RWC: England - Scotland (01-10-2011, 20:30)

[McTallshort]

Call Andy Goode! No seriouslythink it will be Hodgson, you do need at least 2 out and out fly halfs

 

[McTallshort]

I am not sure if you're being sarcastic or what? What do you mean?

You said Wigglesworth made an impact off the bench but seem to remember the tables being turned against the pumas, with him having a poor game and Youngs coming on in the last 10 and scoring. Yes Youngs was poor but he is still better than Wigglesworth and should start

 

[Sam Owen]

I thought Scotland had it but that surge of attack from England in the last minutes looked convincing and sure enough they scored.

I just knew England was gonna score and win.

 

[superhans121]

To all the posters that have been deludedly calling for St Jonny's continued appearance cos he "keeps the scoreboard ticking over" and will "guide us to another world cup"(Sixesandsevens and J-dawg spring to mind).. you are monkeys.

 

[JW.]

You said Wigglesworth made an impact off the bench but seem to remember the tables being turned against the pumas, with him having a poor game and Youngs coming on in the last 10 and scoring. Yes Youngs was poor but he is still better than Wigglesworth and should start

Thats what I said? I called for Youngs to start vs France? I also said Wigglesworth made an impact even if it only was a good flat bass to the FH. Youngs had an off day no need to protect him from mean angry posters like me.

 

[j-dawg]

To all the posters that have been deludedly calling for St Jonny's continued appearance cos he "keeps the scoreboard ticking over" and will "guide us to another world cup"(Sixesandsevens and J-dawg spring to mind).. you are monkeys.

Ok, he had yet another bad game. And like a man, I shall blame this on Tindall. Goddamn you Tindall!

 

[cimbomjubi82]

Honestly, the team is good. It hasn't had the test it needs in this group in open play (all 4 teams are prolific scrummagers though) and this performance to me, just looked like they were pumped but not using their smarts.

Scotland made them look like fools early on, going 9-0 at halftime i think it was. Wilkinson is way out of sorts. He needs to be dropped. He's like O'Gara. To be fair, he was a great test goalkicker for such a long time that you will see the quality drop massively, when it eventually does. He's average at best now when it comes to those kicks that he used to bang over for fun from the touchline. I don't think he had even hit 50% of his place kicks this RWC, and his drops look hurried and panicky too.

Flood on the other hand looks mature, has more composure and a bit more spark to him. I don't think Wilkinson can hack test rugby anymore, rather he should let Flood develop and close out games in the last 10-15.

Youngs, i've been impressed with. He had a pretty poor game today, but then again he had a stuttering Wilko outside him, so he was in two-minds really and hesitated rather than delivered his usual flowing rugby. No-one stepped up today, the whole side just looked shocked that Scotland took it to them from kickoff. Same as Cole really. He had a great start to his test career, and has for me in this RWC been hit and miss, but that is because we know how useful he can be. But remember the age of these guys and their experience, and they will have these types of games that will build their character.

No game in this RWC is easy. Also, remember that it doesn't matter how poor Scotland are in previous games, they always step it up against England, and England don't always cope with that. Same with France. France next time out could destroy England. You just don't know how they'll turn up on the day either.

But, i'd say that England's progress has been steady, and they've had two stiff tests against Argentina and Scotland and come out on top. That is all that matters at the end of the day. A great team will play poorly and still win, because they are winners. I think this will seriously wake England up (i hope), and they now start to cut out the nonsense, and get down to playing hard, frenetic and clinical rugby.

 

[smb64]

No sure what some people were expecting from this fixture to be honest, its Eng Vs Scot, its almost always a boring, poor affair.
Scotland derserved the win today, but for them to go through to the quarters would of been wrong due to their preivious from in this world cup.

And just a note - It can only be a good thing that we have 2 fly halfs with different play styles/impacts on the game.

 

[SelimNiai]

No sure what some people were expecting from this fixture to be honest, its Eng Vs Scot, its almost always a boring, poor affair.
Scotland derserved the win today, but for them to go through to the quarters would of been wrong due to their preivious from in this world cup.

And just a note - It can only be a good thing that we have 2 fly halfs with different play styles/impacts on the game.

Game was not boring, quality not always 100% but that added to the nerves and tension felt by all involved.

2 fly halves are good - if one of them wasn't over the hill, crocked and is only selected for nostalgia's sake.

 

[King_D'Arcy]

Scotland made them look like fools early on, going 9-0 at halftime i think it was. Wilkinson is way out of sorts. He needs to be dropped. He's like O'Gara. To be fair, he was a great test goalkicker for such a long time that you will see the quality drop massively, when it eventually does. He's average at best now when it comes to those kicks that he used to bang over for fun from the touchline. I don't think he had even hit 50% of his place kicks this RWC, and his drops look hurried and panicky too.

have you seen O'Gara play in this world cup?

