England vs Australia - 09/11/24

[IT157]

You've jinxed it now!

I know. Oh well.

I'm still bitter about being at Twickenham for that loss in the 2015 World Cup pool stage.

 

[Which Tyler]

My main complaint about the team stems from the "I wouldn't start from here".

Given the EPS, and last week's team, there's not really much to complain about, and most of that is Dombrandt, with the rest being rusty players.

 

[OllyM97]

Am I the only one that really couldn't care less about this game?. All a win would do is paper over the cracks for a week until SA inevitably swat us aside comfortably. Last week was the game we had to win and we blew it. I think we will win but I almost want the Wallabies to go 14-0 up early so that we are forced to play positive rugby to get back in the game.

 

[Rugbyfan564]

Am I the only one that really couldn't care less about this game?. All a win would do is paper over the cracks for a week until SA inevitably swat us aside comfortably. Last week was the game we had to win and we blew it. I think we will win but I almost want the Wallabies to go 14-0 up early so that we are forced to play positive rugby to get back in the game.

I just wanna see a good match as I won't be able to watch the South Africa match live.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Am I the only one that really couldn't care less about this game?. All a win would do is paper over the cracks for a week until SA inevitably swat us aside comfortably. Last week was the game we had to win and we blew it. I think we will win but I almost want the Wallabies to go 14-0 up early so that we are forced to play positive rugby to get back in the game.

That or we decide to just grind it out even harder to try to win. It's endlessly infuriating though when you see England can play fast, expansive rugby when they choose to, which implies the fact we don't is a conscious decision and not down to an inability to do so.

 

[BPM]

Some reason find it really funny how they bothered to change OL and Slade's number around

According to the Telegraph, it was a request from the players.

 

[AlRums]

Dropping Ben Curry is so dumb

Somebody had better tell the BBC.

England v Australia: Hosts name unchanged XV to face Wallabies at Allianz Stadium

England name an unchanged starting XV to face Australia in the Autumn Nations Series at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[spartan32]

Well last week was another woulda, shoulda, coulda, and it really has to be the last one. Accept that SB had some rebuilding to do but now he has some pretty decent core players who have some game time under their belt together, so excuses need to end.

Happy enough with the team. All starters deserve their place, and happy to see another back on the bench that hints at a more attacking and expansive game plan. Australia are not in a great place at the moment and we should expect to beat them, but a team that doesn't carry the weight of expectation can always be dangerous. It won't be enough just to win this game. We need to score tries, and look organised in attack and defence. We need to demonstrate control. Winning by 1 point just won't cut it. If we have any chance of beating SA we need to show we can be clinical and ruthless.

If players are still doing the job then SB needs to leave them on the field. React to what is unfolding and be dynamic in his decision making. This team are ready to perform, now they need to start getting into winners mindset, and there's only one way to do that…

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I hate the "rebuilding" excuse. Huge chunks of the team have been there for years. SB has been coaching for 2. Building implies some degree of progression and improvement, if that's not happening then you aren't building, you are stagnating.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

I hate the "rebuilding" excuse. Huge chunks of the team have been there for years. SB has been coaching for 2. Building implies some degree of progression and improvement, if that's not happening then you aren't building, you are stagnating.

I sort of agree although if you look back just a year to the semi, Marler, Lawes, Farrell, Manu, Marchant and May from the starting XV and Sinckler, Binny and Care from the bench have retired or are ineligible. Mitchell and Chessum are injured while Steward, Daly and now seemingly Dan (poss injured too?) are out of favour. So none of the starting backline from then will start on Saturday.

That's a hell of a lot of personnel change in a short period plus trying to implement a change of style plus changes in coaching staff to deal with.

Don't get me wrong, I still don't think SB's the right man for the job and there's plenty to criticise him for, but I'm not hanging him out to dry for us not being closer to the finished article.