New Team

Wow !!! Wilkinson !!!
I am not quite sure what to make of it! Part of me thinks, yes he is a class player, he has experience, he has courage and he is proven at this level. Take into account the lack of Barkley and Hodgson and is there an alternative?? And then part of me thinks, for ****s sake he has only played 40 minutes of rugby in the last three months, and has not played International rugby for over three years ( the shocking Lions tour aside!)
So I am torn!
But I am an optimist and an England fan, and all I can do is hope that he has a good game, that England show some passion, direction and sense of enjoyment, and that on Saturday evening I am enjoying a beer telling everyone what a great and brave selection it was!
Sad that Ward-Smith is not available, I was interested to see if Ashton was going to have the courage to start him! For some reason I think they were going to bring him off the bench.
Great that we have a proper number 7, hopefully that will lead to far more fluidity and continuity in our play.
As for the midfield........ well they are bloody big! I would not have fancied playing against them. (mind you when thinking about it, I did not fancy playing against any combinations!!!) Despite all the hype, I do think Farrell will bring a maturity, some leadership and a presence to the number 12 shirt, which has been lacking for three years now. I thought they would play Tait at 13, for pace more than anything, but Ashton must think that in Balshaw, Lewsey and Robinson we have enough pace, and we can inject it where necessary. Tindall is back on form and will certainly enable us to get the ball and focus across the gainline for a change.
So apart from being shocked and having splinters up my arse on the Wilkinson issue, I am generally pretty positive.
A first win for Mr Vickery I feel !!