RWC Quarter Final: England - France (08-10-2011, 20:30)

[Aout]

If we win tomorrow, I'll go to the church on Sunday.

 

[shtove]

If we win tomorrow, I'll go to the church on Sunday.

Doesn't work that way - you have to go to church before!

I reckon England have made a big mistake leaving out Tindall. Not sure if France can capitalise, but someone will.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Tindall's injured, though


I don't think we should miss Tindall too much - as was said above: Floods defence isn't bad by a long shot. He doesn't make the big hits like Wilkinson, but I can't remember him ever leaking any tries through crappy defence
He's not a bosh player like Tindall, but if you really want to send someone up the middle then give it to Tuilagi, or even Croft

 

[mustardcharlie]

I really want to watch the Ire v wales game as I think it will be a cracker. So tonight will be a case of bed by 10. Bacon, beans, toms, eggs, mushrooms at 5 and then off to my mother's to start rose pruning etc. It's going to be a long day.

Mixed feelings about the England team. Like many, I would have preferred Lawes to Deacon, Corbs to Stevens and think Haskell is a bit unlucky not to be starting. In the backs there is a decent blend of pace and experience but the bench is too forward orientated for me. Two second rowers in there? How is it going to go if we get a couple of injuries there? Wiggles and Banahan is poor cover to my mind. Also I haven't heard much about the Thompson/Hartley debate but I would start with Hartley. Thommo has lost a bit of the fire and snap he used to have.

 

[gingergenius]

party tonight, ireland vs wales at 6.... hmmmmmmmmm ALL NIGHTER. It's official.

 

[big ginger 8]

Mermoz is spelt wrong in team listings.

Haha Banahan's in the 22.

 

[M Two One]

 

[Aout]

Ahah I like the pictures ! Kick off in 11h :|

 

[JW.]

Been nervous about this one all week :S. Great pics btw But why is the kicker (Jonny) getting wet?! Get him an umbrella... ;p

 

[Aout]

Btw in France they emphasize a LOT about the fact that we'll be playing with 2 scrum-halves when you'll be playing with 2 fly-halves. And that Wilko has a 45% (or smthg like that) successful kicking rate against 95% for Yachvili. For some reason they really focus on these 2 points.

 

[M Two One]

Btw in France they emphasize a LOT about the fact that we'll be playing with 2 scrum-halves when you'll be playing with 2 fly-halves. And that Wilko has a 45% (or smthg like that) successful kicking rate against 95% for Yachvili. For some reason they really focus on these 2 points.

Yachvili is the .. err, I can't use that word here. I could say that I'm biased, but that percentage says otherwise.

 

[Aout]

I know you support Biarritz, but according to me Yachvili is sometimes requiring too much from his forwards, instead of passing the ball to the 10 and playing with the back line he insists too much with our forwards. And he's sometimes quite slow, whereas Parra delivers quicker balls and find more gaps through the defense.

He's not bad, but he doesn't have the same "flair" Parra could have sometimes. We'll see tomorrow.

 

[M Two One]

I know you support Biarritz, but according to me Yachvili is sometimes requiring too much from his forwards, instead of passing the ball to the 10 and playing with the back line he insists too much with our forwards. And he's sometimes quite slow, whereas Parra delivers quicker balls and find more gaps through the defense.

He's not bad, but he doesn't have the same "flair" Parra could have sometimes. We'll see tomorrow.

Yes, Yachvili is slower, but that's because he is more technical and a superior passer and kicker because of that. I also don't think Parra is as creative from what I've seen over the years. I do think that Yachvili is held back when he plays for France because when I see him play for Biarritz he's always pulling some amazing plays out of nowhere that don't seem to get enough recognition.

 

[dangandan]

Those pics are cool. Reminds me of all the Asterix comics i'd read. Nostalgia!!

 

[JW.]

Couple of hours 2 go now before Wales-Ireland and a little longer for 'Le Crunch'. Question just skip a night of sleep or go home. One of the harder decisions in life.

England by 7.... Optimistic.. Always... Biast....Ofcourse.

 

[RuckinGoodStats]

Some RWC 2011 stats to consider...

Overall it hard to believe these teams are in the quarter finals. Again these are averages for pool play at the RWC. They also score and concede on different sides of the field (see points). England v France looks like the perfect storm brewing... England scrum attract infringements, Walsh the ref hands out scrum infringements. France score on right side, England left side. Walsh the ref favours rights side for kickable pens... Perfect storm.

