Great game which exemplified how cruel sport can be. I think Wales blew it, ultimately. A couple of knock-ons here, a couple of forward passes there...and they should have kicked their penalties in the first half (I'm sure teams like NZ would have). England have that winning mentality now and just needed that one chance at the end which, unfortunately, seemed to be on the cards. Congrats to England, I was particularly impressed at how tight & ferocious their defence was.
Agreeing with others on most issues. Cuthbert is just baffling - when others are fit he gets nowhere near the 23, yet at the first sign of injuries he starts. How is that a way to manage someone's confidence (and the other players' confidence in them)? He hardly gets a pass to show what he can do in attack, and then gets shown up in defence through losing concentration (Youngs' try) and not stopping Daly (admittedly not easy). It can't be a good state of affairs when you see a particular player's name on the teamsheet and immediately feel sorry for them and cross your fingers that their form will miraculously improve! I feel for the guy and anyone who gives him abuse should be ashamed of themselves (especially after his exploits in 2012-13); however, he needs to be set free for now and concentrate on his club form.
On the JD2 kick, it looked pretty awful - a mistake or coaches' instructions? - but there is merit in the argument that a touchfinder could have easily resulted in a driving maul and eventually a try anyway. There was something inevitable about it.
The effort and application was unquestionable (which makes the result harder to take). Moriarty stood out (was also impressed by Farrell's attitude after being hit late, good lad), he even made Faletau look the lesser player in comparison (great as he is).
As for Howley - well, sometimes your changes work, sometimes they don't. However, Sam Davies being the ONLY player not to get a game looks really silly. Even if he didn't replace Biggar, he could've replaced Cuthbert with 1/2p going out wide, or JD2 with Biggar going to 12 & SW to 13. I'm happy with Biggar starting (big game player and immense on Saturday) but having someone around like Davies gives us a fantastic option to change the game - which could, and should, have happened. It would have been win-win for Howley - if Davies plays great, then he takes the plaudits for being adventurous with his selection, if he doesn't do well then Howley says maybe he's not quite ready etc etc.
Barring Cuthbert, I don't think I'd change much in terms of selection, although now the Slam (and maybe the ***le) has gone, perhaps it's time to try one or two younger players out, at least from the bench.
Quite grateful for the break now, these games are so stressful!
PS brilliant atmosphere at the SdF yesterday.
