[2014 EOYT] England vs South Africa

[ratsapprentice]

He's head and shoulders above Dave too, but Dave is the only TH there and JonesWUM didn't say Attwood was better than Launch.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

When we toured South Africa the last game we drew against them.

3 years later we loose at home making the same mistakes we have been making the last 3 years since Lancaster took charge.

Anyone who thinks we are in a good place as a team must be deluded unless I'm just negative after another pathetic performance.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Fair enough! Regardless, though, I think there's a VERY strong case right now for Launchbury & Attwood being our preferred pairing. Given Attwoods form and Lawes' lack of discipline... potentially fantastic balance between those two.

@Living Sacrifice : OTT imo; we're definitely a good side, I'm just not sure we're any more than that

 

[ratsapprentice]

I think there's a VERY strong case right now for Launchbury & Attwood being our preferred pairing.potentially fantastic balance between those two.

I've been saying that for a long time now, I think Peat has too.

When we toured South Africa the last game we drew against them.

We got absolutely battered in the first two games and SA picked a weakened side for the third test.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I've been saying that for a long time now, I think Peat has too.

I've been calling for Davey boy for ages

 

[ratsapprentice]

Me and Peat and Olyy-lad.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Also, Seymour scored a try and generally made the Not Not's lives a living hell at the breakdown, on Saturday - get him starting.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Also, Seymour scored a try and generally made the Not Not's lives a living hell at the breakdown, on Saturday - get him starting.

How was he in the second half of last weekend?

 

[j'nuh]

It wasn't long ago that there were rumours floating about that Attwood had to take a pay cut when re-negotiating his contract at Bath, because of his non-performances there. He looked miles away from playing for England in his first couple of years there. Because of that, I've been very reluctant in thinking he should start for England. But he's sustained a high level for a long time now, and does look like our best partner for Launchbury.

I'm just not sure why he ever dipped in the first place. Or what changed to make him pick up form again.

 

[Maverick1987]

It wasn't long ago that there were rumours floating about that Attwood had to take a pay cut when re-negotiating his contract at Bath, because of his non-performances there. He looked miles away from playing for England in his first couple of years there. Because of that, I've been very reluctant in thinking he should start for England. But he's sustained a high level for a long time now, and does look like our best partner for Launchbury.

I'm just not sure why he ever dipped in the first place. Or what changed to make him pick up form again.

Do I remember him having a hefty ban for something or was it a long injury ? Think when he was at glos ?

 

[ratsapprentice]

He got a ban for a stamp - I think it ****ed him up a little bit for a while after.

But he's been awesome for the last two seasons.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Yeah, the stamp certainly screwed with his mojo a bit - form dropped off quite a lot after that.

How was he in the second half of last weekend?

One of the only Sale players who could walk off the pitch with his head held high - that is if he could still walk at the end. Gave absolutely everything for the full 80, as he does every week, regardless of what the scoreline is.

 

[TRF_heineken]

You forget though, how are people to react to a defeat if its not the refs fault?

Then how should I react then??

Have Heineken and Stormer gone into hiding?

Not hiding, celebrating! It's always an awesome feeling to beat the Souties, especially at home!!


Here's my view on the match:

Welcome back Schalla!! His first start for the Boks since his illness, and he was absolutely fantastic. But to me, Marcel Coetzee was again our best performer on the field, closely followed by Etzebeth and Matfield. The amount of tackles our locks made was just great to see, especially from Etzebeth who has been out of sorts lately.

I just don't know why would England keep on picking Dylan Hartley. He is a liability, and he's even worse than Bakkies!! And I'm not even going to talk about the stamping as enough has been said about it, and he deserved the card. What irritated me more, was the "off the ball stuff", he repeatedly held back defenders at rucks, and have a look at the try by Morgan. Hartley isn't even part of the maul, basically in an offside position, holding Beast in a headlock, preventing him from getting to Morgan.

Farrel was the best player on the pitch... For South Africa!

Lambie had a bit of weird night. He did 2 things great, the Drop goal and the chip for Reinach's try, but other than that, he was shaky. Reinach was superb! And Jan Serfontein is just becoming more and more like and outside centre, showing the vision and timing, reminded me a lot of Jaque Fourie... Willie was good on attack as usual, but his aerial skills were dreadful. And JP Pietersen was slow and pedestrian.

The score should have been more convincing in our favour, and I commend England for keeping it close and showing us that we are not the only ones who can be devastating with a maul, even though that second try from a maul should never have happened. Yet again a Frenchman makes a ****-up. All this is doing is making me doubt the integrity of the referees more and more. And while I personally don't like Walsh, he did a good job in this heated battle. Even though he missed a few calls.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

We got absolutely battered in the first two games and SA picked a weakened side for the third test.

TBF that weakened side was what us fans were calling for though in hindsight it wasn't a good idea to make so many changes in one go though some of them were forced on HM.

