Have you ever wondered what the England squad would look like solely based on form? Reputation and all of that sort of stuff completely chucked in the bin.
Well, at RUCK, we’ve crunched the numbers since the Gallagher Premiership returned on August 15th, calculating every players average rating from the last few weeks of action.
A number of high-profile big names would miss out; whether that be due to injury, a lack of form, or a cheeky red card that earned them a 4/10 in a recent match (you know who we’re talking about).
It’s interesting to see that it wouldn’t be the same old faces pulling on the new white England Umbro shirt when England play the Barbarians on October 25th, with 11 uncapped players making the squad on form.
Here is how the squad and XV might look if we lived in this strange world:
BACK-THREE (6)
- Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby) – 6.6
- Ruaridh McConnochie (Bath Rugby) – 7.5
- Ollie Thorley (Gloucester Rugby) – 7.3
- Elliot Daly (Saracens) – 7
- Tom Collins (Northampton Saints) – 6.8
- Josh Bassett (Wasps) – 7
CENTRE (4)
- Joe Marchant (Harlequins) – 7.2
- Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs) – 7.3
- Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby) – 6.8
- Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks) – 7
FLY-HALVES (3)
- Joe Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs) – 7.6
- Marcus Smith (Harlequins) – 7.5
- Danny Cipriani (Gloucester) 7.3