Could it be Townsends players with Gatlands tactics?
The kicks were either rubbish, or the tactics were wrong (or both). As was seen in the Scotland England game at Twickenham 2 years ago sometimes the 9/10 need to chance their arm and mix it up, Russell did that and we all know how the match went from a 30 odd point deficit to leading then finishing just 7 points adrift.
I'm not sure that back line would have been Townsend's choice. My best guess is that Toonie is backs coach because Gatland's hand was forced, not because he had any intention to use him to coach the backs.
That's exactly the kind of creative thinking Gatland needs to have although I'm not sure it would work. Depowering our pack against a Bok 8 that duffed us up last week is as counter intuitive as it gets.
Getting some devil and speed into the half backs wouldn't half be helpful as a starter.
Part of my rationale is that at this point, doing nothing, or doubling down on fighting a really bad fire with a box of Swan Vestas would represent the old cliché about doing nothing and expecting different results. I don't think it would represent as much of a de-powering of the pack as you might think. Curry has bulked up and Lawes has never filled out as I hoped he might when he broke through. Given the difference in height, Curry is more likely to run his weight and some IMO.
I suspect it won't happen if for no other reason than the amount of lineout ball that Lawes has taken, but if that's the case, I would at very least swap Bernie in and tell him to run his arse off for 45 minutes and expect to be subbed. Outside the lineout work, Lawes has had a good 20 minutes of rugby within 142 minutes of the two tests, but the timing of it flattered him.
I didn't mention getting rid of Murray because I took it as a given that had already been advocated for, not because I don't want to see it happen. For me the number one priority is raising the tempo of the game and failing to get rid of Murray (I don't mind him on the bench and will pray to a god I don't believe in that Price doesn't get injured) would represent a lack of appetite to do this.
It's a black mark against both. Coaches select and determine the overall game plan but the players are on the pitch and have to adapt to what's going on there, not what was on the chalkboard on Wednesday. If elements of the plan aren't working they've got to figure it out for themselves and that is part of the mythical 'leadership'.
This is one of those things that those of outside the camp can only guess at. Maybe the game plan is wrong, or maybe the players didn't execute it. If they didn't execute it, is it because they weren't properly prepared to do so or because the wrong players were picked? If they were the right players and properly prepared, does that mean the game plan was wrong or that we simply aren't good enough?
I agree about leadership. I thought it as particularly stark as Sam Warburton was sat in the comm box talking about a game theory based approach to determining tactics in play, AWJ was saying "okay lads, keep letting them beat the **** out of us, hopefully they won't do it so hard next time". That being the case, the "leadership" argument for AWJ goes out of the window for me (we just need better watercarriers) so I'd be open to a case to pick someone who would have more impact with their own play. You could make a case for at least three players here.
Bit of a 20th century attitude, but just because something's not on film from 10 different angles doesn't mean it didn't happen.
I've no idea whether Sinckler's guilty or not but there must be something significant for him to be charged. I hope he hasn't done anything but if he has he then he deserves what's coming.
That's not what I was intending to assert. The way I'm looking at it, it doesn't matter whether it happened or not, this is a pseudo-legal process, so what matters is whether there's sufficient evidence for a panel to find him guilty and am questioning how a citing officer has found said evidence, while ignoring other apparently incriminating evidence of other incidents.
