[2015 Six Nations] Ireland vs England (Round 3)

[LiRFCMatt]

Yes men against boys at the breakdown, I thought that Joubert was good apart from the lack of a yellow with England giving all those early penalties.
Like Wales, Ireland improve game on game in a tournament, its going to be interesting in Cardiff.

I wasn't too impressed with Joubert, although obviously I'm going to be biased. I thought the rucks on the left wing in the build up to the Ireland try were horribly reffed, and England should have had a penalty, which would have cut the Irish lead by 7 points. That then could have spurred the team on a bit more towards the end, but it is no excuse. England were dreadful, the worst I have seen in a very long time.

 

[munstermuffin]

Not bias, he's incredible. And you've justified your insanity Zebo was class.

Not insanity it's just Zebo is getting treated fairly and not singled out by media. He as talented as rest and working as hard as rest.

Regards Paulie again wow he's 36 at end of season. The man is an inspiration and think Paulie is 1 of best captains ever.

 

[TheSaffycen]

Well in my anger my match ratings-
1.Marler 5.5
2.Hartley 5.5
3.Cole 7 Played really well and got over the ball a lot.
4.Attwood 5 His worse game of the season for club or country
5.Kruis 6 Played okay but ruck clearing is poor
6.Haskell 6 Stupid penalties
7.Robshaw 6 Couldn't do anything
8.Vunipola 7 made good meters and was powerful in defence. Give him another carrier in the pack and he would look even better. One stupid kick though.
9.Youngs 4.5 Again he was useless
10.Ford 5 Maybe Watson was at fault for that stupid switch (Same as Farrell in the AI v SA) But his kicking wasn't good enough and Payne ran through at one point. Poor match
11.Nowell 5.5 High ball was still poor, kicking was alright, maybe should've had a try ?
12.Burrell 6 Made meters ,should have given the ball at one point
13.Joseph 5 never got any good ball
14.Watson 5 Made some good breaks than he ruined it with stupid offloads and gave away retarded penalties
15.Goode 5 Don't balme him for the try as Henshaw had the run on him, On his own line twice he done the right thing and kicking was okay, dropped balls though.

Players who should be dropped for the next game- Marler(to the bench), Hartley, Attwood (Only for one game to show something about discipline but then with Hartley and Haskell he isn't the only guy) Youngs, Twelvetrees and Goode
1.Corbs 2.Youngs 3.Cole 4.Lawes 5.Kruis 6.Haskell 7.Robshaw 8.Vunipola 9.Wigglesworth 10.Ford 11.Nowell 12.Burrell 13.JJ 14.Watson 15.Brown/Pennell
16.Webber 17.Marler 18.Brookes 19.Attwood 20.Easter 21.Care 22.Cipriani 23.May

 

[The Jones Boy]

Crying about the ref ???
Give it up.
Joubert is a pedant and he hampered the game by penalising both sides with his pernickety style.

 

[goodNumber10]

I feel sorry for Cips. Given a taste of England and likes it enough to sign a new contract to keep going. Perfect player to bring on today, to chase the game. Not trusted enough to even have a minute of game time. Wouldn't be surprised if he goes back into the wilderness when Farrell returns.

he will be dropped once Farrell is fit.

But really what good would have putting him on today have done? England had no attacking ball, he would have got flack for not doing anything when really it was never going to happen. I reckon he's quietly please he never had to go on in that...

- - - Updated - - -

Yes men against boys at the breakdown, I thought that Joubert was good apart from the lack of a yellow with England giving all those early penalties.
Like Wales, Ireland improve game on game in a tournament, its going to be interesting in Cardiff.

 

[msf]

Highlight of the game for England: Dan Cole headbutting Cian Healy out the way.

 

[UlsterRugby2012]

I wasn't too impressed with Joubert, although obviously I'm going to be biased. I thought the rucks on the left wing in the build up to the Ireland try were horribly reffed, and England should have had a penalty, which would have cut the Irish lead by 7 points. That then could have spurred the team on a bit more towards the end, but it is no excuse. England were dreadful, the worst I have seen in a very long time.

Will have to wind it back but I'm pretty sure England were off their feet too. It was a total mess.

 

[LiRFCMatt]

Crying about the ref ???
Give it up.
Joubert is a pedant and he hampered the game by penalising both sides with his pernickety style.

If you're referring to me I'm quite clearly not crying about the ref. Just responding to a comment. England were horrible.

 

[j'nuh]

And so he should be.

I've been criticising Lancaster for a long time and will probably keep doing so - he makes some notable mistakes. But the players, well, I'm just not sure they're there at the moment. If the players make those mistakes, what can Lancaster do?

We've got a good coach coaching a good squad. But when you stick that up against teams possessed of excellence - good isn't enough. At the top table, we are mediocre.

Maybe its time to dial down the expectation.

Not buying it. Our squad has similar calibre to Ireland but our coaches can't touch theirs.

