England EPS 2016/17 season.

[ratsapprentice]

Anyone find Tom Wood's media personality extremely grating?

 

[RedruthRFC]

Anyone find Tom Wood's media personality extremely grating?

Remove "media" and it's a +1 from me.

 

[Peat]

Anyone find Tom Wood's media personality extremely grating?

Are cats tiny sadists that will eat you when you die?

 

[ratsapprentice]

Correct.

 

[Every Time Ref]

Anyone find Tom Wood's media personality extremely grating?

Do bears **** in him?

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Do bears **** in him?

God that's a horrible image...

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Kruis ruled out, can't imagine Itoje will be at 6 now with no locks on the bench.

 

[Every Time Ref]

God that's a horrible image...

To be clear, I don't mean large hairy gay men

 

[Lé Ddanno]

Could call up Ewels

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Seeing as Kruis was a doubt from the beginning I assume having the extra lock/back rower retained was a precaution for him. Can't see anyone being called up for him.

 

[ratsapprentice]

First time I've done something like this in a while....

Wot I think:

Marler - Did ok, nothing particularly notable.
Hartley - Again, did ok, but the queue of exceptional hookers behind him means that ok isn't going to be good enough for much longer.
Cole - And thrice, the FR did OK. He's never been the biggest contributor outside the set-peice, but his scrummaging is not exactly dominant. I feel for him as England don't really have any outstanding scrummaging locks.
Launchbury - Did well, should be able to tell whether he's back to his old-self by the end of the tournament, but there's no-one really challenging him.
Lawes - Meh, his scrummaging is a chronic issue and his carrying effectiveness is largely determined by how many other strong ball carriers there are, allowing him to play wider out. May fall to fourth choice should we find some talent in the back-row.
Wood - Jones said in the build up to the game that every cap for a player who isn't good enough is a waste - on that basis, Wood should not be in the picture going forward. Eddie was right, "Distinctly average".
Hughes - I thought the praise he received in the autumn was overdone, and today hasn't done anything to change my mind. He's average. He'd be more effective with other carriers in the pack, but even so...
Youngs - Fairly poor tbh, box kicking aside. Passes to the floor, intercepts. History repeats.
Ford - Not a fantastic outing, but still some nice touches, as you'd expect from such a talented player. Was on the back foot - but normally manages to bring his kicking game to bear despite this, didn't see much of it at all today.
Daly - Done good. Not a winger. Not better than JJ at OC. Bench or FB plz.
Farrell - Did very well I thought. That tackle on Picamoles was cracking.
Joseph - Not much to say. Didn't have a great deal to do.
May - Harsh yellow, IMO. Ran the ball back ok. I feel he and Watson are reasonably similar, but Jonny doesn't run as hard into contact and suffers in tighter games.
Brown - Pace continues to be an issue, I think we are hamstrung when attempting to do anything from deep, because the opposition can sit off Mike knowing they have the pace to cover him comfortably. Defended well.

George - Did ok, we know he can throw and scrum. He's a good footballer, but not convinced he's better than either TT or LCD.
Mullan - Handled Slimani well, at least initially. But he's a placeholder, nothing more.
Sinckler - DNP - his carrying/footballing would have been a big plus, as soon as his scrummaging is proven - he starts. No doubt, IMO.
Harrison - DNP - his carrying would also have been useful, would he have given away any more penalties or missed more tackles than Wood? Not convinced he would have.
Haskell - Did well, strong carry directly contributed to the last try. Starts next week. 100%
Care - Should be replaced by one of Robson/Spencer/PICKSOME1.
Te'o - Great carrying and defensive read. Can't argue with him in the role he's filling atm. Does it very effectively.
Nowell - Also directly contributed to the try at the end. Should be starting. 100%

We really miss the Vunipolae, someone needs to be brought in to make up for the physical presence we lose without them. Wood should be gone completely.

