[2015 Six Nations] England

[chippieolamus]

I doubt they'll put BB in for a game vs Italy at home, he just isn't needed. Hopefully they'll continue to trust JJ. I would like to see Corbs, Wilson and Lawes come onto the bench (if fit).

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I don't see any logical reason Lancaster could give for using BB over JJ against Italy. It's not like we need absolutely top quality defense, we need attacking ability. If we aren't confident of a grand slam, we need to get a decent points difference. JJ is more likely to open up the Italian defense than BB.

 

[goodNumber10]

well the question i guess is how confident were we before the wales game that he wouldn't go with a BB & LB midfield?

It was odds on in the AI's and possibly 3 weeks ago was pretty much what we all thought.

You'd hope he'd stick with the same back line after Friday but you never know with this lot...

 

[msf]

I really hope you're right, but I think he might come in for either Burrell or on the bench for Twelvetrees.

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Actually, I think Lancaster will give himself the excuse that Barritt needs to play for Saracens first...so he'll be back in time for Ireland.

 

[msf]

Jesus, I can't believe I wasted part of an evening debating good no. 10 seriously - I found another thread where he said he thought that Daly would never be a world-class 13 (fair enough) and was really a 12 (which is the only position outside the halves that he would not even be decent in).

Sorry to derail the thread again, I'll stick to talking to people who know something about rugby in future.

 

[yaboyjj]

Re-introducing Barritt and Wood would be a big step back.

 

[msf]

I agree about Barritt, and if you mean into the team, about Wood as well, as I think the balance is better with Haskell, but if we had a 7 who is a decent carrier (like Kvesic) then I would probably go for Wood over Haskell, especially if we were playing a team with a good lineout.

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People seem to think Wood can't be a good blindside because he doesn't carry that well, but Richard Hill was pretty effective there with a similar style.

 

[Wendigo7]

I'll nab the notes I wrote elsewhere but Lanny was on TalkSPORT tonight and here is a brief summary:

- There are no prearranged substitutions. Lanny is in the belief certain international teams around us definitely do this (can anyone think of any off the top?) but he reviews the situation as the game goes and adapts accordingly. The backrow he didn't want to sub and wanted to add a bit of experience to finish off the job so Kruis came off Easter came on. Dan Cole he wanted to give as much time since returning from injury, but reported fatigue at around 65 ish? and came off shortly. Similar with Ben Youngs, who had a few cramp issues and Wigglesworth came on to finish off the job.

- Irrespective of injuries or form at Outside Centre, Jonathan Joseph because of the way he was playing was almost always going to start. (his words) (the no 1?)

- No injuries at all, everyone fit and in good health.

- Very few if no changes will be made for Italy.

- Discussed with Brian the idea that England made a poor start yet again and were down 10 nil. Was very pleased that this time the team delivered and felt all of them earnt their place. Need to cut that habit out if we can and stop giving away sloppy penalties.. try as well in this case.

- Impressed with George Kruis.

- The reasoning for him was to stick to the plan, the start of the antics in the tunnel he supports the players and just basically said we'd finished the warm up we didn't want to wait long and get caught cold by Wales in theory. We were still made to wait a fair bit which he wasn't overly happy with.

- Very happy with the depth of the side and isn't worried he doesn't entirely know his best XV. He thinks it's a good thing and it's good that we don't just have a 23 but we want 31 top class players all in form. Case in point for him was Tom Wood and James Haskell. Wood is key for Lineouts and played very well vs Australia, but after the Wales game, Lancaster doesn't really see himself dropping Haskell because he thought he was fantastic in all aspects.

 

[Boring Ian]

I find Wood really hard to judge. We all know he does the unseen stuff but he needs to bring some more of the stand out elements to his game. And we don't need him as a jumper when we have plenty of line out jumpers in our first string so that is not a Up for him.

Hate to say it but I didn't see his injury as a set back this time round.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Re-introducing Barritt and Wood would be a big step back.

I agree, and to be honest, I don't think he will.

Wood might make the bench over Croft.
Barritt won't be involved. Joseph, I think(/hope), proved he can mix it internationally against a very experience/quality midfield, and Lancs was going to pick Burrell anyway so it's between Joseph/BB and JJ played well enough to deserve another start.
I also don't think they'd put BB on the bench.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

I think wood has actually gone backwards over the last 6 months. He has been brilliant for Northampton but I want to see him play more of a traditional 6 role and make bigger ruck, tackle, carrying impact rather than be another workhorse.

