[2014 EOYT] England vs South Africa

[Peat]

Have Heineken and Stormer gone into hiding?

 

[Patchey]

Cares big weakness IMO is his tendency, like a worrying number of English nines, to pick the ball and move it away from the ruck before passing. Works great in some situations but it can easily slow the play down and is ineffective against a team with a good fringe defense. See the intercept try.

I'm praying for Haskell next week, I think Lancaster will experiment, perhaps more so than if we'd won today, and Haskell has been playing so well it would be obtuse not to involve him.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Well the game went exactly how I thought it would.

Lancaster is afraid to make the big calls and pick the best team rather than his favourite players!

Ford should have started last two weeks.

Centre choice was wrong, Lancaster hasn't improved england.

Same old ****e every time we play the top teams.

 

[Patchey]

Have Heineken and Stormer gone into hiding?

If by hiding you mean 'the bar' then probably.

 

[TheSaffycen]

Well the game went exactly how I thought it would.

Lancaster is afraid to make the big calls and pick the best team rather than his favourite players!

Ford should have started last two weeks.

Centre choice was wrong, Lancaster hasn't improved england.

Same old ****e every time we play the top teams.

Who would you have at centre ?

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Who would you have at centre ?

The best inside centre 12 eastmond and the best outside centre JJ. Barritt hasn't offered anything and nearly botched the try. Even when manu is fit Id have JJ. Just a better outside centre, more rounded.

I'd have said to manu if you don't improve on your basics your out. Not just watch him butcher chances time and time again. But maybe that's all the players in England who lack basics, I don't know!

 

[Peat]

I'm not a big Barritt fan, far from it, but he was the last of our problems today. Wouldn't mind Joseph being tested though.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Agree with that entirely, Peat.

The difference between our attack with Ford and Farrell on was even starker than it seemed during the game now that I'm watching the BBC highlights package.

I also don't think the players will be able to sit by and ignore it, they've been playing the game since they were kids... they know when a FH is playing well and when he isn't.

 

[ianw16]

Well, that was horrendously funny. Two bad teams having an off day. Thankfully one of the teams had a first-five! England are screwed at 9, 10, 12 & 13. Can't remember the Boks spreading it at all. Didn't need to. Did Lancaster say "We're not far away", or did I miss that?

 

[McTallshort]

One day our backs will perform as well as our forwards, Dylan Hartley will not do something stupid and we will have a good kicking game executed by the best fly half in England not the second best fly half at Saracans but not this day Im afraid.

 

[barkinghooker]

There was two moments where Farrell fed Eastmond in to tight spaces and got smashed. Do you think this was a training move or Farrell just wanting to get rid of the ball ?

I like Lancaster but perhaps he hasn't evolved as a coach and left England hanging a little ?
Surely Morgan will start next week and hope we see something different at 9 and 10 .

We was quite narrow in attack. Ashton would of loved today

 

[Geordie]

Farrell MUST be dropped and for the Aussie game aswell. Hes a limited player when fit and on form...but at the moment he is horribly out of form and carrying and injury.

I also worry about the packs carrying ability. Aside from Billy V and Morgan who was excellent in attack and defence today, who actually carries the ball with real ferocity to break the gain line.....NO-ONE. That is a huge issue.

As for Barritt...he may not be flashy...but he was one of the only ones who played as we expect. He hit every tackle...he rucked, he carried the ball at top speed in to contact. He may not be the answer at 12/13...but at the moment he's certainly not the major issue.

 

[Geordie]

There was two moments where Farrell fed Eastmond in to tight spaces and got smashed. Do you think this was a training move or Farrell just wanting to get rid of the ball ?

I like Lancaster but perhaps he hasn't evolved as a coach and left England hanging a little ?
Surely Morgan will start next week and hope we see something different at 9 and 10 .

We was quite narrow in attack. Ashton would of loved today

That was Watson.

Agree about Morgan...he was top class today. He attaced excellently...but crucially his defence was top notch...he made a couple of key tackles. He must start. And Haskell for Wood.

Maybe not the most popular choice but id love to see Matt Garvey given a run out...he's getting back to fitness for Bath. The guy is a beast!

 

[ratsapprentice]

That was Watson.

...Well that's awkward...

 

[Geordie]

...Well that's awkward...

Naaaaaahhhhh

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Attwood - [/B] His error in not passing before the tackle wasn't as egregious as some have made it out to be.

That would be me. Why wasn't it a mistake?

 

[ratsapprentice]

It was an error (I didn't say it wasn't) - it's just wasn't that bad of an error. I wasn't specifically referring to you, Woodward made a pretty big deal of it too.

The defender held his shape very well and didn't commit until Dave was right on him, I think Watson would have been tackled into touch barring a very, very good last second pass... I don't expect our TH lock to be able to get into the position Attwood did, let alone put in the sort of pass that would be required for Watson to waltz over.

 

[Every Time Ref]

I haven't heard anyone else say it but although Attwood butchered that chance, I think Care also butchered it. With the caveat that I was watching in the pub and details can easily get confused, I thought Care ran the ball sideways, turning a 4-on-2 in 20 metres of space into a 4-on-2 in 10 metres. Not to excuse Attwood's idiocy, but they both messed up in my opinion.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Yeah, I mean the thing that made it pretty (very) excusable was the depth of the supporting runners. Its quite hard to pass back to runners who are some way behind you I guess (I have never tried!) Though it does beg the question why the supporting runners took so long to get close?
For me though Attwood is immune to significant criticism. I've somewhat of a man crush on him

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Also Attwood's an enforcer-type-lock, not an outside centre.
Should he have made the pass? Yes.
Should he be crucified for not? No.
He's not programmed to be running the ball in space in the 13 channel with wingers on his outside