Ok, that was a tough one, for everyone involved. I think its only fair to acknowledge all round that on a different day certain things could have gone the other way, and it was a pretty even game. That said, it's only fair to credit England with a bit of agency in managing that game well.
Personally, I thought the Haskell binnin was very contentious. He can't know 'known' what he was doing, he was on his arse pulling himself backward. His legs didn't go out the way to get the ball, I just thought it was unlucky and maybe he should have been more carefull bearing in mind the ball was right next to him. However, it was a huge call and I'm very thankful it didn't cost us.
Nick, I'm with you in that it was a horrible game but I don't think we've ever bigged up the quality of the six nations...in the depths of darkest february....in Ireland... I know that conditions shouldnt' greatly impact basic skills and game intelligence, but it's only fair to recognise what it does to the way teams are trying to play. The moment the teams saw the rains coming down, the two sets of backs realised they wouldn't be seeing much ball. Even though it was a poor quality game, you can't underestimate how satisfyng it is to see two rivals like Ireland and England, or Wales and Ireland, smashing each other up
. In line with that, its only fair to recognise the excellent gain-line defence exhibited today by both teams, but particularly by England. Really ferocious in contact. And whilst on the point of hemisphere comparisons, the All Blacks are more skillfulled, more talented, but they still struggled to be expansive or intelligent when England were hitting them on the gain-line. It would hae been even harder had it been raining that day.
People seem to feel Tom Youngs went poorly, and yes, he almost ruined everything when his lineouts went awry but I thought he was brilliant in contact, with some great low tackles.
Yoe, I don't follow at all... 'Is that all?' For both teams, the answers clearly no. Both showed last week what they have in the tank, they just need the right games to take it on. Don't you wish France had played a more 'smart' game yesterday? They might have still been in the hunt if they had.