 

[mustardcharlie]

The criticism of Wilkinson is well-founded to a certain extent, especially re the drop goals. On the other hand, I can think of several reasons why MJ will pick JW next Sat(?). Firstly, most of the time when I was playing, England had a fly half that was a target for any half-way decent back row. JW makes the hits still, even giving away 5+ stone and 10 years. I am a great fan of Flood, don't get me wrong. If you had the French back row, say, bearing down inside England's 22, who would you rather have between them and the try line; JW or TF? Secondly, who decides whether to go for goal or not. 8 years ago, even kicking in his prime, Wilko would not have even attempted at least two of those kicks. MJ wouldn't haven't asked him. He's never been a range kicker. It's the cap's decision so it has to go down to Moody to some degree. Stick it in the corner and rely on your forwards to do the biz!

 

[smb64]

Poor choice of words, all I meant was it was always going to be a classic Eng Scotland game(Low scoring, close, penalty fest).

Fair opinion on the fly halves, but in my opinion if Wilko was slotting the goals like he was(mostly) before the world cup, there would be much less criticism of him.

That said I personally would like to see Flood start Wilko bench.

 

[JW.]

Game was not boring, quality not always 100% but that added to the nerves and tension felt by all involved.

2 fly halves are good - if one of them wasn't over the hill, crocked and is only selected for nostalgia's sake.

How quick people forget that Flood hasen't been in great form this whole season when Wilko has. He's not over it, he's definatly not crocked as he covered freaking every meter of that pitch covering back and making important tackles, when he gets good ball he will attack the opposition flat, he will make lovely passes setting Tuilagi through gaps and he will threaten the gainline. Wilko is an easy target to blame, don't forget young talented Ben Youngs had a shocker today. I'd still start both vs France though. Wilko will sort his kicking out, his attack will be fine with good ball and his defense will be his defense. As Ben Youngs will sort out his game. If they don't the decision is easy we have a talented Flyhalf on the bench and a decent Scrumhalf.
Next to that the French are genuinly scared of Wilkinson, they preffer Flood on the pitch.

I might come back on this opinion going to watch the game again, without all the tension there.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I don't think he had even hit 50% of his place kicks this RWC, and his drops look hurried and panicky too.

9/20 so far, so 45%

How quick people forget that Flood hasen't been in great form this whole season when Wilko has.

Wilko hasn't looked good since the Ireland match though - I know that Flood has been on poor form for a while, but you play your best team on the day, and at the moment Flood should be ahead of Wilkinson

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

just read from ben dirs' blog that ashton didn't touch the ball until the 59th minute? Incredible.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

According to ESPN Wilkinson passed the ball 4 times in the match
Compared to Dan Parks 25

 

[superhans121]

How quick people forget that Flood hasen't been in great form this whole season when Wilko has. He's not over it, he's definatly not crocked as he covered freaking every meter of that pitch covering back and making important tackles, when he gets good ball he will attack the opposition flat, he will make lovely passes setting Tuilagi through gaps and he will threaten the gainline. Wilko is an easy target to blame, don't forget young talented Ben Youngs had a shocker today. I'd still start both vs France though. Wilko will sort his kicking out, his attack will be fine with good ball and his defense will be his defense. As Ben Youngs will sort out his game. If they don't the decision is easy we have a talented Flyhalf on the bench and a decent Scrumhalf.
Next to that the French are genuinly scared of Wilkinson, they preffer Flood on the pitch.

I might come back on this opinion going to watch the game again, without all the tension there.

OH do shut up, what absolute kack.
Your username is "JW" so i suppose you would look a bit of a prat if you laid into him, but please stop mindlessly trying to defend Wilko's undeniably dire performances. Also stop trying to spin the myth of Flood's "poor form all season" - back to back victories against Australia and a first six nations ***le for a decade and three MoM performances do not constitute "poor form".

As for form this world cup, anyone with a brain can see Flood has a been far and away the better player. But yes I suppose France would be far more scared of playing St Jonny, with his deadly arsenal of "up n' unders" and of course, metronomic goal kicking.

 

[JW.]

OH do shut up, what absolute kack.
Your username is "JW" so i suppose you would look a bit of a prat if you laid into him, but please stop mindlessly trying to defend Wilko's undeniably dire performances. Also stop trying to spin the myth of Flood's "poor form all season" - back to back victories against Australia and a first six nations ***le for a decade and three MoM performances do not constitute "poor form".

As for form this world cup, anyone with a brain can see Flood has a been far and away the better player. But yes I suppose France would be far more scared of playing St Jonny, with his deadly arsenal of "up n' unders" and of course, metronomic goal kicking.

He's been bad since midway through the 6nations. No point discussing any further to be honest, can't be bothered.

 

[j-dawg]

OH do shut up, what absolute kack.
Your username is "JW" so i suppose you would look a bit of a prat if you laid into him, but please stop mindlessly trying to defend Wilko's undeniably dire performances. Also stop trying to spin the myth of Flood's "poor form all season" - back to back victories against Australia and a first six nations ***le for a decade and three MoM performances do not constitute "poor form".

As for form this world cup, anyone with a brain can see Flood has a been far and away the better player. But yes I suppose France would be far more scared of playing St Jonny, with his deadly arsenal of "up n' unders" and of course, metronomic goal kicking.

Simmer

 

[B10]

According to ESPN Wilkinson passed the ball 4 times in the match
Compared to Dan Parks 25

4! thats shocking