Stu M wrote:It's a balancing act though. It's not like football with numerous friendlies throughout the year against decent sides. If he doesn't give players a chance how does he give them international experience and how does he assess how they cope against good teams?
Playing France is a waste of time as would playing an All Stars team. These opportunities don't come up much.
I agree but realistically I don't think there is a need to see 2 or 3 players in action who didn't play on Sunday. Nsemba is a yes and maybe Marshall and Danny Walker but Chris Hill and Ben Currie I'm not so sure. That leaves Morgan Smithies, who I'm a huge fan of but he looks to be third in the pecking order at loose forward and if that's the case, I'd rather Morgan Knowles get a game starting and let him play 80 minutes. I've mentioned before, we don't need two loose forwards on the bench, so he is a victim of the depth we have in that position for me.
It would leave us along the lines of-
Welsby
Young Newman Farnworth Marshall
Williams Smith
Thompson Walker Lees
Bateman Pearce-Paul Radley
Subs-T Burgess Havard Nsemba Lewis
That feels a decent balance of having a look at a couple of players but still naming a side to win the game.