[2020 Autumn Nations Cup] England vs Georgia (14/11/20)

[TRF_Olyy]

What do we rate Lawrences performance?

Don't really remember seeing him or Ewels on the pitch tbh, and they were the two players I was most interested in seeing.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

What do we rate Lawrences performance? He didnt really fire a shot unless i missed something?

I remember faz having Daly on his shoulder and dropping it on the boot rather than popping it to put him through a decent gap.

Willis Stepped up...carried hard, tackled hard and competed at the breakdown very well as expected. Gutted we didnt get willis curry earl back row to finish?

Slade isnt a 12, on paper he should be but he isnt. He is good at 13 because he has more time on the ball.

I always look hunk Slade needs a little time and space which he gets at 13 but yeah on paper should be the perfect 12.

It's funny but for most of the time since 2003 we've never settled easily on centre pairings and have lacked a world class 12 for years.

As others have said about Eewls he isn't a highlight reel player but I get the impression he is a good solid international which is maybe what we need if we have Itoje, Mako, Kyle playing. Just maybe a bit of balance (although I rate lauchers in that role more).

 

[Jashay]

Ewels was one I didn't remember seeing, but on rewatch he was everywhere he should have been. Did well in the lineouts and mauls, hit the rucks well. Don't remember any great carries, but otherwise he seemed to have a pretty good game

Lawrence had a quiet one, mostly because no-one ever gave him the ball! Felt bad for him: certainly felt like every other back got the ball about 5 times as much as him. I thought he ran some good lines and chased well when he could, but it was weird. Every time he was in the midfield, they'd pass to the wings. Whenever JJ was in the midfield OL went to the wing and they passed to JJ. They used him as a crash ball option a couple of times with zero success.

So I don't feel I've learned anything about Lawrence at all.

 

[Reiser99]

I think EJ is basically getting England to play percentage low risk/high reward rugby, regardless of who their opponent is. He wants players that can execute this plan well and can cover multiple positions so that it provides the team with more options. It's not pretty, but it is effective. There is an advantage to playing like this when against weaker opposition, which is that the hopefully England should be able to execute one set of tactics to a high level, consistently, rather than changing tactics and executing them well, but not brilliantly. However, it does make it boring when playing teams like Georgia because even if England have the opportunities to be adventurous they aren't taking them. I've said it before, but this is not the heads up rugby EJ was advocating at the start of his tenure. It also means that when the game plan doesn't work (like against S.A) England struggle to find an alternative because they've been coached to stick to this system and have lost an element of independent rugby thinking.

I'm not opposed to his ideas, but it is frustrating to watch England ignore overlaps, so they can kick the ball into the 22 to put pressure on the opponents line out.

Alright, which of you is going to own up to being Matt Dawson?

England beat Georgia: 'It is now clear how Eddie Jones' side will play'

Ex-England scrum-half Matt Dawson says England's style under Eddie Jones' is apparent, but wonders if they have a plan B.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Alright, which of you is going to own up to being Matt Dawson?

England beat Georgia: 'It is now clear how Eddie Jones' side will play'

Ex-England scrum-half Matt Dawson says England's style under Eddie Jones' is apparent, but wonders if they have a plan B.

www.bbc.co.uk

What if everyone but you is Matt Dawson?

 

[Reiser99]

What if everyone but you is Matt Dawson?

Well that would be a royal mindfuck. Dunno if I'd want to live in a world where everyone else is Matt Dawson.

 

[Scotty]

Don't really remember seeing him or Ewels on the pitch tbh, and they were the two players I was most interested in seeing.

Who is our attack coach because when we did run it while we looked quite good but didnt look great...Lawrence is class but i dont know he bearly made a carry.

 

[klitarris]

Just read the Daily Mail's player ratings for a laugh, and sure enough it delivered!

Tedious to watch at times, thought Dawson's column was right on the money.

FWIW, my ratings:
Genge - 7
George - 8
Stuart - 8
Ewels - 7
Launchbury - 8
Itoje - 7
Willis - 7
Vunipola - 7
Youngs - 6
Farrell - 5
May - 5
Lawrence - 6
Slade - 4
Joseph - 7
Daly - 7

Vunipola - 6
Dunn - 6
Sinckler - 6
Earl - 7
Curry - 7
Robson - 7
Malins - 6
Marchant - 7


Clearly I think the forwards did well while the backs did not! Unfortunately for the rest of the backs i think Farrell was average and Slade had a shocker - if your two playmakers aren't playing well then those that rely on them aren't going to be able to do particularly well. Thought May was pretty average as well. I'm not a particular Daly fan but thought he did well and Joseph was going well until his injury. Youngs was ok without setting the world alight (as per usual). Stuart was seriously impressive, could easily have given him a 9. Same for Launchbury and George. Otherwise, the rest of the pack were good. I find it hard how good Ewels is. He appears to do the basics well and not that much more, but i do get the feeling he does a lot of unseen work.

Moving on to next week, i would like to see:
Genge
George
Stuart
Itoje
Launchbury
Curry
Willis
Vunipola
Robson
Farrell
May
Slade
Lawrence
Thorley
Watson

Vunipola
Dunn
Sinckler
Ewels/Hill
Earl
Youngs
Malins
Cokanasiga/Furbank

My biggest selection headache is at halfback. I'd like to see Farrell at 12 rather than 10, and i'd like to see Robson starting. Unfortunately that means playing two internationally inexperienced halfbacks (unless Ford is back), which we'll never see. If Ford isn't back I'd like to see the above. If Ford is back I'd put him in at 10 and shift Farrell out, with Slade making way.

 

[Jashay]

I'd really like to see Lawrence get time with Ford at 10. Ford is great at taking it to the line and just opening a little bit more space for players to run into, which I think plays to Lawrence's strengths

 

[Croket66]

So Georgia did not showed anything in this game
Not surprised to be honest, as they did not even named a headcoach since Haig left the team after RWC.
Again, Georgia showed they are not able to defend a maul for years no.
Also they won their last 49 own scrum before RWC and lost a least a scrum every game since.
Their tactics for most of the game was just about tackle, tackle, and when you got the ball, kick it and tackle again and never play with backs. That's a shame as some fo them are quality players while their forwards pack is a bit overrated, only the front row and number 8 in this game played for top flight clubs
Also the pair of locks was way too light for international rugby. I mean, you can't really hope something with a young bloke that's just ended to play in the BUCS championship and a light guu, former flyhalf converted in nr8, that only played a pair of games in US MLR as his career highlight - 2 caps each.
Fortunately, Kote Mikautadze, a solid experienced lock with 64 caps, +90 Top14 games and +25 Champions Cup games and Nodar Cheishvili, 26 caps and 2 seasons in English second division are back for the next game.
Also note that the pack was surprisingly much lighter than English one (on avg Englishman forward : 117.3kg / georgian forward 104.1kg)
And the georgian team was on average younger than the english one, 25 years old on average