[2017 RBS Six Nations] Round 1: England vs. France (04/02/2017)

[Scotty]

Played badly most of the game, george ford was pretty quiet, wood gave away alot of penalties. Daly had some good moments and was almost in. I think itoje is better at lock and bring back in hask. Nowell needs to start next weekend.

 

[TheSaffycen]

Nowell at 15? Or Daly? Brown doesn't offer that much now. I think it would help ford to have another strike runner as he only has JJ near him, Nowell or Daly hitting the line would help him immeasurably

 

[shaunwilding89]

Agree completely with the Brown thing. I have never really rated him.

 

[TheSaffycen]

I did when he first came into the team, his ability to get past players made him dangerous to kick to and he normally got to the 10m line. His pace has got away from him quite considerably, meaning half way is a damn good run for him. Watson, Daly and Nowell should all be looked at. Lozowski should be looked at as a 10. With his defence we could have a real gem there but we'll wait and see.

 

[Goodey]

Played like boiled arse and still winning at home reminds me of the 2013 competition. That ended badly you may remember. Big improvement needed for Cardiff from the whole pack. The set piece was pretty grim and in mauls we have people like Lawes and Hughes looking like they didn't know what they were doing. Consistent failure to get over the line (before the subs came on) was met with a distinct lack of plan B.

Brown was on borrowed time through much of 2016 and if Watson were fit I don't think he'd be playing. Daly is probably the long term successor. Hartley is another elephant in the room, probably less effective than one though.

I've seen a lot of slamming of Ford, given the quality of ball he received I thought he did pretty well. Youngs is toilet when he doesn't have the pack going forward, that's the risk you take in picking him. Despite that Ford handled well and put in a great break and pass for Daly's not-quite-a-try. Ford's kicking out of hand was consistently good too. Held up his end of the bargain defensively with Farrell obviously having a higher work rate.

French pack can pat themselves on the back, as can Serin but the supposed return of 'french flair' was still rather missing in midfield and that's why England were able to keep France out of the 22 for most of the first hour regardless of possession. Fickou and Lemarat should be disappointed. You could, in fairness, argue that Doussain missing touch with a penalty and 30 seconds to go is a textbook example of 'french flair' at work.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Thought Farrell made the pass to Daly for his not quite try.

 

[McTallshort]

Well let's be honest the English pack didn't front up. Missed Robshaw, Kruis and Billy. Haskell has to start against Wales and Itojie has to go back to the second row.

 

[Mike Rolls]

I'm another who thinks that Brown isn't the player he used to be - a couple of years back he was consistently beating the first tackler and making several more yards, but seems to be a thing of the past. I think it is down to having lost pace.
Mike

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Brown also isn't compensating for lack of running ability with passing ability, I can't remember the last time he passed the ball and his selfishness is beginning to put us in bad situations.

 

[SharksFan86]

Agreed Brown has his moments in games but that's just what they are, over 80 minutes we have better players and I would start Daly in his place.

French team had a plan and they have certainly gone big or go home when it comes to selection, it disrupted us and we didn't play well but we found a way to win and our bench won it end.

Lots to work on and hopefully get another win next week against Wales.

 

[Goodey]

Brown also isn't compensating for lack of running ability with passing ability, I can't remember the last time he passed the ball and his selfishness is beginning to put us in bad situations.

That's always been his downside, but the upside has slowly eroded over the last three years and made it stand out.

 

[RedruthRFC]

Well let's be honest the English pack didn't front up. Missed Robshaw, Kruis and Billy. Haskell has to start against Wales and Itojie has to go back to the second row.

+1 on all of that.

 

[ratsapprentice]

That's always been his downside, but the upside has slowly eroded over the last three years and made it stand out.

Yeah - if he's not running hard and beating loads of defenders.... what does he do that isn't the bare minimum you'd want from an international FB?

 

[Every Time Ref]

Yeah - if he's not running hard and beating loads of defenders.... what does he do that isn't the bare minimum you'd want from an international FB?

Cracking in the air, going forward and backward. Superb last line of defence. Yes I know, both could be called "basics", but there are plenty of fullbacks without those, one of whom got MOM for Scotland yesterday. Also he has the attitude that EJ wants, goes a long way.

I'm not saying I'd pick him FYI, I would have dropped him some time ago, but to answer your question those things are positives in my book

 

[ratsapprentice]

Basics in mine. And I wouldn't say he was cracking at them - just decent.

 

[Mike Rolls]

Cracking in the air, going forward and backward. Superb last line of defence. Yes I know, both could be called "basics", but there are plenty of fullbacks without those, one of whom got MOM for Scotland yesterday. Also he has the attitude that EJ wants, goes a long way.

I'm not saying I'd pick him FYI, I would have dropped him some time ago, but to answer your question those things are positives in my book

Well, if it was a choice between Brown and Hogg, I would choose Hogg every time. To my mind he has to be first choice for the Lions on present form.
Mike

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Agree Hogg has to be starting FB for the Lions. Admittedly his defence and reliability under the high ball can be a bit dodgy, but that raw attacking ability more than makes up for it.

 

[brokenoses]

I think Johnny May looked out of his depth yesterday. I'm still not convinced about what he brings apart from running really fast. He isn't a strong defender, he isn't a strong carrier and he still runs sideways into nothing. For me, you need more than speed at this level. Echoing what others have said, I would love to see 11. Daly 14. Nowell 15. Watson moving forward. Nowell should replace May next week giving another back a shot in the 23 (as long as it's not Yarde).

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

I think Johnny May looked out of his depth yesterday. I'm still not convinced about what he brings apart from running really fast. He isn't a strong defender, he isn't a strong carrier and he still runs sideways into nothing. For me, you need more than speed at this level. Echoing what others have said, I would love to see 11. Daly 14. Nowell 15. Watson moving forward. Nowell should replace May next week giving another back a shot in the 23 (as long as it's not Yarde).

I think you're under rating May, I used to have the same opinion as you but I think he's grown into a really quality player. Lancaster said that in the RWC Camp he was one of the hardest workers and I think it shows. His defence has come a long way and I also think he's very good under the high ball (that paired with his pace make him a real weapon on the kick chase).

If I was to have Watson, Nowell and Daly in a back three then it'd be Daly 15, Watson 11. But, simply fit the fact that Daly is neither a wing nor fullback, my ideal back there would be 11. May 14. Nowell 15. Watson 23. Daly. As long as he's playing 13 in the Prem, that's where he should be played in the England team, and if he's not as good as JJ, then he'll be a bench option.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I think May struggled because everyone struggled, when players inside you are falling off tackles that are pretty easy and you'd fully expect them to make, that can throw you off balance. England, for god knows what reason, are still trying to tackle by hugging our opposition rather than hitting them hard low down and ensuring they are brought to ground. It isn't working and why we persist with this technique is weird. I know it is supposedly to prevent the offload but it fails to do that, fails to stop the player and fails to bring them to ground. Also did we ever compete in the ruck? It felt like the bad old days under Lancaster where teams had free rein on their own ball because we never even slowed it down, never mind competing. I understand keeping as many player in the defensive line as possible but for **** sake everyone can see how much pressure England put themselves under by letting out opposition dictate the pace, it doesn't work!