England Six Nations thread

[TRF_Olyy]

God knows.
We have a load of young talent, but only two real established tightheads.
I think the forwards battle/scrum being such an important part of the premiership plays into it, as sides need a top prop right away to compete, so will look abroad to pinch from another side that has put in the development time.
When you look at the premiership starters you've got most sides either playing kids or foreigners, the notable two exceptions are Tigers and Bath, and they've got the starter and bench for England.

 

[LooseHeadProp87]

Tom Youngs has the best lineout percentage in the premiership if he is not getting enough time throwing in to lawes ect then its not all his fault brilliant in the loose also.

 

[Patchey]

Question from across the water fellas, don't go nuts...

But how in the name of f___ did the cupboard get so bare?


I know we got shafted when having to play Tom Court on the wrong side against you folks before, but that was in the days of the 22 man match day squad... and we've only 4 professional teams!

You folks have 12 PRL teams and a pretty well resourced RFU championship just below that...

I think we're all asking ourselves that now... No idea. Some of it is down to luck I think, on the other side of the scrum we have a couple of young props who have developed much faster than is normally expected of a front row player. However at tighthead we have Cole and Wilson, both mature players, and a lot of younger guys who may well be up to international standard in three or four years but aren't way off now.


Concerning Youngs, where have you got those stats from?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Youngs does have very good lineout percentage in the premiership to be fair - I'd be surprised if it was the highest, but would be more surprised if it was one of the worst. He's very much a confidence thrower.

 

[LooseHeadProp87]

brian moore mentioned it during the scotland game and it was on the premiership's twitter feed

 

[Crapspray]

I hesitatingly add to the call for Stevens. Lord I hoped this day, and those words, would never come.

Then again, his injury was inevitable. With the amount of rugby he's been playing this season, off the back of a Lions tour, he was going to crock at some point. I just hoped that he'd be able to limp to the end of the Six Nations.

Lucky it happened just when Wilson got back; however unfit he is. Hopefully Rowntree can cram 18 months worth of Marler and Vunipola's progress into a week. Otherwise we're ****ed.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Yeah, weirdly this is almost a good thing for Cole as a player. Obviously a neck injury is bad bad news, but if the doctor's have said he'll make a 100% recovery then the month or so off he'll have will do him the world of good.

 

[Maverick1987]

Yeah, weirdly this is almost a good thing for Cole as a player. Obviously a neck injury is bad bad news, but if the doctor's have said he'll make a 100% recovery then the month or so off he'll have will do him the world of good.

Yeh this is spot on but it depends how much we need this 6N as team development ? How bad is Thomas ?

 

[ratsapprentice]

1) Thomas is potentially going to cost us a lot of points if he comes on for more that 20 minutes at the end.

2) Let's hope that yesterday blew out the majority of Wilson's cobwebs - I have no doubt about his ability as a player - but he's the sort of player that needs to put a lot of work in to stay conditioned and he's not been able to do any exercise for a month. I feel bad for Davey TBH, because in all likelihood he's going to come in for a lot of unfair criticism on the back of an early return to rugby - after a year of outstanding form. Cruel.


3) Thomas is a terrible scrummager. BUT - he does have a weird habit of going really well inexplicably every now and again.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Let's just all cross our fingers that Thomas and Attwood come onto the pitch together (if that could also coincide with the opposition loosehead getting diarrhoea or cramp or something that'd be grand).

In a weird way I almost want to see Henry get some decent time for England just to see him in the loose - for all his faults he's one of the best props in the country carrying the ball. Could we all just have a gentleman's agreement that scrums go uncontested when he takes to the pitch?

 

[ratsapprentice]

Out for the season apparently - let's hope that Davey can stay fit.
We're going to have to call someone else up to train, I'm not sure who that would be at the moment TBH.

Thomas (unless he can prove otherwise, which would be a miracle, frankly) is not good enough to be on the bench vs the AB's.

We've been saying it for ages now, but Cole has been well and truly crocked by overplaying as far as I can make out.
If someone knows any better correct me, but AFAIK a bulging disk is normally a result of pressure over a long period.

 

[Jockstap]

Didn't Wilson get done by one of our guys in the Saxon/Wolfhound game or was that someone else?

 

[ratsapprentice]

Different Wilson... the one that got "done" was our U20's prop Wilson.

 

[Jockstap]

Different Wilson... the one that got "done" was our U20's prop Wilson.

Ah, too bad. How's Wilson senior at scrum time, how big of a blow is this for England?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Ah, too bad. How's Wilson senior at scrum time, how big of a blow is this for England?

Better scrummager than Cole, but not as prominent in the loose/at the breakdown.

 

[Jockstap]

Better scrummager than Cole, but not as prominent in the loose/at the breakdown.

So basically an English version of Mike Ross, not too big a blow then.

 

[ratsapprentice]

As Olyy says, he's a better scrummager and he's also a better ball carrier, but not as good at the breakdown.
If he was fit, this wouldn't be an issue - but he played his first 50 minutes of rugby for Bath in a month yesterday, and he looked unfit.

 

[Jockstap]

As Olyy says, he's a better scrummager and he's also a better ball carrier, but not as good at the breakdown.
If he was fit, this wouldn't be an issue - but he played his first 50 minutes of rugby for Bath in a month yesterday, and he looked unfit.

Whoa that's a huge advantage to Ireland. So whatever happens his turnstile replacement will be on at the 60 minute mark. If he isn't then Wilson will be a massive liability in defense. This could swing the game in our favor.

 

[ratsapprentice]

If he can get fit he might have Healy on toast though... as unlikely as that is.

 

[Jockstap]

If he can get fit he might have Healy on toast though... as unlikely as that is.

In a week, and if Adam Jones couldn't do it?