England 2022/23

[Ragey Erasmus]

He's a quality player who's been shabbily treated. Apparently he had a 'disappointing' tour and has some aspects of his game to 'work on'. If that were true, fair enough but given the comparison point of Porter's appearances it rankles.

Jones loves to reel out completely inconsistent bullshit when justifying his selections. I'm sure a huge chunk of Jones' selections are just personal preferences and personality rather than anything actually tied to the ability of the player.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Times reporting that…..

George out for 10 weeks so will miss whole Autumn series. Despite losing 2 hookers from the initial training squad I don't think anyone here batted an eyelid that one time flavour of the month Blamire wasn't called up…..is playing in the back row counting against him, his shaky line out, weight loss? I really don't know what either Jones or player thinks there.

Cockers saying that Cole isn't necessarily out of contention if he keeps playing well.

Manu being pencilled in at 13 for the AIs. I haven't seen anything of him this season. Is he going OK? So I guess that's Smith, Farrell and Manu then. But as we've said zillions of times before we can't really build a plan around Manu.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I hope McGuigan gets a crack if George is out but it'll probably be Singleton

Is he going OK?

Not really done much tbh - you can tell he's being managed carefully as he's almost exclusively being used as a dummy runner/threat
Think I've only seen him carry into contact, with intent, once this season

 

[Geordie]

I don't think anyone here batted an eyelid that one time flavour of the month Blamire wasn't called up…..is playing in the back row counting against him, his shaky line out, weight loss? I really don't know what either Jones or player thinks there.

Even the falcons have been questioning this...and hes even playing very well at 7...

 

[Geordie]

He's a quality player who's been shabbily treated. Apparently he had a 'disappointing' tour and has some aspects of his game to 'work on'. If that were true, fair enough but given the comparison point of Porter's appearances it rankles.

Has Jones really said that? Thats shocking.

 

[BPM]

Yes. He said it in a press conference when asked why Marchant wasn't in the training squad.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Not really done much tbh - you can tell he's being managed carefully as he's almost exclusively being used as a dummy runner/threat
Think I've only seen him carry into contact, with intent, once this season

You'd like to think we've moved beyond 'give it to Manu / Binny'. But while the decoy stuff's important you can't hide your main power runner either. Hopefully a temporary state of affairs - but the whole point of Manu is that he could influence matches by having his hands on the ball.

 

[Geordie]

Yes. He said it in a press conference when asked why Marchant wasn't in the training squad.

Probably the best example now of why im starting to think Jones is more of a hinderance than a positive these days.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Probably the best example now of why im starting to think Jones is more of a hinderance than a positive these days.

Wonder what 'disappointing tour' means. He only played in one game and I don't remember him particularly stinking the place out.

So it feels more like he did something on tour that disappointed Jones rather than he played disappointingly.

 

[Geordie]

Behaviour you mean Old H, yeah possibly...but regardless we've heard nothing on that regards so it couldnt have been anything major or the press would have been all over it.
I just think hes too good a player to be messing about. Hes a player with pace, skill, ability to be a match winner and someone who entertains...we dont have a huge amount of those at the moment.

 

[BPM]

To put it in to context, no one who watched that first game would have picked Marchant out as he weakest link. Quite a few people would have watched Porter in the 2nd and 3rd test and thought he was the weakest link …

 

[TW27BA]

Jones has form with dropping players who haven't put a foot wrong on the playing field.
He wants yes men who don't question his tactics/selections.
I'll be glad to see the back of him.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Probably the best example now of why im starting to think Jones is more of a hinderance than a positive these days.

From my personal experience, the one thing that did more to destroy workplace morale and make people think "**** it, I won't put the effort in" was good performance from some consistently being treated negatively whilst others got praised for doing the bare minimum. As soon as you know you are not on an even remotely level playing field, it makes you wonder why you bother. It can also destroy the morale of some who benefit if they have any ability to analyse their performances compared to others and see that they don't really deserve their position.

Jones when he started was very into his performance and it showed, England were good. Favouritism kicked in after about 2 years and we have been declining since, with the world cup year being the only one really bucking the trend. I think this is why Jones has such short good performance windows right at the start. That hard driver mentality is good when everyone is on the same playing field but it wholly destructive when you know you could bust a gut and be given a bullshit excuse and someone else will swan in without trying.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Didn't favouritism kick in from the start?
He would just lose interest in players pretty quickly and suddenly.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Didn't favouritism kick in from the start?
He would just lose interest in players pretty quickly and suddenly.

Often before half time.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Jack Willis is looking back to his best, which is very very good. Where does he fit in?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

If Lawes is out (not sure where he is atm, other than not playing) then Curry/Willis/Vunipola feels like a no brainer for the backrow

I honestly wouldn't put it past EJ to go 6-2, if everyone is fit

Itoje, Hill
Lawes, Curry, Vunipola

Chessum, Simmonds, Willis

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Chessum is on crutches in the England training videos

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

If Lawes is out (not sure where he is atm, other than not playing) then Curry/Willis/Vunipola feels like a no brainer for the backrow

I honestly wouldn't put it past EJ to go 6-2, if everyone is fit

Itoje, Hill
Lawes, Curry, Vunipola

Chessum, Simmonds, Willis

On the off chance that everyone's fit at the same time, selection will be a mare. Underhill to come back, Mercer will be in the frame etc.

I'm a big fan of Lawes who has done very well since moving permanently to 6 but half of me would really like to see Curry and Willis in tandem regardless. Totally instinctive flankers who would probably be a complete mare to play against. Not huge, but big enough. Playing them would probably give licence for a more creative 8 like Dombrandt or Mercer.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

On the off chance that everyone's fit at the same time, selection will be a mare. Underhill to come back, Mercer will be in the frame etc.

I'm a big fan of Lawes who has done very well since moving permanently to 6 but half of me would really like to see Curry and Willis in tandem regardless. Totally instinctive flankers who would probably be a complete mare to play against. Not huge, but big enough. Playing them would probably give licence for a more creative 8 like Dombrandt or Mercer.

Curry, Willis and Mercer / Dombrandt would be the biggest menace at the breakdown and probably the most dynamic back row England have had in decades. Also got to remember there is always a 2nd Curry and a 2nd Willis so we could theoretically have Curry and Willis being subbed for Curry and Willis.