England coach proves he’s a better kicker than entire squad
Owen Farrell’s kicking this Six Nations has been a bit of a concern, so much so that it was probably a contributing factor in the decision to drop him onto the bench in place of Marcus Smith for the match against France last Saturday.
Smith did not kick badly at goal in the few chances he had a Twickenham, kicking two from two, but it was not exactly a game where he could show off his strength from the tee. It was still a long way better than Farrell’s kicking this Championship, which is under 50 percent. To make matters worse for both kickers, defence coach Kevin Sinfield has been showing them up recently in training.
Now Sinfield was a legendary kicker in his rugby league career, kicking thousands of points for both Leeds Rhinos and England, but it must still not be nice for either England fly-half to see their coach showing them up.
Using a tee made from snow recently, Sinfield managed to hit the post from a kick a metre away from the try line. Then again, if he was actually aiming to dissect the posts, he failed. Either way, it was an impressive kick.
Take a look:
The Greatest Leeds Rhino of them all. #SirKev #GoldStandard pic.twitter.com/qemFedBFzY
— Richard Stockdale (@Richipops1) March 14, 2023
Sinfield and Steve Borthwick have the tough task of picking apart the pieces of England’s record 53-10 loss to France at Twickenham last Saturday and preparing for Ireland this Saturday in Dublin. This is the 30-man squad they have selected.
FULL SQUAD
FORWARDS
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 99 caps)
Ben Curry (Sale Sharks, 4 caps)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 13 caps)
Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby, 3 caps)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 47 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 76 caps)
Jonny Hill (Sale Sharks, 19 caps)
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 10 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 66 caps)
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 18 caps)
George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 1 cap)
David Ribbans (Northampton Saints, 4 caps)
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 2 caps)
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 60 caps)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 78 caps)
Jack Walker (Harlequins, 3 caps)
Jack Willis (Toulouse, 9 caps)
BACKS
Henry Arundell (London Irish, 6 caps)
Owen Farrell (Saracens, 105 caps)
George Ford (Sale Sharks, 81 caps)
Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish, 2 caps)
Max Malins (Saracens, 18 caps)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 14 caps)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 4 caps)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 55 caps)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 21 caps)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 21 caps)
Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 50 caps)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 11 caps)
Anthony Watson (Leicester Tigers, 54 caps)
