England v France

[Logorrhea]

People on the '606' Seem to think

See what you did wrong there?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Hopefully they're wrong

Dropping Cueto would be dumb,
If Banahan went to 13 then Tindall should move to 12 - Tindall is carrying Hape as it is, if Hape/Banahan were the midfield partnership we'd have some serious problems!

 

[No Soft Centres]

See what you did wrong there?

I do indeed. This is why i am no longer an active member on the 606. long live TRF

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Sheridan starting, Corbisiero bench are the only changes from the Italy match
http://www.rfu.com/News/2011/February/News Articles/240111_England_team_v_France.aspx

 

[veux]

Lets hope we can win with that team. Only problem I can see is that Johno is running out of time to test anyone else before the world cup. Looking at that bench, we're ****** if Foden gets injured.

 

[No Soft Centres]

This is good news. if its not broken then why fix it. Anyone know what the french mean by having a plan to stop ashton. Hope they do focus on him, becuase then gaps will appear in other places

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Yup, it's just going to leave gaps open for other players to run through - look what happened when England focused on SBW when we played NZ - two players went for him everytime he touched the ball leaving a gap the size of a truck for Hosea Gear/Dan Carter to run through

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Surely the only way to stop Ashton is to stop the gaps appearing in the first place, Ie not leaving Flood or Youngs the opportunity to run in between two props and then feed it back to Ashton. I don't really think they will have their thoughts on Ashton anymore so than on Flood and Youngs

 

[Teh Mite]

It won't matter if they leave gaps by over-marking Ashton - As soon as that over-hyped shitehawk Hape get the ball he'll deveate away from the try line just to run into someone.

 

[elgringoborracho]

Surely the only way to stop Ashton is to stop the gaps appearing in the first place, Ie not leaving Flood or Youngs the opportunity to run in between two props and then feed it back to Ashton. I don't really think they will have their thoughts on Ashton anymore so than on Flood and Youngs

Spot on. That's what David Ellis (France's defense coach) said in several articles.

He says Ashton isn't really a creator, rather a very good exploiter of the gaps created by Flood or Youngs. I think the plan will be to give Flood very little space (often reminding the anti-Wilkinson plan with Betsen in 2002), probably using Dusautoir.

Otherwise the defense will be as compact as possible. This will probably leave space for chip kicks, let's see if Flood can use them.

If not, France will try to make the most of turnover balls like we did against Scotland, targetting the 10-12 channel and the wings. And of course we wil hope for a harsh refeering on rucks and scrums to give us some kickable penalties.

 

[Logorrhea]

But surely we have all recognised the O'Gara sized gap in that Italian defense? Their outhalf didnt make a tackle all game. I could have run through him a few times.

 

[Teh Mite]

I really hope Foden has a huge game on Saturday. For all this ******** in the media about Ashton doing nothing except collecting final passes and diving -Although for some reason he's at the same time being compared to Jason Robinson - Fodder's been quietly getting on with it ("pantomime Villain" quotes notwithstanding) and forgotten about.

Foden is the real danger man in Englands back 3. Lets hope the media cuffuffle about Flash continues to ensure he's ignored by coaches and players alike.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Fode under the radar is more dangerous than a media hyped one!

 

[profitius]

The England back 3 have been superb so far. They've hardly made any mistakes at all. The French will test them I think so it should be a good game.

One thing though is if England can handle expectations. After promising performances against Australia and NZ they crumbled against SA.

 

[No Soft Centres]

As soon as that over-hyped shitehawk Hape get the ball he'll deveate away from the try line just to run into someone.

S'bit harsh don't you think? he's by no means the best 12 in the world, but i can think of many that a lot worse than him.

As for targetting our 10 -12 channel good luck. Flood, although no wilkinson is a good tackling flyhalf. And hape is used to Big *****s running at him all day in leauge, so his defence isn't exactly weak. And i cant see to fault any of our back three defensively. So....... the only points i see them getting is by giving away Penalties (england's historical strength) and perhaps from counter attack. ?

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Vague rumours going around that medard is out? Injury in training? Guess that would mean Poitreneud comes in at 15, an awesome replacement to have coming in, although hasn't been at his best for a while.

 

[oliv]

Vague rumours going around that medard is out? Injury in training? Guess that would mean Poitreneud comes in at 15, an awesome replacement to have coming in, although hasn't been at his best for a while.

Yes he's out poitrenaud or traille will start 15 and palisson had been called

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Medard said he's "99% sure" he'll be fit for the game last I saw
I hope it's the 1%! Poitrenaud is still a top player, but Medard is better, imo


I agree with Cymro about Foden too, with everyone focusing more on Ashton you forget what a class operator Foden is then BAM he runs the ball 70m from his own try line before a defender can snag him

 

[Mr.cyclopede]

Confirmation Medard is out...
Poitrenaud to tke the place and Palisson on the bench.

 

[Teh Mite]

Phew. That said Poitrenaud is hardly shabby.