Form or not, Teo’s Magic arm guard makes him world class. A shoe-in for any side in the world.
Youngs has been dreadful for years. Is English rugby that devoid of a decent SH?
Magic arm guard or not, he'd have to be better than world class to get in that Wales team.
Seven test Lions.
And Cory Hill.
Te'o just hasn't played, Shields done nothing to justify place in my opinion and Youngs has gone off the boil for a while, even though he CAN produce magic on occasion its whether he WILL that concerns me. Care has always been the quicker 9, to the breakdown and distribution IMHO.
As a Chiefs fan so I'm biased, but I hope Slade can show why he should be there at 13, I think Nowell offers a lot more than 'just' gas a winger and I cannot fathom why big Don doesn't get a look in. Baffling.
Nowell is a cracking player, much better than Ashton.
And Cory Hill
Thats Cory British and Irish Lion Hill to you!!
Youngs is there for the box kick. That is all.
Youngs is there for the box kick. That is all.
Which is used far too often due to his lack of speed at the breakdown.
All up, as an Englishman, I don't think that 23 is too bad considering the state of the injuries to the usual first picks. I'm perplexed by Te'O as a starter though given his <30 mins game time since last injury. Back line is exciting I reckon with a lot of talent to come back in over the next few months. The pack will suffer though and I agree that given the circumstances and his form for Tigers, Cole should have been in the squad, and as a Tigers fan, come in Box Kick Ben, your time is up! You just can't win at Premiership and certainly at international level by kicking the bloody ball away as much as he does, needs to find some form again.
Not sure if I’m happy or not about our team. I’m pleased that we’re trying to move on from Robshaw and Brown (even if it is a few years too late) and Jones’ hand has been forced by injuries to an extent in the pack. I just hope he has a game plan to suit his players unlike in the past where he’s tried to play his previously successful bosh game without his boshers.
12 and 9 don’t ever seem to get resolved. There’s got to be a better English 9 in the premiership than Youngs. He was dire the other week against the Scarlets. Our loosehead choices are driven by injury and retirement but it seems odd to ditch Cole’s experience when he’s actually playing well this season. He’s scrummed we’ll but has also shown up well at the breakdown and even carried.
I don’t think we’ll win against a Bok side getting their form back. The AB’s will tear us a new one. Might scrape past the Aussies and think we’ll beat Japan but probably fail to convince. Two from four is my prediction with at least one mauling in there.
Have you seen the saffer centres? mwahaha...
The South African pack looks pretty good; experienced with a lot of power. Hmmmmmm.
Also, just because Brown has been sent home this weekend does not mean he will not be back some time this autumn.
Coles a penalty magnet though, and doesn't carry as much as Sinckler.
Coles a penalty magnet though, and doesn’t carry as much as Sinckler.
Hes been genuinely very good for Leicester this season. He’s scrummed really well (did well against the Scarlets) and has carried pretty well too this season as well as being more involved at the breakdown. Sinkler carries well but is a shit scrummager and I think will get found out against an experienced Bok front row.
I’ve been very critical of Cole in recent times for his brain farts and needless penalties buts he’s upped his game this season since a young prop has come through the ranks for Tigers (I.e. he’s not playing the full 80 week in week out).
Also, just because Brown has been sent home this weekend does not mean he will not be back some time this autumn.
If Daly has another howler, I imagine Brown will reappear pretty sharpish.
#neverforget
TBH I'm starting to think Jones has totally lost the plot.
He's been completely inconsistent in his selection policies. There's no discernable, coherent direction in which he seems to be taking the team.
Although I should be pleased to see Brown getting dropped it's actually somewhat baffling as he was probably our best player against SA.
The pack looks week. Especially the back row.
We might beat the weakened Boks but the All Blacks........?
England pack was always going to look pretty weak given the injuries.....Wilson at 8 is bizarre though. Surely him at 6 Curry 7 and Mercer 8 would be better? Shields hasn't looked great from what I've seen since his move here.
The established 9's of Young and Care are both in poor form, Youngs' current poor stretch running back for quite a while!
