positions much easier than suggested.

[SixAndAHalf]

The ads were jarring, but I got used to them. As long as they have a hard time limit which doesn't creep up.

They weren't awful but the scrums is when you need detailed explanation to help newcomers to rugby. It would be better to have them during kicks at goal.

[Mikey Brown]

IFW out and Roebuck (who is apparently fit?!) comes in.

Pretty seamless change and we don’t lose a whole lot. I’m surprised to know he was fit the whole time, or maybe that’s just been decided over the last couple of days.

[Puja]

IFW out and Roebuck (who is apparently fit?!) comes in.

Pretty seamless change and we don’t lose a whole lot. I’m surprised to know he was fit the whole time, or maybe that’s just been decided over the last couple of days.

That's not a terrible result. If the case with Roebuck was that he was lacking full match-fitness, then it makes sense for him to have been behind Arundell, but ahead of Daly et al.

Hopefully it's only a little twinge for IFW and we're just not risking him, rather than anything more serious.

Puja

[pjm1]

Yes, in a funny kind of way, Roebuck and Arundell are the perfect wings for this game. Roebuck needs game time, so Wales is a good intro. Arundell needs international experience, so ditto. We're not going to learn anything particularly new from IFW playing.

I'm looking forward to seeing the battle of the fullbacks. LRZ is decent under the ball and obviously is an anti-Steward in terms of footwork and pace. I don't mind seeing Steward getting skinned a bit by some quality play, especially if we then see him coming in hard from deep onto a late ball from Dingwall and going under the posts when it's our turn.

Really interested to see how our forwards go - the starting 8 should be on top and I fancy our lineout with the locks and Pepper. Will we miss Itoje's calling though?

[Which Tyler]

Is it really him learning it at the highest level though? He's played centre more times than he has wing this season (this will be his 6th start at 13, vs 4 at 14, and 1 at 15) and has played it at various other points in his career.

IMO, yes - but I fully grant that it's a thing I seem to place higher emphasis on than others.
I've always got my personal "rule" of wanting someone to have played a whole season in the position before considering them to be no longer learning the ropes.
I've always said, I want 20 starts as an absolute minimum; and much prefer 30.
Batches of 10-20 minutes at the end of a game help; but don't replace starts for me - which IIRC we also disagreed on for when I was happy to consider Dingwall an IC for the purposes of international rugby.

Now, I'm not saying that 20 starts magically makes someone a natural at the position, and 30 means there's nothing more to learn; but it's what I'm always looking for.

At this moment in time, and IMO, both Dingwall and Ojomoh are better OCs than Freeman - both for what they do on the pitch being more OC-ish, and for having simply spent more time doing it in anger. Which doesn't remotely mean that "England and Vesty" can't help him progress - but that the learning should (again, IMO) happen at club level, not international.

[francoisfou]

On a similar note, I was startled to see Ollivon wearing 4 for France last night and looked it up to see when he swapped - he's had 6 games at lock in his entire career of which 5 of them were this season (2 for France, so only 3 club games there) and the other was a random one-off back in 2020.

Puja

Yes, it could’ve been seen as a gamble, but Ollivon’s and Guillard’s energy was too hot to handle for the Irish and unquestionably laid the foundation for an impressive half time lead.

[Scrumhead]

Yes, in a funny kind of way, Roebuck and Arundell are the perfect wings for this game. Roebuck needs game time, so Wales is a good intro. Arundell needs international experience, so ditto. We're not going to learn anything particularly new from IFW playing.

I'm looking forward to seeing the battle of the fullbacks. LRZ is decent under the ball and obviously is an anti-Steward in terms of footwork and pace. I don't mind seeing Steward getting skinned a bit by some quality play, especially if we then see him coming in hard from deep onto a late ball from Dingwall and going under the posts when it's our turn.

Really interested to see how our forwards go - the starting 8 should be on top and I fancy our lineout with the locks and Pepper. Will we miss Itoje's calling though?

Yeah, as long as IFW injury isn’t serious this might actually have worked out well

I do wonder whether Arundell and Roebuck swap wings now? Roebuck is normally on the right wing so I’m assuming Arundell will now switch to the left (where we usually put our stepper).

[Puja]

Is it really him learning it at the highest level though? He's played centre more times than he has wing this season (this will be his 6th start at 13, vs 4 at 14, and 1 at 15) and has played it at various other points in his career.

IMO, yes - but I fully grant that it's a thing I seem to place higher emphasis on than others.
I've always got my personal "rule" of wanting someone to have played a whole season in the position before considering them to be no longer learning the ropes.
I've always said, I want 20 starts as an absolute minimum; and much prefer 30.
Batches of 10-20 minutes at the end of a game help; but don't replace starts for me - which IIRC we also disagreed on for when I was happy to consider Dingwall an IC for the purposes of international rugby.

Now, I'm not saying that 20 starts magically makes someone a natural at the position, and 30 means there's nothing more to learn; but it's what I'm always looking for.

At this moment in time, and IMO, both Dingwall and Ojomoh are better OCs than Freeman - both for what they do on the pitch being more OC-ish, and for having simply spent more time doing it in anger. Which doesn't remotely mean that "England and Vesty" can't help him progress - but that the learning should (again, IMO) happen at club level, not international.

This will be Freeman's 20th start at 13 across the years, mind?

I do exactly get what you're saying, although I will remain unbothered by Freeman's shift, given our riches at wing and poverty at centre and given that he has been playing there for Saints. He won't be perfect there, as he won't have the inculcated instincts as well as a more experienced centre, but I'm not worried by it.

