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England v South Africa

That explains it. I will start following the Aviva Premierleague a bit. Only following Magners League (Ulster) and TOP 14 (Racing Metro) when it comes to NH rugby so far
 
Wilson has been good off the bench, and was good against Samoa, and definately deserves his spot on the bench, but Cole is better. How many 23 year olds show up Tony "worlds premier loosehead" Woodcock like that?
 
I think its a bit obvious what England are trying to do. They are trying to beat the opposition at their own game EVERY game. Against Australia they succesfully out-flashed them and showed they could use that type of rugby. Against Somoa they tried to out-muscle them and again showed they could do that. They tried a similar thing with South Africa, playing them at their own game when you should really be trying to make the game yours, forcing the opposition to play in unfamiliar territory.
 
@ SavageLez:

If you give Matfield credit for supporting Smit in the World Cup with the captaincy, why don't you criticise him for the 2010 Tri Nations? Do you think his nomination for IRB Player of the Year is deserved?
 
Fair play to your own belief in the club you support, but the way that everyone at bath has been playing recently they should be grateful that the England staff even bothers to consider them (let alone look at or even select them!)

Untl they get a strong coach instead of Meehan, their players - particularly Abendanon - are never going to deliver up to their potential. This has a knock on effect and IMO detrimental to the rest of the squad. Wilson on the bench is fair enough, but he's the only guy from Bath I'd consider. Hape has been shockingly average in every sense of the word, while only Johnson and Smith understand why the hell Banahan has been selected (at centre of all places) when Armitage, Allen, Clarke, JSD & Hipkiss are all fit. Or even Josh Lewsey is young enough to be brought out of retirement.

Or Will Greenwood. He'd still be better then Banahan.
 
Bullitt said:
Fair play to your own belief in the club you support, but the way that everyone at bath has been playing recently they should be grateful that the England staff even bothers to consider them (let alone look at or even select them!)

Untl they get a strong coach instead of Meehan, their players - particularly Abendanon - are never going to deliver up to their potential. This has a knock on effect and IMO detrimental to the rest of the squad. Wilson on the bench is fair enough, but he's the only guy from Bath I'd consider. Hape has been shockingly average in every sense of the word, while only Johnson and Smith understand why the hell Banahan has been selected (at centre of all places) when Armitage, Allen, Clarke, JSD & Hipkiss are all fit. Or even Josh Lewsey is young enough to be brought out of retirement.

Or Will Greenwood. He'd still be better then Banahan.
Click to expand...

I don't dispute that Bath have been unbelievably poor of late, but I blame that on an aging front five and a weak stand-off in Vesty at the moment. Might be a tad harsh, but since arriving Vesty has offered nothing at all, which really limits the effect players like Hape, Banahan and Abendanon can have on the game. Once we get James back, I'm sure we'll start climbing but I don't know if it will be too late. What's for sure is that Bath need a complete rehaul up front, and personally I don't think Wilson performs half as good for Bath as he does for England.
 
Tom Croft broke his shoulder blade in this match,
Being assessed at hospital this week, but is expected to be fit for the start of the 6N

Hopefully he is, though is he's not the Robshaw is top of my list to take his spot (though it'll be Haskell, with Worsely not far behind)
 
Olyy said:
Tom Croft broke his shoulder blade in this match,
Being assessed at hospital this week, but is expected to be fit for the start of the 6N

Hopefully he is, though is he's not the Robshaw is top of my list to take his spot (though it'll be Haskell, with Worsely not far behind)
Click to expand...

Robshaw was outstanding (yet again) today against Leeds. Was fantastic against Tigers last weekend as well.
 
So, all in all it was a plaster being applied to an amputation. This victory is now going to shadow what was essentially a very bad year for SA rugby. The clueless coach will keep his job. Anyway, back to the game.

Not much to say really. We played very well, and stuck to the basics, but at the same time, England were nowhere. They were lucky to not be dead and buried by half time. Croft leaving the field was a turning point, and nobody else in the English pack did anything worth mentioning. Lawes was good, and seems quite a strong bloke. Was very funny seeing Bakkies Botha target him whenever he ran. I found great joy in seeing him steamroll over Lawes in the second half after that break along the touchline.

Pierre Spies, apart from one bad kick-off catch, was incredibly physical, and hopefully the NH wums can finally start admitting he is not half as useless as they make him out to be. Any player that ran into him was either halted, or significantly driven back. Nick Easter particularly was schooled by him a couple of times. Juan Smith is still one of the best flankers in the world, and Bismark du Plessis also had a solid game. Our backs need a lot of work though. Francois Steyn was horrific, but as soon as he moved to 15, he started playing well again.

Willem Alberts is a monster. Why he is not starting is anybody's guess. He is a complete 8. With Bismark there, we don't need a specialist fetcher like Stegmann, although Brussouw will start when he returns. For now, I would have Alberts, Smith, and Spies to start. When Brussouw returns, it's going to be a juggle between him and Spies for a starting position.

In the end, we won this game just as much as England lost it by themselves. Horrific penalty count against them. Especially at scrum time. Both England and SA have a lot of work to do if they want to compete against New Zealand and Australia at next years showpiece.
 
Jer1cho said:
I found great joy in seeing him steamroll over Lawes in the second half after that break along the touchline.
Click to expand...
I enjoyed a similar moment in the first half where Lawes ran over Matfield, stopped thinking he was tackled, then continued to run with Matfield hanging off of his ankle :p
 
Ha I remember that! He dragged him for about 5 metres! That was crazy!
 
I agree with what you said about Spies, btw,
He has always been one of my favorite SA players, and it's good to see him getting back towards his old self. He had a decent game against Scotland, and a better one against England, hopefully he keeps improving (before crashing before the WC, along with the rest of the SA team :p )
 
Olyy said:
I agree with what you said about Spies, btw,
He has always been one of my favorite SA players, and it's good to see him getting back towards his old self. He had a decent game against Scotland, and a better one against England, hopefully he keeps improving (before crashing before the WC, along with the rest of the SA team :p )
Click to expand...

Spies wasn't in the squad for the Scotland game. It was Kankowski. Spies played against Ireland, Wales and England
 

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