Te'o at 12.....don't like the bloke and don't overly rate him as a player even when fully fit... certainly not in his current state!
Jones has totally lost the plot for me, such bizarre/inconsistent selections......what's the crack with Hartley now? He's back starting as 'co captain' alongside Farrell....why the demotion from 'captain'? George has quite clearly been the best NH hooker for the past 2 years, so why have Hartley starting? No Cipriani, he says on current form he's not in, yet Te'o and Ashton were in the squad and Te'o starts, with barely more first team rugby played than me this season!!
Just seen the 'weakened' Ireland squad sent to the US....I'd fancy that team to beat us by at least 15 home and away.... against SA this weekend....I'm very pessimistic....them missing Faf De Klerk is a bonus for us, struggling to see us beating them. Japan we'll win by 25, NZ....god knows....even if it's close they'll win, but it has the potential to be a bloodbath. If we go in to the Australian game 1 from 3 I could see us losing that too!
Biggest plus though, the monumental bell end that is James Haskell seems to have been well and truly dropped for good.
Just seen the ‘weakened’ Ireland squad sent to the US
Which is:
15. Jordan Larmour (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 6
14. Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster) 7
13. Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 14
12. Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 9
11. Jacob Stockdale (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 11
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">10. Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Munster) 12</span>
9. Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster) 6
1. Jack McGrath (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 50
2. Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster) 9
3. Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 8
4. Tadhg Beirne (Munster) 2
5. Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht) 6
6. Rhys Ruddock (St Mary's College/Leinster) 19 captain
7. Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 10
8. Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 9
Replacements
16. Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 62
17. Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 22
18. Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht) 7
19. Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 60
20. Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Ulster) 23
21. John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster) 2
22. Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster) *
23. Will Addison (Enniskillen/Ulster) *
I mean, you know where Quinn Roux is from just from reading his name. 🙂 Surprise selection though. It'll be interesting to see how he gets on, as it will Luke McGrath. Ireland have strong competition for most places on the field, and Carbery looks like he'll be the future and a solid replacement if the French try to beat Johnny up again. The over-dependency on Murray is a worry sometimes, so it's nice to see other SHs getting a chance.
George has quite clearly been the best NH hooker for the past 2 years,
Guirado?
As a Scot with the certainty we are getting pumped tomorrow, thus having to put up with AA’s pish till the 6n...I actually feel quite sorry for the England supporters on here. Even if you beat the Saffers who are short of 4 first choices, there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that your coach is a fud. That’s fud...not dud, although that also applies.
As a Scot with the certainty we are getting pumped tomorrow,
Why so pessimistic, Wales have a team with roughly equal amounts of talent misdsng as scotland. Your front row is stronger and could get a real stranglehold on the game.
It’s all very well England moaning about injuries but surely it should be easier to find some depth in England than in Wales , Scotland or Ireland had the same problems. Given the number# of players in England and the cash floating round there should be queues of players all fighting for a position in the team. Jones should be stressing abou5 who to pick because there’s too much choice, not because there’s a few injuries and not enough test quality players who’ve actually played some rugby this season.
@burko73 Thats an age old puzzle never resolved. Its always odd how Englands perceived lack of depth is compared to the AB’s who’s entire populous is about the size of London’s.
Didn't AA say we had a membership pool as big as all the other unions in the top 10 added together?
I have been to NZ, and whilst its population is tiny, everybody lives and breathes rugby.
Re-Duckman Jones is a fud. It does not look good right now. However he did coach us to a world equalling record run of wins, that's not crap.
I got beaten by my own sweepstake.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/nov/02/chris-ashton-replaces-injured-manu-tuilagi-bench-england-south-africa-springboks-rugby-union
Jesus frigging christ
So we only have one fully fit in position full time Centre as well now?
This guarantees Ford/Farrell/Slade later on. Doubt he’ll move Daly from FB, Nowell could slot in at 13 with Gaston on the wing I suppose.
Manu busted again...even funnier after England Rubgy posted a video of Manu training and his light training not to get bike is benching 140 and squatting 170...
