England Training Squad for the Rugby World Cup

Martin Johnson has announced the training squad ahead of the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand this autumn. The full announcement is here but my initial reaction to the squad isn't overly enthusiastic.


Here's the 45 man squad, split into forwards and backs, and broken down by (usual) position:

First thing, is that it's good to see that some of the guys who did well in the Churchill Cup have been recognised and given a chance with the EPS. So that means Botha comes in to bolster the number of South Africans in the squad and Sharples gets a crack at wing. Sharples was electrifying in the Saxons games and fully deserves his place.


Looking at the forwards, its pretty much business as usual.


We know all about the choices for the front five, there's nothing new to see here. Corbisiero seems to be the coming man but will he get game time now that Matt Stevens has been fully rehabilitated back into rugby? I see Johnson going with 


The hookers are the usual as well. It'll be Hartley, Thompson, Chuter, Mears. I'm a big fan of Hartley and I'm hoping he really cements his place over the summer. 28 caps means he's no longer a rookie, he needs to bring his Northampton form to the international stage.


I'll admit it now, I think Johnson's wrong with the locks. Botha can play but is green at this level. Simon Shaw is the world's oldest rugby player and, much as I love the way he plays, can he still do it at this level? Palmer and Deacon seems to be Johnno's preferred combination but I'd rather see a pairing of Lawes and Palmer. The second row needs a nasty bastard and who better than the Northampton destroyer? We've not had that level of power/aggession in the locks since Grewcock was stomping about in white. Deacon is an honest player, he'll compete, but I don't understand Johnson's preference for him over Nick Kennedy.


The back row is, again, the usual suspects plus Robshaw and Waldstrom. The lack of competition at Number 8 worries me. I don't understand the criticism that Easter gets when he plays for England and Waldstrom has been strong this season, but I would've loved to see Haskell playing at 8, for his sheer dynamism and for the fact that it would let you play Croft at 6 and Moody at 7.


The backs are a mixed bag. All the usual faces plus a couple of new faces who, if we're honest, will be holding the tackle bags by the end of the training period (although I sincerely hope this isn't going to happen).


I think the picks at Scrum-half are safe enough, albeit if I were picking I'd have gone for Paul Hodgson ahead of Wigglesworth. I like nuggety scrumhalves and Hodgson is exactly that. Mind you, if Youngs can re-find his form then nobody else is getting a look in anyway.


Fly-half. Rory Clegg played beautifully for the Saxons, it's a real shame that Johnson couldn't have found a place for him in the squad. Flood is as out of touch as his halfback partner and you know what you'll get with Wilkinson and Hodgson. Why not take the time to look at Clegg in a real pressure-cooker?


The centres fill me with worry. We all know that Johnson's going to go with Tindall and Hape but Tindall is bang out of form (out of time?) and Hape has never done it in an England shirt. I don't care how could his defence is supposed to be, he has to break the line and create tries. Otherwise he's a waste of a place. Tuilagi could be a revelation in the England midfield, providing he doesn't get too punchy and a combo of him and Flutey could be very interesting. Shame that there's no place for Trinder in the squad though.


Looking at the contenders for the back three positions, I have to admit that I'm dead set against the inclusion of Armitage as the only other contender for full back. His lack of form in an England shirt and his misdemeanours over the season, for me, would've ruled him out. Alex Goode has been outstanding and fully deserved a call up in his place. The back three, for me, would be Cueto at 11, Ashton at 14 and Foden at 15 with Sharples, Simpson-Daniel and Goode on the bench.


After all that waffle, here's the team that I'd like to see take the field for the first game against Wales in August. Picked only from the training squad, it assumes everyone's fit:

The replacement's bench is split 3 forwards to 4 backs. If there was a problem with one of the locks I'd move Croft into the second row and bring Haskell on. Haskell would also cover Number 8. Banahan provides options at wing and centre and the only hole is a specialist fullback, although Cueto has played there as has Hodgson when Sale decided to kick everything.

Running Review - February 2011

Looking back on it, the end of February was the start of a very frustrating period when illness and muscle aches took the gloss off what had been mostly a good month.


I ran my first half marathon of the year in Brighton two days before my birthday and finished in 02:12:34. That's 10 minutes slower than my PB from last year but the race came much earlier in my marathon training this time round so I know I'll be able to improve on that over the course of this year.


