Tomkins
Charnley
Watkins
Cudjoe
Hall
Sinfield
Chase
Mossop
Roby
Hill
Westwood
Farrell
S Burgess

T Burgess
G Burgess
Ablett
Widdop

Ferres and Burrow missing out

To be fair McIlorum and Hardaker might not have been in the 19 anyway because of Tomkins and Roby. No Graham is a surprise though.

From that I'd go with:

1. Tomkins
2. Charnley
3. Watkins
4. Cudjoe
5. Hall
6. Sinfield
7. Widdop
8. Burgess G
9. Roby
10. Mossop
11. Westwood
12. Ablett
13. Burgess S

14. Burrow
15. Hill
16. Burgess T
17. Farrell

Pretty much spot on, I reckon he'll go with that.

Looks like the rumours regarding graham were true, not sure micky mac or hardaker would have made the cut anyway.

Looks like it. I think these drinkers are treating fans with contempt and have put a cloud over the World Cup.

Probably about right. Ferres only just brought in, and it's Burrow/Widdop depending on the plan to spell Roby. That could be a straight swap with Burrow off the bench, or it could be a switch of Chase or Sinfield to acting half, with Widdop coming off the bench to play in the halves. Or of course it could be Burrow off the bench and into the halves too, of course.

We've gone from having a pack capable of mixing it with Australia to one that will struggle to match them. We're missing 2 of our 3 or 4 most important players there in Graham and O'Loughlin.

We'll see, but I reckon we're in for a hiding on Saturday. Hope not, but their backs were always going to be better than ours and now their pack looks much better as well.

Graham is a massive miss.

Farrell and Ablett are poor quality players to have in an England team.

With Graham in particular you would have to assume so

From that squad, I would go with the following 17 although I suspect Farrell will be in there (I like Farrell but I don’t think he has the size to be a real impact in international RL, similar to Wilkin and JJB). Graham will probably come back into the 17 later as O’Loughlin (he is probably being given a bit more time so he is right for the rest of the group games and builds up some match fitness through the tournament)

Sam Tomkins
Josh Charnley
Leroy Cudjoe
Kallum Watkins
Ryan Hall
Kevin Sinfield (captain)
Rangi Chase
Chris Hill
James Roby
Lee Mossop
Ben Westwood
Carl Ablett
Sam Burgess

George Burgess
Thomas Burgess
Brett Ferres
Gareth Widdop

On the plus side, best fullback and wing combination we have seen for a long time, two athletic centres and a very mobile pack with some decent size on the bench. I suspect Sinfield will game some time at dummy half during the game and Widdop into the halves

Changing half back combinations round mid game is a tactic I hate personally. If the halves are working and there's no need to change anything it wastes a bench spot and you'd be better off with an extra forward. If the halves aren't working, well that's not something you should be finding out during a game! Roby is more than capable of playing the full 80, McNamara should either decide that Widdop is his best 6 and play him from the start, or not at all. He's decided he's going to play Sinfield and chase and doesn't seem to want to change this, and picking Widdop off the bench is a bit of a cop out IMO.

FWIW,

Tomkins
Charnley
Watkins
Cudjoe
Hall
Widdop
Sinfield
Mossop
Roby
G Burgess
Westwood
Farrell
S Burgess

T Burgess
Hill
Chase
Ablett.

We need to match them physically early so I'd start with both G and S now that Graham is out.

Having watched South Sydney all season, I don't think Tom Burgess is ready for this level yet, but I'd love him to prove me wrong. George should cause a stir though.

Graham and O'Loughlin are a big loss, obviously disciplinary reasons involved but we could have done with their leadership.

Having watched South Sydney all season, I don't think Tom Burgess is ready for this level yet, but I'd love him to prove me wrong. George should cause a stir though.

Graham and O'Loughlin are a big loss, obviously disciplinary reasons involved but we could have done with their leadership.

I thought for about 4 or 5 games Tom was better than George and then he was left out as Souths hit the play off's and replaced with a couple of players who were not as effective – certainly he was playing better than Asotasi who played through the semi’s. Personally I think that Tom is well suited to International league as he is very direct with a lot of size (bigger than George and probably the biggest in the squad) and his tackle effectiveness is also very good. Funnily enough, I think George looks more mobile in attack but Tom in defence

Playing Winfield at 6 instead of widdop just about sums up England's chances. Why you would have your best half back on the bench beggars belief.

Amazed at graham, stupid idiot, thanks for reducing our chances of winning

Is O Loughlin injured or just not selected?