I think that Smith will start.
I don't think that there are many other options for a goal kicker. Sneyd probably won't even get in the squad so not sure who else there is?
We cannot afford to go into an international without a recognised goal kicker.
Personally I would play Williams and Smith in the halves and Welsby at FB but we all know that Tomkins will be a shoe in for the FB role.
If Lomax does play, and I hope he does, maybe Williams could come off the bench to cover hooker and the halves?

With Cust being out he also switched to the Left, whilst imo most of his best work this season has been playing on the right
I thought a lot of the timing looked off on both sides because of that as tommy/field on the right nowhere near worked as well as smith/field have been.

It doesn’t matter how good a half you are if you’ve no options! Jonathan Thurston wouldn’t have been able to do anything for us in attack against Leeds we were so flat generally. His kicking game was as good as I’ve seen from him, and in the first half he was our best player by a country mile.

On top of the moanings about Smith, Harvie Hill making the 20 man England Knights side has caused more moaning, got to say I’m a little surprised but Iv been impressed with him in the academy and reserves and he’s a big lad so that won’t be an issue for him.

Don't know why there's moaning about Smith and his season. He's been outstanding and his goal kicking even better.
As for his game v Leeds. When the team was announced we had Powell at 9, Smithies 13 and Tommy playing 6. None of those spine player posed an attacking threat to Leeds. Hence the reason we spent 40 mins on their line and only scored one try. Once again we looked like we hadn't got a move in us. The 9, 13 and 6 we had out there didn't have a move in them. That wasn't Harry Smith's fault it was poor team selection. Of the remaining spine, only Jai and Harry were a threat and as long as Leeds kept those two quiet they'd a very good chance of winning.

If Harry Smith is named in the England squad he'll have deserved it as far as I'm concerned.

The moaning about Hill will come from those who haven't seen him play!!

Wait until Morgan Smithies is announced in the England squad on Friday.

If Lomax is out, and I think he will be, and Welsby is at 6, then I would go for Smith. I don't think 2 off the cuff players sits well at the halves. That rules out Williams for me. Lomax and Welsby have differing styles which certainly worked well for Saints. I think Smith is a 7 more in the style of Lomax, though not at his standard yet. Don't really rate any of the other contenders. As others have said Smith's kicking in both aspects could prove crucial.

Lomax pulling out is devastating for England. Unless he's picked up another injury in the GF I just don't understand this. He's played more than 5 months with the injury to get through a domestic season which happens every year. But for a World Cup in his own country which happens once or twice in a career he can't play. Was so important for the tournament for England to have a good WC but club before country mindsets remain.

Would we mind if it was a Wigan player though?

5 in a row the priority for Saints.

Lomax has had a gruelling season and he could risk prolonged injury following more games which could potentially effect his pre-season.

With Stains having the best squad in living memory surely missing Lomax for a couple of early months next season would not make that much difference.

Good to see you’ve moved on from our 4 in a row Jason. Calling us Stains as well, good effort.

On the Lomax withdrawal I can see it from both sides. He’s played all season with the injury so what’s an extra few games when this is likely to be his last WC and certainly the last one on home soil. Plus with the play off structure you can argue that we don’t even need him for the first few rounds anyway, doesn’t matter if we lost them all in the grand scheme of things.

However we all don’t know just how bad it is. For all we know he could be in real pain every week and his priority will be to prolong his club career as he probably only has 2-3 seasons left at best. It’s a short career as we all know and they don’t earn footballer wages.

Let’s face it too Saints will have a healthy contingent still so it’s not as though they are all resting. Welsby, Knowles, Makinson, Lees and Batchelor will all no doubt be selected. Walmsley too would’ve been. Percival has at least tried to play I believe but the latest scan has shown he’s had a setback and the specialist has said he can’t play.

Unfortunately at times thats hard work as you could probably attest to

i recall a game at Huddersfield when i spent best part of 80 mins arguing with Yorkshiremen complaining about Faz and Scully. Two of the finest players we have produced in recent years, and they werent fit to wear (poss GB shirt at the time) the shirt. There are some people just so short sighted its unreal, and you cant help get protective about your own club (or not) players at times

i've just posted something similar re Lomax on the Warriors fans board. I can see why he / the club has taken the decision. He has played on all season with injury, and has been / was probably advised he would need surgery to correct, and this may the the opportunity to get it fixed before next season.
On the flip side I could also understand if he wanted to play with it being a home world cup. But playing for England aint going to pay his bills if he makes the injury worse and career is over

in this instance i think its cos he plays for Saints that there is noise and he is going to be a miss in the England side

I'm sure if the injury could be made worse by playing (which I'm sure Saints said couldn't) then he shouldn't have carried on and risked his last 2/3 years of playing for 5months of rugby?
Can't take the player welfare moral high ground one way and not the other?
I'm not saying hes done the wrong thing, I'm just saying there's no need to try and put some moral justification to it when it is what it is.
Hes put his Saints career over his England one, and I'm fine with that
No right or wrong IMO

PS

STU M
you seem to be bothered about people using the Stains tag again
I haven't done too much perusing of Redvee but I'm sure when I have 10mins to spare and fancy a laugh I'll find loads of posts from yourself asking them not to use their, IMO, Far greater insults when using our name?