2014 Six Nations: England vs Ireland (Round 3)

[munstermuffin]

Having just watched game again must say my bit proper on Ireland but will start with few points on England.

Super defensive structure with massive line break speed.
Mike Brown what a game.
Care was only average with Farrell ok too.
Pack really won game and Launchbury was my MOM on 2nd viewing.
Scrum was shaky.
Deserved win but without being harsh they weren't clinical enough and could've put 20-30points on Ireland.

Now Ireland:
Backs were all poor to ok.
Rob K did well but defensively should've done better for try conceded.
Trimble made a lot of errors today and well showed form that has seen him be in and out of team for years.
BOD. A great servant to Irish rugby but was poor today and hasn't been on form lately at all. Tackling was very poor for his standard missing 4.
D'Arcy. Was ok I thought. Did what it says on tin. Defended well made his tackles and crashed it up the middle to make yards.
Dave K. Chased well and tried but like Trimble made errors too and had a little fault in try. Chased well though and tried.
Sexton. Just had awful day poor decisions and awful kicking but it doesn't help when he has to play rest weeks and then today was making lots of tackles 13 I counted.
Murray. Like Sexton was poor and decision making wasn't right but like his 10 was heavily involved in tackling. Strangely though and this must've been game plan he kicked 3 balls 2 were to touch from in 22 and only 1 box kick.

As a whole our back line was poor as a unit and not on same wave lengths. I think we've the slowest back line in tournament and that showed too a lot today. As a back line they didn't reward the forwards who literally were in a war of attrition. We got away with 3 forward passes all between our backs and just had a totally off day.

Heaslip. Was anonymous and well probably wished he could have had more chances to run at the English. Defensively made 7 tackles but was out wide a lot.
POM. Did ok to slow balls but was dealt with by the English better than previous opposition. Was our best line out operator today and our best player going forward close in. But that says more about how poor we were today than how good he was.
Henry. Very guilt in attack but superb in defence.
POC. Captained team well and called line out well. Was average at best.
Toner. Very impressive. Not a huge fan of his but to be fair was committed. Tackled a lot made yards with ball and won line out ball well too. Credit where it's due.
Ross. I thought did ok nothing special but scrum went well and he did his job.
Best. Was good. Missed a lot of tackles but his darts and scrummaging was good. Never shied away from contact and was always disrupting English.
Healy. Very quiet today. Not poor but not good. Average by his standards.

As a whole the pack were brave and fought hard. It's hard to single any of pack out for OTT criticism as they were in a brutal physical battle and performed ok and gave an honest effort but English were better on day.

Bench was so and so.
McGrath was ok but today was another step up and he will be better for it.
Cronin didn't do much but didn't get platform.
Moore just continued from Ross
Henderson gave a good cameo
Murphy did nothing really good or bad. Congrats on debut though.
Boss picked up a cap for few seconds
Jackson came on for BOD but never touched ball or anything but is obviously not trusted as Sexton was having poor day and well Jackson just had to watch.
McFadden made 2 errors but tried hard but like other wingers I think just lacked the gas

 

[usap dessie]

Maybe , I'm missing something ??? what I saw was a brilliant game of rugby played by two quality teams which could have gone either way .....sometimes we over analyse ?

 

[McTallshort]

Maybe , I'm missing something ??? what I saw was a brilliant game of rugby played by two quality teams which could have gone either way .....sometimes we over analyse ?

Amen to that! Both sides gave everything in what was a classic test match think some people (Irish fans in the main) are being very critical of guys who really put their bodies on the line yesterday.

 

[goodNumber10]

Schmidt said it best in that you lose by 1point you can't really do much more without winning.

I presume the people moaning are Munster fans?

 

[munstermuffin]

A Munster fan here and not moaning. I don't blame Schmidt for loss and agree it was a great game but when you loose you look at finer details and say what went wrong. Irish team will look at that and see few errors as individuals and units and wish they could've done some things better

 

[goodNumber10]

Agree. The game was there for the taking. 13-3 up you needed to turn the screw.

All through the game I felt Ireland were looking for another gear to move into but it never came.

 

[McTallshort]

Or were never allowed to move into it

 

[goodNumber10]

Indeed.

