World Cup Squads

GerM

May as well create an independent thread for the squads as they're announced.

France have announced their provisional 32 man squad already. They've included Rougerie, Barcella and Domingo, all of whom are major doubts. Lievremont has also omitted Chabal, Jauzion and Poitrenaud which is madness for me. Poitrenaud has been playing very well and Jauzion still has a lot to offer.

Provisional France Rugby World Cup squad:
Forwards - William Servat (Toulouse), Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Français), Fabien Barcella (Biarritz), Thomas Domingo (Clermont), Jean-Baptiste Poux (Toulouse), Luc Ducalcon (Castres), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Sylvain Marconnet (Biarritz), Pascal Papé (Stade Français), Julien Pierre (Clermont), Romain Millo-Chluski (Toulouse), Lionel Nallet (Racing-Métro 92), Julien Bonnaire (Clermont), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse/Cap), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier), Raphaël Lakafia (Biarritz), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse)
Backs - Morgan Parra (Clermont), Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), David Skrela (Toulouse), François Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Fabrice Estebanez (Brive), Maxime Mermoz (Perpignan), David Marty (Perpignan), Aurélien Rougerie (Clermont), Maxime Médard (Toulouse), Alexis Palisson (Brive), Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), Yoann Huget (Bayonne), Cédric Heymans (Toulouse), Damien Traille (Biarritz)


Scotland have also named an enlarged 40 man squad which equates to the majority of first choice players in Scottish professional rugby:

Scotland squad:
Backs - Joe Ansbro (Northampton Saints), Mike Blair, Ben Cairns (both Edinburgh), Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors), Jack Cuthbert (Bath), Simon Danielli (Ulster), Nick De Luca (Edinburgh), Max Evans (Glasgow Warriors), Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Rory Lamont (Toulon), Sean Lamont (Scarlets), Rory Lawson (Gloucester), Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), Dan Parks (Cardiff Blues), Chris Paterson (Edinburgh), Hugo Southwell (Stade Francais), Nikki Walker (Ospreys).

Forwards - John Barclay, John Beattie (both Glasgow Warriors), Kelly Brown (Saracens), Geoff Cross, David Denton (both Edinburgh), Alasdair Dickinson (Gloucester), Ross Ford (Edinburgh), Ryan Grant, Richie Gray, Dougie Hall (all Glasgow Warriors), Jim Hamilton (Gloucester), Robert Harley (Glasgow Warriors), Nathan Hines (Leinster), Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh), Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Lawson (Gloucester), Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors), Euan Murray (Newcastle Falcons), Ross Rennie (Edinburgh), Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester), Fergus Thomson, Richie Vernon (both Glasgow Warriors).

tolosenc

http://www.lequipe.fr/Rugby/breves2011/20110511_112945_ce-sera-sans-chabal.html

Estebanez ahead of Bastareaud...

ormond lad

Leaving Jauzion out is a big mistake imo and theres only 2 hookers named. Lievremont is a bit crazy though.....

Corsendonk

Positive news for France leaving Chabal behind, he has been in decline and forgets to pass like Andy Powell.

GerM

Corsendonk wrote: »

Positive news for France leaving Chabal behind, he has been in decline and forgets to pass like Andy Powell.

Would agree on Chabal but I'm surprised given that he was starting some of the 6N matches. I wonder if his controversial biography has anything to do with it. Seems to have put a few noses out of joint in French rugby with it.

BoarHunter

Terrible back line IMO : No Fritz, No poitrenaud, No Jauzion, No Wisniewski, only 2 scrum halves .... what have Estebanez, Huget and Palisson proven to date ?

We are heading to the worst WC performance for France. I think that will end up in 1/4 final for us.

LostPassword

BoarHunter wrote: »

Terrible back line IMO : No Fritz, No poitrenaud, No Jauzion, No Wisniewski, only 2 scrum halves .... what have Estebanez, Huget and Palisson proven to date ?

We are heading to the worst WC performance for France. I think that will end up in 1/4 final for us.

Also, no Malzieu - I know CA have been playing poorly this year, but Malzieu is a fearsome winger and I just don't understand how you could leave him out of a squad of this size - he offers something different to the others and he gives defences lots of headaches.

Quint2010

Barcella before he got injured was hands down the best prop in the world. He destroyed the All Blacks scrum in 2009. If fit he will be in the team

totallegend

GerM wrote: »

Would agree on Chabal but I'm surprised given that he was starting some of the 6N matches. I wonder if his controversial biography has anything to do with it. Seems to have put a few noses out of joint in French rugby with it.

