England v Japan - 24/11/2024 (16.10)

[Reiser99]

Job done, but defence is still a huge concern. Japan could have had more points and better teams will.

 

[Yulia]

Blossoms were spanked by Roses.
That was a bit boring to watch tbh

 

[Rugbyfan564]

If George has try bonuses in his contract he'll be buzzing

Do those type of bonuses exist at the international level?

 

[Rugbyfan564]

Based on Tigers form? He's up there

Based on almost every international game he's played? Erm....

I can't get my head around the binning of Spencer, probably the form 9 in the league, seems tailor made for the style SB plays and plays well in his two starts....and is completely binned

Maybe it's a personal issue?

 

[Rugbyfan564]

Slade been really poor - meant to be a distributor and defensive leader and failed on both counts

Suspect Borthwick is going to soon regret giving him an enhanced contract and the rumour is not a 1 year only one either.

 

[AlRums]

I know England win with a lot of points yada yada, but that was a boring game

Game of the weekend for me was ITA v NZL

 

[Rugbyfan564]

I blame Borthwick more than Slade tbh, he'd only played 54mins of rugby this season before the AIs - shouldn't have been thrown straight in to be first choice

Might be an effect of not wanting to double pay for someone. Saving money wherever they can.

 

[Yulia]

Game of if the weekend for me was ITA v NZL

Absolutely!

 

[OllyM97]

That was a total waste of time. We won but still defensively we looked completely sh*t. First two games of the 6N are Ireland and France, deep joy. I can honestly see a situation where we go 0 and 3 in the first 3 games and the Italians come to Twickenham fancying their chances.

 

[Grizwald]

Some positives but 1 out 4 was poor. Sleightholme has stepped up to international level well he goes looking for work, in comparison his team mate Freeman has had a really quiet autumn. Hopefully longer term he plays more at 13 although Northampton do have a well established midfield combo.

Same old issues in the main. Midfield, we still don't have a proper 12 or seem to want to try and find/develop one.

Marcus Smith at times had individual moments that kept England in games but question marks about his game managment and his kicking from hand and more so range isn't up to standard.

Scrum wasn't the weakness it could/might have expected to be, but was serviceable rather than dominanat against the better counterparts. Think Stuart comes out with credit, time to say thanks very much to Dan Cole. I think Jamie George is done, taking your captain off at 50 is a poor place to be. LCD offered a lot more today around the park today, there's others I'd have ahead of him too.

Not got anything to say about the defence that already hasn't been said. Still think Borthwick is a B team coach with a C to D team supporting cast.

 

[OllyM97]

I know England win with a lot of points yada yada, but that was a boring game

Game of the weekend for me was ITA v NZL

Pretty low bar this weekend tbf but I was pleased to see Italy front up and make it a good contest. Onto the 6N now. I think it's make or break time for Borthwick.

 

[ShropshireAllBlack]

If you look at the AI series in the whole, there are a few conclusions to draw;

• The Rugby Championship was an accurate reflection of where the SH teams are, SA unbeaten, NZ 1 loss, everyone else is developing.
• France will have the best AI of the NH, I suspect Ireland will come a close second after next weekend.
• England, Italy and Wales will prove to be the bottom 3 of next 6N, on that order.
• The blitz defence requires fitness, when your defence coach follows your S&C coach out the door, you've got problems.
• The Welsh coaching bench looked very old yesterday. With such a young squad, relevance matters!
• Faz senior will blood those he wants to see next Autumn. Easterby will be given a pool of approved players to choose from for the 6N. No surprises!

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Learned nothing from that except we can beat a team of much smaller, totally inexperienced players at home.

Some stats from the BBC. Eng first:

Possession: 57% : 43%

Carries: 90 : 105

Metres gained: 381 : 373

Turnovers conceded: 10 : 11

Plenty more stats to come no doubt, but if you didn't know the score from these alone you'd be thinking a fairly close match.

 

[AlRums]

Learned nothing from that except we can beat a team of much smaller, totally inexperienced players at home.

Some stats from the BBC. Eng first:

Possession: 57% : 43%

Carries: 90 : 105

Metres gained: 381 : 373

Turnovers conceded: 10 : 11

Plenty more stats to come no doubt, but if you didn't know the score from these alone you'd be thinking a fairly close match.

Tackling and penalties?

 

[AlRums]

Just waiting for Dawson to write how brilliant England were and how they are World Class

 

[Grizwald]

If you look at the AI series in the whole, there are a few conclusions to draw;

• The Rugby Championship was an accurate reflection of where the SH teams are, SA unbeaten, NZ 1 loss, everyone else is developing.
• France will have the best AI of the NH, I suspect Ireland will come a close second after next weekend.
• England, Italy and Wales will prove to be the bottom 3 of next 6N, on that order.
• The blitz defence requires fitness, when your defence coach follows your S&C coach out the door, you've got problems.
• The Welsh coaching bench looked very old yesterday. With such a young squad, relevance matters!
• Faz senior will blood those he wants to see next Autumn. Easterby will be given a pool of approved players to choose from for the 6N. No surprises!

South African weren't unbeaten. Argentina beat them by a point.

The Autumn internationals being the end of the SH season and start of the NH season has an impact, although the gap between the end of the RC and AI's is 5/6 weeks with a lot of travel.

It feels like if it's in their gift the northern unions should get the tier 2 nations at the start of the schedule. Ireland and England playing NZ first wasn't ideal. Ireland it's hard to say where they're at, would have loved to have seen SA vs Fra and SA vs Ire part 3.

 

[mdaclarke]

Considering how much money Japan have, I am disappointed with how poor they have been. They just don't have the cattle. Not sure if they will ever improve.

 

[Geordie]

Defence is a huge concern
Slade a problem
12 still a problem
Yet to be convinced JVP is an international 9!
Jaime George's time is up very soon
Why the f#&k play Tom Curry!!!

Conundrums
What to do with Marcus Smith
What to do with Freeman..where does he fit best..

 

[ShropshireAllBlack]

South African weren't unbeaten. Argentina beat them by a point.

The Autumn internationals being the end of the SH season and start of the NH season has an impact, although the gap between the end of the RC and AI's is 5/6 weeks with a lot of travel.

It feels like if it's in their gift the northern unions should get the tier 2 nations at the start of the schedule. Ireland and England playing NZ first wasn't ideal. Ireland it's hard to say where they're at, would have loved to have seen SA vs Fra and SA vs Ire part 3.

In the context of the Autumn Internationals, South Africa remains unbeaten and they enter 2025 rightly as world #1.
My expectation of the coming 6N is a French win followed by an Irish 2nd place.