Sam Burgess - Bradford Bulls
Rob Burrow - Leeds Rhinos
Gareth Ellis - Leeds Rhinos
Marie Fa’asavalu - St. Helens
Peter Fox - Hull Kingston Rovers
Ade Gardner - St. Helens
Martin Gleeson - Warrington Wolves
Danny McGuire - Leeds Rhinos
Adrian Morley - Warrington Wolves
Jamie Peacock - Leeds Rhinos
Leon Pryce - St. Helens
James Roby - St. Helens
Keith Senior - Leeds Rhinos
Kevin Sinfield - Leeds Rhinos
Paul Wellens - St. Helens
Joe Westerman - Castleford Tigers
Ben Westwood - Warrington Wolves
James Graham - St. Helens
Jon Wilkin - St. Helens
Above are the nineteen players who will start the English revolution against France this Friday. From the looks of it, Tony Smith has kept to his word about selecting in-form players, minus the injury factor.
Peter Fox will no doubt make his international debut on the left wing with Ade Gardner on the right hand side. Although I am pretty sure his selection is due to Gareth Raynor being out for Hull FC. Unsurprisingly, Wellens will remain at fullback with Gleeson and Senior linking with Gardner and Fox in the centres. If I’m totally honest, Pryce and McGuire will have to prove themselves in training as to who will partner Burrow at stand off. That meaning I have no idea who should take the number six jersey. Likely hood is Pryce will wear it, with McGuire taking shirt number fourteen as a replacement for James Roby at hooker.
Starting props will no doubt be captin Peacock and Adrian Morley. Sam Burgess will cover as replacement with James Graham on the bench as substitute props. Ellis will be one of two second rowers to start, but with his recent positioning at centre to cover for Leeds this may not be such an obvious choice. Fa’asavalu can stake a claim in both the front and back rows, but is more likely to be positioned in the back. Wilkin is an obvious choice to partner him, but Ben Westwood has been a stand out player for Warrington in recent weeks. Anyone of those will make the starting seventeen, with one being left out of the team altogether.
The other player to miss out will likely be Westerman. Despite the kid’s good performances, competing with the likes of Sinfield who can provide a better option for conversions is no mean feat, and will probably be saved for the Welsh international a week after the Grand Final.
The French squad (taken from the BBC, so might not be reliable) looks like this: (Catalans Dragons unless stated): Eric Anselme (Leeds), Thomas Bosc, Laurent Carrasco (Toulouse), Remy Casty, Trent Clayton (Toulouse), Vincent Duport, Olivier Elima, Jamal Fakir, Adel Fellous (Widnes), Jerôme Guisset, Younes Khattabi, Gregory Mounis, Sebastien Raguin, Julien Rinaldi (Harlequins), Pierre Sabatie (Villeneuve), Teddy Saddaoui (Carcassonne), Cyril Staccul, James Wynne (Lezignan).
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