England's fans get their picks in early
Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:36
Two months ago, England's rugby public was looking forward to the Rugby World Cup final and hoping England would become the first team to successfully defend their title. Ultimately it was not to be, but England's performances in reaching their second successive final had ignited the passion of the nation and as soon as the final whistle was blown, supporters began thinking of the next World Cup, in New Zealand in 2011. Over the past few weeks, the Guinness Premiership website has been asking its users to select a team of young Englishmen they believe are capable of challenging for glory in New Zealand in four years' time, based on their performances in the Guinness Premiership, Europe and the EDF Energy Cup. Club supporters knew who their props would be, 91 per cent voting for Andrew Sheridan and 83 per cent voting for Matt Stevens. The votes for hooker were more evenly spread, but Dylan Hartley of Northampton Saints was the preferred choice, ahead of George Chuter, Lee Mears and Andy Titterrell. At lock, supporters fancied the combination of Leicester Tigers' Louis Deacon and London Wasps' Tom Palmer, with Gloucester Rugby's Alex Brown taking a place on the bench. London Wasps duo Tom Rees and James Haskell were selected at openside flanker and number eight respectively, with Haskell just edging out Nick Easter of Harlequins. Supporters also backed Leicester Tigers' Lewis Moody to take part in his third Rugby World Cup at blindside flanker. There was also a fillip for injured Leicester Tigers scrum half Harry Ellis, whom 70 per cent of the voters backed to be England's scrum-half at the next Rugby World Cup. The destination of the number ten shirt was much less clear, with Danny Cipriani and Ryan Lamb in particular having made stellar starts to the season. However, supporters stuck by Jonny Wilkinson, number ten in the World Cup Final in 2003 and 2007, to continue to run the show for his country in 2011. Wilkinson of Newcastle Falcons recorded 37 per cent of the vote, ahead of Cipriani with 26 and Lamb with 21. In the centres, Anthony Allen of Gloucester and Mathew Tait of Newcastle Falcons as the partnership for England. Allen pipped Tait's Newcastle team-mate Toby Flood by just one percentage point and Tait finished just ahead of Leicester Tigers' 25-year old centre Dan Hipkiss. On the wings, supporters went for two London-based players, Paul Sackey of London Wasps and David Strettle of Harlequins. Sackey arguably came of age as an international rugby player in France, whilst Strettle missed out on selection after injuring his metatarsal when in pre-tournament camp with England. The final selection was full-back and 43 per cent of the voters selected Bath's Nick Abendanon as their last line of defence, ahead of Gloucester Rugby's Olly Morgan. Guinness Premiership's England XV for 2011: 15 Nick Abendanon (Bath), 14 Paul Sackey (London Wasps), 13 Mathew Tait (Newcastle Falcons), 12 Anthony Allen (Gloucester), 11 David Strettle (Harlequins), 10 Jonny Wilkinson (Newcastle Falcons), 9 Harry Ellis (Leicester Tigers), 8 James Haskell (London Wasps), 7 Tom Rees (London Wasps), 6 Lewis Moody (Leicester Tigers), 5 Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers), 4 Tom Palmer (London Wasps), 3 Matt Stevens (Bath), 2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), 1 Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks).