Lievremont: "J'ai assuré à Sébastien qu'il n'avait été jugé que sur le sportif et que la polémique n'avait rien à voir avec mon choix."

"I assured Sebastian that he was judged only on sport and that the controversy had nothing to do with my decision"

Maybe Lievremont has finally realised that Chabal is actually a terrible rugby player. Haven't seen much of this Lakafia guy but Lievremont is raving about him.

As for Jauzion, he's well past his prime at this stage, no complaints about his omission. Mermoz, Marty and Rougerie are better options.

Jemo

I'm surprised too that he has left out Malzieu, himself and Clerc out wide would compliment eachother so well. Huget made no impression on me in comparison. 2 Scrumhalves is an interesting move, thought he would bring 5 halfbacks in total, one of which could play both positions. Funny that they name a 32 man squad with the abundance of players they have and we'll probably name around 50 players .

GerM

totallegend wrote: »

As for Jauzion, he's well past his prime at this stage, no complaints about his omission. Mermoz, Marty and Rougerie are better options.

He is past his best but Jauzion on the decline is still better than some of the stuff they have there. He destroyed Leinster last season in Toulouse and the difference he made when he came on this season highlighted how wrong Noves was to start without him. His distribution was ten times better than those before him. He doesn't have the break he once did but his handling is still silk and he has the brain and power to put everyone around him through gaps. Some of the players they are taking in the back line are nowhere near his level for me. Would have him ahead of Mermoz and definitely ahead of Estebanez who is a real surprise for me.

Don't get me started on Poitrenaud. Lievremont is a lunatic. The guy is one of the best runners of the ball in the world at the moment.

Jemo

Scotland squad:
Backs - Joe Ansbro (Northampton Saints), Mike Blair, Ben Cairns (both Edinburgh), Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors), Jack Cuthbert (Bath), Simon Danielli (Ulster), Nick De Luca (Edinburgh), Max Evans (Glasgow Warriors), Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Rory Lamont (Toulon), Sean Lamont (Scarlets), Rory Lawson (Gloucester), Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), Dan Parks (Cardiff Blues), Chris Paterson (Edinburgh), Hugo Southwell (Stade Francais), Nikki Walker (Ospreys).

Forwards - John Barclay, John Beattie (both Glasgow Warriors), Kelly Brown (Saracens), Geoff Cross, David Denton (both Edinburgh), Alasdair Dickinson (Gloucester), Ross Ford (Edinburgh), Ryan Grant, Richie Gray, Dougie Hall (all Glasgow Warriors), Jim Hamilton (Gloucester), Robert Harley (Glasgow Warriors), Nathan Hines (Leinster), Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh), Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Lawson (Gloucester), Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors), Euan Murray (Newcastle Falcons), Ross Rennie (Edinburgh), Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester), Fergus Thomson, Richie Vernon (both Glasgow Warriors)

I've hgihlighted the players playing outside of Scotland in red. Looking at that, its hard to see Scotland recovering their form, and their fans unless they start bringing home some players. Many of them are even playing in Wales where the money and standard can't be that much better. It must be a pain for Andy Robinson to watch all of them. We are lucky that we have the money, tax incentives and rules to keep our players in Ireland.

handsomecake

no julien malzieu.................wow,lievremont is a head banger as dunphy would say

hardCopy

When is Deccie expected to announce his squad?

rockman15

deccie is waiting on us to pick it for him

i think he'll wait until the Hcup and ML are over before making announcements. Some very marginal calls and those remaining games could have a serious impact on who goes or not. Big games call for big players to step up and i think he's waiting to see.

totallegend

hardCopy wrote: »

When is Deccie expected to announce his squad?

I'd say he'll announce a 50-man squad sometime in June, the actual 30-man travelling party doesn't have to be named until the middle of August.

almighty1

BoarHunter wrote: »

Terrible back line IMO : No Fritz, No poitrenaud, No Jauzion, No Wisniewski, only 2 scrum halves .... what have Estebanez, Huget and Palisson proven to date ?

Im absolutely stunned he left out Poitrenaud, any time Ive seen him he has been excellent. He was brilliant for Toulouse in the HC SF.

Lievremont just blown the only chance of a NH team winning the WC.

theboss80

Seems Figi are thinking of boycotting the RWC due to being unable to field a full strength team.


