Shaun Briscoe

Peter Fox

Chris Bridge

Michael Shenton

Ryan Hall

Sam Tomkins

Kyle Eastmond

Adrian Morley

James Roby

James Graham

Jamie Peacock

Gareth Ellis

Kevin Sinfield



Bench:

Sam Burgess

Eorl Crabtree

Ben Westwood

Jon Wilkin

Peacock still in 2nd row then

Doubt it will be for long, with two second rows on the bench.

I expect we'll play with what is effectively four props to start with.

Shouldn't limit the defence either, which should be a 4-4-4 pattern until that extra second row comes on.

Chris Bridge at centre.

........feck me sideways !!! can't argue with McGuire being dropped though.

So...in a must win game we have 3 players who have not taken any part in the tournement and an untried half back pairing....brilliant

And if Tony Smith had retained Lee Smith, Danny McGuire and Tom Briscoe in the side in the interests of "continuity", what would your reaction have been then?

Or you could say we have three fresh players to get at the NZ team and the halfback pairing that led the fightback against Australia.



All depends on your point of view.

Noooo...



Two Leeds players have been dropped Richie, don't you realise what an appalling piece of coaching this is from Tony "Magic Hat" Smith?

EAstmond played at centre though?

No surprise with Mags and Smithy being dropped but leaving peacock in the 2nd row is a stramge one given his last performance there.

I don't recall seeing him spend much time playing wide right in attack.

Depending on how you classify Burgess I would say 3 second rows, making it even more likely that Peacock will move to prop after 20 mins

Possibly both. I'd expect he and Crabtree to initially come on as the impact props, Westwood into a more normal second row spot, and Wilkin could find himself playing almost anywhere.

Simple emphasises the lack of options at centre.

Smith was always a short term expedient given his move to Wasps & it didn't come off.

I think Bridge is worth a punt.

He's always seemed to me to be physically strong which we're going to need. An added bonus is that he's also a goal kicker if Sinfield is substituted.

Loose, when Sinfield switches into dummy half to spell Roby IMO.

eastmond should have been in ahead of Myler and Tomkins in the first two games IMO

Thats the big thing for me about this. Smith should have pinned his tail on the donkey and stuck with it. The same two should have played all three games, instead there has been a different combination all along.



It is a major ask for two teenage halves to make any sort of combination and for Eastmond in particular to gell with the players.

Agree with that , He looked like a game breaker at the business end of the season so should have been in front of both

Well, one thing that's interesting is that Smith's selections have probably quieted a lot of the moaning pre-match. As for post-match.....





FWIW I think it's hard to disagree with the changes on the right side. Fox is at least quick and a genuine right wing, and Bridge has at least a bit more physicality to him than Smith, which is an absolute must at international level in the centres. Thank goodness Smith didn't move Ellis there - the left side defence was one of our highpoints against Aus, and shouldn't be changed.



Not sure about halfback. Smith has gone for 'who dares wins' in those two, and if they're cocky enough not to be overawed they could go well, although I'd also expect them to make some mistakes.



Can't argue with dropping McGuire. I disagree with some of the comments about him not being a stand off - I think he's just not playing as a genuine one at Leeds whilst we have Sinfield and Burrow in the side as well, and whilst he seems to turn it on in big club games, he really does look lost sometimes for GB/England. Lets hope he takes this as a kick in the pants and seeks to improve his game. Same goes for Burrow.