Irish Wolfhounds vs England Saxons 30/1/15 Independent Park ko 19:45

[ruggabee]

Love a bad but very generous loser!! Could have been me that made that comment

Haha the bracketed comments were sarcasm!!! Or were they....

 

[TommiG88]

Ewers and Kvesic were brilliant. Waldrom, Itoje, Slade, Pennell, Mullan and Ashton (surprisingly) all good also. Disappointing that the ref didn't let the game flow however.

Slade played well with ball in hand however his kicking from hand was questionable. Although the ref didn't help with letting the game flow.

Thoroughly impressed with our back row, gave us some very good front foot ball which the elite team have been missing. Simpson looked energetic when he came on and found a lot of holes. Ashton looked closer to his older self.

There weren't many negatives apart from the line out which was pretty suspect.

All happened whilst playing a game without a good 12. I know a bit harsh but he isn't a centre in the making.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I liked how Simpson injected pace into the England side, quick running and good delivery, not constantly *****ing like Dickson.

On the whole decent by England but my god have Hookers forgotten all the skills that they need? Itoje, Simpson and Ewers stood out for me as players who need a look at the main England squad. Slade messed up too many kicks IMO but good with ball in hand. Burgess did exactly what I expected and that's not meant to be an insult. He's just not had enough time to adjust and throwing him into this was stupid.

 

[ratsapprentice]

19 tackles from Big Dave.

Just in case people forgot.... Sam should be playing 6.

 

[Peat]

Delighted with our defence. Attack and set-piece patchy. Ewers and Kvesic in particular are doing everything they can to demand inclusion.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Anyone notice the scrum going forward at a rate of knots when Ewers was put into the row?

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Anyone notice the scrum going forward at a rate of knots when Ewers was put into the row?

Nope, referee was too busy being whistle happy.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

How many Irish caps was it?



Didn't see the game but delighted to see us actually get a result.

 

[Thingimubob]

Nope, referee was too busy being whistle happy.

Not his fault whatsoever... What choice did he have, let them get away with not scrummaging properly?

 

[goodNumber10]

19 tackles from Big Dave.

Just in case people forgot.... Sam should be playing 6.

not quite getting that comment mate, are you saying burgess should be playing 6, or are you saying Dave is a better 6 and talk of burgess is silly?


I feel sorry for burgess he's really not being helped by anyone with this fast tracking or how they are using him - and they simply aren't involving him anywhere near enough, he's a big lump of ball carrying power just let him loose off the 10's shoulder and get him into the game, he wasn't a block and slide guy in league he was just a catch step and smash em guy.... for all the talk of let him play his game, no one actually has,

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

I didn't catch the whole game, but I though Daly looked good. Is he going to feature for the first team at any point? All of the other options have been decidedly average over the last couple of years.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Two separate comments there... just re-enforcing the assertion that he doesn't look like a centre.

I didn't catch the whole game, but I though Daly looked good. Is he going to feature for the first team at any point? All of the other options have been decidedly average over the last couple of years.

Possibly at some point in his career, but unlikely in the next year or two.
Tuilagi would almost certainly have to be ruled out long term.
And even then he's behind Jonathan Joseph, who is broadly similar, in that he's a pacy OC with a pretty well rounded game and a strong outside break.

 

[Peat]

How many Irish caps was it?



Didn't see the game but delighted to see us actually get a result.

Probably the right way to do it. Neither side supported their ball carriers well and it was scrappy as hell as a consequence.

 

[munstermuffin]

Result wasn't important tonight and I think Schmidt will be happy overall. He learned a lot and got some questions answered, got some guys vital time and got more guys in on his project.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

The enthusiasm, or lack thereof, of the Irish team walking off the pitch at the end of both halves was interesting...

Typical A game, always a disappointment after much excitement!

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Not his fault whatsoever... What choice did he have, let them get away with not scrummaging properly?

Not saying it's his fault but when the majority of refs ref the game one way and others ref it another way, it isn't good. I liked the ref in that he actually enforced the rules but it's bad for play when one guy is enforcing rules on a bunch of players who are not used to them being enforced. By all means I'd love to see proper reffing and thus players actually learning the proper skills but having inconsistent reffing (between refs) ruins the game. A little leeway wouldn't have hurt.

 

[munstermuffin]

The enthusiasm, or lack thereof, of the Irish team walking off the pitch at the end of both halves was interesting...

Typical A game, always a disappointment after much excitement!

In my view Henderson SOB and Earls were only guys that seemed good. Ryan and Conan had moments.

But guys like Mike McCarthy aren't good enough and I think he knows it in terms of he will never play for main team unless there's huge injury crisis. And that was the body language.

 

[TheSaffycen]

Stand out guys for England- all the starting forwards in the loose. Thomas was a great carrier and over the ball, think he has been overlooked by some of us. Obviously the back row, Ewers just carried everyone. At one point he has SOB on his back and he just kept going ! Kvesic latched onto everyone on the ground and is that something England miss ? The problem is that Robshaw is nailed on so you either Ewers or Kvesic and I feel we need a carrier more than a poacher IMO. Itoje was very good and post 2015 he should be looked at. I wouldve moved Garvey in instead of Day, a great bit of grunt when he plays. Fearns instead of Easter.

 

[ratsapprentice]

The problem is that Robshaw is nailed on so you either Ewers or Kvesic and I feel we need a carrier more than a poacher IMO.

Kvesic is a better carrier than Wood, Clark and Haskell, IMO.

 

[goodNumber10]

Two separate comments there... just re-enforcing the assertion that he doesn't look like a centre.

Agreed, he is drawn to the action, he wants to be right in there in the mix.... I wonder if they could loan him out to a championship club for a month or so? they won't but he'd learn a lot from playing down one level where the pressure is off.