Full story here

"Whoever we select must be allowed to take part in the World Cup, which is an IRB event, it is not a New Zealand event."

New Zealand has barred anyone with ties to Fijian strongman Voreque Bainimarama's military regime since 2006 but the issue has come to a head recently as players and officials seek clearance to attend the World Cup.

Would another nation be invited if such a thing were to happen does anybody know?

Morf

I'd feel sorry for the Fijian players but I fully support the position taken by NZ.

CatFromHue

there is something going very wrong in fijian rugby at the moment.

to the best of my knowledge the fijian rugby board was forced to resign due to financial irregularities. then last week they said they couldnt afford to go:

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3887_6956757,00.html

The head of Fiji's rugby union said his organization doesn't have enough money to send a team to this year's Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, according to local media reports.


Colonel Mosese Tikoitoga said a report presented to the union's board by team manager Pio Bosco Tikoisuva showed that 5 million Fijian dollars ($2.8 million) was needed to properly prepare a team for the tournament starting in September.

Tikoitoga said the Fiji team had no major sponsor and the union was still in discussions with the government over its promised World Cup funding package of 3 million Fijian dollars ($1.7 million).

He said a subcommittee has been formed to focus on the funding issue, including the search for sponsorship.

The government approved the release of the first 400,000 Fijian dollars ($220,000) of the promised World Cup fund last month, but it is not clear whether the union had received the money or if the remainder will be paid.

The government had used its offer of financial assistance to pressure the union to sack its previous board which had been in dispute with the country's leaders over its management of a World Cup lottery.

All members of the previous board were voted out at the union's annual general meeting last month and a new board was installed, headed by Tikoitoga.

Fiji plans to hold its first trial for World Cup team places on June 3. It will then name an initial 50-man squad the following day.

Tikoisuva told the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation on Friday that the country has a greater depth of players than in the past and could potentially take its best team ever to the World Cup.

Fiji, which reached the quarterfinals of the 2007 World Cup in France, previously had trouble gaining access to its top players, particularly its best forwards playing for clubs in Europe or Japan. Tikoisuva said it seems likely that all of Fiji's overseas players will be available this year and there would be considerable competition for spots on the squad.

"That's the area that has been a concern for FRU for a long time," he said.

"Overall, we have got a wider range of quality players to select from than the 2007 World Cup team."

Complicating matters, however, is the fact that New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said his government will not bow to pressure from the International Rugby Board to relax travel sanctions against Fiji during the World Cup.

After Commodore Frank Bainimarama seized power in the island nation in a 2006 coup, New Zealand imposed measures that prevent Fijian citizens with links to the military regime from entering the country.

The sanctions would likely affect several Fiji rugby players.

"At the end of the day, we don't take our riding instructions from the IRB," said Key in a radio interview.

"Our view is that we want to see democracy restored in Fiji. This is the only thing that we've got that holds their feet to the fire."

profitius

I heard the IRB gave Fiji plenty of money but they wasted it all.

As for Jauzion, he should be there. A class player like that would be great to have coming off the bench but Lievremont hasn't a clue. When ML started off coaching France he experimented wildly with the squad. After that people presumed he was going to find the best young players and stick with them up to the world cup. But he is still clueless about what his best team is.

CIARAN_BOYLE

profitius wrote: »

I heard the IRB gave Fiji plenty of money but they wasted it all.

Its my understanding that they spend 90% of their budget on 7s which resulted in them finished 4th in this years world series.

I suppose you could call that a waste

theboss80

FORWARDS:

Huw Bennett (Ospreys), Lloyd Burns (Dragons), Richard Hibbard (Ospreys), Matthew Rees (Scarlets).

Scott Andrews (Cardiff Blues), Ryan Bevington (Ospreys), Paul James (Ospreys), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Craig Mitchell (Exeter Chiefs), John Yapp (Cardiff Blues).

Luke Charteris (Dragons), Bradley Davies (Blues), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Lou Reed (Scarlets).

Gareth Delve (Melbourne Rebels), Toby Faletau (Dragons), Ryan Jones (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Dragons), Rob McCusker (Scarlets), Andy Powell (Sale Sharks), Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Josh Turnbull (Scarlets), Sam Warburton (Blues), Martyn Williams (Blues).

BACKS:

Tavis Knoyle (Scarlets), Dwayne Peel (Sale Sharks), Mike Phillips (Ospreys), Richie Rees (Blues).

