[2015 Six Nations] England

[Peat]

At the same time, if a ref ain't gonna ping you for it, then you've got to be equally dumbfounded if a player doesn't do it.

 

[j'nuh]

He hasn't though, at least not by referees.
I say he keeps doing what he's doing until he starts getting pinged for it - it's like Maverick says, you play the whistle and if he was a 7 who was going offside/off his feet but winning penalties doing so, then people would be applauding how streetwise they are.

I'm calling it: Corbs has had ages out of the game, isn't up to speed on the new engagement laws compared to the rest of the props, and is sideways scrummaging to compensate.

Paul James has equally been left behind by these laws and is doing exactly the same thing. He's getting noticed for it. Corbs will too.

Or maybe not... referees let the Saints get away with standing up in every scrum for long past the point where everyone knew it was what they were doing.

I have noticed that a lot of the teams with bigger hookers are struggling to hook the ball. This might be causing looseheads to bore in to win the ball.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I was going to use Paul James as an example. Go back 2 years or so and he was regarded as a brilliant scrummager. He regularly turned inwards and 2013 England vs Wales was probably the best example of one side getting away with murder at the scrum because the ref had already decided England were the ones at fault. Move on a year and the situation is reversed. Paul James and Gethin Jenkins, 2 props who had reputations as good scrummagers, now have reputations for driving in sideways, collapsing and generally being past their best in the scrum.

Corbs needs to scrummage straight more often because at times he is REALLY blatant (parallel to the try line) and if he gets a bad reputation, it will take a long time to shake off. He needs to not get into that situation in the first place by showing he is good in the scrum without turning in.

 

[Peat]

Corbs liked to swing his hips out before the rules changes too, tbf. Most of his really big scrummaging performances coincided with a ref not spotting it at all if (shaky) memory serves...

 

[Maverick1987]

I was going to use Paul James as an example. Go back 2 years or so and he was regarded as a brilliant scrummager. He regularly turned inwards and 2013 England vs Wales was probably the best example of one side getting away with murder at the scrum because the ref had already decided England were the ones at fault. Move on a year and the situation is reversed. Paul James and Gethin Jenkins, 2 props who had reputations as good scrummagers, now have reputations for driving in sideways, collapsing and generally being past their best in the scrum.

Corbs needs to scrummage straight more often because at times he is REALLY blatant (parallel to the try line) and if he gets a bad reputation, it will take a long time to shake off. He needs to not get into that situation in the first place by showing he is good in the scrum without turning in.

He's the best loose head scrummager in the world when fit . Until or IF at all he gets found out by the referees I'm happy for him to carry on .

Also in 2013 Jenkins got a yellow for purposely collapsing the scrum . It got better for wales when James came on although that could have coincided with Wilson being replaced by Thomas

 

[Crapspray]

Also in 2013 Jenkins got a yellow for purposely collapsing the scrum . It got better for wales when James came on although that could have coincided with Wilson being replaced by Thomas

It wasn't Wales's props in particular, rather a pack-wide approach to collapse to win penalties. Brian Moore wrote about the law changes and their effect on scrum completion in the Torygraph. It ended up showing that scrums completed 10% more in the Six Nations, but once you took Wales out it jumped to 33%. They collapsed something like 45% of their scrums. (Those are fuzzy stats off the top of my head, but I'm fairly certain they were around that mark.)

So when Corbisiero is back playing for England, as long as the pack stays up and plays off the advantage (like they did against Australia), I can't see the refs being that fussed.

What always impressed me was his ability to recover from poor engagements; he seemed to have the strength to force himself into a good position no matter how contorted he got. Perhaps that's why the angling-in is more obvious now that the engagement is slowed down.

 

[Geordie]

Are people just assuming Corbs will back in ahead of Marler. I think that's being very harsh on Marler who has been excellent.

He just needs to finally bring his carrying game to the international scene.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Are people just assuming Corbs will back in ahead of Marler. I think that's being very harsh on Marler who has been excellent.

He just needs to finally bring his carrying game to the international scene.

