JG will make a great captain. Learned how to lead while understudying Hartley - people say what they do about Dylan but he was a great, uncompromising captain, who was beasted by Eddie, lapped it up and led by example. He also spoke well, and had the respect of his players and we became incredibly hard to beat. Makes sense having your captain literally lead from the very front too. JG has been moulded over his time with England and wishing him all the best as captain. Go well.

The problem with Ellis being captain is that he is not a certain starter. Marler is the best scrummager, whilst Ellis needs to reassert himself after his RWC semi performance. Jamie is the no.1 hooker and therefore a great choice as captain.

Tindall coming in with some absolutely wild calls here.

Putting Smith at 15 over Furbank is crazy

I know this is an English podcast and they primarily focus on England and English team selections but would it hurt to talk a bit more of the weekend games? They spent 5 minutes on the champions cup and talked mostly about red cards. The Rugby Pod gives a review of each game so, no wonder it does so much better this this pod

6. Pearson, 7. Earl, 8. Dombrandt because I think that is the best combo to take forward in this Six Nations and every player deserves to be there on Premiership form 9. Mitchell 10. M. Smith. Because again thats the best combo to take forward. Care and Fin Smith to back from the bench (Marcus as full back was a good experiment thats helped his game, but he's not a full back. And frankly him alone playing 15 is not the answer to making us an "exciting" team to watch, you have to build the team around your 10 and 9 dead simple) 12. Dingwall 13. Ojomoh Ideally for me this would be Lawrence and Freeman or Lawrence/Joseph as a chalk and cheese type combo. 11. Feyi Waboso 14. Freeman 15. Furbank. Furbank at 15 because we finally have a chance for a dual playmaker axis of people playing IN THEIR NATURAL POSITIONS. It seems so simple that no one wants to do it. We won't need Freddie in this game I dont think so take the opportunity to try that new dynamic and make the best of Quins and Saints attack.

The tackle laws in American Football do make for potentially more damaging injuries but the actual ball live time per game is only 11 minutes. That's a 60 minute game spread over three and half hours. Divide that with unlimited substitutions, special teams, and offensive and defensive sides and that works out to about 4 minutes maximum per player per game. Huge difference between that and the much longer rugby season and ball live time.

An episode on the English championship would be good and how teams could develop into potential premiership teams

Some of the new players coming into the squad seem very exciting and I hope they get a run out against Italy to see what they can do on an international level.

Im sorry, but what part of that quote from Mercer is humble and polite?!! He spits his dummy out because he wasn't picked. It makes it sound like he had a god given right to be in that squad, and thats he's been denied; even if he's been nowhere near any of the stat charts in the premiership most week like Dombrandt has. More so because of the attitude he's said that with he'll likely never play for England again while Borthwick is in chance. He needs to do what Dombrandt did, get his head down and concentrate on what he can add to his game

My England team for Italy: Marler, George, Heyes, Cole’s, Itoje, Chessum, Underhill, Earl, Mitchell, Fin Smith, Roebuck, Dingwall, Freeman, Feyi-Waboso, Furbank. Bench: Obano, Dan, Cole, Roots, Dombrandt, Spencer, M Smith, Slade

Personally I think Farrell leaving can free up England's back line if Borthwick puts Smith at fly half and selected some of the fast wingers in Squad😊

To counter Tindalls point at 49:00 how about we introduce an Orange Card; which is exclusively preserved for rugby incidents like Langdon and Caulfields where the malice is unintentional but consequential in that it sends the injured player off the field. The player get the Orange Card, so the player is sent off, but a sub for that player has to come on and finish the game; its a punishment for the player and team, but it doesn't weaken the team in numbers. There could be many loopholes in this but as a concept it's something to start on. Also on the incident with Langdon, why the hell was the consequence put into consideration; whereas the horrible tackle on Dino Lamb in the Quins/Toulouse match from Acki was only a yellow when the player had to stay on the pitch for 20 minutes. The Orange Card would solve that issue too

Great love your shows , I've asked this question many times to different shows with no replies ? What's the rules on knees on the floor in the scrum ? Is it just the front row or all players 1-8 ??

