Mike Brown and Ben Te'o dropped from squad to face Wales

[matelot22]

Daly is a fine player but not at FB, the last line of defence by definition needs a good defender, which ED isn't the best at. I have no doubt Daly will play, in particular, the cannon that is his boot gives England something extra, plus his running game and vision is superb. But.....at FB he falls off tackles and in an England shirt comes off second best on most 50/50 balls in games I have seen. Given the expansive style of SH teams, then a proven and robust FB would be the right option, they tend to pop the ball behind the defence and back themselves (think the last gasp SA try vs. The All Blacks), Brown provides that cover with dogged determination, even if he is advancing in years and is a little bit predictable and selfish. Watson is very injury prone, so we will need good FB cover, so again I would include Brown. However EJ is the coach, this RWC is a make or break series of matches for him, I hope it's a make....

Agree with all of that re Daly, but I'd rather have Goode than Brown and feel that EJ stuck with Brown for too long. More games at 15 for Daly or Watson may have seen them much more comfortable playing there, we'll never know obviously, but that's down to Eddie sticking with the same players for so long.