I also started experimenting with barefoot running during February. The first two runs came at the end of times when I was already out. I slipped the shoes off and completed the last kilometre barefoot (well, with socks on) and was very pleased with how I felt at the end. It was comfortable and I felt quick. The next time I tried it, though, was disastrous. Falling victim to the inevitable Too Much Too Soon syndrome, I found a pair of beach shoes to make it less ewww! if I trod in something unspeakable and the next time I went out I roared  through a 5K. I could feel the aches in my calves as I hit the 3rd K but pushed on and left myself barely able to walk the next day. Oh well, lessons learned and all that. I also, as a direct result, learned that ice baths are the work of the devil.


Over the course of the month I ran 14 times, covered 86 miles at an average pace of 10.30 per mile. The breakdown of those numbers are shown below:

The barefoot runs were among the basic runs, I've just added a separate column so that I can easily keep track of the quantity and distances)

Run, Fat Boy, Run

I've realised that, although I set the blog up to witter on mostly about running and whatnot, I've not even mentioned it yet, so here goes.


I get asked, fairly regularly, why I run. There isn't a simple answer to that one, and plenty of times I ask myself the same question. I'm not among the quickest, I'm certainly not the most elegant and, a lot of the time, I run with gritted teeth. The truth is that there must be something of the masochist within me. The times when I enjoy running the most are when the weather's rubbish, when the distance seems too much, when the aches and pains start to show. That's when I feel like a proper runner. Those are the times when I can clear my mind, focus on the task and battle against all the obstacles.


I've been running off and on for years but with a degree of seriousness since 2008. Over the last few years I've clocked up a fair amount of runs (2008: 105 miles in 30 runs; 2009: 627 miles in 121 runs; 2010: 483 miles in 82 runs and, so far 139 miles in 29 runs in 2011).


I've completed countless 5K races, four 10K races, one 10 mile race, six half marathons and one full marathon and not been anywhere near the front in any of them :-) My personal bests, such as they are, are:

• 5K - 23:36 (September 10)
• 10K - 53:44 (December 09)
• 13.1M - 02:01:54 (March 10)
• 26.2M - 05:09:46 (April 10)

I have three goals for 2011:

1. To complete an officially organised and timed race at each distance up to the full marathon (so 5K, 10K, 10 mile, half marathon, kilomathon and full marathon)
2. To run sub 2-hour half marathons before the end of the year. It might not sound like much, but getting to 02:01:54 last March nearly killed me...
3. To change my running style to be able to run a 10K race either barefoot or in minimalist shoes

The barefoot/minimalist running conversation is a post for another day, this post is already waaaaaaaaaay too long.

London

Mmmmmm

Delicious chocolate cake made for me yesterday by Cathie and the boys. It was as tasty as it looks.

It's Finally Happened

The law of diminishing returns has reached the point where, for the first time, a new Radiohead album has no songs I can get excited about.


From the peak of OK Computer it's been getting harder and harder to embrace one of their albums in its entirety but The King Of Limbs is the first time when I've struggled to even find a song I like.


That list of diminishing returns in full:

• OK Computer - 12 songs - Awesome from start to finish
• Kid A - 6 out of 10 songs stayed in my iTunes library
• Amnesiac - 7 out of 11 songs stayed 
• Hail to the Thief - 5 out of 14 songs stayed (but wow, what songs)
• In Rainbows - 3 out of 10 songs survived the cull
• The King Of Limbs - 1 out of 8 (and that's stretching it)

Lotus Flower is the obvious 'catchy song' on TKoL but I'm not gagging to hear it again. I'm really hoping that the album's a grower, I didn't like Amnesiac when I first heard it and it's now one of my favourites but nothing from TKoL has left even the slightest hook in my memory after the first couple of listens.

Shouting Into The Dark

An ego is a terrible thing.


Nobody in their right mind should want to read this. And yet here I am, one minute before I turn 36, turning back into an erratic diarist. Wonder if I'll keep it going for longer than I did as a kid.


Anyways, so this blog (for as long as I do keep updating it) is going to be full of boring stuff about running, pictures I've taken and probably my rattling on about the latest music I've discovered (usually 6 months after the rest of the world). So, um, enjoy...