England form XV: ‘Unstoppable’ Noah Caluori a ‘when not if’ for Test debut while bolters ‘show their value’ to Steve Borthwick ahead of Springboks showdown
Noah Caluori (centre) and Billy Searle (right) feature in our England form XV
England head coach Steve Borthwick has the unenviable task of selecting a starting XV from some of the best players in the PREM.
Right across the English top flight, there are a number of players who are really staking a claim to be on the plane for their summer Nations Championship Tests against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina, but what would their starting XV look like based on form alone?
Well, here’s our look at exactly that.
Outside backs
Wing was a fairly easy call to make, even with the likes of Tommy Freeman, Ollie Sleightholme and Paul Brown-Bampoe all going well recently, but we simply couldn’t overlook Noah Caluori and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
Saracens man Caluori has been unstoppable in recent outings, scoring seven tries in his past three appearances for the Londoners alongside some simply gorgeous pieces of play ball-in-hand. It feels like a matter of ‘when, not if’ with regards to his Test debut, and that could certainly be sooner rather than later if his current form is anything to go by.
Chiefs counterpart Feyi-Waboso has also really hit the ground running on his return from a hamstring injury, which will certainly please Borthwick following his Six Nations absence. He has quickly found his way back to his explosive best ball-in-hand, as proved right across his outings this month, and has also bagged a healthy four tries in four games to boot.
George Furbank was a leading contender at 15, but his injury issues have again come to the fore, which leaves Max Malins as our top choice. The Saracens ace has excelled since shifting back to 15 – a position he actively wants to play – in recent weeks, playing a key role in the Londoners’ thumping win over Sale and their narrow victory over Leicester as well.
Midfield
England’s midfield has been under the microscope in recent times, with four different partnerships deployed across their past nine Tests and six different players selected within that, but current form points to yet another fresh partnership.
March’s PREM Player of the Month Will Wand gets the nod at 13 in this form XV, just getting in ahead of Tom Litchfield in the process. Wand took a starring role in the Tigers’ road to PREM Cup glory back in March, and carried that form on into their league outings against Bristol and Gloucester to scoop the gong. He just gives Leicester an all-court threat in that 13 channel, acting as a crucial link to the likes of Gabe Hamer-Webb and Adam Radwan, while also giving them a consistent carrying threat.
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Bath’s Ollie Lawrence is our man at inside centre, beating out teammate Max Ojomoh and fellow England hopefuls Seb Atkinson and Fraser Dingwall in the process. Lawrence seems to have been given a new floating role to chop and change between the two centre spots in recent weeks, often giving Bath strike in the inside centre channel before then popping back up and going into those wider pockets of space, and that dual-role has seen him excel.
Half-backs
The combination in the halves possibly picks itself, with Archie McParland and Billy Searle getting the nod over the likes of Charlie Bracken, Tom Carr-Smith and Fin Smith. Looking at Leicester man Searle first, he has arguably been the form 10 in the PREM all season, pushing ahead of James O’Connor in the Tigers’ pecking order in the process. His form has also helped him show his value with regard to a possible Test call-up, propelling him into the England conversation alongside Smith squared and George Ford, and that cannot be ignored when picking this team.
McParland has also benefited greatly from an extended run in the Saints side, and that has seen him go from promising hotshot to serious PREM operator in the space of just a few weeks. There were always signs with him, but this run in the absence of Alex Mitchell has seen him really hone his craft and, importantly, show his full skillset. His desire to attack the spaces and inject tempo into the attack is also something Borthwick will like.
Back-row
Goodness gracious, the back-row was a tough pick. Greg Fisilau, Guy Pepper and Miles Reid have all impressed, while Tom Willis continues to show what England will miss ahead of his switch to France, but we’ve gone for Alfie Barbeary, Henry Pollock and Fitz Harding here.
Bath number eight Barbeary has been in red-hot touch for Bath since the return of the PREM back in March, arguably the form of his career, and has really helped the Blue, Black and White continue on their push for a historic double along the way. As a result, he was also nominated for Investec European Player of the Year, making the final five-man shortlist earlier this month, which certainly helped edge him into this side.
Saints man Pollock might have been making headlines away from the pitch after signing with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom, but he’s also been at the peak of his powers on the field as well. Be it on the flank or at number eight, the England international has been truly excellent for Northampton since returning from Six Nations duty, adding real power and pace into their pack in the process.
Bristol captain Fitz Harding is another in this squad who has arguably been the form player in his position across the domestic campaign, and will surely be edging his way towards England selection as a result. The flanker can bring that flick of flair that the Bears like to play with, but his nuts and bolts are also top-notch and he plays such a key role in laying the foundations for their work in the tight and in defence too. He needs to be in the discussion for the summer.
Tight five
This group could very easily be the tight five we see take on the Springboks this summer, with Ollie Chessum, Maro Itoje, Joe Heyes, Gabe Oghre and Ellis Genge getting the nod. All five men have really taken their game up a notch in recent weeks, putting in big performances after big performances to keep their respective sides in the hunt for play-off spots at the end of the season.
Crucially, they have all seemed to really step their games up at the set-piece, particularly at the scrum, and that is a metric Borthwick will be looking at from his tight five players looking towards the summer.
George Kloska, Afo Fasogbon, Jamie Blamire, Kepu Tuipulotu, Tom Lockett and Emmanuel Iyogun have been in decent touch too.
England form XV in full
15 Max Malins, 14 Noah Caluori, 13 Will Wand, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Archie McParland, 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Henry Pollock, 6 Fitz Harding, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Gabe Oghre, 1 Ellis Genge
