England vs Wales - 06/08/2011 - RWC Warm Up

[TVH11]

Really annoyed that theres no Gav I wanna see his orange tan run the Saes ragged In all seriousness though, if they are to consider him for World cup, they can't expect him to be "match fit" with only "2" games before world cup???

 

[Teh Mite]

England team to play Wales: D Armitage (London Irish); M Banahan (Bath Rugby), M Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), R Flutey (London Wasps), M Cueto (Sale Sharks); J Wilkinson (Toulon), D Care (Harlequins); A Corbisiero (London Irish), D Hartley (Northampton Saints), M Stevens (Saracens), S Shaw (Unattached), T Palmer (Stade Francais), T Croft (Leicester Tigers), L Moody (Bath Rugby, capt), J Haskell (Ricoh Black Rams).
Replacements: L Mears (Bath Rugby), D Wilson (Bath Rugby), M Botha (Saracens), T Wood (Northampton Saints), R Wigglesworth (Saracens), C Hodgson (Saracens), C Sharples (Gloucester Rugby).

Glad I have better things to do on Saturday then watch rugby. What a load of b*llocks that lineup is. Partiicularly the backs.

 

[Me 1]

Am I supposed to have seen something impressive there...?

Not spectacular, but far better than what Jamie Roberts has been doing all this time. An actual sidestep and pass even!

Btw, for anyone who thinks Morgan Stoddart can't tackle, watch this

 

[formerlyfastwing]

England team to play Wales: M Banahan (Bath Rugby)

I am not sold on this fella. He just does not seem to be a game breaker or changer.

 

[TVH11]

^^^^^^
Still can't tackle. Thats a judo throw, and potentially dangerous. Aren't they illegal? (game changes its rules all the time).
One on one his tackling is junk, and hopefully Priestland can offer us something different at 15, he can kick and seems to be able to run with the ball (ooo and pass;something that never crosses Stoddart's mind).
Hopefully back in the Millenium, Gatland picks Henson at 12 ( or even 10 -can you imagine the reaction to that!!!)

 

[Teh Mite]

I am not sold on this fella. He just does not seem to be a game breaker or changer.

Ah, but he is tall, strong and plays for a club with a lot of sway in the RFU.

 

[Teh Mite]

^^^^^^
Still can't tackle. Thats a judo throw, and potentially dangerous. Aren't they illegal? (game changes its rules all the time).
One on one his tackling is junk, and hopefully Priestland can offer us something different at 15, he can kick and seems to be able to run with the ball (ooo and pass;something that never crosses Stoddart's mind).
Hopefully back in the Millenium, Gatland picks Henson at 12 ( or even 10 -can you imagine the reaction to that!!!)

Looks more like a German Suplex to me.

 

[formerlyfastwing]

Ah, but he is tall, strong and plays for a club with a lot of sway in the RFU.

yeah but players should not be picked from the physical stats on the sheet.....but I get you point...

 

[Teh Mite]

yeah but players should not be picked from the physical stats on the sheet.....but I get you point...

I agree 100%, but then again England is the team of the RFU. And we all know their reputation...

 

[TRF_Olyy]

How come Anthony Allen isn't playing for England then?

If they're going to be corrupt they should at least pick the decent players from their favoured clubs

 

[formerlyfastwing]

I agree 100%, but then again England is the team of the RFU.....

is it this:

 

[Teh Mite]

How come Anthony Allen isn't playing for England then?

If they're going to be corrupt they should at least pick the decent players from their favoured clubs

His blotted copy book goes against him:

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

I'm fairly pleased with the forwards, except there's simply no point Shaw starting this game. Haskell at 8 is something most of us have wanted tried out at some point so thats good, unless it means MJ is trying to pull the plug on one of our specialist/good 8's for the squad, which is a shame.

backs-wise, am I living in a world where Wigglesworth is seen as englands 3rd best 9?! Simpson?
Flutey and tuilagi, great. Very unhappy about armitage, and vaguely disappointed about banahan but i expected that. Wilkinson is not the answer at 10 in my opinion, should have been hodgson.

on the flip side the welsh side isnt the strongest. very blunt midfield with a slow 9, and huw at hooker! I predict a 3-3 draw.

 

[Logorrhea]

Dont see much wrong with that England team to be honest. They continue to select the wrong Armitage but aside from that its a strong outfit.

It has its limitations but there is a lot of experience throughout the side, something that was lacking at the business end of last season. A decent selection for a nothing fixture.

 

[dullonien]

Interesting little fact about this Welsh starting 15 is that for the first time ever, the entire backline is Welsh speaking. However I believe that the entire forward pack is non Welsh speaking, at least I can't think of any that can, possibly Bennett?

 

[big ginger 8]

Englands best centres and still not over awed. Second best backrow swap Moody for Wood and pretty good would consider it a lot higher but hate Haskell.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Am I supposed to have seen something impressive there...?

The boy is clueless son if he thinks Davies is better than Roberts.

 

[Thingimubob]

Interesting little fact about this Welsh starting 15 is that for the first time ever, the entire backline is Welsh speaking. However I believe that the entire forward pack is non Welsh speaking, at least I can't think of any that can, possibly Bennett?

Really? You'd have thought that it would have happened at least once before! Jon Davies's Welsh isn't brilliant from what I've heard, remember him having to answer in English to questions in Welsh when he was playing for the u20s, more of a case of just not speaking it for a while I'm guessing. Think Bennett went to school in England so not sure about him, possibly Lydiate or Bradley Davies do? Was about to say Warburton but he went to Whitchurch High, so doubt he speaks it fluently.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Alun Wyn Jones doesn't speak Welsh?
Would've thought he would, he's certainly got the name for it

unless it means MJ is trying to pull the plug on one of our specialist/good 8's for the squad, which is a shame.

You mean Easter? He's the only 8 in the squad, I think?
I'd probably have Haskell over Easter anyway - Last time Haskell was at 8 he did pretty well, and if he can play as well at 8 as he did at 7 in the 6N, then he's definitely a step up from Easter

 

[TrueSlawter]

Well the backs could shout their calls out in welsh to confuse the English

Looking at the lineups I'm not too sure what will happen I think it'll still be close but England will edge it.. Hopefully the return fixture Wales will mix things up a bit and get the front row back fully etc.