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[2018 6 Nations] Round 5 : England v Ireland (17/03/2018)

ncurd said:
Unless miracles can happen in a week and they won't because we couldn't sort out the issues in 2 weeks (we were better I think, marginally), there is no way I can predict anything other than an Irish win.

Its not that I don't think England can't and won't bounce back by the sA tour its just 1 week against a great team that is wining is too big an ask, for anyone.
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Not sure what to think about this. Seeing the scale of our problems in the last few weeks I'd agree that they're not immediately solveable but on the other side of things that first 25 against Wales was pretty good, and that wasn't so long ago. If we can switch from good to bad so quickly, surely we can switch back again?

...having said that, I think our problems were there already, just covered up by having a referee who overlooked the breakdown.
 
The Alpha Bro said:
England... Hopes and Dreams... lol
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rugby-world-cup.jpg


Hard to dream when you have already reached the top.
 
I'm putting some cash on an England win.

England have been dire, yes. Ireland have been okay but not at their best.

It's Twickenham, there will be enforced changes to the England side and Ireland have the weight of grand slam expectations firmly on their shoulders.

If Sinckler, LCD, Haskell, Armand etc can get in the side and be the aggressive powerful players that they are it will not only invigorate the England side, but it will probably fix the ball retention problem at the breakdown.
 
I feel like it is gonna be a slug fest and just a **** game all round. There will be very little going through the backs I feel. England are going to be ****** off, but I don't know how far that can take us, Low scoring I think and definitely very few tries. 20-15 Ireland I think. I feel like we will remeber how to play rugby in the last 20, but **** it up at the death
 
Daly is potentially out, sense Brown or Slade will come in to offer the left foot option. (Brown as a straight swap for him or Slade in the side at 13 with Te'o at 12). I've noticed EJ always looks to have a left footed kicker somewhere in the backline.

Will be irritating if Daly is out because his long range kicking keeps sides honest.
 
Which Tyler said:
I've just typed this elsewhere; but it might as well go here; though I'm not sure how much is post-fact justification, how much is hope, and how much is genuine interpretation of events and comments.

I happen to think that fatigue IS playing a pretty big part.
Not only in performance on the pitch, but also affecting selection (fatigue increase risk of injury); but I think that Eddie is beasting the squad, not just before the tournie started, but also during it. And I think he's doing so deliberately.
I think Eddie is treating this 6N as a mock-RWC. He's piling the pressure on the players; he's using fallow weekends to beast them in training so that they're constantly fatigued for 8 weeks; he's refusing to bring in any players from outside of his core squad unless he absolutely has to. He's seeing how far he can push them before performances drop off. Hopefully, he'll use that information when developing his pre-RWC training camps.

I think he sees this tournie as comparatively disposable. He needed his first 2 years (all tournies) to get to know the players, for them to know him, to cut the dead wood, and to develop systems for these players [I think he's underestimating our players, but hey]. He needed wins to establish himself.
He needs 12 months leading up to the RWC to build up to it; when wins are again, all important to build confidence. This 6N, and possibly this summer in South Africa are his best opportunities (as in, the least consequences) to risk losing matches. I happen to think he's found the point at which performances drop off, and that he also underestimated the opposition - pretty much all of the opposition. I think he expected to be able to beast them hard enough for performances to drop; but that we'd still win all our matches except Ireland. Now it may be that he hadn't accounted for injuries, or that he hadn't accounted for resurgence from Italy, Scotland and France; or that he had and the gamble just hasn't paid off.

Of course, in spite of the above, I still think he's got his tactics wrong. Specifically I think the Prem has been reffing the breakdown differently to the Pro14 and Top14 competitions - which is down to the ref.s (it can hardly be a surprise that Barnes, Owens and Garces might lead their officials in slightly different directions at the breakdown); and coaches, have come up with different ways to handle the breakdown accordingly. However, it's also Eddie's fault for not spotting, and adapting to this. Fair enough in November; but after that, and most of the EPRC has been played out; he should have noted it, and changed his plan accordingly.
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I have thought much the same. I hope your right
 
Tigs Man said:
i hope Eddie goes with
1. Mako
2. Hartley
3. Cole
4. Kruis
5. Launchbury
6. Itoje
7. Robshaw
8. Haskell
9. Care
10. Farrell
11. Watson
12. te'o
13. JJ
14. Earle
15. Brown
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Hmmm.

vs. an Irish 15 of:

1. Healy
2. Best
3. Furlong
4. Henderson
5. Ryan
6. O'Mahony
7. Leavy
8. Stander
9.Murray
10. Sexton
11. Stockdale
12. Aki
13. Ringrose
14. Earls
15. Kearney


Jeez. I know this is probably biased even though I'm trying hard not to be... but on current form, of those two teams, the only Englishmen I'd consider taking would be Farrell (and I'd play him at 12) and Robshaw (and he'd be either 6 or a sub). [Albeit dunno much about Earle.]