Stephen Jones (Scarlets), Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Jason Tovey (Dragons), James Hook (Perpigan).

Andrew Bishop (Ospreys), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Gavin Henson (Unattached), Jamie Roberts (Blues).

George North (Scarlets), Aled Brew (Dragons), Morgan Stoddart (Scarlets), Scott Williams (Scarlets), Shane Williams (Ospreys).

Lee Byrne (Clermont Auvergne), Leigh Halfpenny (Blues).

thomond2006

Interesting to see Wales including Gareth Delve.

JustinDee

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Its my understanding that they spend 90% of their budget on 7s which resulted in them finished 4th in this years world series

IRB covers Sevens World Series costs.

thomond2006

Good article here on the choices for NZ's World Cup squad: http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/opinion/5108290/All-Blacks-Barometer-Whos-in-the-30

The 30 man NZ squad according to the article will be:

FORWARDS (16)

Props: Woodcock, B Franks, O Franks, Afoa

Hooker: Mealamu, Hore, Elliot

Locks: Thorn, Whitelock, Boric, Williams

Backrowers: Kaino, McCaw, Read, Thomson, Messam

BACKS (14)

Scrumhalves: Cowan, Weepu, Mathewson

Flyhalves: Carter, Slade

Centres: Smith, SBW, Nonu, Kahui

Back Three: Muliana, Gear, Toeava, Sivivatu, Dagg

roycon

corey jane surely

duckysauce

thomond2006 wrote: »

Good article here on the choices for NZ's World Cup squad: http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/opinion/5108290/All-Blacks-Barometer-Whos-in-the-30

The 30 man NZ squad according to the article will be:

FORWARDS (16)

Props: Woodcock, B Franks, O Franks, Afoa

Hooker: Mealamu, Hore, Elliot

Locks: Thorn, Whitelock, Boric, Williams

Backrowers: Kaino, McCaw, Read, Thomson, Messam

BACKS (14)

Scrumhalves: Cowan, Weepu, Mathewson

Flyhalves: Carter, Slade

Centres: Smith, SBW, Nonu, Kahui

Back Three: Muliana, Gear, Toeava, Sivivatu, Dagg

looks weak:p

jolley123

thomond2006 wrote: »

Good article here on the choices for NZ's World Cup squad: http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/opinion/5108290/All-Blacks-Barometer-Whos-in-the-30

The 30 man NZ squad according to the article will be:

FORWARDS (16)

Props: Woodcock, B Franks, O Franks, Afoa

Hooker: Mealamu, Hore, Elliot

Locks: Thorn, Whitelock, Boric, Williams

Backrowers: Kaino, McCaw, Read, Thomson, Messam

BACKS (14)

Scrumhalves: Cowan, Weepu, Mathewson

Flyhalves: Carter, Slade

Centres: Smith, SBW, Nonu, Kahui

Back Three: Muliana, Gear, Toeava, Sivivatu, Dagg

I'd swap Toeava for Jane personally. Even though he's more versatile and has had a great super15 (apart from injuries).

sock puppet

jolley123 wrote: »

I'd swap Toeava for Jane personally. Even though he's more versatile and has had a great super15 (apart from injuries).

I'd have him in over Dagg if he regains form. Dagg's a great player but a little error prone. They're all great back three players though so I'm sure they'll get their chance in the Tri-Nations. I'd probably have Ellis in ahead of Matthewson too.

PhatPiggins

thomond2006 wrote: »

Interesting to see Wales including Gareth Delve.

I've seen a bit of him playing for the Rebels and he's done well for himself. Never really rated him when he was at Gloucester but the hard track running rugby seems to really suit him

SomeFool

PhatPiggins wrote: »

I've seen a bit of him playing for the Rebels and he's done well for himself. Never really rated him when he was at Gloucester but the hard track running rugby seems to really suit him

I'd have him over Powell anyway.

thomond2006

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_6995160,00.html

Argentina squad:

Forwards: Juan Fernandez Lobbe (Toulon), Juan Manuel Leguizamon (Lyon), Genaro Fessia (Cordoba Athletic), Leonardo Senatore (Gimnasia Rosario), Alejandro Campos (Agen), Alvaro Galindo (Racing Metro), Patricio Albacete (Toulouse), Manuel Carizza (Biarritz), Julio Farias Cabello (Tucuman RC), Mariano Galarza (unattached), Santiago Guzman (Tucuman RC), Tomas Vallejos (Harlequins), Marcos Ayerza (Leicester Tigers), Agustin Creevy (Montpellier), Juan Figallo (Montpellier), Eusebio Guinazu (Biarritz), Andres Bordoy (Pau), Maximiliano Bustos (Montpellier), Mario Ledesma (Clermont), Rodrigo Roncero (Stade Francais), Martin Scelzo (Agen).


