England Six Nations thread

[Maverick1987]

I have zero faith in Burns coming good, but hopefully with Eastmond at 12 it won't matter as much.

Tom Brady is travelling as cover for Rokoduguni as well.

Hmmm Tom Brady . Has he shifted over from NFL ? Nice

 

[ratsapprentice]

That was in Bath, not Bordeaux.

Granted it shouldn't mean that it's a penalty-fest... but it's not as good as nice warm, firm conditions.

 

[Mumbles119]

Great to see that centre partnership there! Could be very bright.

Eastmond seems to be impatient to prove himself, even though we know he can do it, so giving him game time, rather than bench warming could be a smart move to keep him motivated.

Daly at 13 is very good to see, hopefully this means Lancaster will start to see him as a real option there. Especially if the rumours turn out true, and Rob Miller joins wasps, could give Daly more permanent time at 13.

 

[j'nuh]

So much positive things to say about that Saxons squad:
1. Stooke starting is a very good, very brave call. I really wonder where he's sitting in the England pecking order right now though? Launchbury-Parling-Lawes-Attwood seems like a group of players that Lancaster is going to want to take into the WC. Who could Stooke possibly replace? I think injuries will have to work in Stooke's (or any other Saxon) favour.
2. Dickinson justly being rewarded.
3. Robson. Well worth a call up in a position England are struggling in.
4. Daly at 13. I really, really want him to give us a good alternative to Tuilagi in this position. I won't forgive Wasps if they make him into just another player to add to our ever-increasing fullback pool.
5. Miller, Rokoduguni and Thompstone are great players, well worth their call-ups.

If only Burns had his form of a year ago, that backline would tear a lot of teams apart. Anyway, I don't expect him to play as bad as last week, although I don't expect him to be sensational either...

 

[B10]

Is the Saxons game on sky tonight? I thought it was but can't see it on the tv guide.

 

[Peat]

Being streamed on both unions' websites allegedly.

 

[ratsapprentice]

http://www.rugbydump.com/2014/01/3575/scotland-a-vs-england-saxons-live-stream-friday-730pm-gmt

 

[ratsapprentice]

Anybody been watching this game...?

It's been absolutely dire.

 

[Mumbles119]

Yes I am. Agreed it is dire. Far too much kicking possession away. Ref does not know what is going at the scrum, just guessing away each time.

When England play an attacking game they look good, until it gets dropped/knocked on/forward pass etc...

Liked the little deft touches by Eastmond, and Daly again looks to make a difference.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Genuinely one of the worst games I have ever seen.

Saxons have looked badly coached this series.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Has Jon Callard ever done anything good with the Saxons? They have underperformed for years. This is really the level at which England should stand out. It's in no way good enough considering some of the players available.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/16883455
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21300404

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Basic handling skills for Saxons have been shocking. Ability at the rucks is practically non-existent and trying to do complicated stuff without even sorting out the basics. Whoever is coaching the Saxons should be sacked because it is atrocious.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Some thoughts from the France game:

Farrell is still awkward in attack, but is improving at least.

Care played well - aside from some dodgy box-kicking in the first half.

The makeup of the bench looked bad before the game - it looks bad after the game.

Jack Nowell made a couple of handling errors in the first ten minutes and then went on to make 9 tackles (without missing any) and made 87m - more than anyone else.
The second Huget try was Goode's fault IMO - he should have taken it A) because Nowell was running an effective blocking line, and B ) because he was the "senior" player.
Jonny May was unlucky to get injured - he looked lively in his truncated appearance. Can't really take very much from it.
Burrell took his try very well - did ok generally but was at fault in defence for the last try. Quite quiet but can't really criticise him overall.

We were well beaten at the breakdown for the first 20-25 mins, although we turned that around completely in the second half.
The pack was a little rusty but still looks a real handful. Some scrummaging issues - Wilson can't come back soon enough.

There is a clear lack of confidence in the lineout when Youngs comes on.

Billy Twelvetrees kept losing his footing and made a couple of poor passes. Was ok - needs to improve.
Eastmond needs to be given a chance to put him under pressure to distribute better - preferably from the bench.

Goode - yes he has vision.... it's a shame for him that he's such a relatively poor athlete.
He looks absolutely glacial when on the move. Simply not good enough at this level.


Team against Scotland should be, IMO:

1. Marler
2. Hartley
3. Cole
4. Launchbury
5. Lawes
6. Wood/Kvesic (depending on how the Sweaties go tomorrow)
7. Robshaw
8. Vunipola
9. Care
10. Farrell
11. May/Watson
12. 36/Eastmond
13. Burrell
14. Nowell
15. Brown

16. Youngs
17. Vunipola
18. Thomas
19. Attwood
20. Morgan
21. Dickson
22. Ford
23. Eastmond/Watson


I say this with the caveat that we haven't seen the play yet, but I feel we should be confident of beating them comfortably.
Our selection should reflect both that, and that people like Tom Wood should preferably be kept as fresh as possible whilst trying out our depth (Kvesic).

 

[McTallshort]

Isnt Kvesic a 7?

 

[ratsapprentice]

Yeah, so is Wallace.... it doesn't stop O'Shea picking Robshaw at 7.

It doesn't really matter anyway - Kvesic is a 7; putting a 6 on his back doesn't make it so anymore than putting the number 11 on Davey Wilson's back would make him a winger.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Isnt Kvesic a 7?

Isn't Robshaw a 6?


Agree completely with that side, Rats.
Would consider giving Attwood a start, but Launchbury/Lawes played very very well yesterday.

I really hope that May is OK, because I really don't want Ashton back - considering the size of the swelling on his face when they showed him in the crowd, I'm not holding out much hope unfortunately

 

[Peat]

Rumour has it that Lawes might miss the next game, May definitely will.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Can't see them changing the back row then, although I would still like to see Kev.

1. Marler
2. Hartley
3. Cole
4. Launchbury
5. Attwood
6. Wood/Kvesic
7. Robshaw
8. Vunipola
9. Care
10. Farrell
11. Watson
12. 36
13. Burrell
14. Nowell
15. Brown

16. Youngs
17. Vunipola
18. Thomas
19. Slater
20. Morgan
21. Dickson
22. Ford
23. Eastmond

 

[Chikwa]

Relief for Philip saint Andre . That was the biggest headline of the game. Southern Hemisphere teams need not lose any sleep over arguably the the top teams in the six nations and this includes Wales!

 

[McTallshort]

If only you had something to match the 6 Nations