RugbyRebels

Strong Badmeme wrote:"We all feel for Maro and his family after the very sad loss of his mum,” Borthwick told the BBC. “Maro was out in Nigeria and arrived back in camp a day or two after everybody else. We made the decision for this game it’s best for him to start on the bench.

“I think he is going to have a massive impact. I am excited by the impact the whole bench is going to have. I also know the crowd when Maro comes to the touchline, I’m sure he will get a big roar. Maro and I talk a lot as you would expect. It is the right thing for him and the team this week.”

Borthwick added: “Maro is good. As you would expect, he has thrown himself into the preparation here and has been a role model and an example to the other players, as he always is.

TheDasher wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 2:46 pmNot much chat anywhere about Ojomoh - not sure one could drop him after his performance vs the Argies. I thought we'd probably found our all rounder 12 after many years... but no, apparently not.

Mellsblue wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 3:36 pm Arundell and IFW on either wing… there is a god and he’s a lineout nause, spreadsheet loving Cumbrian.

Puja wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 3:50 pm

Mellsblue wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 3:36 pm Arundell and IFW on either wing… there is a god and he’s a lineout nause, spreadsheet loving Cumbrian.

You're so easily bought! All it takes is for someone to provide an 11-match winning run and then select the two most exciting and speedy wingers to start for England, and you're all over him like it's something unprecedented!

Puja

Mellsblue wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 3:52 pm

Puja wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 3:50 pm

Mellsblue wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 3:36 pm Arundell and IFW on either wing… there is a god and he’s a lineout nause, spreadsheet loving Cumbrian.

You're so easily bought! All it takes is for someone to provide an 11-match winning run and then select the two most exciting and speedy wingers to start for England, and you're all over him like it's something unprecedented!

Puja

If we don’t win the grand slam he’s dead to me.

Puja wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 3:46 pm

Strong Badmeme wrote:"We all feel for Maro and his family after the very sad loss of his mum,” Borthwick told the BBC. “Maro was out in Nigeria and arrived back in camp a day or two after everybody else. We made the decision for this game it’s best for him to start on the bench.

“I think he is going to have a massive impact. I am excited by the impact the whole bench is going to have. I also know the crowd when Maro comes to the touchline, I’m sure he will get a big roar. Maro and I talk a lot as you would expect. It is the right thing for him and the team this week.”

Borthwick added: “Maro is good. As you would expect, he has thrown himself into the preparation here and has been a role model and an example to the other players, as he always is.

Fair enough and sounds like good man-management to me. Also underlies the improvement in our leadership cadre that we can put our captain on the bench and no-one's even mentioned about George having to step up.

TheDasher wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 2:46 pmNot much chat anywhere about Ojomoh - not sure one could drop him after his performance vs the Argies. I thought we'd probably found our all rounder 12 after many years... but no, apparently not.

See, I think I watched a very different Argentina game to you - he had some fantastic highlight reel moments, but also a number of mistakes, making the performance as a whole no more than a solid 7/10. That's not a criticism of a young player on his first real England test at all, but it wasn't a performance that made him undroppable, nor one that demanded the ousting of the incumbent Dingwall on his return to fitness. Fraser's the man in possession, deservedly so after playing well in his 5-game run in 2025, and he has the added advantage of offering an understanding with the inexperienced Freeman in the other centre berth. Right call by Beatboxer, to my mind.

Puja

Oakboy wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 5:36 pm In pure emotional terms, I'm excited by the back line apart from Steward but I'm disappointed by the back row. I think SB needs to at least try starting Curry and Pollock.

In phlegmatic/logical terms, I think SB has got things pretty much right in developing his type of team. I doubt this match will be a fun watch. A functional but decisive ugly win will do fine.

Scrumhead wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 6:07 pm I’m not sure I understand your POV here? Underhill and Earl are effectively like-for-like for Curry and Pollock. I wouldn’t say one combination is particularly more exciting than the other unless you’re a paid up member of the Henry Pollock fan club.

I also don’t see this as a team set up to play in a phlegmatic way? It’s an exciting lineup and should be a ‘fun watch’.

Oakboy wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 6:40 pm

Scrumhead wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 6:07 pm I’m not sure I understand your POV here? Underhill and Earl are effectively like-for-like for Curry and Pollock. I wouldn’t say one combination is particularly more exciting than the other unless you’re a paid up member of the Henry Pollock fan club.

I also don’t see this as a team set up to play in a phlegmatic way? It’s an exciting lineup and should be a ‘fun watch’.

Earl is slightly more constructive but I see him more as functional than inspirational. Pollock has more to offer in every aspect of the game but he needs to be trusted for 80. I don't like the pressure he is under to produce in 20, no matter how good at it he is.

That's all just my personal take. I am excited by a back row of Pepper, Curry and Pollock, thinking longer-term. I am disapponted that it never gets the lion's share of the game. The starting trio are OK.

TheDasher wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 6:57 pm

Oakboy wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 6:40 pm

Scrumhead wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 6:07 pm I’m not sure I understand your POV here? Underhill and Earl are effectively like-for-like for Curry and Pollock. I wouldn’t say one combination is particularly more exciting than the other unless you’re a paid up member of the Henry Pollock fan club.

I also don’t see this as a team set up to play in a phlegmatic way? It’s an exciting lineup and should be a ‘fun watch’.

Earl is slightly more constructive but I see him more as functional than inspirational. Pollock has more to offer in every aspect of the game but he needs to be trusted for 80. I don't like the pressure he is under to produce in 20, no matter how good at it he is.

That's all just my personal take. I am excited by a back row of Pepper, Curry and Pollock, thinking longer-term. I am disapponted that it never gets the lion's share of the game. The starting trio are OK.

