goodNumber10
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well then, I've just sat through the whole game, and (Surprise!) I don't agree about Farrell at all - i felt he made a couple of mistakes just before he came off, but I didn't feel Ford "came on and changed our attack", and i didn't feel Farrell was as poor as people made out in the first 55 minutes (more on the attack later).
On the substitution it's not his call, the fourth official calls it, he can't choose to stay on if the refs been told - so they never made the sub.
I'd still play Ford next week, because i think Farrell is unfit - i think his decision making went bad around 45 mins because he's not fit enough to play a full 60-70 min game. In fact i wouldn't play Farrell at all next week, i'd let him rest and bring in Myler on the bench.
Here is what i think on the actual game, and why we lost:
Problem one: We didn't protect the ball well enough in the contact in the first half - in bad weather, with rain and a greasy surface we should have been going in shoulders low and hips turned, instead our forwards were looking for the pass/offload.
Problem two: Our attack is stifled, our backs sat flat and narrow (bad weather accounts for the second). The reason our backs were sitting flat is because our ball died in the contact area, our ball died in the contact area because our forwards are a carrying isolated and from a standing start - we are actually playing exactly how Australia have been this summer, we're looking for that distributing forward but we don't understand how to do it - we'd be much better off just flying around the corner getting Hartley, Robshaw, Lawes, et al carrying off 9 and inside 10.
And THAT is why our backs are so flat and why we are struggling to move the ball off second/multiple phase ball.
We need to come onto the ball, for example; Marler (not specific) standing still 2-3 meters back is useless. Especially if he then lumbers two three steps forward only to pass to a one out runner. It is pointless if they are not both hitting the same channel. For example; if Marler carries one side of Lambie - Robshaw attacks the other. If Lambie bites in Marler passes to Robshaw on an unders line, if he doesn't he carries and Robshaw become the hammer to Marler's nail. If Robshaw carries then Marler becomes the cleaner.
And that's why we're struggling so badly, and that's why our ruck ball is sh*t, and that's why our backs are pedestrian.
Problem Three: Conditioning. As i said about Farrell, i think the same rings true for a lot of the squad. Billy V, Marler, Care, Brown - I think we are badly under condition for this level of Rugby. I don't know if this is a mismatch between our club and national set ups but these guys are not fit enough to keep pace with NZ and SA. SA didn't play well, but the one thing they didn't do is come off the pace at any point in the game. We look heavy on the ball, and that half a yard of oxygen in the second & third 20's is really impacting our contact area in both attack and defence.
Running through the team:
01: Marler - solid set piece, poor in the loose on attack. Think people underestimate his defence and how much he contributes to our lineout. 5/10
02: Hartley - well, Hartley, deserved Yellow, carried well at times - good set piece. 5/10
03: Wilson - as above 6/10
04: Lawes - yep, what you'd expect but a lack of team cohesion impacted on his effectivness. 7/10
05: Attwood - Monster, awesome in the loose, good at the set piece, massive in defence. No problem with his decision not to pass, cover defence was tracking why did watson not cut an angle? 8/10
06: Wood - pointless penalties, and awful at the breakdown. ok in defence. Not really sure what he does at the lineout. 4/10
07: Robshaw - Runs all day, but suffered form the same lack of impact at the contact as his team mates - both attack and defence. 5/10
08: Vunipola - get him on the bench. Really unfit, very loose. Lots of bad options, no presence at the breakdown - odd carry here and there doesn't mean he's amazing. 4/10
09: Care - very average game, crabbed a bit - but no one comes onto the ball like at Quins. Service got better after the intercept as obviously went inside himself - 5/10
10: Farrell - no where near as bad as people made out, but no where near as good as he should be. 6/10
11: May - some really poor decision making in defence, both on ball and tackling (probably born out of frustration). made up for a lot of it with a lovely search and apss for BB - 6/10
12: Eastmond - clearly frustrated with the quality of ball, was forcing it form the off. never really in the game, but never really out of it. 6/10
13: Barritt - great in defence, deserved a try - englandsbest back yesterday 7/10
14: Watson - too soon. Doesn't cut the angles when needed to - Farrell & Attwood incidents. Poor/Nervous in the air for a 14/15. Just needs bit more time form the bench i think. 5/10
15: Brown - not a great game, but not a bad game. Solid at the back, but clearly frustrated with the game (as shown with his lashin out at le roux). 7/10
I'd go like this for samoa:
01: Marler
02: Webber
03: wilson
04: Lawes
05: Attwood
06: Haskell
07: Robshaw
08: Morgan
09: Youngs
10: Ford
11: Yarde
12: Eastmond
13: BB
14: May (yep i'd swap his wing)
15: Watson
On the substitution it's not his call, the fourth official calls it, he can't choose to stay on if the refs been told - so they never made the sub.
