England Rugby 2018/19 Thread

[WarriorKelv]

Or he will choose 3 say youngs Spencer and an apprentice SH.

I wouldn't mind that tbh helps tranistion over and then take the youngsters on the Japan series similar to Argentina but then players like Young/ Lawes need to be moved on to bring players through. We have to win this 6n tbh otherwise confidence will be low. Missing out on the last two 6n and losing the final.

 

[BPM]

LRS will play for Wales i'm pretty sure of that. Especially with all the injuries they have and North not being in the greatest form. I wouldn't be surprised if he is in the 6N but i'm not worried tbh we also have good wingers coming through. Loader, Thorley, Cokansinga, Ibitoye, Murley, Sleightholme etc added to players like Nowell, Watson i wouldn't be worried about missing out on 1 player.

Yeah Spencer and Robson for the 6n but I don't think that is a problem at all and as you said White and Reinach are off so a chance for Maunder brothers, Townsend, Mitchell when fit even Henry Taylor to stake a claim. Randall is behind Uren but tbf Uren is a good player as well. Other names to watch are Tom Whitley, Ben Vellacott and Ollie Fox. Plenty of names to watch there and Spencer/ Robson aren't exactly old war- horses either so tbf we could be in a better situation now. I wouldn't mind giving Joe Simpson a run out in the 6n tbf the guy has been quality this season.

I'd be happy to see Robson and Spencer given the nod for the 6 Nations. Alex Mitchell would have been my preferred option as the third (particularly after rounding off a good breakthrough season with a stellar performance in the Barbarians game), but unfortunately injury scuppered that.

I wouldn't be totally against picking Simpson as a form option, but the truth is that he's over 30 and as soon as Heinz was fit, he got dropped which suggests to me that he's second choice at Gloucester.

Whitely and Vellacott aren't good enough to be first choice at club level so I can't see them getting a look in and the latter is injured anyway.

Fox is promising and I think a formative year in the Championship was good for his development. He's only had a game or two for Bath so far, so is more of a longer term option. Wolstenholme at Wasps is similar.

Henry Taylor is a real wildcard. I remember reading an article a while back with some of the Saracens players saying how much they rated him. Since getting a shot at Saints he's looked good. Not good enough to leapfrog Reinach, but more than good enough that he and Mitchell could be a very interesting pairing when Reinach leaves.

 

[WarriorKelv]

Or he will choose 3 say youngs Spencer and an apprentice SH.

I wouldn't mind that tbh helps tranistion over and then take the youngsters on the Japan series similar to Argentina but then players like Young/ Lawes need to be moved on to bring players through. We have to win this 6n tbh otherwise confidence will be low. Missing out on the last two 6n and losing the final.

I'd be happy to see Robson and Spencer given the nod for the 6 Nations. Alex Mitchell would have been my preferred option as the third (particularly after rounding off a good breakthrough season with a stellar performance in the Barbarians game), but unfortunately injury scuppered that.

I wouldn't be totally against picking Simpson as a form option, but the truth is that he's over 30 and as soon as Heinz was fit, he got dropped which suggests to me that he's second choice at Gloucester.

Whitely and Vellacott aren't good enough to be first choice at club level so I can't see them getting a look in and the latter is injured anyway.

Fox is promising and I think a formative year in the Championship was good for his development. He's only had a game or two for Bath so far, so is more of a longer term option. Wolstenholme at Wasps is similar.

Henry Taylor is a real wildcard. I remember reading an article a while back with some of the Saracens players saying how much they rated him. Since getting a shot at Saints he's looked good. Not good enough to leapfrog Reinach, but more than good enough that he and Mitchell could be a very interesting pairing when Reinach leaves.

I meant long term for the youngsters not for the 6n. Spencer and Robson are the most likely pairing for the 6 nations imo, Jones may take a third option but can't see anyone ready yet bar the likes of Youngs etc. Vellacott is injured isn't he? He was brought as a replacement for Youngs so surely when fit will be second choice at Wasps. Whitley has got some game time at Sarries this season too and imo did a decent job.

 

[Not Eddie Jones]

I wouldn't mind that tbh helps tranistion over and then take the youngsters on the Japan series similar to Argentina but then players like Young/ Lawes need to be moved on to bring players through. We have to win this 6n tbh otherwise confidence will be low. Missing out on the last two 6n and losing the final.