 

[The Jones Boy]

Both forward packs pretty much cancelled each other out yesterday.
Both back lines were very average.
Kearney for ireland and Care for England provided spark.
Priestley and Farrell laboured often without intent but they tried.
I see farrell was let off a yellow card for an obvious no arms tackle.
Away from Twickers that would have been a clear yellow, the boy has a tendency for a hot head but he is still young.
Brian O'Driscoll has been a fine player, no question, but when will the coaching staff man up and shuffle him off to retirement. His inclusion is now hurting irelands progression at the highest level. He is old for this game and that half a yard of pace has made him go from being special to average. It's old age. It can't be helped.
Let him get the record off Gregan and then let the guy enjoy his retirement. He was pretty ordinary yesterday and if it wasn't for the fact that Billy Twelvetrees had a burning desire to bury his face in the crust of the earth seemingly every time he got possession rather than keep his feet and drive forward BoD would have looked really rubbish.
Darcy looks lightning compared to BoD.
English pack looked pretty handy, once again Courteny Lawes looked impressive.
This Irish team showed real grit aaa from home but they need fresh blood in the midfield to inject some serious spark in their attacking game. They look to be in good hands.
England showed a marked improvement from their opener against France where they couldn't work out how to win a game they should have won.
I can't help but feel that Englands lack of a genuine sniffer is still hurting them at the breakdown. Robshaw is not a no.7, he's a fine player but no number 7.
I look at how impressive Warburton was against France and wonder why there isn't someone of that ilk among the many strong clubs England has its premiership.
Winning crucial breakdowns is pivotal in test matches.

 

[Amiga500]

Good hard tight game.

On balance England deserved the win.

Can't fault the effort and commitment, some silly decisions coupled with moments of bad execution kept sucking momentum out of our game.

Makes the championship pretty damn tight now though.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Both forward packs pretty much cancelled each other out yesterday.
Both back lines were very average.
Kearney for ireland and Care for England provided spark.
Priestley and Farrell laboured often without intent but they tried.
I see farrell was let off a yellow card for an obvious no arms tackle.
Away from Twickers that would have been a clear yellow, the boy has a tendency for a hot head but he is still young.
Brian O'Driscoll has been a fine player, no question, but when will the coaching staff man up and shuffle him off to retirement. His inclusion is now hurting irelands progression at the highest level. He is old for this game and that half a yard of pace has made him go from being special to average. It's old age. It can't be helped.
Let him get the record off Gregan and then let the guy enjoy his retirement. He was pretty ordinary yesterday and if it wasn't for the fact that Billy Twelvetrees had a burning desire to bury his face in the crust of the earth seemingly every time he got possession rather than keep his feet and drive forward BoD would have looked really rubbish.
Darcy looks lightning compared to BoD.
English pack looked pretty handy, once again Courteny Lawes looked impressive.
This Irish team showed real grit aaa from home but they need fresh blood in the midfield to inject some serious spark in their attacking game. They look to be in good hands.
England showed a marked improvement from their opener against France where they couldn't work out how to win a game they should have won.
I can't help but feel that Englands lack of a genuine sniffer is still hurting them at the breakdown. Robshaw is not a no.7, he's a fine player but no number 7.
I look at how impressive Warburton was against France and wonder why there isn't someone of that ilk among the many strong clubs England has its premiership.
Winning crucial breakdowns is pivotal in test matches.

While I agree that BOD is nowhere near what he was he is still the beat we have and there's no point dropping him for inferior players because he is old, give him two good wings and he'll start to look better. Also Brown was the man who provided the spark for England and the game in general, he showed Kearney up big time yesterday but Sexton and co. did provide him with what he wants in bad kicks.

 

[brumtom]

Opinions on the eventual return of Wade and Yarde ? Nowell and May showing promise, I have no idea where that selection will go !

 

[McTallshort]

Dont see any reason why Nowell and May should be dropped for anyone at the minute does make you wonder why we stuck with Ashton for so long.....

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Mate you're talking ********. Irelands pack looked alot bigger than ours, came on top of the scrumbattle and generally looked beefier with guys like healy and oconnell. This is the most streamlined english pack for years and that is why it is doing well in open play.

To reiterate; shut up about any of the following...
- mass
- size
- force
- power
- mass
- england
- forwards
- packs
- mass
- comparison with france
- MASS

Below is a list of subjects you may comment on...
- agincourt
- charles de gaulle
- psa
- striped jumpers
- why champagne is not champagne if its not from champagne
- top 14
- hollande

LMAO.:lol:

 

[j'nuh]

Morgan not being to play 80s is a load of rubbish. He does it all the time for Glos and has for the last two years, through patches of good and less good form.

Anyway, on the match:

Brown is ****ing incredible at the minute. He's been our best player in all three matches this Six Nations, which follows from him being England's player of the autumn internationals. It's hard to think he wasn't a Lions player. If an England player were to win player of the tournament, it will be him.