Backs:
Martin Rodriguez (Stade Francais), Horacio Agulla (Leicester Tigers), Juan Jose Imhoff (Duendes), Gonzalo Camacho (Exeter), Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino (Montpellier), Agustin Gosio (Newman), Lucas Borges (Pucara), Martin Bustos Moyano (Montpellier), Gabriel Azcarate (Natacion y Gimnasia), Rafael Carballo (Bordeaux), Gonzalo Tiesi (Stade Francais), Santiago Fernandez (Montpellier), Marcelo Bosch (Biarritz), Felipe Contepomi (Stade Francais, captain), Nicolas Sanchez (Tucuman Lawn Tennis), Agustin Figuerola (Brive), Alfredo Lalanne (London Irish), Nicolas Vergallo (Toulouse).

Juan Martin Hernandez is left out, he's still recovering from injury.

theboss80

All Blacks have been banned from Twitter , Facebook , blogging and writing newspaper articles for the duration of the world cup.

http://www.worldcupweb.com/rugby/news/viewarticle.asp?id=30841

coach Graham Henry said the days of players freely tweeting their thoughts were over.

"We haven't had a policy up till now, we've just asked them to make good decisions about that," he told Sky Sports.

"In the All Blacks' camp, most of the time, they've made good decisions -- but at Rugby World Cup time -- zilch."

theboss80

FORWARDS: Mouritz Botha (Saracens), George Chuter (Leicester Tigers), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers), Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers), Paul Doran-Jones (Northampton Saints), Nick Easter (Harlequins), Hendre Fourie (Sale Sharks), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), James Haskell (Unattached), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Lee Mears (Bath Rugby), Lewis Moody (Bath Rugby), Tom Palmer (Stade Francais), Tim Payne (London Wasps), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Simon Shaw (London Wasps), Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks), Matt Stevens (Saracens), Steve Thompson (London Wasps), Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers), David Wilson (Bath Rugby), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints), Joe Worsley (London Wasps).

BACKS: Delon Armitage (London Irish), Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints), Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby), Danny Care (Harlequins), Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks), Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers), Riki Flutey (London Wasps), Ben Foden (Northampton Saints), Shontayne Hape (London Irish), Charlie Hodgson (Saracens), Ugo Monye (Harlequins), Charlie Sharples (Gloucester Rugby), Joe Simpson (London Wasps), James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby), David Strettle (Saracens), Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby), Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens), Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).

Uncapped players Manu Tuilagi, Thomas Waldrom and Mouritz Botha, Joe Simpson and Charlie Sharples in the group.

http://www.planetrugby.co.uk/story/0,25883,16024_6997345,00.html

CatFromHue

Springbok training squad: Willem Alberts, Gio Aplon, Bjorn Basson, Andries Bekker, Bakkies Botha, BJ Botha, Heinrich Brüssow, Schalk Burger, Juan de Jongh, Jean de Villiers, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Fourie du Preez, Jaque Fourie, Dean Greyling, Bryan Habana, Alistair Hargreaves, Francois Hougaard, Adrian Jacobs, Butch James, Elton Jantjies, Enrico Januarie, Ashley Johnson, Ryan Kankowski, Zane Kirchner, Werner Kruger, Patrick Lambie, Francois Louw, Victor Matfield, Tendai Mtawarira, Johann Muller, Lwazi Mvovo, Odwa Ndungane, Wynand Olivier, Coenie Oosthuizen, Ruan Pienaar, JP Pietersen, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Danie Rossouw, John Smit, Juan Smith, Pierre Spies, Gurthro Steenkamp, Deon Stegmann, Frans Steyn, Morne Steyn, Adriaan Strauss, Flip van der Merwe, Duane Vermeulen

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_6997637,00.html

It includes Munsters BJ Botha and Ulsters Piennar and Muller.

theboss80

theboss80 wrote: »

FORWARDS: Mouritz Botha (Saracens), George Chuter (Leicester Tigers), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers), Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers), Paul Doran-Jones (Northampton Saints), Nick Easter (Harlequins), Hendre Fourie (Sale Sharks), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), James Haskell (Unattached), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Lee Mears (Bath Rugby), Lewis Moody (Bath Rugby), Tom Palmer (Stade Francais), Tim Payne (London Wasps), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Simon Shaw (London Wasps), Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks), Matt Stevens(Saracens), Steve Thompson (London Wasps), Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers), David Wilson (Bath Rugby), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints), Joe Worsley (London Wasps).

