November Internationals: Expectations for your team

[Leonormous Boozer]

Ireland 4/4 - very worried about our 10 situation for NZ but presume that will be a very emotionally charged and dominant pack performance.

France 3/3 - Dupont is back.

England 2/4 - don't see them turning SA and I think NZ could be stuttery for them giving the changes.

Scotland 2/4 - I think Schmidt really targets them and SA beats them too.

Wales - 2/3 - Gatland with his back against the wall to pull out ugly wins v Oz and Fiji, there'sa little bit to build from the regions that hasn'tbeen there in the last couple years amd they need to establish themselves back in that 5-8 ranked tier.

Italy - 2/3 - Focus on the Pumas and I think they've way too much for Georgia.

All but Ireland are finished and I got that wrong so here's a wrap up:

Ireland - NZ was a disaster and wasted opportunity, twice now this year where we went into a game quite comfort with a big opportunity to do something big and failed, disappointing but maybe (hopefully) a sign of young guys lacking experience and leadership amd older guys going through motions and fading a bit, both things that should fix themselves naturally over time. If we win playing well next week I'd give us a 7/10 for the period, unconvincing is a 6 and a loss would be a 3. Argentina stopped the rot before it became a thing and Fiji was good use of test minutes for less experienced lads.

France - Bang on, 10/10 without hitting 100% for the period.

England - pretty bad, got worse as it went on too I think with NZ being their best game. More players raising questions about themselves than putting themselves straight on the teamsheet. Clearly have the talent available in most spots though and were mostly competitive. 3/10.

Scotland - Better than I expected, thought the Aussies would warm into the tour and get them yesterday, they seemingly did the opposite. Still nowhere near the top level but I think that's beyond their ceiling. 8/10

Wales - No more predicting a resurgence, will believe it when I see it. 0/10

Italy - Bad bad start and warmed into it (bit of a trend?). Would have loved to see them at their 6n level v Argentina but it was their worst game of the year. Got the job done v Georgia and better than expected v NZ. 5/10.

 

[Lé Ddanno]

3/10 is about right for us. The only player that consistently impressed me was Smith,* he emphatically claimed the 10 shirt. But when systems are all over the place, players are going to look bad

*Maybe Stuart as well

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Yeah, I'm Stuart's number 1 hater but he had a good autumn, comfortable with him being starter atm while we bridge the gap for the youngsters to come through