England v France

[shtove]

I also thought it was good to see the touch judges getting more involved in the scrums, today (calling infringements on their side of the scrum that the ref couldn't see)


For those that missed it i've just found the eye-gouge on Simon Shaw (was wrong about the player before):

Not close enough to judge.

 

[coonor]

Is it me or were both Chabal and Poitrenaud really bad. Chabal did nothing that he was picked to do and he was the least physical backrower in the game and Poitrenaud continues to make so many errors.

 

[Surefire]

13 - 27 France wins by 14

Ashton gets his Try, but England are wound too tightly and cause too many penalties in the game. Chabal lasts 30 minutes then needs oxygen for the rest of the night!

GO France!

Well, I really had that one wrong!

Congrats to England, I did not think the ref was so inconsistent that it would have changed the score. It was a tough game too many turnovers by France, the start to the second half made me want to puke.

 

[j-dawg]

Will people appreciate Sheridan now? Alot of scrum power was lost when he left the field.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Will people appreciate Sheridan now? Alot of scrum power was lost when he left the field.

No, one game does not turn him around. Still believe Corbs is a better scrummager than him.

 

[j-dawg]

Fair enough. I'm still a bit biased as I still live in a world when Sheridan dominated (2007 WC). I just think he's come on well after being out for a year, especially against Somoa. Hope he can get himself into the tower of power shape he was in 4 years ago.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Fair enough. I'm still a bit biased as I still live in a world when Sheridan dominated (2007 WC). I just think he's come on well after being out for a year, especially against Somoa. Hope he can get himself into the tower of power shape he was in 4 years ago.

Saying that could be a resurgence for him!

 

[j-dawg]

What do you mean by that?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I think the 20minutes he played today was a blip for him, he was dreadful against Harlequins last weekend! The scrum actually got a lot stronger when replaced by 20 year old Imiolek


But he did look good the limited time he was on today, but Corbisiero has impressed me a lot this tournament - packed down, and held his own, against two of the best front rows in the NH, and considering he's only 22, that's impressive.

Average age of our front row today was 23

 

[j-dawg]

Im not taking anything away from Corbiserio at all, he has proven fantastically capable of scrumming with the best and at that tender age but since the u20 game against Wales last year I've always seen Marler as Sheridans succesor. Although I think if Sheridan can get himself into a good form (2007rwc or lions 09) that would be best for the current england squad.

 

[dullonien]

Good game overall.

England basically won this match at the breakdown in the second half. They disrupted 80% of French ball at the breakdown in the second period which basically stopped France from being able to play. Great forward effort all round. Back's were half and half, Flood, Ashton, Tindall and Foden were good, although I see Tindall's performance as more of a one off than anything else.

France were pretty poor. Along with Wales and Ireland, their game is currently full of mistakes, two of them resulted in England's try, and that was eventually enough. The bounce of the ball didn't exactly go their way either.

I still don't think England are invincible, and could come a cropper against Ireland. Either way, the championship is theirs imo, just depends if they complete a grandslam or not!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Ireland are to England what England are to France, imo
They're the team I was most worried about before the tournament, and with Bowe back now, it's doing nothing to eleviate it

 

[eot345]

French was NOT beaten in the scrum, ref was just awful. The whole world (yes, not only French, have a look at some other forums) is complaining about how the ref behave with the scrums, but you guys seem to ignore it. And i'm not even speaking about what happened in the last 20mn. English played well, but without Mr Clancy the score would have been totally different.

your making this up it was clearly binding on the arm how is that in anyway legal
THE FRENCH WERE OUT SCRUMMAGED!!! Jeremy guscott said the refing was extreamly good.

 

[fusuke78]

Well, congrats for your win.

I really thought, after the first lineout and first scrum, we would lose by 30. So, why 9-9 at half time ?
In first half, we were truly there, good aggressivity, we blocked the wings, and with a bit of luck we could take a little advantage at the end.

But then, we made a huge mistake when we came back on the pitch, and I knew at this point the game was lost. Too much for our little scaried minds, we do that everytime. But I was happy it was Foden, I really like this guy, both the player and the man actually. A future great figure in our sport.
Minutes later, Yachvili hits the post, and Rougerie misses a great try. If he scores here, everything is possible, and I feel the game could have been for us.
But he didn't, and two times England had the opportunity to score. I was sooo pleased when Ashton tought he scored his try, he made his famous move to taunt us (or just because he is an idiot), and few minutes later he spoiled an incredible opportunity to score again. Good player if you need to run, but when it comes to play rugby, nothing happens.
Then, we prove again we are physically out at half of the second half. We were definitely out, it's very scary to see we are able to produce only 60 minutes of intense rugby.

I think it was a deserved win for England, who should and deserve to win the tournament. But we saw, with an aggressive defense, and when you let guys like Tindall or Hape to find solutions, England is just not so efficient. So, for the sake of this great tournament, irish people, you know what to do...