BACKS: Delon Armitage (London Irish), Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints), Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby), Danny Care (Harlequins), Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks), Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers), Riki Flutey (London Wasps), Ben Foden (Northampton Saints), Shontayne Hape (London Irish), Charlie Hodgson (Saracens), Ugo Monye (Harlequins), Charlie Sharples (Gloucester Rugby), Joe Simpson (London Wasps), James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby), David Strettle (Saracens), Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby), Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens), Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).

There really is a lot of ok-but-nothing-special players in that group. Yet they will do well, as always. England just "get" the World Cup in rugby, their tacticians might not provide the best scripts for a neutral to watch, but they manage to gel as a team and remain consistent an awful lot more than other groups of better players.

If there was a Lions Tour this year, with a non-English coach, less than 20% of the above players would travel imo.

A very very aged squad too.

CatFromHue

Hendrie Fourie, Mouritz Botha, Thomas Waldrom, Manu Tuilagi, Riki Flutey, Shontayne Hape all could have played for a fifferent country if they wanted/were picked.

totallegend

CatFromHue wrote: »

Hendrie Fourie, Mouritz Botha, Thomas Waldrom, Manu Tuilagi, Riki Flutey, Shontayne Hape all could have played for a fifferent country if they wanted/were picked.

and Corbisiero, who is American.

thomond2006

Can't believe South Africa are ignoring Van Niekerk. Ridiculous.

GerM

CatFromHue wrote: »

Hendrie Fourie, Mouritz Botha, Thomas Waldrom, Manu Tuilagi, Riki Flutey, Shontayne Hape all could have played for a fifferent country if they wanted/were picked.

Not only them. Corbisiero, Matt Stevens, Dylan Hartley, Joe Simpson, Paul Doran-Jones, Simon Shaw, Delon Armitage all could be playing for other countries too. Only Doran-Jones was actually born in England. Monye could declare for Nigeria if they had a team technically also. Not sure if Banahan could have declared for France as he's from Jersey which isn't part of the UK but think he possibly could have.

CatFromHue

I more meant that the guys I listed prob didnt think they'd be playing international rugby for England when they were growing up. That they'd be playing for their "home" country.

hsbc

Not exactly a WC squad but a few interesting selections...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/5177405/Donald-not-playing-well-enough-Henry

Players invited to the first camp:
Chiefs: Ben Afeaki, Hikawera Elliot, Richard Kahui, Brendon Leonard, Liam Messam, Mils Muliaina and Sitiveni Sivivatu.
Hurricanes: Aaron Cruden, Hosea Gear, Andrew Hore, Cory Jane, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Neemia Tialata, Victor Vito and Piri Weepu.
Highlanders: Jimmy Cowan, Tom Donnelly, Jarrad Hoeata, Colin Slade, Ben Smith and Adam Thomson.
Injured players: Israel Dagg, Isaia Toeava and Tony Woodcock.

GerM

South African training squad. No sign of Van der Merwe as expected I'm happy to say but BJ Botha is included. With their tighthead options beyond du Plessis being quite inexperienced I would think Botha is in with an outside chance of selection if the training goes well which could leave Munster in a spot of bother.

Backs: Gio Aplon, Jaque Fourie, Bryan Habana, Ricky Januarie, Juan de Jongh, Jean de Villiers (all Western Stormers), Bjorn Basson, Francois Hougaard, Zane Kirchner, Wynand Olivier, Fourie du Preez, Morne Steyn (all Northern Bulls), Adrian Jacobs, Patrick Lambie, Lwazi Mvovo, Odwa Ndungane, JP Pietersen (all Coastal Sharks), Butch James, Elton Jantjies (both Golden Lions), Ruan Pienaar (Ulster/NIR), Francois Steyn (Racing Metro).

