Don't have Sky sports.
Ah! That last one is working. Thanks.
Well, well. I'm so pleased to see Ford passing and running instead of just hoofing up a bomb every time, like he did last week. Lovely stuff so far.
Don't let em score though eh?!
Great positive start.
Strange the local commentator saying England can play differently as they have nothing to lose 🙂
Well this is a hell of a good game to watch 🙂 Great way to finish the series
Certainly is! Both teams really want it. Nice n niggly too 🙂
Great game, but nervous times!
Great game so far. Always fun to watch to fairly evenly matched teams knock lumps out of each other 🙂
Haskell is missed but credit to EJ for an early substitution. It is a bit "un-rugby" but it seems to be working for England. The difference between the teams is the quality of the place kicking really and I expect that to be the difference to the end where England come away with the win.
Oh, and is anyone else sick of the commentators trying their best to jinx every Australian shot at goal? They don't need to- Foley is more than capable of missing by himself!
[i]Haskell is missed but credit to EJ for an early substitution. It is a bit "un-rugby[/i]
Love how unsentimental he is about making substitutions. Harrison looked out of his depth, so "off ya go"! Atoje is great at flanker, so its worked.
Who'd be an inside centre ? both teams playing 10s at 12.
all square, money is on England to finish stronger for me
Woof!!
Oh my god, what a yoyo match!
Good smart play from England there, Aussies looking well like England used to
Great fun
Australia would have really helped themselves by letting Phipps play fewer minutes
Points difference at the end came down to Foley's missed kicks too as predicted.
Cracking game though from the rest of the guys on the field.
Credit to England. Historic times
Whitewash (sorry Wales!)
What a great match. What a great win. Has it ever been so good to watch England? For years I used to have to pace up and down the room, not daring to look at the screen!
Boom
Well done England
Bring on the All Blacks! 😆
Great stuff from England
Woo hoo!
Feel a bit sorry for the Aussie players - back into getting hammered by NZers in the supers...!
[quote=DezB ]Feel a bit sorry for the Aussie players
Hold that thought - nope sorry, it's passed
Great win.
Still things to improve but we're going the right way. Too many missed tackles and too much loss of control at times kept letting the Aussies back in.
If the whole side could tackle like JJ we'd be fine. He was immense defensively including stopping both Kuridrani and Naiyowhatshisname dead in their tracks.
We're still not good enough to beat the ABs but we might get there yet.
Really dumb decision to go wide there by Ireland. Probably cost them the game and the series. Disappointing.
Well, after the RWC debacle it's been a pretty good time for English rugby.
Grand Slam, 3-0 sweep in Australia, Saxons winning the series in SA, Saracens winning the European Cup and the U20s winning the World Championship.
Not too shabby. 😀
Indeed. And don't forget the 3-0 whitewash of Australia. 😀
It's been a good few months for English rugby. Eddie Jones seems to have made a big impact; people say it's not the coaches etc, but we'e better under Jones than Bomber.
The future looks pretty good too. Went to watch the U20's yesterday. It was a thoroughly good day with some great rugby played. Mallinder looked pretty darn good and a slight cut above the other players but that's not surprising given that he's getting regular first team rugby.
Thought the Argentinan team looked bloody good too and took apart a very physical, direct SA team.
we're better under Jones than Bomber.
No kidding.
SL had exactly the same players available for the RWC that EJ has now but he chose to leave out Itoje (although he was ready) and he refused to pick Hartley as he was banned for the Fiji game.
As much as I've enjoyed the international season post RWC its a phoney period of rebuilding. The only real tournament that matters is the RWC and the next one is in 2019
CaptainFlashheart - Member
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/36628592Japan playing glorious rugby. Simply glorious.
Concur - sublime.
That is a beautiful try. The offload was cracking. I so hope Japan keep on improving, with them and Argentina getting better and better, world rugby is looking good for a little while now
As much as I've enjoyed the international season post RWC its a phoney period of rebuilding. The only real tournament that matters is the RWC and the next one is in 2019
Well it takes years to build a RWC winning side and England have made a good start.
Nothing phoney about winning a grand slam or beating Australia in Australia. If only the RWC matters then why do the players bother trying so hard in the 6N, Summer Tours and Autumn Internationals? 😉
Not quite the exceptional match we saw in Sydney but a tough high quality game (full match here not sure of there are highlights somewhere). Barcelona venue worked stadium looked pretty full. Top 14 final Toulon v Racing (L'Equipe suggested it was the best final of the mdoern era)
99,124 at the Camp Nou - a world record for a game of club rugby.
It was an engrossing match. When Machenaud got sent off I thought Racing were toast and at several points during the game it looked like Toulon would steamroller them but they stuck in there. Great effort.
Apparently no-one had told the players beforehand that the tournament didn't matter! 😉
🙂
Wow it looked full but I thought it couldn't be as capacity is 100k. I am generaly supporting Toulon but after the red card I wanted to see Racing win, epic match.
I am generally supporting Toulon but after the red card I wanted to see Racing win, epic match.
Me too.
I haven't followed Toulon quite so keenly since Wilkinson retired and now the Armitages are leaving too there's no English interest. I think they've lost their way a bit in terms of recruitment. They seem to chase any big names - regardless of whether they'll fit with the team or not.
What are the reasons for the Armitages going?
I don't know, I couldn't find much. Delon signed for Lyon in March and Stefan for Pau in May. I guess its to do with age (Delon 33, Stefan 30), and Half Penny is clearly first choice at 15 for Toulon. Maybe Stefan got a better contract.
Has Stefon(sp) not been player of the year two out of the last three? I am also amazed nobody in the prem didn't take a punt on him, he would still be around at the next WC
Has Stefon(sp) not been player of the year two out of the last three? I am also amazed nobody in the prem didn't take a punt on him, he would still be around at the next WC
Wasps had a proper punt at getting him in the Prem but he went for the French money.
^^ thats what I read. After 5 years in the sunshine of the South of France I think the lure of the UK is limited particularly when an England place isn't a factor. I think there is no team salary cap in France either. Stefon had a decent game and looked more mobile than I remember him.
Wasps had a proper punt at getting him in the Prem but he went for the French money.
I think he had a year left on his Toulon contract so there was a hefty transfer fee involved as well. Pau seem to have a lot of cash to splash and, TBH, I'd rather live in Pau than Coventry.
Delon has gone to Lyon, who also seem to be joining the big spenders.
