[RWC2019][Semi-Final 1] England vs. New Zealand (26/10/2019)

[Goodey]

Jones pulled off a master stroke yesterday. Let's hope his unfathomable blind spot doesn't come back to bite us.

That'll be the same unfathomable blind spot of every England and Lions coach of the last decade yeah?

~

The hate pile on against Youngs cannot be stopped, so I don't know who I'm kidding.

 

[Goodey]

EJ does have a habit of making players better on his watch - May, Lawes, Slade, Sinks, Binny, Curry etc etc.

I'll give you Lawes and May here but Sinckler and Curry are just two blokes in their early 20s who should be better than they were a few years ago. Credit to Jones for harnessing that talent but that's something of a lesser feat than getting a player to up their game from under a previous coach.

I'd argue BV is actually having less impact than when he first came into the side around 2014-15, though I think that's mostly defenses getting back on top in Tests since then.

 

[Which Tyler]

It's now been confirmed that he's a replacement, not cover.

So straight to the bench for the final. Oh wow.

Did someone say Stephen Donald?
Spencer's a kicker too isn't he?

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

That'll be the same unfathomable blind spot of every England and Lions coach of the last decade yeah?

~

The hate pile on against Youngs cannot be stopped, so I don't know who I'm kidding.

You totally miss the point. Wasn't a tirade against Youngs.

The blind spot has been 9 in general. Mainly sticking with Youngs and Care for too long in the full knowledge of what they could do and not blooding others. But also only picking 2 SHs in this squad. Many here have long complained about both of those.

If Youngs gets hurt early, we're relying on a guy with 3 caps (no starts), who hasn't been his club's first choice for long, who's just got off a 12 hour flight across several time zones, who isn't hugely in tune with the rest of the squad. In a key position in a RWC final.

I like Spencer. I think he should have been in the original squad. But this is exactly the scenario Jones could and should have avoided.

 

[BrokenWing]

Dan Biggar is right up there for me, 1st class bell end if ever there was one.

I'd double that down with Liam Williams.

 

[Scotty]

Ben Spencer on his way out as injury cover for Heinz. Many will have felt he should have been there as 2nd or 3rd choice anyhow.

Missed out on selection, left at home and called up for the final. That is so funny.

Fair play to Heinz he has done well for us tbh.

 

[Not Eddie Jones]

I'll give you Lawes and May here but Sinckler and Curry are just two blokes in their early 20s who should be better than they were a few years ago. Credit to Jones for harnessing that talent but that's something of a lesser feat than getting a player to up their game from under a previous coach.

I'd argue BV is actually having less impact than when he first came into the side around 2014-15, though I think that's mostly defenses getting back on top in Tests since then.

Fair enough, but I still see Binny sucking in 3 or 4 tacklers per carry and he usually steps the first man and gets across the gainline. He's certainly doing a job for us, but yeah, he's not bursting loose like he used to.

 

[BPM]

Yep. As much as I think he should always have been in the squad, Spencer has had more game time with Saracens that he would have as third choice scrum half. He's been in great form too, so could end up be a real asset for the final.

 

[Pom in Exile]

That'll be the same unfathomable blind spot of every England and Lions coach of the last decade yeah?

~

The hate pile on against Youngs cannot be stopped, so I don't know who I'm kidding.

Yeah, you gave me a dislike for saying that Youngs was dreadful, which I take no pleasure in, I wish he was great, he just wasn't.

 

[Every Time Ref]

To be fair I don't think the try was a George error, it was an Itoje/Curry error - Itoje switched the call last second and Curry didn't get in position quick enough. George threw where he was supposed to but Itoje wasn't high enough because Curry didn't get to where he needed to be to lift

So you're saying Curry is crap?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

So you're saying Curry is crap?

Call up Tom Wood

 

[Which Tyler]

Minute by minutw breakdown for those interested:
http://www.rugbyrebels.co/board/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4087

Personally, I love these, they're nerdy and accurate, generally taking any bias out and acknowledging where bias got it wrong.

As far as I've got so far, it does suggest that I was overly harsh on Youngs. I guess in the heat of a match, I only tend to notice the stand-out plays by individuals, and tend to gloss over the 95% of the time they're simply in the right place, doing the right thing to a perfectly acceptable standard.

So I watch, thinking Young's is being so slow to the ball, and that Farrell was pretty anonymous. Then I'll read these things and realise that Youngs' passing was having a good day, and it may be part of a plan that someone closer is getting the ball out from the ruck. Or that Farrell was quietly effective in his contributions, in the right place, making the right plays and generally being an IC doing the job of an IC (though I'll defend that someone generally going through unnoticed, no highlights and no lowlights, counts as - but anonymously 6/10, rather than 4/10)

 

[Nudger]

No, no kickable penalties given up in the England half as I remember. Not even by Dan Cole.

None kickable as we played most of the game in thier half

 

[Ben Gerber]

Minute by minutw breakdown for those interested:
http://www.rugbyrebels.co/board/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4087

Personally, I love these, they're nerdy and accurate, generally taking any bias out and acknowledging where bias gotnp it wrong.
As far as I've got so far, it does suggest that I was overly harsh on Youngs. I guess in the heat of a match, I only tend to notice the stand-out plays by individuals, and tend to gloss over the 95% of the time they're simply in the right place, doing the right thing to a perfectly acceptable standard.
So I watch, thinking Young's is being so slow to the ball, and that Farrell was pretty anonymous. Then I'll read these things and realise that Youngs passing was having a good day, and it maybe part of a plan that someone closer is getting the ball out from the ruck. Or that Farrell was quietly effective in his contributions, in the right place, making the right plays and generally being an IC doing the job of an IC (though I'll defend that someone generally going through unnoticed, no highlights and no lowlights, counts as anonymous)

This is awesome! Thanks for sharing this.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

23 min highlights.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Well if England win the final it won't matter anyway because we didn't beat the ranked 1 sides coming into the tournament, namely Ireland and Wales. Checkmate England!

23 min highlights.

5:14 in that video, Mako Vunipola's reaction sums up many peoples frustration with Youngs. Perfectly good running line, Youngs ready but simply doesn't give the pass forcing Vunipola to stop and take it static.

 

[Paul Psychic Octopus]

There are many, many angles to analyse whether NZ were poor, if England were too strong etc. but for me two things stood out:

1. England conceded hardly any penalties and minimal handling errors, denying NZ the chance to play on the front foot.

2. The breakdown was awesome. Hansen picked a lock forward in the back row. That was meant to overwhelm England's line out but it was actually pretty solid (apart from the gift overthrow for their only score). But it ceded an advantage to England in the breakdown and the turnover stats speak for themselves.

 

[TheOvalBall]

So you're saying Curry is crap?

Curry is great. It's a lovely spice on food.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Curry is great. It's a lovely spice on food.

Curry makes me crap my pants, it also burns my asshole when I take a ****.

 

[ncurd]

Curry makes me crap my pants, it also burns my asshole when I take a ****.

....I think I might need to screenshot this week for after match bantz next Sunday