May was also very good. I really do not get the criticism of him. Blaming him for Murray getting a great and very slight touch on the ball as he goes to ground... what else could he have done differently? I think that was just equal parts unlucky and great skill from Murray. (I think it was Murray?) As for the decision not to go for the corner... it was never on, I think people have vested interests if they are criticising him for that...

 

[munstermuffin]

While I agree that BOD is nowhere near what he was he is still the beat we have and there's no point dropping him for inferior players because he is old, give him two good wings and he'll start to look better. Also Brown was the man who provided the spark for England and the game in general, he showed Kearney up big time yesterday but Sexton and co. did provide him with what he wants in bad kicks.

I think that is issue Bod hasn't got that pace and starting with 2 wingers that don't have serious pace either is bad for BOD. Kearney was tap tackled by 2nd row (forget who) and I'm not saying it was bad or whatever but I think a winger with speed would've been away under the post. The fact is due to lack of pace Bod also is being dragged around that bit and it's hurting his game. I watched this last night and it's seen clear enough. In defence both wings stay that bit wider as they know if they come in slightly that leaves them with that bit of extra work against already opposition with better speed. This in turn has to make Bod reconsider his position and well as is said he hasn't that yard which is all it is to be that bit closer to D'Arcy or be bit wider to shut the wider area.
Wouldn't blame anyone as such as nobody is actually wrong and everyone is working hard just simply that's the issue

 

[Big Ewis]

Mate you're talking ********. Irelands pack looked alot bigger than ours, came on top of the scrumbattle and generally looked beefier with guys like healy and oconnell. This is the most streamlined english pack for years and that is why it is doing well in open play.

To reiterate; shut up about any of the following...
- mass
- size
- force
- power
- mass
- england
- forwards
- packs
- mass
- comparison with france
- MASS

Below is a list of subjects you may comment on...
- agincourt
- charles de gaulle
- psa
- striped jumpers
- why champagne is not champagne if its not from champagne
- top 14
- hollande

you're making it very hard to forget the clichés of the ultra-sensitive Englishman who overreacts explosively to someone making a comment about a tendency he's observed. Very, very hard
The fact you actually feel clever with your little list, like you have knowledge of history or wtvr you're trying to accomplish, humor ? Hopefully not, but I did notice someone actually laughed at your comment there...so, still quite confused about the intentions...

It's not because England have a mediocre scrum now, and that Ireland have some muscles themselves, that England doesn't work predominantly with its forwards to gain ground. But I guess Hollande, AZincourt, foie gras.

Now here's a serious (well, not so much really) question I'd like to ask you: could you tell me what England's style of Rugby was on display yesterday (as in the past handful of matches) in a few brief points, just the general guideline you've observed with your "witty" little brain ? Please. The flooh is youhs.

For the other English fans who don't have a cork up their butts (the few there...) and who'll actually read all of what I say and have the ability to not pathologically lock and obsess about the fact that England play muscle-ball (or at least that I say so), very very good game and all the other good things I've said about England in recent posts. BIG win, congrats. Though it was tight, England looked like the better team as an avg. for the 80min.

 

[The Jones Boy]

While I agree that BOD is nowhere near what he was he is still the beat we have and there's no point dropping him for inferior players because he is old, s.

If you don't blood new talent you'll be left with a horrible hole in your midfield.
BoD is passed it.
Give someone fresh with a sprint in their legs a chance.
The irish midfield has no pace at centre, sure Sexton looking lost doesn't help.
Keep BoD on to help the new midfield blend in a mentor capacity but as far as playing goes he's getting by on reputation only.
Gatland highlighted that in the middle of last year when a mediocre Lions back line struggled in two tests against a mediocre Australian line up.
He dropped BoD and the rest is history.

 

[McTallshort]

I suppose thats one take on it

 

[Feicarsinn]

If you don't blood new talent you'll be left with a horrible hole in your midfield.
BoD is passed it.
Give someone fresh with a sprint in their legs a chance.
The irish midfield has no pace at centre, sure Sexton looking lost doesn't help.
Keep BoD on to help the new midfield blend in a mentor capacity but as far as playing goes he's getting by on reputation only.
Gatland highlighted that in the middle of last year when a mediocre Lions back line struggled in two tests against a mediocre Australian line up.
He dropped BoD and the rest is history.

I agree with most of this. BOD's main strength at this point is his ability to draw defenders and lay the ball off, but if there isn't pace or the power to break tackles in the rest of the back line then he's a luxury we cannot afford. Is Henshaw the answer? Maybe not, but I think he deserves a shot. I'd look at bringing him and Zebo into the back line and leave it at that.