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

[Geordie]

Bit of a shame not to grab a few others that impressed on the weekend/should be there already - but not sure what the EPS rules are when it comes to the A squad

Yeah I didn't think anyone could come up but clearly I was wrong

 

[Lé Ddanno]

Yeah I didn't think anyone could come up but clearly I was wrong

Murley has been in some Squads before, so maybe he's still EPS. Dunno though

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Underhill is a tricky one. We don't learn anything by playing him but he definitely doesn't deserve to be dropped.

We miss him when he's not there, it's as simple as that. Still blows my mind how few caps he actually has.

When fit he's the first name on my team sheet.

The defensive stuff we take as read, but he strikes me as someone who's worked hard on his weaknesses and is palpably a better all round player now.

 

[Geordie]

Murley has been in some Squads before, so maybe he's still EPS. Dunno though

Unless they called an "injury " replacement...

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Daly is injured, apparently

 

[Lé Ddanno]

Oh great, I'm sure Murley will make the 23 then.

 

[Grizwald]

Not got much interest in this one tbh. England are on a hiding to nothing they'll be expected to win big and if they do will get a so what, a win and a scruffy performance will put a bit more pressure on, a defeat.........

I'd be happy if Ted Hill gets a shot from the bench, others aren't in the squad (Willis). I feel for Lozowski, he's no spring chicken but got in the sqaud on merit only to be left out while Slade comes in off the back of a long layoff. I thought one of Borthwicks mantras was to get away from the we're building for the RWC and just try to win each game.

Martin hasn't been that impressive for me this autumn. He's been caught out in D several times but it hard to tell if it's a system thing as England's defence has got worse as game on game. I don't know how much truth there is in it but I keep hearing on YouTube channels he's slowing down with age, I mean he's just turned 30 and one of his USP's has always been his athleticism. If it's true could do with a more athletic lock paring.

England have crumbled on the hour mark, lots of comments around lack of conditioning/fitness.

More questions than answer this autumn for sure.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Martin hasn't been that impressive for me this autumn. He's been caught out in D several times but it hard to tell if it's a system thing as England's defence has got worse as game on game. I don't know how much truth there is in it but I keep hearing on YouTube channels he's slowing down with age, I mean he's just turned 30 and one of his USP's has always been his athleticism. If it's true could do with a more athletic lock paring.

Martin is like 23.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Guessing he means Genge?
I thought Martin's been fine, but Genge's defence has been poor

 

[Reiser99]

It won't mean a huge amount, but good defence and a coherent attack would at least be a positive end.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Guessing he means Genge?
I thought Martin's been fine, but Genge's defence has been poor

I wondered if he meant Genge or Itoje.

Either way Genge has looked passive and poor to me (but then I'm biased into not rating him). Itoje has looked alright this autum, he's done ok.

 

[BPM]

Not got much interest in this one tbh. England are on a hiding to nothing they'll be expected to win big and if they do will get a so what, a win and a scruffy performance will put a bit more pressure on, a defeat.........

I'd be happy if Ted Hill gets a shot from the bench, others aren't in the squad (Willis). I feel for Lozowski, he's no spring chicken but got in the sqaud on merit only to be left out while Slade comes in off the back of a long layoff. I thought one of Borthwicks mantras was to get away from the we're building for the RWC and just try to win each game.

Martin hasn't been that impressive for me this autumn. He's been caught out in D several times but it hard to tell if it's a system thing as England's defence has got worse as game on game. I don't know how much truth there is in it but I keep hearing on YouTube channels he's slowing down with age, I mean he's just turned 30 and one of his USP's has always been his athleticism. If it's true could do with a more athletic lock paring.

England have crumbled on the hour mark, lots of comments around lack of conditioning/fitness.

More questions than answer this autumn for sure.

Martin hasn't been particularly impressive but you could say the same about most of the squad TBH. I wouldn't have singled him out for particular criticism and as @Don't Skip Leg Day has already said, he's definitely not 'just turned 30'. Were you talking about Itoje there?

I think the conditioning piece has got to be questioned - no-one knows the exact details, but Tom Tombleson going seemed to be the first domino in the Walters and Jones scenario. Losing two main S&C coaches gone, a new guy with very little time to make an impact was always going to create a problem.

 

[Geordie]

Martin has been fine...but hes only 23 and thats young for an international lock. He will develop with games and experience. Dont forget Eztebeth, PSDT etc are 32 / 33...thats 10 years of international experience they have on him.

Genge for me is close to going though. Theres alot of huff and puff with him, but for a guy who has a tough man reputation, he doesnt half get knocked back a hell of a lot. I always think he has got caught in the middle of being a scrummaging prop (dont forget Marler was a running prop at U20 level who changed his game) and a running / round the park prop (Mako) ...and has got caught in no mans land as just average at all.

Once Iyogun, Haffar, Baxter, Brantingham etc start coming through...Genge will be by the wayside.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

I just can't see it being a conditioning issue. You can't really make too much of a difference in those weeks and what about all the other international players who are fine for other countries.

It must be a systems thing. Too many stupidly complicated systems that players either haven't bought into or haven't been able to learn correctly.

 

[BPM]

Possibly, but if your gameplan is very physically demanding (which a blitz defence definitely is), then S&C becomes much more important.

It doesn't feel like it's a coincidence that our S&C leaders leave and our fitness looks sub par …

We're making the issue worse by rigidly employing the blitz defence without Jones' attention to detail and clarity. A lot of the players look confused and lacking the conditioning to perform the roles being asked of them.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Possibly, but if your gameplan is very physically demanding (which a blitz defence definitely is), then S&C becomes much more important.

It doesn't feel like it's a coincidence that our S&C leaders leave and our fitness looks sub par …

We're making the issue worse by rigidly employing the blitz defence without Jones' attention to detail and clarity. A lot of the players look confused and lacking the conditioning to perform the roles being asked of them.

Players run the blintz correctly in the prem. No idea on this specific system but I saw way too many rookie defensive errors.

Which in my mind makes me think the system is wrong.

 

[Becca]

I don't know why we're finding the blitz so difficult.
If they can't manage it, they'll just have to go back to a drift defence.

 

[BPM]

Or maybe just don't rigidly commit to one system and have a bit of adaptability.

 

[Saintjay]

Players run the blintz correctly in the prem. No idea on this specific system but I saw way too many rookie defensive errors.

Which in my mind makes me think the system is wrong.

I was of the believe not all teams run a blitz which was part of the issue with it not working.