It absolutely baffles me that MA is in the top two second rowers in the league (dream team), yet cant get in to EITHER national representative team. I get that the England 2nd team is more for the youth and if theres an age limit then that's fair enough, but how hasnt be been picked for the England team anyway!? He wouldnt start, youd expect Elliott Whitehead and Bateman but surely worth a squad place

i thought the same with Kirmo a few years when he was in the dream team but not for England, we need Gareth Southgate to pick our team, he looks to be picking on form rather than reputation etc

As mentioned on Facebook I think FC will probably ask Taylor to decline considering the tough season he’s had with no preseason rest.

I would love to see Ashurst get the call. His development into a quality second rower has been fantastic. Never mind France I would like to see him tested against the best

I like Ashurst a lot but it really shows the difference between club and country when we think he might have a chance of replacing Burgess.
There is a massive gap between the two players.

I dunno where you're going with that PT

Reading it back... I'm not sure either.
I think I cut it off before I finished.

I guess my point is that although Ashurst is great for us and was voted into the dream team, it doesn't automatically make him international quality.

But now I look through the alternatives there is no better second rower in SL.

S'what I was thinking, he might not be a Burgess but who is
Its about the same for Reece I reckon, stats and performance don't lie, they're simply up there with the best we have whether the stack up against the players they replace, or not.
Anyway, I hope they all get to play and carry their game through, it'll be a big confidence boost for them and ultimately benefit WT.

no flippin injuries pls...

Now Myler gets called up to England squad. Are they having a laugh? Also just noticed that in the England Knights we have Brad Fash, Ash Handley, Mikolaj Oledzki, Jamie Shaul (just had his worst season ever), Liam Sutcliffe! and D Walker (who?). Yet Ashurst can't get in either! Unbelievable.

Knights is for younger players. It's not a B team.

So two years makes all the difference then. Dean Hadley is in there at 26 years and so is Oliver Holmes.

Agreed, always though it was for "fringe" players.
Most of them are up and coming younger players but, not all of them