My team for next week:

1. Marler
2. Hartley
3. Cole
4. Itoje
5. Launchbury
6. Haskell
7. Clifford/Harrison
8. Hughes
9. Youngs
10. Ford
11. Watson
12. Farrell
13. JJ
14. Nowell
15. Brown

16. George
17. Genge
18. Sinckler
19. Lawes
20. Clifford/Harrison
21. Robson
22. Te'o
23. Daly

 

[ncurd]

Only argument is playing Brown. I feels he's a wasted cap these days, when was the last time it feels like he truly contributed? He won't last 3 years and we can't keep wasting all 80 mins playing him. Replacement needed soon I think and there are plenty of options in or around the squad.

 

[ratsapprentice]

As soon as possible, I'd take Brown off and move Tony into FB.

I would say that today could have a good effect on the squad - bad enough for them to adjust wrongs/re-focus their efforts, but enough positives to maintain confidence.

 

[Peat]

Too busy cooking to go into detail (also, maybe consolidate to just one thread for 6N?) but decidedly average is very kind towards Wood.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Think you're being a bit kind on the front row.
We got battered in the scrum and it's only due to flip-a-coin refereeing, and the French insistence on shoving early, that we got anything out of it at all.


Then again, who else do we have? Cole is the best scrummaging tighthead we have that I can think of, that is worrying. We don't really have any standout scrummaging looseheads.

 

[Duck a l'Orange]

Think you're being a bit kind on the front row.
We got battered in the scrum and it's only due to flip-a-coin refereeing, and the French insistence on shoving early, that we got anything out of it at all.


Then again, who else do we have? Cole is the best scrummaging tighthead we have that I can think of, that is worrying. We don't really have any standout scrummaging looseheads.

Can't help but feel that slotting Jamie George in would help there too. I haven't watched the game yet though, so I don't know if Hartley is part of the problem.

 

[Timbo]

We did not get battered in the scrum. What nonsense.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

First time I've done something like this in a while....

Wot I think:

Marler - Did ok, nothing particularly notable.
Hartley - Again, did ok, but the queue of exceptional hookers behind him means that ok isn't going to be good enough for much longer.
Cole - And thrice, the FR did OK. He's never been the biggest contributor outside the set-peice, but his scrummaging is not exactly dominant. I feel for him as England don't really have any outstanding scrummaging locks.
Launchbury - Did well, should be able to tell whether he's back to his old-self by the end of the tournament, but there's no-one really challenging him.
Lawes - Meh, his scrummaging is a chronic issue and his carrying effectiveness is largely determined by how many other strong ball carriers there are, allowing him to play wider out. May fall to fourth choice should we find some talent in the back-row.
Wood - Jones said in the build up to the game that every cap for a player who isn't good enough is a waste - on that basis, Wood should not be in the picture going forward. Eddie was right, "Distinctly average".
Hughes - I thought the praise he received in the autumn was overdone, and today hasn't done anything to change my mind. He's average. He'd be more effective with other carriers in the pack, but even so...
Youngs - Fairly poor tbh, box kicking aside. Passes to the floor, intercepts. History repeats.
Ford - Not a fantastic outing, but still some nice touches, as you'd expect from such a talented player. Was on the back foot - but normally manages to bring his kicking game to bear despite this, didn't see much of it at all today.
Daly - Done good. Not a winger. Not better than JJ at OC. Bench or FB plz.
Farrell - Did very well I thought. That tackle on Picamoles was cracking.
Joseph - Not much to say. Didn't have a great deal to do.
May - Harsh yellow, IMO. Ran the ball back ok. I feel he and Watson are reasonably similar, but Jonny doesn't run as hard into contact and suffers in tighter games.
Brown - Pace continues to be an issue, I think we are hamstrung when attempting to do anything from deep, because the opposition can sit off Mike knowing they have the pace to cover him comfortably. Defended well.

George - Did ok, we know he can throw and scrum. He's a good footballer, but not convinced he's better than either TT or LCD.
Mullan - Handled Slimani well, at least initially. But he's a placeholder, nothing more.
Sinckler - DNP - his carrying/footballing would have been a big plus, as soon as his scrummaging is proven - he starts. No doubt, IMO.
Harrison - DNP - his carrying would also have been useful, would he have given away any more penalties or missed more tackles than Wood? Not convinced he would have.
Haskell - Did well, strong carry directly contributed to the last try. Starts next week. 100%
Care - Should be replaced by one of Robson/Spencer/PICKSOME1.
Te'o - Great carrying and defensive read. Can't argue with him in the role he's filling atm. Does it very effectively.
Nowell - Also directly contributed to the try at the end. Should be starting. 100%

We really miss the Vunipolae, someone needs to be brought in to make up for the physical presence we lose without them. Wood should be gone completely.

My team for next week:

1. Marler
2. Hartley
3. Cole
4. Itoje
5. Launchbury
6. Haskell
7. Clifford/Harrison
8. Hughes
9. Youngs
10. Ford
11. Watson
12. Farrell
13. JJ
14. Nowell
15. Brown

16. George
17. Genge
18. Sinckler
19. Lawes
20. Clifford/Harrison
21. Robson
22. Te'o
23. Daly

You have no one to run the line out. You either need to have lawes or kruis starting. However good Itoje or lauchberry are they can't learn to call the England line out in one week.

Also your comments on lawes and wood are rather odd. Lawes is fourth choice, he only started as kruis was out.

Wood is only playing because we have some many injuries, I thought he had a terrible game but then he is our 6 or 7th choice so that's to be expected.

 

[BPM]

I would say that today could have a good effect on the squad - bad enough for them to adjust wrongs/re-focus their efforts, but enough positives to maintain confidence.

I agree. As painfully poor as that performance was, we'll learn a lot more from it than if we had won more convincingly.

The underperformance of some of the starting players also adds more impetus for change. Hartley's days must be numbered - he was totally anonymous outside of the set-piece and didn't massively cover himself in glory there either.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

My team next week:
1. Marler
2. George
3. Cole
4. Itoje
5. Lawes
6. Harrison
7. Haskell
8. Hughes
9. Youngs
10. Farrell
11. May
12. Te'o
13. Joseph
14. Nowell
15. Brown

16. George
17. Genge
18. Sinckler
19. Launchbury
20. Clifford
21. Care
22. Ford
23. Daly

We desperately need carriers. Hughes is no Vunipola, but the fact that he was the only carrier in the XV really didn't help him out.

Itoje - 4, he's not a 6 and it allows a real back rower into the side.

Lawes over Launch as we need a lineout runner, as well as that I simply think he played better yesterday. Both were relatively anonymous, but Lawes less than Launchbury. Plus his physicality is a real weapon.

Harrison - 6, real back rower, good work rate, good carrier (better than Wood at least), the best replacement for Robshaw that we have ATM.

Haskell - 7, another carrier that we are in dire need of, big hitter, plus Wood is simply not good enough.

Farrell - 10/Te'o - 12, I've always been a fan of the Ford-Farrell axis but yesterday I think Te'o showed that we do actually have a good, physical 12 option now, and Ford is too inconsistent/consistently weak for my liking.

May - 11/Nowell - 14, Nowell's too good to leave out and as good as Daly was, he's not a winger.

Keeping Brown at 15, there's no real candidate to take over from him ATM. As far as I know it's never been Daly's position of choice and Nowell hasn't played there consistently in years. Slotting 1 of them in now is too risky IMO. Would like to see Daly there vs Italy though.

Genge - 17, brings more to the table than Mullan.

Clifford - 20, comfortably covers all 3 back row positions and his pace is a real threat coming off the bench.

Keeping Care at 21, Robson hasn't trained much with the England squad and I don't think he's far enough better to warrant risking him in a position as crucial to the team as SH.

Daly - 23, not a winger, not better than JJ at 13 and not worth risking at 15. But can cover all 3, so am outstanding option at 23. His pace is also a real weapon off the bench.