Be interesting to see who gets the 10 jersey; Crotty or Charlie Ngatai.
Edit; Ngatai selected as a centre!!
So Barrett or Cruden?
Yes, it'll be Barrett and Cruden. Both awesome 10s. Nz have such riches at 9 and 10, they could 've picked any of about 5 10s.
ps. re: Slade, All was saying was ... oh forget it.
Cruden will be at 10 despite his less than brilliant place kicking.
Barrett is too handy on the bench as he can cover 15 as well.
Ngatai has been missing with concussion which might delay his selection. Crotty would be the "safe" option at 12 as the glue that holds the rest together.
They seem to see McKenzie as the long term future at 10 but he turned down a move to the Blues which would have seen him get time at fly-half rather than stay at 15 for the Chiefs with Cruden at 10.
Once Milner-Skudder and SBW return it begins to look like a half-decent side....
DezB Jones has time to look at players on the tour (even if just on the training field) so it makes sense to take Slade. By all accounts he had a wobble especially in the first half yesterday but looking forward to 2019 and beyond he could be "the man". England know what they get (and what they don't) with Farrell which imo is why they are giving Ford a run. I suspect they will do something similar with Slade in the next year or two.
Jamba - what about Cipriani?
You didn't mention him. 😉
head explodes 🙂
[i]Once Milner-Skudder and SBW return it begins to look like a half-decent side....[/i]
Yeah, but shit til then eh 😆
Jamba- I realise all that, but I was merely commenting.. actually, yours is the normal response to my post, not the 'stamp stamp no he's brilliant its GEORGE FORD who's rubbish!!' BiZarreness which followed originally...
its GEORGE FORD who's rubbish!!
Are you watching the game?
Yep. Not going well for Ford. Kicking-wise especially. Did you think I'd disagree or something?
No. he's been playing like that all year is the point I am trying to make. Whatever he was before, he isn't now.
It's written all over his face too.. he looks stressed.
0/4 off the boot. They aren't doing him any favours keeping him on now. The kid needs the summer off to get his head together.
Don't think we have a 10 on the bench.
Biggar needs to shut the f@@k up too. He is always gobbling off to refs. I'd give him a 3 week rest until he learns IMHO.
Is there anybody in the Saxons they could call up? 😀
I'd far rather have Farrell & Slade than him. With all the Sarries/Chiefs missing we are in a good place.
Launchbury/Harrison/Clifford all had good games.
Forwards are going ok.
Dunno how Biggar survived that head clash with North when Watson scored!
Was just about to type - Yarde's looking good... 🙂
Why are they kicking it?!?!?! 😯
So it's more than Wales' total score squandered from Ford's boot ? 😆
(Or was it already?)
DezB - that Watson try should have been a yellow for Biggar too - foot first tackle on Watson - his head clash was secondary.
Agreed -too often that kind of thing is let go as a try is scored.
Fear for Wales next month...
They need to concentrate on playing their own game.
Well said, Sir Clive!
I see Lydiate got replaced after 23 mins. How badly beoken was he or was he just a really really bad 7?
Always good to beat the best team in the NH
Even if we needed a knock on to cover for a poor #10 😉
Well done Trelawney's Army!
Any major injuries from either side?
I was disappointed when Ford finally got that conversion as I was hoping all of England's points would have come from tries.
That should have been a chance to give Cipriani a run out.
Although I think Ford is potentially better than Farrell he's certainly not at the moment. In fact he's not better than any of the other options.
Still, plenty of positives for England.
Not too many for Wales - I fear for them in NZ.
Wales are still a good side. It's a tough ask though, 3 tests in NZ.
That should be a shoe in for Cips, Ford should not be on the plane. Good match, obvious rust but Jones selections choices seem to bear fruit.
Enlarges future looking like it could be bright.
Any major injuries from either side?
Lydiate out of NZ tour with a shoulder injury.
Replaced by Blues Flanker Ellis Jenkins.
At least Jenkins is an openside! Will be good experience for him.
That's a big loss. Hopefully Warbutton is fit.
Lydiate hasnt been great recently but we will certainly be needing tacklers v NZ.
Back to that All Blacks squad:
Lima Sopoaga (Southland, one Test)
It struck me that ABs caps don't exactly come easily. That cap came as he started at 10 against the Boks in Jo'burg in the RC last year. He was pivotal in the 27-20 win and played the full 80. Not quite the same as coming on with 10 mins left in a 50 point route against weaker opposition.
Here he is in action last week:
Nice coaching example of how to do a flat pass - kiwi style 😉
Ford should not be on the plane
Jones gave him strong praise after the game. Its the coaches view that counts
I thought it was quite interesting how Woodward and Greenwood were very positive around Ford but pretty damning of Burrell looking after his own interests and playing for a strong personal showing (I think those were their words) rather than team interests at times...
Back to that All Blacks squad:
Can we not?
Ford v Farrel thats what I want to talk about
[i]Here he is in action last week:[/i]
Single moment of flash in otherwise totally solid play, including a superb try. Shrugged it off in the half-time interview as something the coach said to try and said he nearly pulled his hamstring - then ran off to the dressing room as if embarrassed!
I don't think they'll miss Carter too much. 🙂
I'm struggling to see what Ford is offering. Poor goal kicking, woeful defence and not much else. He's a liability which needs Farrell outside him, which then negates one of the 4/5 decent cented we have.
Get Cips in which fixes that.
Kryton57 - Member
which then negates one of the 4/5 decent cented we have.
Assuming you meant centres - where are they then as they don't appear to have been selected recently?
I think Jones is sticking with Ford as despite his woeful performance in many areas he's one of the few England backs that appear able to fix a man and release a back line.
England backs still appeared incapable of passing the ball down the line yesterday without running sideways or passing behind and checking the player - schoolboy stuff. I only saw the highlights but still saw a number of opportunities squandered - notably Care's break where there was a 2 on one overlap if he'd have straightened and passed and the turnover ball which should have caused problems but was easily defended by Wales because we (Josephs?) passed the ball behind the player. We scored from Care's break after a couple of extra phases but Aus may not give us that opportunity.
I thought it was quite interesting how Woodward and Greenwood were very positive around Ford
SCW said at one point "Danny Cipriani must be watching this and feeling very hard done by" or words to that effect whilst blasting little George, he was anything but positive towards him.
Jones was looking after his player after he had a stinker, that's what a coach (and man) like Jones does. It's one of the reasons I like him.
The two aren't mutually exclusive Wrecker. The comment that Cips will be wondering why he won't be involved with the first team over the Summer is obvious with such little contribution from Ford during the game, but that was followed by the two agreeing that the stress Ford is under isn't helped by those around him and Burrell seemed to be singled out especially which was kind of interesting (we've said before it seemed like Burrell appears to have p1ssed on someone chips at some point and Woodward/ Greenwood didn't seem to have a lot of love for him)
