RBS 6 Nations - Italy vs England (11/02/2012, 16:00)

[welshglory]

Fair enough but i can't see how Morgan was struggling to keep up with the pace of the game.

 

[psychic duck]

if in the Borthwick/Johnson era England won by 4 points playing like that the media and fans would have slaughtered them

now Lancaster/Robshaw era it is "great team spirit" according to the pundits

by the way if only Dominguez was still playing ...

Scotland's attack was way better than Italy's, at least Scotland created chances, yet Italy scored 2 tries!

If England name an unchanged team for the next match they are stupid, Dickson for stroppy Youngs, Morgan for out of position Dowson are no brainers

 

[TRF_Olyy]

4-7 really needs to be looked at. Botha and Palmer had poor games, Croft a decent lineout option (though generally the lineout was poor) and not great in the loose - Robshaw had another good game....if he was wearing 6.

 

[KMad]

Dickson is a good shout aswell, should throw him in next week, nothing to lose, because England are gonna lose anyway in my opinion.

 

[Saintjay]

if in the Borthwick/Johnson era England won by 4 points playing like that the media and fans would have slaughtered them

now Lancaster/Robshaw era it is "great team spirit" according to the pundits

by the way if only Dominguez was still playing ...

Scotland's attack was way better than Italy's, at least Scotland created chances, yet Italy scored 2 tries!

If England name an unchanged team for the next match they are stupid, Dickson for stroppy Youngs, Morgan for out of position Dowson are no brainers

Borthwick/Johnson era beat them by a point more 5, and the media was pretty much the same.

 

[mstar]

I thought it was a good game consider the conditions, come on guys if you ever played in those conditions you would know its not easy. I thought the guys played well, what i liked was the Team spirit and "fight" the side has WITHOUT giving away a large amount of penalties. I thought Barrit was fantastic again, tackled the larger forwards all day long! his defensive technical play was fantastic from the way he gets low and tackles and sets himself up for the tackle. Corbeisero was great to, really played well against Castrogiovanni.

One criticism i have is the youngs he REALLY lost his skills that he showed last year! its worrying. Botha was industrious as always. Dowson i thought was good, he might not have the raw power of morgan but has better IQ for a no. 8. farrell was great but light in contact areas no wonder he relys on Barrit for support at club level/national level.

 

[profitius]

It was a poor game to watch for the neutral. England deserved their win. It was a comfortable 4pts win as you're likely to see. The Italians couldn't make much ground on the English defense and England did the basics much better.

 

[smartcooky]

England bumbled and stumbled their way to victory. Outscored two tries to one by Italy. This game was truly awful!

On the basis of what I saw today, the France v Ireland match which is about to start is almost the final. If France win it, they will surely just about have the 6N sewn up.

 

[Saintjay]

England bumbled and stumbled their way to victory. Outscored two tries to one by Italy. This game was truly awful!

On the basis of what I saw today, the France v Ireland match which is about to start is almost the final. If France win it, they will surely just about have the 6N sewn up.

Apart from the small issue of an away trip to Wales and that's is not a given for France.

 

[imthecrow]

I jotted down a few post-game thoughts on my blog:

http://www.hawkinsrugby.blogspot.com/

basically sums up what I saw as the positives and negatives for England in the wake of the Rome victory, everyone feel free to have a look and bookmark my blog if you like the sort of stuff you see!

 

[mstar]

Good Blog, Imthecrow. Good observations. Robshaw was immense today i am a bit suspicious about the match stats on scrum.com, i counted a lot more for Barrit Hartley, Botha, Cole and palmer.

But sure i thought again Robshaw is slowly making his claim for a regular he always in the action.

RE: Farrell i am a bit unsure about his attacking ability seems a bit relectant to get into contact and Barrit protects him a lot.

 

[mstar]

I thought Dowson playes well, i be intersted to see how Morgan gets on if he starts can he last the full match with that intensity?)

 

[ZeFrenchy]

by the way if only Dominguez was still playing ...

This

by the way if only Dominguez was still playing ...

And this

by the way if only Dominguez was still playing ...

and THIS

 

[madflyhalf]

God... We were almost there!
We were shutting down England (or maybe: they were shutting down themselves...)...

Dickson MOM, he saved England, Ben Youngs was terrible in the first half, just as Gori was a week ago!

Today I was delighted by Gori performance as well as Zanni, Barbieri, Ghiraldini and Cittadini's too.
They played much better than their counterparts, they eclipsed, and finally I've seen a honest and fierce performance by Parisse, less "factotum" and more focused and tight in the game!

I can't understand 2 things.

1) Bortolami. Bortolami ended his career after Mallett, when Brunel called Pavanello! There are no more reasons to call Bortolami, with van Zyl and Pavanello that can make the right call in the lineout!
Bortolami is useless, too slow, too fat, and too stupid to play at this level!
2 his mistakes, 1 tries and one penalty conceded.

2) Burton substitution... This time he was manageing the game well, you can't play expansive rugby with that weather and pitch, you must kick from 0 to 50m, and he was doing well.


Zanni is by far our best player.
He should be the captain, not Parisse.


So sad
so drunk

 

[smartcooky]

Apart from the small issue of an away trip to Wales and that's is not a given for France.

Assuming of course the Wales can get past England at Twickenham, which they have only done once in the last 21 years (2008) and then of course they will have to beat France at home, which they have only done once in the last 14 years (again 2008).

But hey, I guess even the unlikely is possible.

 

[Draggs]

Assuming of course the Wales can get past England at Twickenham, which they have only done once in the last 21 years (2008) and then of course they will have to beat France at home, which they have only done once in the last 14 years (again 2008).

But hey, I guess even the unlikely is possible.

It took us nearly 30 years to win in Paris, and then we did it three times in four visits. All records can be broken (except for one it seems, any help Cooky?)

 

[Toby Faletau-Jones]

England are absolutely pathetic. They say they're breeding youngsters, but they're completely crap. They will never progress as a team, and are an embarrassment to the NH in the way they play. If Wales play well against Scotland (Win obviously), we could be looking at a cricket score at Twickenham.

England have gotten it completely wrong, sticking Hodgson at 10 and having another kicking centre at 12. 12 has neither skills nor power. I watched a bit of the 1st half this morning, and they lack direction, when trying to get it out wide

 

[Draggs]

Farrell really has impressed me over the past season. When I first started watching him he could hardly hit anything, now the lad hardly misses.
If he can bulk up a little more he could be a good full time 12, now England just need to get their halfbacks settled.

 

[Toby Faletau-Jones]

England bumbled and stumbled their way to victory. Outscored two tries to one by Italy. This game was truly awful!

On the basis of what I saw today, the France v Ireland match which is about to start is almost the final. If France win it, they will surely just about have the 6N sewn up.

Stick to SH rugby, because you clearly have no idea about NH rugby. How will "France...surely just have the 6N sewn up". If Wales maintain their way, which I have no doubt, then it will be a showdown between France and Wales for the ***le at the Millenium. After they cheated their way to the world cup final, they will be given a hiding.

 

[B10]

RE: Farrell i am a bit unsure about his attacking ability seems a bit relectant to get into contact and Barrit protects him a lot.

v Wales my backline include 9.Dickson 10. Flood 12.Barrit 13.Manu and on the bench 21. Farrell

Harsh on Hodgson but if we want to win against Wales we need a lot more threatening back line. Also a tad harsh on Farrell but as good a kicker as he is Flood can kick and he has no attacking threat in the centre especially against Jamie Roberts.