I'd still play Ford next week, because i think Farrell is unfit - i think his decision making went bad around 45 mins because he's not fit enough to play a full 60-70 min game. In fact i wouldn't play Farrell at all next week, i'd let him rest and bring in Myler on the bench.
Here is what i think on the actual game, and why we lost:
Problem one: We didn't protect the ball well enough in the contact in the first half - in bad weather, with rain and a greasy surface we should have been going in shoulders low and hips turned, instead our forwards were looking for the pass/offload.
Problem two: Our attack is stifled, our backs sat flat and narrow (bad weather accounts for the second). The reason our backs were sitting flat is because our ball died in the contact area, our ball died in the contact area because our forwards are a carrying isolated and from a standing start - we are actually playing exactly how Australia have been this summer, we're looking for that distributing forward but we don't understand how to do it - we'd be much better off just flying around the corner getting Hartley, Robshaw, Lawes, et al carrying off 9 and inside 10.
And THAT is why our backs are so flat and why we are struggling to move the ball off second/multiple phase ball.
We need to come onto the ball, for example; Marler (not specific) standing still 2-3 meters back is useless. Especially if he then lumbers two three steps forward only to pass to a one out runner. It is pointless if they are not both hitting the same channel. For example; if Marler carries one side of Lambie - Robshaw attacks the other. If Lambie bites in Marler passes to Robshaw on an unders line, if he doesn't he carries and Robshaw become the hammer to Marler's nail. If Robshaw carries then Marler becomes the cleaner.
And that's why we're struggling so badly, and that's why our ruck ball is sh*t, and that's why our backs are pedestrian.
Problem Three: Conditioning. As i said about Farrell, i think the same rings true for a lot of the squad. Billy V, Marler, Care, Brown - I think we are badly under condition for this level of Rugby. I don't know if this is a mismatch between our club and national set ups but these guys are not fit enough to keep pace with NZ and SA. SA didn't play well, but the one thing they didn't do is come off the pace at any point in the game. We look heavy on the ball, and that half a yard of oxygen in the second & third 20's is really impacting our contact area in both attack and defence.
Running through the team:
01: Marler - solid set piece, poor in the loose on attack. Think people underestimate his defence and how much he contributes to our lineout. 5/10
02: Hartley - well, Hartley, deserved Yellow, carried well at times - good set piece. 5/10
03: Wilson - as above 6/10
04: Lawes - yep, what you'd expect but a lack of team cohesion impacted on his effectivness. 7/10
05: Attwood - Monster, awesome in the loose, good at the set piece, massive in defence. No problem with his decision not to pass, cover defence was tracking why did watson not cut an angle? 8/10
06: Wood - pointless penalties, and awful at the breakdown. ok in defence. Not really sure what he does at the lineout. 4/10
07: Robshaw - Runs all day, but suffered form the same lack of impact at the contact as his team mates - both attack and defence. 5/10
08: Vunipola - get him on the bench. Really unfit, very loose. Lots of bad options, no presence at the breakdown - odd carry here and there doesn't mean he's amazing. 4/10
09: Care - very average game, crabbed a bit - but no one comes onto the ball like at Quins. Service got better after the intercept as obviously went inside himself - 5/10
10: Farrell - no where near as bad as people made out, but no where near as good as he should be. 6/10
11: May - some really poor decision making in defence, both on ball and tackling (probably born out of frustration). made up for a lot of it with a lovely search and apss for BB - 6/10
12: Eastmond - clearly frustrated with the quality of ball, was forcing it form the off. never really in the game, but never really out of it. 6/10
13: Barritt - great in defence, deserved a try - englandsbest back yesterday 7/10
14: Watson - too soon. Doesn't cut the angles when needed to - Farrell & Attwood incidents. Poor/Nervous in the air for a 14/15. Just needs bit more time form the bench i think. 5/10
15: Brown - not a great game, but not a bad game. Solid at the back, but clearly frustrated with the game (as shown with his lashin out at le roux). 7/10
I'd go like this for samoa:
01: Marler
02: Webber
03: wilson
04: Lawes
05: Attwood
06: Haskell
07: Robshaw
08: Morgan
09: Youngs
10: Ford
11: Yarde
12: Eastmond
13: BB
14: May (yep i'd swap his wing)
15: Watson
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