I think England do know their backs, it's these with Brad barret and Tuilagi in.
I think they'd be a better beating of Aus with those two in the team. Add in a couple of additional wingers to allow you to get rid of Ashton, and that's as good as it gets
Which depresses me quite a lot...
THM
I agree I thought they got lucky in the early scrums Vunipola was all over the place. Improved later with Hartley and Wilson on.
Not sure if this will work. First scrum. The Clancy Clown pinged aus for boring in.
[img] https://mobile.twitter.com/GAGR/status/396914911764180992/photo/1 [/img]
Shame the ref isn't 60 ft tall eh? 🙂
[i]A little hard on 12t. Yes, he has broken a tackle or two if you have seen him on a regular basis. Live.[/i]
True, just didn't rate him last time he palyed for England and he seemed to get a lot of praise... yeah and sorry for not watching every live match played every week 😆
B*** Rugby and England Under 20 wing/full back Anthony Watson will train with senior squad this week ahead of the second QBE International against Argentina this Saturday.Head Coach Stuart Lancaster has called-up Watson as a continued policy of giving promising young players "a taste of the environment."
Told ya!
It was a pretty grim afternoon TBH. Why does a country with a rugby population such as England have to play 12t at centre?
Injuries?
Anyway AA, you must laughing. The best team in N Hemisphere against a poor side that even England can beat on an average day. You boys must be able to thump the Aussies this weekend!!!!! What's the winning margin going to be?
The welsh are playing SA first up aren't they?
wrecker - MemberThe welsh are playing SA first up aren't they?
Yep, which means that the first choice Welsh 15 will be down to 2 fit players by this time next week.
By the time Wales play Australia in a few weeks time, the Ozzies will have remembered that Quade Cooper is appalling, Genia will have got his form back and the midfield will have taken some 'attack' and 'creativity' supplements. (And will beat Wales with a last minute kick like they do every single bloody time!)
Next weeks fixtures
Italy v Australia 14:00
England v Argentina 14:30
Scotland v Japan 14:30
Wales v South Africa 17:30
Ireland v Samoa 17:45
France v New Zealand 20:00
All the autumn fixtures
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/international-match/fixtures
Disappointing that poor ref/TMO/linesman decisions are deciding matches suspect there will be a few more by the time the autumn internationals are over.
Could be worse though I was at the Edinburgh v Zebre match on Friday (bad enough itself) but they didn’t have a TMO so ref/linesman were pretty much guessing if scores were legit or not. Surely you have to have a TMO at all matches or no matches, especially when we have bonus points which can make a difference between bottom or second bottom come the end of the season.
Idjejon and A-A; have you thought about becoming Scottish? You would fit in well with us, watching games through your fingers,seeing your team compete way above their skill set until a schoolboy error undoes them....All sound like fun? OK, it would take you a wee while to get used to the fact that we have beaten OZ since the game went pro, but it really is a small adjustment and normal service is soon resumed by a S-Sea team.
😆 You think it's easy to support England?!
Anyway AA, you must laughing. The best team in N Hemisphere against a poor side that even England can beat on an average day. You boys must be able to thump the Aussies this weekend!!!!! What's the winning margin going to be?
Wales will lose to Aus. Did you see last season. Also remains to be seen who is still fit and who gets released to play.
DezB, i can only imagine how hard it is to support a team that has either Hartley or Ashton in it nevermind both 🙂
Wales will only win 2 of the A I's and that will be tough 😕 lucky for me I keep telling myself they dont matter and its a money making exercise for the WRU
England are their own worst enemies IMHO. The pressure and expectation to win (by fans, media and management) causes conservative selection and tictacs, and stands in the way of player and team development.
I heard a commentator say that if England didn't win "questions would be asked". Why?
Get the young fringe players in there. You'd have thought they'd look at Wales and realise that's the way forward rather than stick with "steady" players for their experience. I long for the day they chuck it about a bit.
@pigface if you cannot beat the Southern Hemisphere in the friendly AI's you are never going to beat them in a tournament which matters, i.e. the RWC. Hopefully the Lions success will install a winning mentality for Wales.