Forwards: Willem Alberts, Alistair Hargreaves, Ryan Kankowski, Tendai Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, John Smit (capt) (all Sharks), Andries Bekker, Schalk Burger, Francois Louw, Duane Vermeulen (all Stormers), Bakkies Botha, Dean Greyling, Werner Kruger, Victor Matfield (vice-capt), Flip van der Merwe, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Danie Rossouw, Pierre Spies, Gurthro Steenkamp, Deon Stegmann (all Bulls), BJ Botha, Johann Muller (both Ulster), Heinrich Brussow, Ashley Johnson, Coenie Oosthuizen, Juan Smith, Adriaan Strauss (all Central Cheetahs).

GerM

hsbc wrote: »

Not exactly a WC squad but a few interesting selections...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/5177405/Donald-not-playing-well-enough-Henry

Players invited to the first camp:
Chiefs: Ben Afeaki, Hikawera Elliot, Richard Kahui, Brendon Leonard, Liam Messam, Mils Muliaina and Sitiveni Sivivatu.
Hurricanes: Aaron Cruden, Hosea Gear, Andrew Hore, Cory Jane, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Neemia Tialata, Victor Vito and Piri Weepu.
Highlanders: Jimmy Cowan, Tom Donnelly, Jarrad Hoeata, Colin Slade, Ben Smith and Adam Thomson.
Injured players: Israel Dagg, Isaia Toeava and Tony Woodcock.

Isaac Ross and Stephen Donald probably the only ones omitted that might have considered themselves in with a chance. Donald is the big absentee.

CatFromHue

hsbc wrote: »

Not exactly a WC squad but a few interesting selections...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/5177405/Donald-not-playing-well-enough-Henry

Players invited to the first camp:
Chiefs: Ben Afeaki, Hikawera Elliot, Richard Kahui, Brendon Leonard, Liam Messam, Mils Muliaina and Sitiveni Sivivatu.
Hurricanes: Aaron Cruden, Hosea Gear, Andrew Hore, Cory Jane, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Neemia Tialata, Victor Vito and Piri Weepu.
Highlanders: Jimmy Cowan, Tom Donnelly, Jarrad Hoeata, Colin Slade, Ben Smith and Adam Thomson.
Injured players: Israel Dagg, Isaia Toeava and Tony Woodcock.

It is interesting as Colin Slade, as far as I know, has been out injured for a fair while.

Also when you look at the breakdown of players above. I know for certain that there are 14 backs out of the 25. So it looks like the pack will be made up of mostly Crusaders with a few from the Blues.

Morf

Sorry guys, any All Black news supersedes any existing threads.

Handsomecake told me so.

ambid

CatFromHue wrote: »

Springbok training squad: Willem Alberts, Gio Aplon, Bjorn Basson, Andries Bekker, Bakkies Botha, BJ Botha, Heinrich Brüssow, Schalk Burger, Juan de Jongh, Jean de Villiers, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Fourie du Preez, Jaque Fourie, Dean Greyling, Bryan Habana, Alistair Hargreaves, Francois Hougaard, Adrian Jacobs, Butch James, Elton Jantjies, Enrico Januarie, Ashley Johnson, Ryan Kankowski, Zane Kirchner, Werner Kruger, Patrick Lambie, Francois Louw, Victor Matfield, Tendai Mtawarira, Johann Muller, Lwazi Mvovo, Odwa Ndungane, Wynand Olivier, Coenie Oosthuizen, Ruan Pienaar, JP Pietersen, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Danie Rossouw, John Smit, Juan Smith, Pierre Spies, Gurthro Steenkamp, Deon Stegmann, Frans Steyn, Morne Steyn, Adriaan Strauss, Flip van der Merwe, Duane Vermeulen

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_6997637,00.html

It includes Munsters BJ Botha and Ulsters Piennar and Muller.

No Steven Sykes (new Leinster recruit)? I know there was talk of him becoming IQ in a few years, but I thought he was on the fringes of the Bok squad. Is that not right?

Shame for Heinke VDM, but he would have been a huge loss to Leinster.

theboss80

Ricky Januarie has retired from International Rugby and therefore removed himself from the SA RWC squad


http://www.rugby15.co.za/2011/06/ricky-januarie-announces-his-retirement-from-international-rugby/

danthefan

Munster will be in serious trouble at the start of next season if Botha goes to the RWC.

CatFromHue

i heard januarie went to de villiers and asked what his game time situation would be. the answer was he would only get game time if the players ahead of him got injured.

i think foruie de preez and ruan piennear are ahead of him, possibly even one more.

its better for his career for him to go to lyon now.