Can we merge Haskell and wood? Oh wait that would be ewers!

 

[Rugga-lad]

I'd like to ask England fans, is Mike Brown really that good ? He seems to be an automatic choice every time the team gets announced.

 

[Maverick1987]

I'd like to ask England fans, is Mike Brown really that good ? He seems to be an automatic choice every time the team gets announced.

I think he still has some credit in the bank from last year tbh . When he plays well he's out best FB by some margin . I felt like Friday was his vast game in an England shirt for 6 months tbh . We have some young lads pushing him now so I think he will have to up his game again but for the time being he's the boy

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I'd like to ask England fans, is Mike Brown really that good ? He seems to be an automatic choice every time the team gets announced.

Yep when he is on form, he is very good. When he is off form, he doesn't tend to have absolute shockers but doesn't do much beyond the basics. I think he will have to watch his back as we have some other Fullbacks who could compete but at the moment he is a safe choice.

 

[goodNumber10]

His support running has gone to pieces for some reason but I thought he was ok on Friday.

 

[Captain Robshaw]

Any chance he might consider swapping Billy T back for Luther and keep JJ?

 

[Willodell100]

[Q UOTE=Captain Robshaw;707009]Any chance he might consider swapping Billy T back for Luther and keep JJ?[/QUOTE]

He might but I think it unlikely. I would consider the change as I prefer what Billy Twelvetress has to offer at 12. Class is permanent and all that.

I'm a big fan of Kyle Eastmond but I don't see him getting picked ahead of either at the moment. Continuity is important too.

I just hope Brad Barritt is left out. Until he finds some attacking flair his inability to create is not good enough for this England team.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

I too felt that Burrell went alright on friday despite indifferent form..
I like the way that he carries the ball and keeps the offload as an option.
Billy T have a great 8 minute cameo - but it was literally just that - 8 minutes, and a cameo. I would not make any changes here but would like the guys time to settle. If we can keep things constant for JJ, we might be onto a real winner with him..

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I wouldn't mind having 12trees come on with 15 mins or so left if the game is secure to see if he can repeat what he did on Friday but would stick with Burrell starting.

 

[yaboyjj]

I think that IF Joseph keeps up his defensive play and attacking threat as shown on Friday, then he'll be very hard to drop (even Lancaster will admit this). Assuming this is the case, we now have a very capable 13 who can lead the defensive line, which imo greatly diminishes the need for Barritt. Thus I think England have the following option at 12; Twelvetrees, Burrell, Eastmond and Tuilagi.

Eastmond, as long as Ford and Joseph play, will unfortunately not get a look in because we do imo need a big presence at inside centre to break the gain line in the confined spaces, especially running off Ford. So for me, it's a 3 horse race running to the world cup- Burrell offers a greater running threat than 36, however distribution, kicking game and defence are probably a little down, but will 36 ever give consistantly good 80 min performances?

Now onto Tuilagi... can he play at IC? Certainly offers the biggest threat and could potentially be dynamite outside Ford, but is his distribution good enough or would he take away more from a symbiotic midfield relationship than he gives as an individual rugby player?
Case in point, France play Fofana and Basteraud, both mighty running threats in their own right, but the lack of cohesion and passing game, is detrimental to the team beyond the occasional piece of magic they might individually provide.

We saw Tuilagi and Joseph in SA and it was pretty uninspiring- the question is: has Tuilagi moved on as a rugby player since then to now make a better go of IC, or, will the introduction of Ford make a difference to how he might be used?

I guess what I'm trying to say is: Is the fact that Tuiagi is a bit of a crowbar in mid-field, over come by his potential individual brilliance (a la Fofana, or earl Nonu), and would his ball hogging ways be accentuated by moving him into inside centre? (one theory I have is that Tuilagi tends to thrive in the wider channels where he can build up a head of steam and use his big hand off to good effect- he tends to have a pretty good outside break using this) Certainly if he were to play 12 for England I would hope he gets some time there for Leicester (which strikes me as unlikely)