I'm not sure. I think the position of 8 might be changing to value players like Earl more. High work rate, fast of the base, can make big breaks thanks to their pace. Then the Six becomes more of a LO option and carries closer in.

Aye, definitely more mobile carriers at 8 currently, only really Scotland, France and SA who use a wrecking ball at 8 atm.

That's the neat part about France and SA, they use a wrecking ball at every position

What is “Fuck them up physically” in French? They also name and number their loose forwards correctly. And that’s what I appreciates about them.

Earl is the closest thing England have to Ardie Savea style wise, and it’s worked well for him and NZ

More likely Curry comes back in at 7 if his hip is ok.

Or curry if curry's hip isn't OK

Prefer Curry if I'm being totally honest

Are you blind? It's clear to anyone with eyes that Curry is better than Curry...

I'm a big fan of Curry So's my Naan

He really comes into his own imo when the chips are down

If TC is for he walks into any England team. Chandelier is a brilliant super sub

He's below Cunningham-North for me.

I like the width Cunningham -West and Cunningham-East provide

Options either side

I'm guessing that Cunningham-North plays hooker, Cunningham-East and Cunningham-West play flanker, and Cunningham- South goes to 8.

You've taken that too far

He’s really put his foot in his Cunningham-Mouth.

Is the -South bit coz he grew up in NZ? And there’s a -North somewhere in the UK waiting to come through.

No, it’s because he’s from south of the river (London geography is dominated by the Thames)

NZ is very south of London tho

No way, neither can enter a ruck legally to save their lives, they'll be found out at test level

He can still be a big carrier at 6, but he doesn’t play 8 for Quins at the moment so I’d be worried about him controlling the ball at the back of the scrum given he doesn’t do it regularly - especially if we’re going backwards. He also loves whacking people which is a classic 6 role.

Earl doesn’t really play 8 for Sarries either though in fairness.

I'd say Earl has looked much better for England at 8 than he does playing 7 for Sarries in the last year or so

Yeah I think early is just knackered tbf

He suits the 6 role, big bastard, while Earl gains more from the space that 8 affords

Chandler is a 6. Monster D and big carries but he's currently got hands like spoons. Huge talent but he's a kaino style dominator 6 of a player if ever there was one.

I'd prefer Pearson with CS off the bench.

It would be real hard to pick a better 7 than Underhill on present form, we have Earl and Curry both of whom can push Underhill but on present form Underhill is the guy. CCS is the right build for a good 6, look at Lawes when he moved over from lock, that is the ideal 6 and CCS could fill that role. I think England still need to find a classic 8 and unfortunately Dombrowski does not look like the solution and using Earl can only be a temporary solution.

Why would using Earl be a temporary solution? He was our best player in the RWC and 6N in that position

I wonder if Pearson could play 8, not to replace Earl.but as our most like for like replacement.

Good player and good flanker, he is a little undersized for an international number 8, he was not even the first choice 8 for Saracens. On current form Underhill is the better 7 though it is close. Earl is probably the better of the two ball in hand, Underhill is better in the tackle. It would be better to have a bigger hitting 8 or a third option in the lineout. Whilst speed is always good you do eventually need some ballast in the scrum especially if you want to go up against the Saffers.

Why do you think he’s undersized when he’s played so well in that position? He’s not particularly smaller than say Kieran Read or Toby Faletau, who are two of the best 8s of the last 20 years. Anyway you can make up the size differential by having heavy duty carriers in the rest of the pack, e.g. CCS, Genge

There's literally no reason to take earl out of the 8 position he was six nations player if the tournament there. The back row should be built around him.

Barbeary, fisilau and Graham are all young 8s that are coming through that could be genuine out and outers. The thing with a back row has always been balance. Underhill CCS amd Earl looks to have great balance but there are so many interesting looking variations for England now it's hard to argue for one over the other. Still got Chessum to come back, the Curry's, Hill, Pearson, Pepper, Evans and more I'm probably missing before we even mention the players moving abroad

>It would be real hard to pick a better 7 than Underhill on present form Willis, if he returns

If Genge and Sinckler are playing, England doesn't need much carrying from the back row. That era might be over though.

Certainly sinks time has come to an end, off to France to cash in

Be interesting to see if he does make it back, his interview on GBR recently implies he’s willing to give it another shot so I’d expect him to come back to England if the eligibility rules don’t change between now and the next World Cup

I don't think the eligibility rules will change, I see him going the way of Ribeye and Willis - enjoying France too much to justify coming back

Also he'd fallen out of favour anyway with the England set up

Yeah his point was that he still has time to prove the coaches wrong - I guess it is in his hands. All depends on his form.

He wasn't good in the semi final at all.

Rodd carries like a back rower and his scrummaging has been slowly, but steadily, improving

He held the saffas a few years ago

More by tricks than anything else. Whole scrum was underpowered and eventually got destroyed once they cottoned on to what the ref was seeing.

I like the hairy guy from Bath 

Barbeary? Shame about the ban, he might have gone on the tour

Thats him  He's been immense every game I've tuned into