[2015 Six Nations] England vs France (Round 5)

[Tony Manx]

My final post today as I am now going to raise a well earned glass of red not only to the Irish for their success but also to the 184 players and 4 referees (and not forgetting 95% of the posters on TRF) who have given me the best day of 6N rugby for many, many years!!!

Cheers Guys!!!

 

[BraddersTheDog]

England keep missing out on points difference.

Shout out for Scotland, and in particular Hog for dropping the ball over the line. Not.

 

[smartcooky]

Is the crack your smoking legal??? 

He's not the only one doing crack. Our haggis eating noob is snorting it by the spooonful.... wooden spoonful!

 

[iINDOMINUSxx]

England keep missing out on points difference.

Shout out for Scotland, and in particular Hog for dropping the ball over the line. Not.

mm yes you are very welcome, what ever helps Ireland win the six nations

 

[yaboyjj]

Fair play to Ford for a very good goal kicking performance- kicking out of hand was a bit shaky today though.
Weak links are obviously Hartley and Burrell, also Watson is yet to convince (also Haskell, what a prize plum- I don't think you can ever expect players with a reputation for dumb decisions to ever grow out of it tbh).
I don't know what to make of the defence though, has it gone backwards?

There's a lot of pressure on Ford's kicking game in the backline- a mixture of poor passing from Youngs and lack of footballing centres.

 

[Crapspray]

I said they are consistant, what I'm moaning is they don't have that little bit extra to be the best. We NEED to be in a situation where we can win every game to win the world cup, England have not achieved that as they always bottle it at least once. Today we could have won it but we gifted the French 2 easy tries by being stupid. We missed countless opportunities against Scotland, we leaked unacceptable tries against Italy, we gave away a stupid yellow this game. It's unacceptable for a team that hopes to win the world cup to do this.

I was being sarcastic, mate. Admittedly, it's not obvious on the internet. Especially with a couple of jock mongs hanging around in the thread.

Yep, we're 10% short. But we've got a better backline, scored 18 tries in the tournament, and have a raft of key personnel to come back. There's the resources, and years with this group of players, to make that 10% up in the next couple of years.

---

EDIT: Whether Lancaster can do it, I'm not sure. But it's down to him now; enough quality players have turned up to make us a competitive side.

 

[msf]

Hey, I'm usually one of the first on here to criticize England, but you won't hear me doing it (much) this week...Yes, they aren't quite the finished article, and they still won't be in September, but I haven't been that entertained by an England side since 2001.

 

[ianw16]

I disagree, it was like a shotgun as opposed to a rifle, we created lots of chances and lots of errors but ultimately if we are scoring more than we are conceding, then it is kind of working. I think all 3 winners from this week would have dismantled South Africa and Australia.

I think you may be getting a bit carried away by the strength of the opposition the top 3 faced this weekend. However, we shall see if the respective coaches have the cojones to try to play that sort of game against the SH big 3. I'm sure both Aus and NZ would much rather face that than the ball up the jumper, 30 scrums a game type of thing that we normally see. They've been doing it a lot longer, and do it a lot better, and possess the best players in the world in terms of capitalising on unstructured games like that. It's one of the reasons Hansen was trying to goad Lancaster into doing that very thing in a recent test between the two countries. I for one would be happy to see the ball being kicked aimlessly to Savea, Smith and Dagg, among others all day, with never a lineout or scrum to worry about. Won't happen though.

 

[ncurd]

I think you may be getting a bit carried away by the strength of the opposition the top 3 faced this weekend. However, we shall see if the respective coaches have the cojones to try to play that sort of game against the SH big 3. I'm sure both Aus and NZ would much rather face that than the ball up the jumper, 30 scrums a game type of thing that we normally see. They've been doing it a lot longer, and do it a lot better, and possess the best players in the world in terms of capitalising on unstructured games like that. It's one of the reasons Hansen was trying to goad Lancaster into doing that very thing in a recent test between the two countries. I for one would be happy to see the ball being kicked aimlessly to Savea, Smith and Dagg, among others all day, with never a lineout or scrum to worry about. Won't happen though.