I fully expect marler to start with corbs on the bench if he trains better than mullan.

I wonder if Cole will make the squad?

 

[Peat]

Are people just assuming Corbs will back in ahead of Marler. I think that's being very harsh on Marler who has been excellent.

He just needs to finally bring his carrying game to the international scene.

I think there's a fair chance Corbs will come back in ahead, but wouldn't wish to nail any colours to the mast, as difficult to say what Lancaster would do.

I would bring him straight back though, but then I haven't been rating Marler that highly.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I think Cole is almost nailed on as being in the 6N squad,
We'll likely see Wilson, Cole and Brookes.

Loosehead, on the other hand, I've got no idea. Marler is a shoe in, but I think Mullan has done everything asked of him and has been playing well for wasps. Vunipola is back from injury and playing well enough, as is Corbs.
I think it'll probably be between Mako and Mullan for the 3rd loosehead spot, with Mullan likely losing out and being 'relegated' to the Saxons, alongside Waller.

 

[SWAGGER]

I want to the tigers game today (tigers fan) I saw and meet these bath's players (Wilson, Thomas, cool) buying the chips for the lads. To my surprise Wilson is in great shape but I think if he wants to keep his starting shirt maybe fish and chips anit the best idea

 

[ratsapprentice]

Just in case people were doubting what a ridiculous athlete Kyle Sinckler is... look at the try he scored today.

Absurd pace for a 122kg TH.

 

[goodNumber10]

was he fast, or were they slow?

 

[ratsapprentice]

He was fast.

1min in:


It's not the first time he's showed it though, remember the kick-chase he made in home game vs Bath last season? - it's utterly insane for a guy his size... never seen anything like it in rugby.
You've got to remember he started off as a FB.

 

[Geordie]

That's some serious pace.

As to the LH spot...ive never been massively impressed by Mako Vunipola. Also I will back Marler up, I think he has been impressive. Not explosive in the scrums but very few have bettered him and his work around the park is top class...(his defence, ruck work etc) He just needs to bring his carrying game up to this level.

On a separate topic...back row. Has anyone else been watching Calum Clark closely. I know he is not a liked man...but he has been in superb form...his work close in is top class.
Also with Kvesic taking yet another MOTM v Exeter in a poor Glos team....should Robshaw not recover from his shoulder issue there are players really coming into form.

 

[goodNumber10]

He was fast.

1min in:


It's not the first time he's showed it though, remember the kick-chase he made in home game vs Bath last season? - it's utterly insane for a guy his size... never seen anything like it in rugby.
You've got to remember he started off as a FB.

I should have put a smiley in my post

 

[Geordie]

He was fast.

1min in:


It's not the first time he's showed it though, remember the kick-chase he made in home game vs Bath last season? - it's utterly insane for a guy his size... never seen anything like it in rugby.
You've got to remember he started off as a FB.

Don't forget when Matt Mullan caught James Hook down the wing with a diving tackle when he was still at Wuss.....

 

[goodNumber10]

That's some serious pace.

As to the LH spot...ive never been massively impressed by Mako Vunipola. Also I will back Marler up, I think he has been impressive. Not explosive in the scrums but very few have bettered him and his work around the park is top class...(his defence, ruck work etc) He just needs to bring his carrying game up to this level.

On a separate topic...back row. Has anyone else been watching Calum Clark closely. I know he is not a liked man...but he has been in superb form...his work close in is top class.
Also with Kvesic taking yet another MOTM v Exeter in a poor Glos team....should Robshaw not recover from his shoulder issue there are players really coming into form.

It pains me to say it but Clarkes been superb... his work rate and link play has been fantastic

 

[Geordie]

His breakdown work aswell GN10. I've made a point of watching him closely in the last few games of the Christmas period and he's really top class in there.

He will be in the EPS and I would agree with that on this form where I have disagreed with his inclusion at times in the past.
Is this the form that Lancaster and others like Neil Back have said could make him such a classy player?

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Clarke ................................ Nope