I'd like to participate to the scrum debate. I was not surprised to see England so tough, and your young prop Corbisiero was really good. I won't find excuses on the referring. But one thing : our props didn't seem to know why they were penalised (and french supporters as well), they really should learn english. I'm sick to hear nobody in french squad understand why we were penalised !

Honestly, we didn't lose this game because of the ref, even if I was a bit skeptic the first quarter. He made a solid game I think. We lose because we make ALWAYS the same mistakes, we don't listen, we are mentally fragile, we try to play a rugby we do not have the players for. And we have Traille, Huget, Chabal, Palisson, Thion (well he was not so terrible this time, but still). Whereas we should play with Mermoz (injured), Médard (injured), Porical, Malzieu (WHY ?), Picamoles (WHY ?), Bastareaud (WHY ?) or Fritz (at least !).

To conclude : Solid English team, great France team at first half. Great game, England wins, bravo to you. But now I'm convinced neither France (I knew that already) or England have a slightly chance to win next world cup if they play like that. And we will drink beers and wine, thinking it will be for the next, and we will be happy to come back to our championships, our HCup, and our magnificent Six Nations. Because it's wonderful, what a great competition.

 

[Peat]

Ireland are to England what England are to France, imo
They're the team I was most worried about before the tournament, and with Bowe back now, it's doing nothing to eleviate it

This with sodding bells on. However, right now Deccie Kidney seems to holding them back, so more power to his shiny red pate.

Also, I agree with every word fusuke said... except to say I don't think Ashton's really thinking about the opposition when he does that. He's just happy. But at times today his rugby brain let him down. Just think how scary he will be when that sharpens up...

Also, Tindall's passing was woeful, and if Jerry Guscott says something, its probably wrong.

 

[smartcooky]

French was NOT beaten in the scrum, ref was just awful. The whole world (yes, not only French, have a look at some other forums) is complaining about how the ref behave with the scrums, but you guys seem to ignore it. And i'm not even speaking about what happened in the last 20mn. English played well, but without Mr Clancy the score would have been totally different.

Really? You must have been watching a different game.

I thought Clancy's scrum management was very good today, better than he usually is. He was consistent and clearly explained what his decisions were. Above all, by not allowing the props to have short binds on their opponent's arms, he ensured a fair and proper contest for the ball.

I see a LOT of arm binding gotten away with in the Top 14, so maybe those referees need to pay more attention to this aspect of scrummaging. The elite referees have been instructed by the iRB Referee assessment team be vigilant on binding. The Top 14 referees need to follow those instructions.

 

[elgringoborracho]

Congrats to England for the win, losing by less than 10 points at Twickenham shows there is not a too huge margin between our teams.

Still not sure I understood how the scrums were referried but that's no excuse. A pity about Rougerie's almost try too. All in all a decent game by France.

Hope England get the slam, see you at the RWC.

 

[elgringoborracho]

your making this up it was clearly binding on the arm how is that in anyway legal
THE FRENCH WERE OUT SCRUMMAGED!!! Jeremy guscott said the refing was extreamly good.

LOL ok if Guscott said it

 

[Aout]

your making this up it was clearly binding on the arm how is that in anyway legal
THE FRENCH WERE OUT SCRUMMAGED!!! Jeremy guscott said the refing was extreamly good.

Ok my bad, Guscott said it.

I just watched the game again and maybe i'm blind, but one out of two times the ref is penalizing French for something that comes out of nowhere (i.e. arm bindingn wtf ?? Open your eyes, you really got to watch this game again).
I'm so ****** that we lost that game. We just made too many mistakes when we got ball in the hand, and were a bit unlucky when Rougerie was able to score his try and when Yachvili hit the post. Despite all those mistakes we still were the only one on the field that were able to carry the ball forward, while English struggled to progress when they had the ball.
Can't understand how british can say "England deserves the victory" when the only time they were able to score was when they counter attacked (or when ref gave them the ball).

Anyway, with a proper preparation (2 months, and hopefully and other winger) the story won't be similar in New Zealand.

 

[mohamed_ali12]

Ok my bad, Guscott said it.

I just watched the game again and maybe i'm blind, but one out of two times the ref is penalizing French for something that comes out of nowhere (i.e. arm bindingn wtf ?? Open your eyes, you really got to watch this game again).
I'm so ****** that we lost that game. We just made too many mistakes when we got ball in the hand, and were a bit unlucky when Rougerie was able to score his try and when Yachvili hit the post. Despite all those mistakes we still were the only one on the field that were able to carry the ball forward, while English struggled to progress when they had the ball.
Can't understand how british can say "England deserves the victory" when the only time they were able to score was when they counter attacked (or when ref gave them the ball).

Anyway, with a proper preparation (2 months, and hopefully and other winger) the story won't be similar in New Zealand.

England have beaten Australia twice in the last 12 months doing this. Doesn't mean they don't deserve the victory at all.