Calcutta Cup England 22

Looking to bring this team ethic back

The Calcutta Cup this year is billed to be closer than ever before. It is never easy for England to go away to Scotland and im pretty sure the team don’t particularly relish the prospect!

The Scots really have some fire in their bellies and the English look set to send out a new look squad so the competition is very much a case of who is more up for it.

England have also been through the mill via the press post World Cup and need a win to give some credibility to the nature they wish to portray and not the painting the media paints so perfectly.

The squad for Scotland is as follows:

15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Owen Farrell, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 David Strettle, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Ben Youngs, 1 Alex Corbisiero, 2 Dylan Hartley, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Mouritz Botha, 5 Tom Palmer, 6 Tom Croft, 7 Chris Robshaw, 8 Phil Dowson Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Geoff Parling, 19 Ben Morgan, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Jordan Turner-Hall, 22 Mike Brown

England Captain Announcement

Today is the day the new England captain is announced. Following in the steps of Lewis Moody the pressure is on to get it right. Following such a woeful World Cup England and new interim head coach Lancaster are looking to right a few wrongs.

The captain will have a lot of pressure on his shoulders, even though realistically the choice could have been made through injuries. Not only that but because Lancaster is interim at present any new manager come May could decide a new captain at their own will.

So here is the big announcement the new captain will be Chris Robshaw.

The New England Captain

 

 

FACTFILE: CHRIS ROBSHAW

Name: Christopher Dennis Robshaw

Date of birth: June 4th, 1986

Place of birth: Redhill, Surrey

Height: 6 ft 2 in

Weight: 17st 9lb (112 kg)

Position: Flanker

Club: Harlequins

England senior caps: 1

The Harlequins man is the new man to lead the England pack to what is hoped to be a successful campaign. Robshaw has been forthcoming in stating a fortnight ago that he wanted the job and the honour of representing his country.

Robshaw, 25, will only officially be given the job for England’s next game, Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash against Scotland at Murrayfield.

Only four times in history has England appointed a captain with less Test experience than the man chosen by new boss Stuart Lancaster.

England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said: “We have a strong leadership group and I have been very impressed with the way they have all stepped up so far. Chris is a key member of that group and has shown with Harlequins and when I have worked with him in the Saxons that he can lead a team tactically and passionately. I am delighted that he has got this chance at the highest level and I know it will be a very proud moment for him, his club, family and friends when he leads England out at Murrayfield on Saturday.”

England Saxons Squad to face the Irish Wolfhounds

Gaskell to lead the side

James Gaskell is set to captain the England Saxons for the first time against the Irish Wolfhounds at 5pm on Saturday.

At the age of 21 Gaskell is not without captaincy experience after a successful campaign with his team the Sale Sharks last season. He runs out with a team that’s average age is only 24.

The squad starts with newbie Freddie Burns in the starting 15 together with the experienced heads of Matt Banahan, Delon Armitage, Ugo Monye and Paul Doran-Jones.

Burns will be teaming up with Saracens Ben Spencer after news that  Leicester Tigers Micky Young has been called in front of a disciplinary committee for a suspected contact with the eye incident in Tigers last home game against Aironi in the Heineken Cup.

The bench also looks strong and feature Ryan Lamb and Paul Hodgson. Many are disappointed however not to see Ed Slater somewhere among the 23.

England Saxons:

15 Delon Armitage (London Irish)
14 Ugo Monye (Harlequins)
13 Matt Hopper (Harlequins)
12 Billy Twelvetrees (Leicester Tigers)
11 Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby)
10 Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby)
9 Ben Spencer (Saracens)
1 Matt Mullan (Worcester Warriors)
2 Joe Gray (Harlequins)
3 Paul Doran-Jones (Northampton Saints)
4 Matt Garvey (London Irish)
5 George Robson (Harlequins)
6 James Gaskell (Sale Sharks, captain)
7 Andy Saull (Saracens)
8 Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers)

Replacements: 16 Chris Brooker (Harlequins), 17 Rupert Harden (Gloucester), 18 Kearnan Myall (Sale Sharks), 19 Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs), 20 Paul Hodgson (London Irish), 21 Ryan Lamb (Northampton Saints), 22 Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby).