England EPS 2017/18 edition.

[TRF_Olyy]

. Don't be so pessemistic Olly

I feel worse after reading your predicted team.
No team with top aspirations should be headed to a world cup carrying deadweight like Hartley cole Robshaw* and brown


*you didn't name him but he'll be there

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

It is starting to feel pretty 2015.
The run up to the world cup should be polishing, not still testing out/not knowing who our best side is.

Agreed.

And we mostly thought the conditioning was cocked up for that one too - scrawny front rowers and all that.

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

I feel worse after reading your predicted team.
No team with top aspirations should be headed to a world cup carrying deadweight like Hartley cole Robshaw* and brown


*you didn't name him but he'll be there

I did put him in there in my incredible back row of robshaw, shield and Billy. I can see us getting semis with that tbh, if everyone is in form

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

I did put him in there in my incredible back row of robshaw, shield and Billy. I can see us getting semis with that tbh, if everyone is in form

Would need Curry to start for Olyy to have one of them...

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I did put him in there in my incredible back row of robshaw, shield and Billy. I can see us getting semis with that tbh, if everyone is in form

Ah yeah, I skimmed over and just saw Simmonds.

Why do you think it'll get us to the semis when it's already failed against France?
I could see us slipping up against Argentina if they hit their stride.

Would need Curry to start for Olyy to have one of them...

Acting as if everyone was leering over them in the barbarians and u20s threads this week

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

Ah yeah, I skimmed over and just saw Simmonds.

Why do you think it'll get us to the semis when it's already failed against France?
I could see us slipping up against Argentina if they hit their stride.



Acting as if everyone was leering over them in the barbarians and u20s threads this week

It basically won us a grand slam and a 6n as well so I'm not overly concerned

 

[Reiser99]

It basically won us a grand slam and a 6n as well so I'm not overly concerned

Yeah I generally go on more recent results for form than those from 2 years ago.

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

Yeah I generally go on more recent results for form than those from 2 years ago.

Form is tempory, class is permanent

 

[Fuzzy du Plessis]

That saying has a lot of merit when the class you are talking about is in the player's passing, kicking, offloading, lineout reading, scrumming, jackaling, etc., etc. It's not so applicable when the player's quality is almost entirely based on their workrate. Players like that need to be constantly evaluated, especially as they approach 30 (Robshaw will be 33 when the WC kicks off).

Robshaw's contribution lies solely in his engine, and that's a lot less permanent than other attributes.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Form is tempory, class is permanent

As we're in the cliche zone, Father Time catches up with everyone.

Doesn't matter how classy you are if the legs have gone.

 

[ratsapprentice]

That saying has a lot of merit when the class you are talking about is in the player's passing, kicking, offloading, lineout reading, scrumming, jackaling, etc., etc. It's not so applicable when the player's quality is almost entirely based on their workrate. Players like that need to be constantly evaluated, especially as they approach 30 (Robshaw will be 33 when the WC kicks off).

Robshaw's contribution lies solely in his engine, and that's a lot less permanent than other attributes.

Not to mention his other physical attributes; which aren't as impressive to begin with.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Maybe our early good form was temporary and our class is sub par

 

[ratsapprentice]

Maybe our early good form was temporary and our class is sub par

Maybe we have a drastically sub-optimal domestic set-up that has consistently hamstrung our potential performance since the dawn of professionalism.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Maybe we have a drastically sub-optimal domestic set-up that has consistently hamstrung our potential performance since the dawn of professionalism.

In the quiet words of the Virgin Mary, come again?

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

They were class. Stuff their form, let's wheel them out again for the world cup.

 

[ratsapprentice]

In the quiet words of the Virgin Mary, come again?

We shouldn't have needed extra time and a drop goal.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

So Woodward has pretty much been proven right since he left the job back in 2005.

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

**** me boys cheer up...

 

[ratsapprentice]

So Woodward has pretty much been proven right since he left the job back in 2005.

Don't think you need to be a sage to realise it's **** tbh...

 

[TommiG88]

Come the World Cup, I hope to see a back row of;

6 Shields / Underhill
7 Curry / Simmonds
8 Billy / Earl