Yes, in a funny kind of way, Roebuck and Arundell are the perfect wings for this game. Roebuck needs game time, so Wales is a good intro. Arundell needs international experience, so ditto. We're not going to learn anything particularly new from IFW playing.

I'm looking forward to seeing the battle of the fullbacks. LRZ is decent under the ball and obviously is an anti-Steward in terms of footwork and pace. I don't mind seeing Steward getting skinned a bit by some quality play, especially if we then see him coming in hard from deep onto a late ball from Dingwall and going under the posts when it's our turn.

Really interested to see how our forwards go - the starting 8 should be on top and I fancy our lineout with the locks and Pepper. Will we miss Itoje's calling though?

My one concern about Steward in this team is that our defensive system relies on the wingers biting in on the penultimate man, with the idea of cutting off the pass. If the ball does make it out to the wide man, then cover is provided by the 13 tracking across and the 15 pressing up quickly to play ersatz wing. It's a good system generally, but it's vulnerable to a very very quick back three player, as they can be gone before Freeman gets across or Steward gets up (and tackling an evasive runner at speed is not his forte anyway) - Rees-Zammit could exploit it. Of course, Wales do have the problem of having good enough handling in the backline to get outside our defence and we stand a decent chance of thwarting them before the pass goes, but I remain scared of what will happen when we face France and Bielle-Biarrey gets a run against that system.

I don't know that we'll miss Itoje's calling, which is probably the weakest part of his game to my mind. Chessum/Coles have sufficient lineout brains between them to run a good lineout.

Puja

[Mikey Brown]

Is it really him learning it at the highest level though? He's played centre more times than he has wing this season (this will be his 6th start at 13, vs 4 at 14, and 1 at 15) and has played it at various other points in his career.

IMO, yes - but I fully grant that it's a thing I seem to place higher emphasis on than others.
I've always got my personal "rule" of wanting someone to have played a whole season in the position before considering them to be no longer learning the ropes.
I've always said, I want 20 starts as an absolute minimum; and much prefer 30.
Batches of 10-20 minutes at the end of a game help; but don't replace starts for me - which IIRC we also disagreed on for when I was happy to consider Dingwall an IC for the purposes of international rugby.

Now, I'm not saying that 20 starts magically makes someone a natural at the position, and 30 means there's nothing more to learn; but it's what I'm always looking for.

At this moment in time, and IMO, both Dingwall and Ojomoh are better OCs than Freeman - both for what they do on the pitch being more OC-ish, and for having simply spent more time doing it in anger. Which doesn't remotely mean that "England and Vesty" can't help him progress - but that the learning should (again, IMO) happen at club level, not international.

I assume it’s very hard to find stats that account for mid-game positional changes, but does Ojomoh really have that much more experience at 13 than Freeman? I know he’s been back and forth from wing, but he’s been doing that for a couple of seasons now. I had it in my head Ojomoh had been almost exclusively a 12 until recently.

It’s a move for the future I think, and while there are gains to be had from experience it doesn’t necessarily solve everything. I still wouldn’t pick Daly there, and don’t feel like Dingwall/Ojomoh combo would offer enough balance.

[FKAS]

That's fair.
Though I stand by my "it's too early for Freeman as an international OC" - whilst granting that he's not far off, and there's only so many tests before RWC27

I agree. I'm not overly concerned right now, and think it is worth looking at seriously. I'm a bit more concerned about it being learned at the highest level, but the coaches trust him enough to go for it, but there's still a lot of questions for him to answer in that position, such as link play especially longer hands, defensive positioning and execution. He's a bloody good rugby player, a truly menacing runner, and has a deftness to his hands, but 13 is a very different ask, especially defensively and the length and direction of passing off both hands. He could be a real weapon, or he could be a Reiko Ioane at centre, a great strike runner with largely fuck all else.

Is it really him learning it at the highest level though? He's played centre more times than he has wing this season (this will be his 6th start at 13, vs 4 at 14, and 1 at 15) and has played it at various other points in his career. Yes, he's not the *most* experienced centre, but this is a distance away from MSmith at 15, where it was solely going to happen at international level - Saints appear keen to play him there as well.

On a similar note, I was startled to see Ollivon wearing 4 for France last night and looked it up to see when he swapped - he's had 6 games at lock in his entire career of which 5 of them were this season (2 for France, so only 3 club games there) and the other was a random one-off back in 2020.

Puja

Guillard alongside him had plenty of backrow experience as well, games at 8 Inc for France. Gave France a lot of dynamism around the park. Maybe stopped their scrum from the predicted dominance but in the loose it was frighteningly effective.

[Scrumhead]

As I was watching he game I immediately thought “SB will be watching this and thinking of CCS in a similar role”.

[Captainhaircut]

As I was watching he game I immediately thought “SB will be watching this and thinking of CCS in a similar role”.

Yeah, 16 carries from Guillard certainly showed up the argument that CCS can’t play second row because it would limit his carrying.

I would say we have seen from CCS in a similar role away to Wales last year. Poor opposition for sure but he scored two tries and was very effective.

[FKAS]

As I was watching he game I immediately thought “SB will be watching this and thinking of CCS in a similar role”.

Yeah, 16 carries from Guillard certainly showed up the argument that CCS can’t play second row because it would limit his carrying.

I would say we have seen from CCS in a similar role away to Wales last year. Poor opposition for sure but he scored two tries and was very effective.

I still think it's his best position at international level.