On the game while I'm happy enough for the win I think both teams will be disappointed by the actual quality of rugby having been played on Saturday. It has to be said though that England-SA matches rarely are pretty as both teams want to beat up the opposing pack first and foremost so it ends up becoming more of a shoving match than nything else. We have to find a way to play the rugby we are capable of on highveld elsewhere.

Had a nice break away made even nicer by a trifecta of wins from the Bokke, Proteas and Bafana Bafana.

 

[TRF_heineken]

TBF that weakened side was what us fans were calling for though in hindsight it wasn't a good idea to make so many changes in one go though some of them were forced on HM.

On the game while I'm happy enough for the win I think both teams will be disappointed by the actual quality of rugby having been played on Saturday. It has to be said though that England-SA matches rarely are pretty as both teams want to beat up the opposing pack first and foremost so it ends up becoming more of a shoving match than nything else. We have to find a way to play the rugby we are capable of on highveld elsewhere.

Had a nice break away made even nicer by a trifecta of wins from the Bokke, Proteas and Bafana Bafana.

Yeah! It's not often that all 3 our national teams play the same weekend, let alone win!

And I have to agree with Naas Botha, after the game he said "The Northern Hemisphere teams should stop wishing for rainy games when they play against the SANZAR teams. We have learnt how to play, and this year's Rugby Championship was evidence of it, as just the last 2 games were played rain-free". It's the NH that must learn how to play on dry fields.

To win 12 games in a row against England is something only we can say. not even NZ can say that! And no @Big_Ewis, we are not superstitious.

We had a weakened squad to work with due to injuries, and making 5 changes is usually very disruptive to the team, but I think the gutsy call paid off. Apart from JPP, all the other changes did their part and contributed to the team winning.

 

[goodNumber10]

Yeah! It's not often that all 3 our national teams play the same weekend, let alone win!

And I have to agree with Naas Botha, after the game he said "The Northern Hemisphere teams should stop wishing for rainy games when they play against the SANZAR teams. We have learnt how to play, and this year's Rugby Championship was evidence of it, as just the last 2 games were played rain-free". It's the NH that must learn how to play on dry fields.

To win 12 games in a row against England is something only we can say. not even NZ can say that! And no @Big_Ewis, we are not superstitious.

We had a weakened squad to work with due to injuries, and making 5 changes is usually very disruptive to the team, but I think the gutsy call paid off. Apart from JPP, all the other changes did their part and contributed to the team winning.

Naas Botha is misinformed and stuck in the 80's.

England will not have woken up seen the rain and thought " YES!" They will have been thinking quite the opposite.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Naas Botha is misinformed and stuck in the 80's.

England will not have woken up seen the rain and thought " YES!" They will have been thinking quite the opposite.

Don't be like that. See it in context. New Zealand and South Africa have both now shown that they have the ability to win at Twickenham. But more than that, England have shown that they can lose at Twickenham, and twice in a row actually. Do you have any idea what a massive boost this is for next year's world cup?? The SANZAR team's are using this EOYT purely as preparation for next year, because the next time they are in the NH, it's for the RWC.

There is no June test window next year, and the Rugby Championship is even shortened for the RWC. This EOYT is to get our ducks in a row and to see what works and what doesn't.

 

[Peat]

Not denying what that victory means to you, simply stating that England haven't prayed for rain for quite a long time and that Botha's out of date if he's saying we are - fair enough if you're celebrating an all weather game, but that part of it is inaccurate.

 

[goodNumber10]

Don't be like that. See it in context. New Zealand and South Africa have both now shown that they have the ability to win at Twickenham. But more than that, England have shown that they can lose at Twickenham, and twice in a row actually. Do you have any idea what a massive boost this is for next year's world cup?? The SANZAR team's are using this EOYT purely as preparation for next year, because the next time they are in the NH, it's for the RWC.

There is no June test window next year, and the Rugby Championship is even shortened for the RWC. This EOYT is to get our ducks in a row and to see what works and what doesn't.

I see the context of the tours mate, and i agree on that it was important - england have let themselves down this EOYT because they really needed to come away with three from four this November, likely they will leave with one win and i bet that's not a thrashing of Samoa.

But i just don't agree with Botha that England, Wales, France, or Ireland etc... want wet weather games.

 

[TRF_heineken]

I see the context of the tours mate, and i agree on that it was important - england have let themselves down this EOYT because they really needed to come away with three from four this November, likely they will leave with one win and i bet that's not a thrashing of Samoa.

But i just don't agree with Botha that England, Wales, France, or Ireland etc... want wet weather games.

It's not about wanting wet weather games. It's about hoping that it is wet weather games as it makes the games closer and more advantageous for the home team. Naas Botha's comments was made in regards with I think it was Greenwood who talked to a supersport presenter after the game where he said that "England can be glad it was raining".