A maximum of up to 2 players from each club for both teams is the only way this is going to work if its going to be on the same weekend as a round of fixtures, however it kind of defeats the object of the game which im assuming is to strengthen England RL by giving them bigger tests before facing Aus/NZ.

A weakened England Team;

Tomkins - Wigan
Fox - Hull KR
Shenton - Saints
Bridge - Warrington
Cudjoe - Huddersfield
McGuire - Leeds
Robinson - Huddersfield
Graham - St Helens
Sinfield - Leeds
Burgess - Sydney
Westwood - Warrington
Ellis - Wests
O'Loughlin - Wigan

Scruton - Bradford
Smith - Salford
Lynch - Bradford
Purdham - Quins

vs a Weakened 'all stars' team:

Pattern - Salford
Monaghan - Warrington
King - Warrington
Delaney - Leeds
Richards - Wigan
Leuluai - Wigan
Dobson - Hull KR
Perry - St Helens
Buderus - Leeds
Mason - Hull KR
O'Donnell - Huddersfield
Puletua - St Helens
Fitzgibbon - Hull FC

O'Meley - Hull FC
Fa'alogo - Huddersfield
Feka - Salford
Randall -Quins

Not as exciting...

I dont want WIGAN calling off games due to this international game as we will end up playing another midweek game on top of that cas game that hasnt been arranged yet 2 months on from the fixtures being in the clubs hands.If we are taking the international game serious cancel a weekend so all you have is the focus on the england game.

The interesting thing for me is the England Knights squad which will be announced shortly. It appears that this will be a squad between academy and full International level, I'm guessing 19 - 22 year olds.

They should be able to pick a team from that age group to compete against the full French squad.

got to agree with this, you could have a tri nations between england nights, france and wales which would be a very good little comp.

Well not really seeing as they couldn't even win the Euro Cup. They're e, just face it.

2008 - LAST in the World Cup and in the game I went too they were dreadful.
2009 - Hammered in the 4 Nations
2010 - Lost to Wales in the Euro Cup

For all those complaining that their team will be losing players, isn't this making for a good opportunity for young players to break through and make a name for themselves? It would be interesting to see what team we would put out if we had lost Leuluai, Richards, Tomkins x2, O'Loughlin etc...

To be honest, I think we would cope better than most other teams even though we are likely to lose a lot more players. How will Cas/Hull KR handle losing Chase and Dobson for instance?

Roberts
Goulding
Gleeson
Carmont
Charnley
Deacon
Finch
Fielden
McIlorum
Coley
Hansen
Hoffman/Tuson
Farrell

Lima
Prescott
O'Carroll
Logan Tomkins

Not a bad side at all imo

Looking at it like that, it's amazing that we would still have Mossop, Pryce, Marsh etc left over, meaning we could lose Roberts and Goulding too and still wouldn't really need to dip into totally inexperienced players.

I like this idea but I don't really see why they didn't have the foresight to plan it in advance so that there was a gap in the fixtures when it takes place so though no club is particularly disadvantaged. I can see this game really being one to watch if everyone is available for selection.

1. Pattern/Roberts (form a massive factor, one coming over from the NRL, the other coming off the back of an injury)
2. J.Monaghan
3. King
4. Soliola
5. Richards
6. Chase
7. T.Leuluai
8. Perry
9. M.Monaghan
10. O'Meley
11. Lauititi
12. Hoffman
13. Fitzgibbon

14. K.Leuluai
15. Buderus
16. Lima
17. Solomona

That team is roughly equal to England, and may even be better if the backs see plenty ball.

assuming we dont have 4 or 5 injured players ?

What? And everyone else is 100%? Are you the most miserable man in Wigan? You make me look happy. OK then...

Roberts
Pryce
Marsh
Carmont
King
Finch
Mellor
Prescott
Logan
Coley
Mossop
Hansen
Farrell

Tuson
Deacon
O'Carroll
Davies

Id take that side over most in SL

^ Assuming it isn't our internationals/All Stars that are injured.

Really, it's one round, I think we should be comfortable enough in our squad to play another team (minus their best players) for one round.

Exactly. That side above is missing Richards, Goulding, Gleeson, Fielden, Tommy, Sam, Joel, McIlorum, Hoffman, Lima and Lockers. If we can turn a side out like the one above then we should be able to cope for one game. Some players may even double up ala last season.

Why? Why will the "overseas all stars" put any passion or commitment into this game at all? Why will the English players?

As a fixture is means absolutely nothing. It is a contrived match with no history. The result will be meaningless and won't prove anything.

It's got to be the worst idea in the history of the sport.

As to the match v France being cancelled well we had better be expecting the Aussies to refuse to play us soon then. Playing France even if of little worth to us shows the game has an international base. Cancelling internationals for contrived fixtures does not. In RU Italy were whipping boys for years. They still are to a degree but they still kept coming back for more and more importantly no one was daft enough to ditch games v Italy because they were one sided. They could see the bigger picture. No surprise the RFL can't.

Dave