I think this is a really good point. Eddie had an excellent first two years with England using most of Lancaster's mob mixed with some new young talent. Then when it went awry in 2018, he regenerated the team, promoting bench players to starters, adding in new youngsters, shipping out the veterans who were fading, and in 2019 we started to see that come to fruition. The team played some great rugby in 2019, had some absolutely dominant performances and racked up a lot of big scores. But we didn't actually win a trophy. I would argue that the current team is actually better than the team that won back-to-back 6Ns and an Oz tour whitewash in 2016-17, but they lost both their key games last year (Wales in 6N and SA in WC) so won no trophies, whereas that 2016-17 team didn't play as well and rarely dominated, but they got sh*t done.

That's got to be the next step for this team, and its got to be now. We are one of only 2 teams who have a returning head coach for the 2020 6N, and Scotland aren't exactly challenging for much these days (Calcutta Cup excepted!). We have a young team that won't undergo too many changes, so there will be plenty of continuity with players and playing style and just a few tweaks from the new assistant coaches. Compare that to our 2 major rivals for the 6N over the last decade, Wales and Ireland, plus the always dangerous France, and all three teams have new coaches, are putting older players out to pasture and are actively talking about changing their playing styles (which always takes time). We get Wales and Ireland at Twickers, where we've lost just twice in 4 years under Eddie (and just twice in the last 9 6Ns tournaments). France we get first in Paris, not easy, but they always have a shorter training camp time than us, so hopefully we can catch them cold (or at least knacker them out in the second half after they've opened up an early lead with some quick tries, that seems like their modus operandi lately). In short, if we can't win the 6Ns with the quality of this team and all these cards stacked in our favour, there is something seriously wrong. If we do, then Eddie will get his shiny new contract to 2023 and we should be flying.

Having said all that, we tend to blow Grand Slams on the final weekend, so here's to our first ever loss to Italy.

 

[WarriorKelv]

I think this is a really good point. Eddie had an excellent first two years with England using most of Lancaster's mob mixed with some new young talent. Then when it went awry in 2018, he regenerated the team, promoting bench players to starters, adding in new youngsters, shipping out the veterans who were fading, and in 2019 we started to see that come to fruition. The team played some great rugby in 2019, had some absolutely dominant performances and racked up a lot of big scores. But we didn't actually win a trophy. I would argue that the current team is actually better than the team that won back-to-back 6Ns and an Oz tour whitewash in 2016-17, but they lost both their key games last year (Wales in 6N and SA in WC) so won no trophies, whereas that 2016-17 team didn't play as well and rarely dominated, but they got sh*t done.

That's got to be the next step for this team, and its got to be now. We are one of only 2 teams who have a returning head coach for the 2020 6N, and Scotland aren't exactly challenging for much these days (Calcutta Cup excepted!). We have a young team that won't undergo too many changes, so there will be plenty of continuity with players and playing style and just a few tweaks from the new assistant coaches. Compare that to our 2 major rivals for the 6N over the last decade, Wales and Ireland, plus the always dangerous France, and all three teams have new coaches, are putting older players out to pasture and are actively talking about changing their playing styles (which always takes time). We get Wales and Ireland at Twickers, where we've lost just twice in 4 years under Eddie (and just twice in the last 9 6Ns tournaments). France we get first in Paris, not easy, but they always have a shorter training camp time than us, so hopefully we can catch them cold (or at least knacker them out in the second half after they've opened up an early lead with some quick tries, that seems like their modus operandi lately). In short, if we can't win the 6Ns with the quality of this team and all these cards stacked in our favour, there is something seriously wrong. If we do, then Eddie will get his shiny new contract to 2023 and we should be flying.

Having said all that, we tend to blow Grand Slams on the final weekend, so here's to our first ever loss to Italy.

Exactly France always find someway to muck up, Scotland just aren't great away from Murrayfield, Italy are just Italy and we play Wales/ Ireland at Twickenham with new coaches plus Wales having a host of injuries. Three 6 nations losses and losing in the World Cup final wouldn't be great for English rugby.

 

[Not Eddie Jones]

Exactly France always find someway to muck up, Scotland just aren't great away from Murrayfield, Italy are just Italy and we play Wales/ Ireland at Twickenham with new coaches plus Wales having a host of injuries. Three 6 nations losses and losing in the World Cup final wouldn't be great for English rugby.

Sadly, we play Scotland at Murrayfield, but then our loss there in 2018 was our first since 2008, so it's not like we have a terrible record up there.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Just realised I'm gonna be on holiday for the final two round of the 6N
Looks like I'm looking for a rugby bar in Shinjuku at 2am

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Just realised I'm gonna be on holiday for the final two round of the 6N
Looks like I'm looking for a rugby bar in Shinjuku at 2am

that's where I stayed when I first got to Tokyo; stayed at the Hotel Gracery where Godzilla lives.. Loads of places to drink and am sure you will find a bar to watch the games.