As a Quins fan, the champions cup has been a bit of a rollercoaster. I love watching it because it is the best standard of club rugby, but it's a bit disappointing we have so many repeats and less home games in the group stage. We in a sense are lucky as we have Glasgow at home but something like 5 of the 8 fixtures are repeats of the group; there's an element of luck of the draw there and I wouldn't know how you solve that

Larkham - will take the Wallabies to the World Cup - a home tourney for Australia!!

I’d love to know your thoughts folks ? I’d like to see a faster game ! On occasion I see it being slow and pedantic. I’d like to see any penalty within the five meter line by the defensive side is a penalty try, but no card. That way, you don’t create 10 minutes for one side to be at a loss ? By doing this more fatigue will be created as the game would become faster and As more fatigue, more space? I’d love to see if this became a question on the program ?

Larry is on smoke

Rugby playings joining an academy on the off chance of getting to sit on a practice squad would be more accurate.

Fascinating breakdown of the England Squad. Ollie Lawrence will be a major miss and throw up some big questions about how England will deal with his absence. Looking forward to seeing Freeman & Furbank getting some game time. Come and check out what we have to say on the England Squad & Borthwick's rebuild on TheRugbySocial - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ZsV8qtuV3dbFeI0.html

Talking of dozy politicians waking up after a big lunch, Tindall at 2:30mins: "...finally having Finn Russell there..."

Tindall had clearly been on the sauce before recording this - pick the best side regardless of who they're playing against. Smith is not a fullback.

Can someone give Hask a muscle relaxant , his foot shaking is bonkers.

Its really easy to google NFL practice squad wages , this year its set at a maximum for $12,000 a week or $216,000 a year . Not somewhere between 250 and 350 ....

Can Tins stand in for Princess Catherine as patron of the England team while she recuperates? I’m just a Yank and think that it’s a logical “stand in”.

underhill 7 curry 6 Dpmbrandt 8 , earls on the bench .

I think that they are all making a big error in regards saying “it’s Italy” in a derisory way. Italy came out all guns blazing in their first game last year verses France. Italy had a chance, and should have, won that game.

You lot still haven’t called out Matt Dawson and his Farrell haters.

I dont understand the love in for Freddie Steward. Yes hes very goos under the high ball but he doesnt offer much in attack.

Tins makes great comments re red card. More please.

Can't start Ford and Smith together in the same backline, defensively naive to say the least

Can Tindall.

'The playbook is bigger than the bible'. Really? You could write the variation in play on the back of a stamp.

Why are we forced to sing the dirge known as “The British National Anthem” ?

Feel sorry for Haskel - I think he is struggling with life.

Harry Randall was unlucky as well

I was just looking for another girl

England will be mid table if they play conservative rugby ..Criminal really,seeing we have the biggest player pool .Free them up and let them express themselves .

I’m just bored if rugby in England now honestly. And by the looks of things the players are too.

Like Reese as a player, but you guys are delusional. He won’t make an nfl team, possibly a practice squad, which imo wouldn’t be worth it

A purer athlete lol are you mental James, standing around for 10 mins between plays doesn't make you a purer athlete mate regardless of the training. and specific training at that. Your talking about a non fluid game, a snooker player will get more time on the table than the average nfl player get`s on the field. 80 mins pure fluidity v four hours of mathematics, money yeah but lets not kid ourselves here. His speed is not a problem, he will need to learn the tricks of the trade, that may make him a better rugby player if he comes back, but he should leave the NFL lumps for dust. then there is the accessories he will have to carry and the yoga pants, the astro, 40 meters is 43.7 yard so he possibly whips most NFL players, minus the silly baggage.

Haskel talks rubbish, bit like his book what a flanker,

England 3rd in Six Nations, at best, under the way they play,