The English team isn't bad. But compare each individually head-to-head and then tote up the numbers and its pretty brutal!

Of course, playing at home must be worth at least 6-9 points.
 
Ireland couldn't score a try against France and scraped a win with a last minute hail Mary kick England could have stolen the match in the last few minutes so I don't see anybody winning by a lot looking forward to it England by 20 haha
 
Amiga500 said:
Hmmm.

vs. an Irish 15 of:

1. Healy
2. Best
3. Furlong
4. Henderson
5. Ryan
6. O'Mahony
7. Leavy
8. Stander
9.Murray
10. Sexton
11. Stockdale
12. Aki
13. Ringrose
14. Earls
15. Kearney


Jeez. I know this is probably biased even though I'm trying hard not to be... but on current form, of those two teams, the only Englishmen I'd consider taking would be Farrell (and I'd play him at 12) and Robshaw (and he'd be either 6 or a sub). [Albeit dunno much about Earle.]

The English team isn't bad. But compare each individually head-to-head and then tote up the numbers and its pretty brutal!

Of course, playing at home must be worth at least 6-9 points.
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TBH i deliberately picked the crappiest team possible for England.
 
Nudger said:
Ireland couldn't score a try against France and scraped a win with a last minute hail Mary kick England could have stolen the match in the last few minutes so I don't see anybody winning by a lot looking forward to it England by 20 haha
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You'd have to fear for England at the breakdown.

They've visibly struggled against Scotland and France, now they are coming up against the team who probably look after the ball best of all. I can envisage the Irish pack just grinding out penalty after penalty. But if Sexton's back is acting up, then maybe a relatively low percentage of those will be kicked.



Although these stats from ESPN are somewhat surprising in that England perform much better than I expected in terms of territory.

Ire vs. Sco : 59% possession, 63% territory
Ire vs. Wa: 69% possession, 75% territory
Ire vs. Ita: 63% possession, 65% territory
Ire vs. Fra: 68% possession, 68% territory


Eng vs. Sco: 56% possession, 57% territory
Eng vs. Wal: 52% possession, 60% territory
Eng vs. Ita: 48% possession, 48% territory
Eng vs. Fra: 54% possession, 56% territory
 
I'm really trying not to be overconfident but I've seen something in every test that is rare in Irish teams and more common in the successful provincial sides from 2006-2012. France showed balls, Irish sides often lack balls, especially away from home and especially in Paris! Wales saw us go into halftime completely undeserving of a lead but ahead which ultimately let us see out a game that was closer than it should have been. Scotland was getting the job done with no panic against a team who didn't bend over. I think as long as they're not playing behind a completely beaten pack, and they rarely are, Sexton and Murray will always give their team at least a 50% chance to win, they're two top 5 players in the world for my money.
 
Amiga500 said:
Who else is he likely to go with?
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Honestly prob that team lol.

Seriously maybe
1. Mako, 2. Hartley, 3. Cole
4. Itoje, 5. Launch
6. Robshaw, 7. Armand, 8. Simmonds
9. Care, 10. Ford
12. Faz, 13. Te'o
11. May/Daly, 14. Watson, 15. Brown

16. George, 17. Marler, 18. Sinckler
19. Kruis, 20. Haskell
21. Wig, 22. JJ, 23. May/someone else.

Still meh.
 
Tigs Man said:
Honestly prob that team lol.

Seriously maybe
1. Mako, 2. Hartley, 3. Cole
4. Itoje, 5. Launch
6. Robshaw, 7. Armand, 8. Simmonds
9. Care, 10. Ford
12. Faz, 13. Te'o
11. May/Daly, 14. Watson, 15. Brown

16. George, 17. Marler, 18. Sinckler
19. Kruis, 20. Haskell
21. Wig, 22. JJ, 23. May/someone else.

Still meh.
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I think Hask is more likely to start than Armand.....so the teams likely worse than that.
 

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