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England vs Canada - 10/07/21

Has Eddie ever coached an England game where he didn't play players out of position? What is his obsession, Furbank is clearly a FB. Why back row into the second row as well.

Crazy when you think of our player base.
 
Nice to see the RFU official sticking a clipboard in front of the camera as Smith hears of his Lions call-up...

If it was some sort of terrible news, I could understand concerns about press intrusion; this is exceptionally good news. Muppet.
 
Nice to see the RFU official sticking a clipboard in front of the camera as Smith hears of his Lions call-up...

If it was some sort of terrible news, I could understand concerns about press intrusion; this is exceptionally good news. Muppet.

I mean it's private news.
Could well be talking medical stuff or whatever.

Don't see why it has to be on show either way.
 
I mean it's private news.
Could well be talking medical stuff or whatever.

Don't see why it has to be on show either way.

Could have been; wasn't.

If only the RFU had known that there were cameras at the ground, they could have ensured he was told in a private place if that was important to them, eh?
 
Come someone summarise the good and bad from the game. I'm on holiday.

thanks in advance
 
Mixed news for Smith - he had tickets for the Euros final and will now be on the plane to the non Lions tour instead.

As for whether the likes of he and Steward should be parachuted into the senior team…..maybe they're the best options now, maybe not, but they almost certainly will be come France so should definitely be involved, whether starting or from the bench, so that they start building decent experience. They have the talent, all they're missing is a bit of experience and the understanding that only comes with game time.

Bad day for Jonny May. Only Canada, but Radwan putting his hand right up as the gas merchant.
 
Just caught up on it. Thoughts:

First and foremost, Ewels and Ludlow aren't merely average players, they are poor players. At least Itoje can perform brilliantly and give away penalties, these 2 contribute nothing and give away penalties. It's not an England thing, Ewels is the most carded Bath player this season too and plays exactly the same reason. They aren't even decent at club level, they are flat out crap. They shouldn't be in the side but wtf is Jones thinking not just having them in the side but as captains!? It's been a constant problem with England that we give away too many penalties so he gives the captaincy to a crap pair of penalty machines. There really is no justification for it, Jones is seriously ******* it up. Neither of them should wear an England shirt again short of some serious improvement (which I doubt will happen) and as a Bath fan, if we could replace Ewels at the club too that would be fantastic.

I think Smith was just fine. Expecting a 2 cap flyhalf to be properly reading a bunch of moves with a team full of new caps is ridiculous. Ford and Farrell would make more than that many errors no trouble. For all we know Smith was actually the one executing the move correctly and it was the others out of position.

Cokanasiga still has butterfingers too often.

The Falcons guys all stood up well

The penalty count, ffs sort it out Jones! How are we still giving away way more penalties in games where we are utterly dominant? It's killing the team in closer games and he has shown he is either unwilling or unable to fix it. The fact he keeps choosing crap penalty machines as captains suggests he doesn't think it is a problem, that's seriously bad for a coach.
 
Come someone summarise the good and bad from the game. I'm on holiday.

thanks in advance
Good:
Blamire and Radwan both scored hat tricks. Radwan especially looks quick and potential winger for 2023.
We put on 70 points.
Genge and Dombrandt carried well.
Underhill made some good turnovers.
Smith's kicking was far better and he looked good passing, even if they didn't all go to hand.
Kelly made some good line breaks.
Steward solid again under the high ball.
Cokanasigna showed signs of smashing through tackles.

Bad:
Penalties, especially by Ewels and Wells. Those penalties allowed Canada's scores same as with the USA.
Ludlow was lucky not to be sent off.
Ewels and Ludlow especially did nothing good of note.
Scrum still inconsistent.
Furbank came on at FH and Marchant at wing, which was a waste of Marchant especially. Chick replaced Wells, but I missed who went into the second row. Not a lock though.
 
I've been pretty ambivalent towards Ewels before - never really liked him being in the England squad so much, but he never screwed up when called upon and seemed to be a decent enough shirt filler (i.e. did the bare minimum you'd want)
Was genuinely dire today though
Finished the game on 3 carries, 4 penalties according to ESPNs stats - so more penalties than touches of the ball (as mentioned earlier)

Ludlow is just average.
It's not necessarily a slight against the guy - to be average at the top level is still to be a very good player in the grand scheme of things, but he's not international level - and captain? I know he captains Gloucester but he wasn't a captain out on the pitch. You look at any huddle and the voices were Underhill, Genge and Slade. Penalties were a group decision with those guys, Smith and Ludlow. Understandable because they're the most experienced guys out there, but if Genge was VC then why not just make him full captain?

As a Sale fan it was very very frustrating seeing Ben get 20(?)mins, play really well in that time (think he got four turnovers, including ones during penalty advantage) and then get chucked aside. Ludlam deserved a shot after a fantastic cameo last week, but Ludlow?
I wouldn't be surprised if Ben never gets capped again, now. Honestly would prefer to see him discover an Irish or Scottish Granny and go off and play for them than have this happen to him.
 

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