England say bye bye to another seven players

With less than fifty days to go until the Rugby World Cup kicks off, competition for the thirty-one available squad places is really heating up. The players have now completed their training in Denver, Colorado and will be returning to Pennyhill Park to continue getting ready for the warm-up against France and the matches that follow. We now have just thirty-nine players remaining after the latest cut by Stuart Lancaster, and he has made some interesting choices. Those being released to their clubs are: Chris Ashton, Lee Dickson, Kyle Eastmond, Matt Kvesic, Matt Mullan, Semesa Rokoduguni and Marland Yarde. 

I should start off by saying that, in regards to Dickson, Kvesic, Mullan and Yarde, I am fully on board with Lancaster's decision to release them. There are just too many better players at the moment who are rightfully higher up in the pecking order. Some of the other players, however, may have reasons to feel aggrieved at the decision of the England management. This is not the first time the decisions of those in charge have come under fire, although there was significantly less disagreement this time compared to previous choices.

Let's start with Chris Ashton - many people were unsurprised to see him dropped, myself included, but some people see enough in him to think he should still be training with the squad. There's no doubting he has bucket loads of talent in an attacking sense. He runs some incredible lines, and is a superb finisher, however there is still a huge question mark over his defensive abilities. Whilst it seems he has improved in that department, it has to be at 100 percent for a competition as big as the World Cup. There is a one issue here though - May is no better in the defensive department in my view, yet he is still included. Luckily we have both Watson and Nowell to fill the position, and I find them infinitely better than the two aforementioned players.

Next up is Semesa Rokoduguni - he is a stellar winger, and is a huge part of why Bath had a phenomenal season in 2014/15. Many believe he deserves another chance to show us what he can do on the international stage despite having an average at best first appearance for England against New Zealand. On the whole, I do personally think it was the right decision to release him purely because he has next to no experience, and this is not something that we need presenting itself in the World Cup, where every match will be tough. The only problem is, with just three wingers left, Lancaster could find himself in a tough spot were something to happen to any of them. 

One thing Lancaster could have done was drop a centre, thus creating room for another winger. Mentioning centres, this is unsurprisingly where Lancaster has yet again come under fire. Not only did he release Eastmond but he KEPT Sam Burgess. In the past, I have made it abundantly clear my feelings towards him and whether he should be playing for England, but just in case you missed it I can sum it up again - it is absolutely too soon for him to be playing internationally. He has been playing rugby union for less than one season, and he is not even close to being the best centre in the country. There are too many question marks, and no one is completely sure yet what he will bring. Eastmond has real reason to be unhappy with this turn of events. It is a bitter sense of irony that Bath's number 12 is having his spot taken by Bath's number 6, whom the club themselves admitted cannot play at his best in the centre position. It seems that Lancaster is, frankly, taking the mick.

So, not only did Eastmond get kicked out in favour of the completely inexperienced Burgess, but we also still have Billy Twelvetrees in the squad. Every time he takes to the field, I swear I can hear the collective sigh of every England supporter. I think I, as well as everyone else, wonders just what it will take for Lancaster to wake up and realise there are many better options, one of them being the Bath centre himself. There seems to be no point in trying to guess Lancaster's rationale - we will simply never know what goes on inside his head. What can be said is the longer he is in charge, the more obvious it becomes that he does not pick on form, regardless of whether he claims this is his main criteria. 

With a further eight still to be dropped before the squad is finalised, everyone waits with bated breath to see what else Lancaster will do, and in particular on whether Sam Burgess will make the final cut. The current consensus seems to be that he will make the final squad, no matter how much we do not want it to happen. That being said, I would love to know who you expect to be dropped, or who you would like to see dropped. Just pop a comment in the section below, and we'll see!

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Thanks for reading ruckers,
Jess.

Twitter: @JessKebbell @RuckMeGently

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