 

[LiRFCMatt]

Well in my anger my match ratings-
1.Marler 5.5
2.Hartley 5.5
3.Cole 7 Played really well and got over the ball a lot.
4.Attwood 5 His worse game of the season for club or country
5.Kruis 6 Played okay but ruck clearing is poor
6.Haskell 6 Stupid penalties
7.Robshaw 6 Couldn't do anything
8.Vunipola 7 made good meters and was powerful in defence. Give him another carrier in the pack and he would look even better. One stupid kick though.
9.Youngs 4.5 Again he was useless
10.Ford 5 Maybe Watson was at fault for that stupid switch (Same as Farrell in the AI v SA) But his kicking wasn't good enough and Payne ran through at one point. Poor match
11.Nowell 5.5 High ball was still poor, kicking was alright, maybe should've had a try ?
12.Burrell 6 Made meters ,should have given the ball at one point
13.Joseph 5 never got any good ball
14.Watson 5 Made some good breaks than he ruined it with stupid offloads and gave away retarded penalties
15.Goode 5 Don't balme him for the try as Henshaw had the run on him, On his own line twice he done the right thing and kicking was okay, dropped balls though.

Players who should be dropped for the next game- Marler(to the bench), Hartley, Attwood (Only for one game to show something about discipline but then with Hartley and Haskell he isn't the only guy) Youngs, Twelvetrees and Goode
1.Corbs 2.Youngs 3.Cole 4.Lawes 5.Kruis 6.Haskell 7.Robshaw 8.Vunipola 9.Wigglesworth 10.Ford 11.Nowell 12.Burrell 13.JJ 14.Watson 15.Brown/Pennell
16.Webber 17.Marler 18.Brookes 19.Attwood 20.Easter 21.Care 22.Cipriani 23.May

I think you're a bit harsh on Nowell, more of a 6.5 and I think Marler was actually our best player, he made tackle after tackle and was impressive.

 

[JP6492]

Soon as I realised who the referee was i knew England would lose, it just seems that he appears to penalise England more than their opponents each time he is ref, gutted!

 

[goodNumber10]

I wasn't too impressed with Joubert, although obviously I'm going to be biased. I thought the rucks on the left wing in the build up to the Ireland try were horribly reffed, and England should have had a penalty, which would have cut the Irish lead by 7 points. That then could have spurred the team on a bit more towards the end, but it is no excuse. England were dreadful, the worst I have seen in a very long time.

I thought Joubert was fine for the most part, i think breakdown wise England went in thinking Ireland would try and choke tackle their big ball carriers hung off the breakdown so a maul can't be formed and instead got caught with thier pants down when ireland took everyone low then flooded the breakdown.

 

[Peat]

Saffycen - Don't get how you can rate the forwards higher than the backs and I'm not sure what on earth Billy was meant to do other than kick it there. He had zero support. Shame it didn't sit up before the line or go into touch, but well, he's an 8.

 

[LiRFCMatt]

Will have to wind it back but I'm pretty sure England were off their feet too. It was a total mess.

Yeah, a shambles, much like the whole of England's game. It really is a shame England didn't play well, because I almost feel like we didn't really see these two teams play each other. I don't think England will ever play as poorly as that again, and it may even provided more motivation for the World Cup, that would be one hell of a fixture.

 

[chippieolamus]

Well in my anger my match ratings-
1.Marler 6
2.Hartley 5.5
3.Cole 6
4.Attwood 4
5.Kruis 6
6.Haskell 6
7.Robshaw 5.5
8.Vunipola 8 Easily our best player
9.Youngs 6
10.Ford 5
11.Nowell 6
12.Burrell 6
13.Joseph 5
14.Watson 6
15.Goode 4

My changes in bold.
Next week I'd go
Marler
Hartley
Cole
Kruis
Lawes
Haskell
Robshaw
Vunipola

Youngs
Ford
Nowell
Burrell
JJ
Watson
Brown/Pennell

Youngs
Corbs
Brookes
Attwood
Croft
Wigglesworth
Cipriani
May

 

[Crapspray]

Meh, Joubert's a homer, but England were thick today so I don't think he cost them much. Maybe five/seven at the end, but the game was done.

 

[TheSaffycen]

Saffycen - Don't get how you can rate the forwards higher than the backs and I'm not sure what on earth Billy was meant to do other than kick it there. He had zero support. Shame it didn't sit up before the line or go into touch, but well, he's an 8.

Looking at it I would change Nowell to a 6.5, Hartley to a 4, Haskell to 5. Possibly add 1 for Burrell and take away 1 for every forward. In the Vunipola situation I think he should've stopped running, though it may sound stupid you have to use your brain and stop running away from support. Yes POm would have been there but I'm pretty sure that Billy could've stayed on his feet for long enough for at least Robshaw or Haskell too get there. But to kick the ball for a 22 is just criminal, but no he wasn't the guy mainly at fault for that situation.

 

[ratsapprentice]

You're right - Ireland dived onto the ball once they counter-rucked over it, which is illegal because the ball is still in the ruck - but meh...

 

[msf]

I find it odd people are excusing Lancaster from blame for the poor performance, especially as England were just beaten by a country that definitely doesn't have the depth of playing resources that England has. Yes, some of the Ireland team has more experience, but there is a reason for that, if you change the centres (for example) every few matches you won't have experience there. England were beaten by a well-organized team with a clear plan, something we conspicuously lacked - how were we going to score a try or enough points? And this all in the context of having a head coach who has been in charge for twice as long as the opposing team's.

 

[Peat]

Not buying it. Our squad has similar calibre to Ireland but our coaches can't touch theirs.

Really? I seem to recall a post by you bemoaning the calibre of our backline in the last few months or so. If barely of our backs have a shot at making the Lions, as was your post, how on earth can we have a similar calibre of squad to the team that unquestionably provides 2 members if fit and arguably double that?

I'm also intrigued to know who we have in the same calibre as most of the Irish squad when it comes to experience of winning tight games. I appear to have forgotten some of our double HEC/Grand slam winners.