"Better options" - Will Greenwood leaves Genge and Simmonds out of his England XV

Friday, 28 January 2022 at 20:00

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byRugby Rucker

Will Greenwood has picked his XV for England's Six Nations opener against Scotland at Murrayfield with Ellis Genge and Sam SImmons both missing out.

The World Cup-winning centre as always went into great depth about his selection and you can ready his full article for The Telegraph by clicking here.

BACK-THREE:

15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 5 caps)
14. Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 42 caps)
11. Max Malins (Saracens, 7 caps)

Greenwood on Steward: "Not often a kid so young and with so few caps is close to the first name down on the team sheet. I may have a few disgruntled readers about certain elements of my selection but I suspect it is a slam dunk with Steward. "

Freddie Steward of England goes over for a try during the Autumn Nations Match between England and Australia at Twickenham on 13 November 2021. Photo: Micah Crook/PPAUK

CENTRES:

13. Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 4 caps)
12. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 38 caps)

Greenwood wrote: "To see Slade and Marchant work so well against South Africa was a joy to watch. Pace, ball movement, the works. Marchant is a cracking defender, as long as he keeps his spacings."

Henry Slade of England kicks the conversion during the Autumn Nations Match between England and Tonga at Twickenham Stoop on 6 November 2021. Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK

HALFBACKS:

10. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 2 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 111 caps)

FRONT-ROW:

1. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 71 caps)
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 31 caps)
3. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 47 caps)

Greenwood wrote: "The front rows of years gone by wouldn’t want to get changed next to this lot. They have some serious firepower."

SECOND-ROW:

4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 55 caps)
5. Jonny HIll (Exeter Chiefs, 9 caps)

BACK-ROW:

6. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 89 caps)
7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 35 caps)
8. Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 5 caps)

Greenwood on Dombrandt: "Super tight selection at No 8. Sam Simmonds certainly gets the nod on the bench after narrowly missing out on the starting XV. A hat-trick in Montpellier quashed any doubts that he couldn’t do it at the highest level."

Alex Dombrandt of England warms up before the Autumn Nations Match between England and Australia at Twickenham on 13 November 2021. Photo: Micah Crook/PPAUK