Part if the reason that we have no strength in deity is because we carry on with the same players not matter their form and a fear of young up and coming players.
Unbelievable, broken again, and just when he was having a great run of games for Tigers for once. Cheers Eddie. Honestly, how long before players start making a club/ country choice and the longevity of their careers over getting broken when on international duty.
Yep, regardless of game situation, it feels inevitable that Hartley will come off after 50....doubt Te'o will last much longer than that so Ford will come on at 10, Farrell to 12....which will be fun if we're getting stuffed up front.
What Jones achieved when he took over with England could have been done by any half decent coach - taking a bunch of talented players from the biggest player pool in world rugby and, with the benefit of unlimited resources, turning them into a competent international team.
Unfortunately,being an 18hr-a-day obsessive martinet has not promoted long term harmony within the England camp. His erratic and inconsistent selection policies have left most of the players clueless as to where they might stand.
According to the recent biography about him:
"Working as an assistant to Eddie, you were always having to defend your position. You would put everything on the table and have to convince him that you were right. When he put something on the table, you'd have to convince him he was wrong. Trouble was, that never happened."
I think Nowell as a Centre would be a great idea anyway. It might work in our favour.
Namastebuzz, I'm not going to defend him as the 6N was a disaster. The summer was OK in my book. However, that story just reads like a hit piece, and is based on experiences from over 10 years ago. He may well be a **** but I don't think a book written by an Aussie journo who is pissed off that we beat them too often proves anything, its just gossip.
However, that story just reads like a hit piece,
Yeah, you're right. It does.
The thing is - you look at his coaching history and he's often got good results initially but then things tend to fall apart with prolonged exposure to Eddie. Why are England's back room staff leaving en masse? Why did the same happen with Brumbies/Reds/Wallabies etc? Did Gustard really think being Quins head coach was a better bet than going to the RWC with England unless he realised the England camp was a poisonous place to be? Why did Marler quit?
Just coz all that happened 10yrs ago doesn't mean it's not happening again - now.
So are we englisher's resigned to the fact the the RWC will be no better than a semi final place, with Eddie's resignation and much media based outcry to follow?
Or is Eddie just having a really unlucky streak interjected with post Lions fatigue and injury?
Or do we wait until the end of November when we judge the actual outcome of what we think might be a
Boks 5-10pt loss
NZ - an utter thrashing
Japan - win
Aus - a close fought win/loss
On our current trajectory, semi finals at the RWC would be a massive over achievement.
I'd agree with your AI predictions
Why are England’s back room staff leaving en masse? Why did the same happen with Brumbies/Reds/Wallabies etc? Did Gustard really think being Quins head coach was a better bet than going to the RWC with England unless he realised the England camp was a poisonous place to be? Why did Marler quit?
Just coz all that happened 10yrs ago doesn’t mean it’s not happening again – now.
Remember a story back along about a nurse who got done because there seemed to be a correlation between his presence and people dying? Went to prison and then an actual statistician analysed him and lots of other nurses and decided you could come to the same conclusion about any nurse? The bloke was freed.
The point is people leave and you can focus on who leaves and who doesn't but it may or may not mean anything. We do not know the actual turnover rate of coaching staff to compare it against.
And lots of coaches go through purple patches. Maybe they decide it is time to move on whatever.
It doesn't look great, I agree, but there are lots of people with vested interests trying to shoot him down.
I'd give my left nut for Henry, Hansen or even Gatland, but in their absence, what are we going to do?
I’d give my left nut for Henry, Hansen or even Gatland,
****ing hell this place would implode if Gatland became England Coach after the World Cup....please someone think of the Hamsters!!!
Has he had a bad patch like this? I think so. English problem is that we expect to win...
Blade Thompson taken to hospital on first visit to Scotland. Hope he's OK.
Decent game between Ospreys and Glasgow at the moment.
🙂
Not so happy with the result, but a good game.
Stats say Ospreys the better side.
*splutters* 😉
I watched Edinburgh to a surprising victory. Hicky and Mata the standouts. a handy 5 pts