@Ijs you have a point
The problem Lancaster has is that EVERY pigging headline starts with "Two years out from the World Cup..." England will not win the WC,why put the expectation on the squad of players and coaches? Why not build their international team to win games and take some of the pressure off.
england could win the World Cup if the ref helps them like Saturday 😉
jambayla I cant see Wales turning over New Zealand ever, The Boks are very strong at the moment, I think we can beat them if our first choice are all on the pitch together the astral alignement is correct and the seer of Tonypandy deems it so.
That is not going to be this Saturday.
Sat will be a chance for Phillips to test himself against the second best 9 in the world at least... 😀
Pigface - Memberengland could win the World Cup if the ref helps them like Saturday
Jeez, Tondu could win the RWC with that sort of help! 😉 (@ Saes, that's a joke ok? )
ambayla I cant see Wales turning over New Zealand ever, The Boks are very strong at the moment, I think we can beat them if our first choice are all on the pitch together the astral alignement is correct and the seer of Tonypandy deems it so.
That's the ridiculous thing though, isn't it - Wales could win on Saturday. They have a team strong enough to do it. But having beaten SA, a team that regularly beats NZ, Wales would be totally unable to kick on and compete against NZ. All in the head!
All in the head!
@IdleJohn has it !
NZ where terribly nervous in the last RWC final, they nearly lost to France who where the fourth or fifth best team in the tournament. I wonder whether you Welsh lads are just trying to talk down expectations, we all expected England to get crushed last year but we had a couple of breaks and it was NZ who were on the back foot, Wales are more than capable of doing the same.
I think winning the RWC has mentally released NZ and they can just go out and play now. I can't see a NH team beating them this autumn and i think they will win each game quite comfortably none of the home nations have the basic skills and are far too over drilled to compete with NZ.
I actually fear for England most as, ill or not as NZ were last year, England beat them well and i suspect NZ are still smarting and will be looking for revenge+ this year.
ijs445ra - MemberI actually fear for England most as, ill or not as NZ were last year, England beat them well and i suspect NZ are still smarting and will be looking for revenge+ this year.
That's true.
Jings;the English supporters are all turning into Celts!
Look at it this way,Sat will be a chance for 12T,Ashton and Tomkins to ram the negative press right down everybodys throats when they face Nonu,Smith and Dagg.Likewise Robshaw and V-P will be able to show that the hype surrounding McCaw and Reid is just paper talk.
Cheer up guys;Dilly Dally will no doubt have a piece (including diagrams) on how England can beat the AB's in at least one of the papers. To do this, his diagrams will involve a drone strike during a certain dance.
pigface if you cannot beat the Southern Hemisphere in the friendly AI's you are never going to beat them in a tournament which matters, i.e. the RWC. Hopefully the Lions success will install a winning mentality for Wales.
Wales wont beat SA they could beat Aus but most likely wont and they wont win the world cup as the back up players to the likes of Adam, Davies, Faletau, 1/2p especially are not good enough.
A_a; do you think that the regionalisation of the clubs has messed things up further in this regard?
Only 4 pro teams, limiting the amount of talent which can be developed?
Not sure the regions are the issue tbh theres just less pro's in Wales as the playing population is smaller. I actually think the regions do a good job of developing talent better than the english game. Regions problem is lack of supporters and funding.
Top five rugby tough nuts....
[i]Top five rugby tough nuts...[/i]
Absolutely brilliant. Why can't our rugby coverage be that FUNNY?! I'm laughing so loud I think I've upset the neighbours 😆
Lima's hit on Hougaard was so funny. Looked like he was saying "Someone call this guy an ambulance" after!
I love Collins chucking the ball at Mcaw. "who ****ing did that, oh sorry as you were".
Chabal?!? 😆
Funny clip though. Thing is, football gets that kind of funny stuff as well as serious stuff here. Why can't rugby do the same? It's so bloody serious all the time (apart from Internet forums of course).
Shelford might be tough but he cold hit Richards, bit cowardly IMO.
Gents;Being new to twitter,any funny rugby feeds I should be following?
