We're talking about England centres and you rubbish Watkins defence because of an error he made while playing at full back, a completely different position that he isn't particularly familiar with, has very different demands and in which he's also done some excellent defensive work. Watkins defence at centre has improved greatly over the last couple of seasons and to say he'd be our 'worst nightmare' against Inglis is sensationalist nonsense.

Well at the moment it's looking like an easy decision for me: Briscoe, Cudjoe, Watkins and Hall.

But there is still well and truly a good fight on for the rest of the season though.

Its a bit harsh to judge him on Fridays game after he hasnt played for a month and not even trained for much of that time due to serious illness. He very rarely has a bad game and certainly doesnt have the major flaws that some of the other centres do such as Watkins and Atkins defensively.

Watkins doesn't miss many one on one tackles these days when he's playing centre. On that miss Friday you have to ask the question, why did he have to cover a hole that big in the 1st place and where were Ablett and Vickery. If he was already in the line I have no doubt the attempt would have been a hell of a lot better.

And while we're talking about defensive efforts, what about his tackle on the same player in the 2nd half? He didn't panic and pulled off a superb tackle on Farrell.

I agree with Father Ted. The English centres will get absolutely wasted by the superior Aussie centres in the World Cup no matter who gets the gig for England. They'll get wasted by the Kiwi centres too (if they decide to turn up). Watkins, Atkins, Cudjoe, et al... all look good in SL but will be found wanting against superior opposition at international level, particularly in defence where they are clueless turnstiles.

When was the last time a pair of New Zealand centres "wasted" ours in a match over here?

The previous occasion when the teams met in a World Cup match over here actually. The result was England 6 New Zealand 49 and our centres got wasted, as did the rest of the England team.

That was 13 years ago for goodness sake. Deary me....why don't we just call the whole thing off?!

I wasn't aware there'd been that huge an improvement in English RL playing standards during the last 13 years in comparison to the Aussies and Kiwis... when did that happen? Some might argue we've gone backwards during that time.


No need for such drastic action. We just need to be realistic about England's chances of winning the World Cup this year which remains at precisely ZERO.

I think we are more than capable of beating the Kiwi's on home soil, as we have done a number of times in the last 13 years. I don't think we will win the tournament, but I wouldn't be so quick as to dismiss our chances against New Zealand, should we play them.

No point in trying to be positive, William Eve is immune to all things positive.

I haven't dismissed England's chances against NZ. You just think I have. If you comprehended what I initially wrote... [i"They'll get wasted by the Kiwi centres too (if they decide to turn up)"[/i... the key phrase being [i"if they decide to turn up"[/i. New Zealand has a habit of turning up for semi finals of the World Cup (both in England and down under) and that's when England are likely to play them.

So if England beat New Zealand it's because New Zealand haven't turned up. If New Zealand win it's as expected proving yet again that England aren't good enough.

Brilliant!

Its a curse that a lot of Rugby League fans seem to have. I wonder why they bother?