2014 QBE Internationals [EOYT] England

[ratsapprentice]

Barrit was always going to be in the EPS - the Telegraph article explicitly stated that Farrell-Barritt-Tuilagi was the preferred starting combo for the AB's game. Which would be negative IMO.

 

[Tony Manx]

Maybe Barritt is in with a shout because Lancaster is going to pick Ford..

Were that the case then Barritt MUST play.........in my opinion that is!!!

 

[Aristodemus]

I really hoped I had seen the last of Barritt in an England shirt, much like my feeling on Goode.

 

[ratsapprentice]

The quality of professional journalism in this country continues to be hampered by sensationalism and a perpetual "grass is always greener" attitude. Le sigh.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Thing is Barritt isn't BAD as such, he is just a defensive player more than an attacking one. He was brought in to an England setup that was already one of the worst attacking teams in the NH and unsuprisingly did nothing to change that. Now if you have more creative players around him and better wings then his lack of attacking ability won't be such a problem and his strong defense could actually work well. Having said that we never play with an attacking mindset and even now our first thought seem to be to grind down opposition and keep kicking. The last 6N was a change primarily due to the number of injuries we had. People like Mike Brown would start a counter attack rather than simply booting the ball back to the opposition every time it got into our 22.

Unlike other players, I wouldn't have a problem seeing Barritt back but ONLY if we develop creative play elsewhere. If we don't then it's simply blunting out attacking capabilities too much.

 

[j'nuh]

9. Care
10. Ford
11. May
12. Barritt
13. Slade
14. Rokoduguni
15. Brown

 

[Tony Manx]

9. Care
10. Ford
11. May
12. Barritt
13. Slade
14. Rokoduguni
15. Brown

I could definitely live with that but would admit to having my doubts about May as an international................if it works out that that is the pick (which I sincerely doubt as this is Lancaster!), I hope that he proves me very wrong because he has the talent!!!

 

[ratsapprentice]

Wouldn't be that surprised to that back-line, but with JJ in for Slade.
If the recent newspaper reports about the backline are correct, that is.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

But the only thing barritt can do is defend.

At least with manu being limited he smashes holes in defences and smashes people.
Farrell is limited but can defend and kick goals.

Barritt can't do anything other than defend. His basic skills are so limited we would be mental to play him over eastmond or hill or burrell who all have more than two points of difference over barritt.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Barritt can't do anything other than defend. His basic skills are so limited

Yeah, but that's not right though, is it?

People really love talking in extremes when it comes to our centres - Barritt is useless at anything other than tackling, Tuilagi is useless at anything other than running into brick walls.

 

[Peat]

Yeah, but that's not right though, is it?

People really love talking in extremes when it comes to our centres - Barritt is useless at anything other than tackling, Tuilagi is useless at anything other than running into brick walls.

Barritt's record as an England 12 in attack is pretty dodgy. Barring the miracle match vs NZ, he has never made a clean break while starting at 12. 10 games without a clean break. He has only beaten 4 defenders in that time. His solitary assist comes against Fiji. No tries. Obviously it looks better if you do include the miracle match, but it is a complete and total statistical outlier.

If he hasn't improved his attacking abilities, I would flat out not pick him for England at 12.

 

[goodNumber10]

Where did you pull those stats from peat?

 

[Peat]

ESPN - search Brad Barritt and you'll be able to access the stats for all his England matches.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Yeah, but that's not right though, is it?

People really love talking in extremes when it comes to our centres - Barritt is useless at anything other than tackling, Tuilagi is useless at anything other than running into brick walls.

Look at it this way then out of the rest of the international teams 12s where would barritt rank?

1 nonu
2 Jean de villies
3 12trees
4 Christian L
5 Gordon d'arcy
6 jamie Roberts
7 Wesley F
8 Matt Scott
9 jonny leota
10 juan Martin Hernandez


So how does out 12 stand on the top 10? Probably last

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Did I say he should be our 12?
Did I say he was a top 10 ranked 12 in the world?

 

[TheSaffycen]

If anyone watched the Saracens v Clermont game they would have seen Barritt was more than just a defender. He moved the ball on, used him in wrap arounds as well as the world class defending. Wesley Fofana is widely regarded as the best 12 in the world. Barritt contained him. At the end of the day we could get the same results without him, but just judging by Saracens form, he is a massive leader and player for us. This year he is more physical in defence and has been more aggressive in attack. Against Clermont he passed the ball more times (apart from half backs) than anyone else and didn't miss a tackle.
Again England might get 4 from 4 without him but if we have another 3rd test v New Zealand, he will be the first name on the team sheet.


Based on this European week anyone gone up or down in anyone's views ? For me -
UP- Kruis, Kitchener, Wallace, Robson, Strettle (no suprise I was working and only saw 3 games including Sarries)
Down-Yarde, not really anyone else I just was really disappointed, for want of a better word, that he never got into the game in a team that was on top.

 

[ratsapprentice]

You'd be hard pressed to override the evidence of his 16 caps.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Cipriani has, hopefully, made Lancaster realise he was a nobhead for (potentially) leaving him out of his list.
Especially after a lacklustre Myler show in Paris

 

[TheSaffycen]

You'd be hard pressed to override the evidence of his 16 caps.

I could say that May shouldn't ever play for England based on his caps, but that's completely disregarding his current form. Same with Cipriani based on what he has done in the past. It's all about form and being honest I would only take Eastmond over him, maybe Slade. Barritt has had a couple of MOTM awards, including when he was up against 36, and we(Saracens) look lost without him.

 

[ratsapprentice]

May hasn't had 16 caps where he's displayed virtually zero ability in one facet of the game.
The last time Cipriani played for England he played very well.
It's not all about form.

We aren't arguing about whether or not he should be in the EPS - it's whether or not he has any attacking ability at international level.
The evidence clearly shows he doesn't - that may have changed... but that seems very unlikely.