I think your bigging up Aus a bit too much there. NZ will have field day against that defence though.

 

[msf]

Yeah, I think playing like that against Australia would be suicide, since if any of the top 3 keep it tight against them they will win. I think if we played like that every week we could take on New Zealand and Australia at their own game, but that won't happen unless we introduce bonus points like the Rugby Championship has done.

 

[shtove]

He's not the only one doing crack. Our haggis eating noob is snorting it by the spooonful.... wooden spoonful!

Duude!

Please tell me how you think England and France will do at the WC based on that match.

Plus: I couldn't watch it live so had to go with time lapse. Mid way through the second half I was so bored with the chaos I fast forwarded and caught up with the live end. Yay for Ireland, but it's Wales for me.

 

[msf]

If we could develop that side of our play in the 6 nations and the Champions Cup and domestic group stages, and keep the tight side of our game with the CC and domestic knock-outs, I think the southern hemisphere might lose its preeminence in the world game.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I think you may be getting a bit carried away by the strength of the opposition the top 3 faced this weekend. However, we shall see if the respective coaches have the cojones to try to play that sort of game against the SH big 3. I'm sure both Aus and NZ would much rather face that than the ball up the jumper, 30 scrums a game type of thing that we normally see. They've been doing it a lot longer, and do it a lot better, and possess the best players in the world in terms of capitalising on unstructured games like that. It's one of the reasons Hansen was trying to goad Lancaster into doing that very thing in a recent test between the two countries. I for one would be happy to see the ball being kicked aimlessly to Savea, Smith and Dagg, among others all day, with never a lineout or scrum to worry about. Won't happen though.

Latest results, Wales have beaten SA, England have beaten Australia and Ireland have beaten both and very nearly beat NZ. England also had some 1 score games against NZ. All 3 are now performing even better than they did then.

 

[msf]

Okay, just shtove your face in so you don't have to watch a game like that again.

 

[bw245]

Celebrating in the pub! Absolutely buzzing!!

 

[Hibbyhanky]

England where in the game with bad French kicking and a ref with a white top with a rose on it two try's at the end of first 40 England got a pen for diving in but when the French defender went to ground he was not allowed back to his feet a english attacker dived on him ref blow pen for England then a try other try where a French defender pulled the ball back the ball had been mocked on already that's why it was on the ground later in the game a english player tripped kick French player got a yellow card right in front of the ref as clear as day no way he did not see what happens clear sending off still it was the camra ref that had to bring it up the rif in this game should never ref again did he take a bung

 

[TW27BA]

The real winners today were the fans. Three really entertaining games ending with a cracker. Congrats to Ireland, and also France for playing with spirit today and not slowing the game down with endless touch kicks. England continue to frustrate and I think Lancaster will have seen today that Haskell and Burrell should not be in the starting lineup. Watson, and Hartley still disappoint me but Nowell was a revelation today.

Edit,,,,,,,, isn't it past hanky boys bedtime?

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Can someone get rid of this annoying Scottish git?

 

[Hibbyhanky]

Think we can put all six teams together and we still going to win World Cup unless we can get the ref England had today

- - - Updated - - -

Watch the game again at the try's in question England played well good games to watch just watch again

 

[ianw16]

Latest results, Wales have beaten SA, England have beaten Australia and Ireland have beaten both and very nearly beat NZ. England also had some 1 score games against NZ. All 3 are now performing even better than they did then.

Hmmm, but don't forget that those are in games that are not at the focus of those teams seasons. Lot different to playing them in a WC when that is the focus of the season, when players have been rested in the Super XV and a reduced RC. Not saying those teams haven't got a chance against them, just that they will have a better chance, particularly against Aus, and to a lesser extent NZ, by keeping it tight. Don't underestimate SA either. Their season finished after they beat the AB's in Joburg. They're a lot better than they showed over here in the autumn. They are the team that still worry me most for the WC.