Brian Moore 😀
Scotland team to play Japan on Saturday
Scotland: Sean Maitland, Tommy Seymour,, Nick De Luca, Matt Scott, Sean Lamont, Ruaridh Jackson, Greig Laidlaw, Ryan Grant, Ross Ford, Euan Murray, Tim Swinson, Alastair Kellock, Alasdair Strokosch, Kelly Brown (capt), David Denton.
Replacements: Pat MacArthur, Alasdair Dickinson, Geoff Cross, Richie Gray, John Barclay, Henry Pyrgos, Duncan Weir, Duncan Taylor.
A few injuries so probably a couple of forced changes but i would have liked to see Dunbar/Taylor/Bennet start at 13 with Scott at 12.
And Gatland just can't help himself
"Wales v South Africa: Warren Gatland rejects Rolland meeting"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/24814317
pigface if you cannot beat the Southern Hemisphere in the friendly AI's you are never going to beat them in a tournament which matters, i.e. the RWC. Hopefully the Lions success will install a winning mentality for Wales.
This whole concept is very interesting. Consider England Vs Wales - Our record is nigh on 50/50 over the past 100 years. But England vs any southern hemisphere team compared with Wales vs any other southern hemisphere team and England come out on top. If only Wales could channel their hatred elsewhere they would be world beaters..
If only Wales could channel their hatred elsewhere they would be world beaters..
😆 That may wind a few brethren up
wrecker - Member
England are their own worst enemies IMHO. The pressure and expectation to win (by fans, media and management)
Really? QF, RU, 4th, QF, Champs, RU, QF - record that suggest and merits high expectations, surely. But....
causes conservative selection and tictacs, and stands in the way of player and team development.
....partly true although I am not sure about your causation!!! We were v conservative on Saturday for sure. I long for the days when we will see an England 3/4 line attacking the ball at pace, using the correct angles and executing some exciting moves. But am resigned to more flat balls, and attempts to muscle across the gain line....yawn.
The original Total Rugby thesis had much to admire in it, but the way Eng and others interpret this - usually having the from rows playing in the centre positions in the 2 phase onwards - is a backward not a forward (excuse the pun) step IMO.
On Gatland I can't decide is he:
1. Very astute and a master of gamesmanship or
2. Thick, rude and just a bit of a ****?
Either way, he gets results!!!
Edit: I get the swear filter thing now!! Sounds like cat!!! Can't be bothered to edit the damn autocorrect stuff though!!!
well I find it amusing that people consider that Wales need a
, they have one, it just depends on who they play.winning mentality
Have england ever played total rugby? I think you dont see england players hitting the line at speed and running angles is because 1 it is coached out of them, 2 they are not good enough to play that kind of game, physically yes but not in speed of thought.
england have always played the same way grind them to pulp at the front and then let the show ponies exploit the gaps, that and a kicker won the world cup. It can put pay to the majority of teams but with South Africa and New Zealand playing the way they do then everyone is playing catch up.
Sadly only on very rare occassions pig face (and this is from a Tigers fan!!!!!!)
SA and NZ do seem to be in a different league (different diets?) at the moment
Pigface - no.
I quite like your assessment
grind them to pulp at the front and then let the show ponies exploit the gaps, that and a kicker won the world cup
Its a succinct way of describing what really annoys me about english rugby, we have too many show ponies who think they are going to crash the line and score from halfway, instead of drawing the man and making an excellent offload.
To my basic way of understanding the game - if you examine your average All Black - he appears dedicated to making space for his team mate to score - one excellent way of doing that is to draw as many men into tackling you and then release the ball to the next player - sooner or later you get a massive hole in the defence and you score. Our backs seem to think that they should physically bore the hole in the defence..
Leigh Halfpenny (Blues), George North (Northampton Saints), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Scott Williams (Scarlets), Eli Walker (Ospreys), Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Mike Phillips (Unattached): Gethin Jenkins (Blues), Richard Hibbard (Ospreys), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Bradley Davies (Blues), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Racing Metro), Sam Warburton (Blues, capt), Toby Faletau.
Replacements: Ken Owens (Scarlets), Paul James (Bath), Scott Andrews (Blues), Luke Charteris (Perpignan), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys) Lloyd Williams (Blues), James Hook (Perpignan), Liam Williams (Scarlets).
Biggar must beright pissed off.