Time, possession and territory

• Both teams have just over 50% possession for the 1st half, but England have the lowest amount of average 1st half territory of any RWC team at 42%.
• England also spend the least amount of time in opp 22 in the 1st half with 7%. France fair better, ranked 4th highest with 18%.
• In the second half both teams improve a little, but to the levels you would expect for a quarter final team.
• Overall both teams have about the same amount of possession at 51% (rounded), and a woeful amount of territory 46% and 45% or 16th and 19th ranked respectively.
• England spent the least, on average, in the overall 22 in an entire game with 10%

Points

• As others have pointed out England conceded the fewest tries in RWC.
• Both teams succeed in the same number of drop goals.
• England are 17% more likely in RWC to take a penalty kick on the left side of the field than the right side of the field.
• England are 56% more likely to score a RWC try on the left side of the field than the right side of the field.
• England are 3 & 1/2 times more likely to concede a RWC penalty that ended up as a kick at the goal on the left side of the field than the right field.
• France are 3 & 1/4 times more likely in RWC to take a penalty kick on the right side of the field than the left side of the field.
• France are 5 & 1/2 times more likely to score a RWC try on the right side of the field than the left side of the field.
• France are 56% more likely to concede a RWC penalty that ended up as a kick at the goal on the right side of the field than the left field.
• France are 2 times more likely to concede a RWC try on the right side of the field than the left side of the field.
• England kickers in RWC: Wilkinson 45% (9/20); Flood 77% (10/13). In 2011 6-nations: Wilkinson 88% (7/8); Flood 86% (19/22)
• France's kickers in RWC: Yachvili 81% (13/16); Parra 90% (9/10) Trinh-Duc 67% (4/6). In 2011 6-nations: Yachvili 67% (8/12); Parra 76% (16/21)
• Drop kicks if it comes down to this: In RWC (2011 6 –nations) Wilkinson 1/2 (1/3); Parra 0/1; Trinh-Duc 1/1 (1/4).

Attack & defence

• England are averaging 2.6 phases, the lowest in the comp. France are not much better, ranked 16th with 3.0 phases.
• Both teams when they do get into the opp 22, break a few tackles. England are averaging 6.0, ranked 6th highest, France average 5.5 7th highest.
• England offload 8.8 times, 4th ranked.
• Both team miss tackle ratios are similar. England miss on average 1 in every 6.5 tackle attempts. France miss on average 1 in ever 6.2 tackle attempts.

Errors

• England lose possession/turnover the all 18.5 times or 12 lowest. France 17.8 times, 15th lowest.
• England concede the 2nd most penalties in the comp, with 12.3 per game. France concede 9.25, 16th lowest.
• England concede the most ruck pens in the comp.
• France concede the least amount of penalties in their own half, so if this continues it should take the English kickers out of the equation. They do concede them in the opp 22, 2nd highest in the comp. This could have improved the amount of tries in the comp.
• England also concede the 2nd most amount of free kicks.
• England has a low amount of handling errors, 7.3 or 16th lowest. However this is likely to be a reflection of the lack of possession. France make 9.5 handling errors or 5th highest.
• Both team get forced in touch, or throw the ball into touch one of the least in the competition.

Set Pieces

• Both team have a large number of lineouts.
• England have the most lineout infringements in the comp
• France knock the ball on in the lineout the most of any team in RWC
• England favour the middle ever so slightly over the front for the throw. France favour the middle, but throw to the back the most of any RWC team.
• Both team line to throw the ball in quickly if the opp has kicked out from a long kick.
• England are 2nd in the comp for infringements on their feed
• England have won the least amount of scrum set largely due to the number of infringements that result in the scrum being completed. Note I only count the scrum won if the scrum is completed. getting an infringement is getting a
  infringement its not winning the scrum.
• England are 3rd in the comp for resets on their feed. 28% of England's
  scrums are reset.

Ref stats – Steve Walsh

• 5.5 scrum resets 2nd highest, 5.0 in 2011
• 6.0 scrum infringements, highest in RWC, 4.9 in 2011
• 21.3 pens awarded, 6th highest, 22.1 in 2011
• 9.3 for ruck pens, lowest, 12.3 in 2011
• 4.5 for scrum pens (Remember England's scrum stats above?), 2nd highest, 4.3 in 2011
• 5.0 pens for offside, 2nd highest, 3.3 in 2011
• 7.0 pens awarded inside the 22, 3rd highest
• 1.5 free kicks awarded (all scrum, sit remembering England's scrum stats?), 3rd highest
• Almost twice as likely to award a penalty that ends up being a kick at the posts on the right side of the field( Remember in the Point section above which team that favours...)

 

[Aout]

Can't sleep, I'd like to watch both games, but I got to play a game as well at 2pm this afternoon... it'll be tough !

Edit : @Ruckingoodstats

Interesting ! According to these stats, England seems to be worse than France !

 

[M Two One]

Can't sleep, I'd like to watch both games, but I got to play a game as well at 2pm this afternoon... it'll be tough !

Record it. I'm going to watch it in the morning.

 

[Aout]

No way ! I can't miss it ! What time will it be in the US when the game will be played ?

 

[Taylo2]

Gearing up for the game now....too many Frenchies in Auckland haha
I just hope the atmosphere is as good as the Scotland game, h I'll be up in the gods for this one rather than on halfway.

It will be interesting to see how we play with Wilko & Flood, I can see us winning, but it will be close, 3-7 points in it....hope Manu gets an early run over Parra, will set a lovely tone for the game