A bit brutal here I think... Earl and Underhill are phenomenal players now, I think the starting trio is more than OK. Underhill is absolute class and Earl is way stronger than Pollock at the hard yards, he's incredibly powerful into contact (I say this in reference to you say Pollock offers more in every aspect of the game). I am a huge fan of Pollock and Curry, love them both and would be delighted with them starting too, but I wouldn't say Underhill and Earl are 'ok', they're bordering on world-class players.

pjm1 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 6:23 pm

Oakboy wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 5:36 pm In pure emotional terms, I'm excited by the back line apart from Steward but I'm disappointed by the back row. I think SB needs to at least try starting Curry and Pollock.

In phlegmatic/logical terms, I think SB has got things pretty much right in developing his type of team. I doubt this match will be a fun watch. A functional but decisive ugly win will do fine.

I think it would be worth us coining some sort of "grading" of disappointment with these calls. I'd have liked to have seen Furbank start, but I understand why he's gone this way around. Am I disappointed? Mildly non-plussed, perhaps. Which is a fantastically better place than seeing a centre combination of Farrell and Slade start!

I agree with you that Slowly Building has demonstrated his plan is working, and some of that is luck (a couple of close games going the right way - after previous close games, not) but he has to get credit from me for making some strategic calls on selection, coaches and overall tactical development.

The most positive part of that for me is that this all feels cohesive. He isn't selecting players and trying to change the way they play. He isn't flipflopping tactics based on results or coach changes. He isn't bringing in the next available coach and trying to get them to work to a system that isn't "them". Instead, all of these separate actions seem coherent with each other. I honestly can't remember the last time that happened, save for toxic Eddie's initial run when it was all just about bedding in Lancaster's team with a bit more ferocity and bite, whilst playing to the latent strengths he'd inherited.

pjm1 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 6:23 pm

Oakboy wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 5:36 pm In pure emotional terms, I'm excited by the back line apart from Steward but I'm disappointed by the back row. I think SB needs to at least try starting Curry and Pollock.

In phlegmatic/logical terms, I think SB has got things pretty much right in developing his type of team. I doubt this match will be a fun watch. A functional but decisive ugly win will do fine.

I think it would be worth us coining some sort of "grading" of disappointment with these calls. I'd have liked to have seen Furbank start, but I understand why he's gone this way around. Am I disappointed? Mildly non-plussed, perhaps. Which is a fantastically better place than seeing a centre combination of Farrell and Slade start!

FKAS wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 7:11 pm

pjm1 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 6:23 pm

Oakboy wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 5:36 pm In pure emotional terms, I'm excited by the back line apart from Steward but I'm disappointed by the back row. I think SB needs to at least try starting Curry and Pollock.

In phlegmatic/logical terms, I think SB has got things pretty much right in developing his type of team. I doubt this match will be a fun watch. A functional but decisive ugly win will do fine.

I think it would be worth us coining some sort of "grading" of disappointment with these calls. I'd have liked to have seen Furbank start, but I understand why he's gone this way around. Am I disappointed? Mildly non-plussed, perhaps. Which is a fantastically better place than seeing a centre combination of Farrell and Slade start!

To be fair Furbank played a whole 25 mins of rugby in January. Fitness is a significant issue for him.

TheDasher wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 4:59 pm

Puja wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 3:46 pm

Strong Badmeme wrote:"We all feel for Maro and his family after the very sad loss of his mum,” Borthwick told the BBC. “Maro was out in Nigeria and arrived back in camp a day or two after everybody else. We made the decision for this game it’s best for him to start on the bench.

“I think he is going to have a massive impact. I am excited by the impact the whole bench is going to have. I also know the crowd when Maro comes to the touchline, I’m sure he will get a big roar. Maro and I talk a lot as you would expect. It is the right thing for him and the team this week.”

Borthwick added: “Maro is good. As you would expect, he has thrown himself into the preparation here and has been a role model and an example to the other players, as he always is.

Fair enough and sounds like good man-management to me. Also underlies the improvement in our leadership cadre that we can put our captain on the bench and no-one's even mentioned about George having to step up.

TheDasher wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 2:46 pmNot much chat anywhere about Ojomoh - not sure one could drop him after his performance vs the Argies. I thought we'd probably found our all rounder 12 after many years... but no, apparently not.

See, I think I watched a very different Argentina game to you - he had some fantastic highlight reel moments, but also a number of mistakes, making the performance as a whole no more than a solid 7/10. That's not a criticism of a young player on his first real England test at all, but it wasn't a performance that made him undroppable, nor one that demanded the ousting of the incumbent Dingwall on his return to fitness. Fraser's the man in possession, deservedly so after playing well in his 5-game run in 2025, and he has the added advantage of offering an understanding with the inexperienced Freeman in the other centre berth. Right call by Beatboxer, to my mind.

Puja

Maybe I should rewatch it, I can't remember every detail so I'm sure you're right. Dingwall is better than I thought he was. He was way better for England in the Autumn than I thought he'd be. He seemed to have become a lot stronger physically and looked more composed, understandably so, having gained experience etc. But I remember Ojomoh doing more against the Argies than Dingwall has in an England shirt ever... quick, strong, great fit, good hands, lovely crossfield kick etc. I think Ojomoh might have a higher ceiling... But no great problem with Dingwall either at this moment.

I really wish Finn Smith were starting, that would make me happy. Is Quirke injured? If not, I'd have him over Spencer (who I also don't mind at all, unlike some fellows on here). I think I might also have gone balls to the wall and gone for Iyogun and Sela, or at the very least, Iyogun and Davison... I like Iyogun.

Anyway, should be a decent win if we play to our abilities.