By Kath 2/7/03
July 2 2003

England 'A' to take on a Japan Select Team 7 p.m.(local time) 1100 BST Thursday 3rd July 2003 at Ajinomoto Stadium (formerly the Tokyo Stadium) - Tokyo.

Jim Mallinder's 'A' team are going for a fourth straight win on their summer tour having polished off the USA and Canada comfortably.  They headed West across the Pacific for the Far East crossing time zones and international date line to take on Japan's finest.  

Peter Anglesea (Sale),  is to Captain England 'A' into this fourth test against Japan Select XV. The England 'A' Team is in safe hands as Peter Anglesea is one of those unsung hero's that just gets on with the job in hand, works his socks off for the cause and a super guy as well!.

Speaking of causes, why is it that these England 'A' players do not get caps?  It is a disgrace, they put their bodies on the line, give up their summer - ok! we know the carrot is being dangled for places to the World Cup. But come on please! lets be fair to them.

It is my understanding that the second string players who played the Maori in New Zealand never got caps either, and we already know that the players who played the Baa Bas at Twickenham did not get them either!  It is not right!

I would argue that if you play for England whether it be senior or A and you pull on the England Jersey then you should get a cap!  After all we keep getting told its all about a squad of players.

What do you think - Should these players get caps?

Teams:

England: 15 Michael Horak (London Irish), 14 Dan Scarbrough (Leeds Tykes), 13 Fraser Waters (London Wasps), 12 Ben Johnston (Saracens), 11 Phil Christophers (Leeds Tykes), 10 Olly Barkley (Bath), 9 Nick Walshe (Sale Sharks), 8 Pete Anglesea (Sale Sharks), (captain), 7 Andy Hazell (Gloucester), 6 Paul Volley (London Wasps), 5 Alex Codling (Saracens), 4 Chris Jones (Sale Sharks), 3 Neil Hatley (London Irish), 2 Matt Cairns (Sale Sharks), 1 David Flatman (Bath).
Replacements: 16 Andy Titterrell (Sale Sharks), 17 Andy Sheridan (Sale Sharks), 18 Will Green (London Wasps), 19 Alex Brown (Gloucester), 20 Dan Hyde (Leeds Tykes), 21 Henry Paul (Gloucester), 22 Martyn Wood (Bath).

 

Japan Select XV: 15 M Tsutomu (Toshiba Fuchu), 14 D Ohata (Montferrand), 13 H Namba (Toyota Motor), 12 Y Motoki (Kobe Steel), 11 T Kurihara (Suntory), 10 K Hirose (Toyota Motor), 9 Y Sonoda (Kobe Steel), 8 Y Saito (Colomiers), 7 T Miuchi (NEC, captain), 6 T Ito (Kobe Steel), 5 A Parker (Toshiba Fuchu), 4 H Kiso (Yamaha Motor), 3 M Toyoyama (Toyota Motor), 2 M Amino (NEC), 1 S Hasegawa (Suntory).
Replacements: 16 M Yamamoto (Toyota Motor), 17 H Matsuo (Toshiba Fuchu), 18 K Kubo (Yamaha Motor), 19 Y Watanabe (Toshiba Fuchu), 20 W Murata (Yamaha Motor), 21 R Parkinson (Sanix), 22 H Onozawa (Suntory).