No, he's not a good 12 and doesnt like playing there. Didn't work at Newcastle (Wilkinson) hasn't worked for England (Wilkinson and Farrel and Hodgeson) I'm not tottaly sure why, but 10's seem to make good 15's (if they have the pace) but generally poor 12's
Steve I'm a bit mystified why you are so angry did I piss in your shoes or something?? This thread is for talking, arguing and general taking the piss about rugby if you cant understand that maybe you should find another thread to insult people on?
Freddie Burns is playing ok. Woodward says he should play centre for some reason, I presume as he can pass a ball.
same bloke that thought wilkinson could play 12 for the Lions rather than Henson, Shanklin, Darcy or Thomas. That didnt go well.
He was right about one of them though AA
Interesting that there isn't much love for Farrel-yes he's not great when running at defenders, but let's not forget that he is still very young-he's a very accurate goal kicker which any international team needs. Obviously if you pick him, then you are going to be kicking for territory a lot-hopefully he will improve with ball in hand, and his kicking from hand could be more accurate too. George Ford seems to be doing well for Leicester again, perhaps he'll be in the squad in the future-i think he'll need to bulk up a bit, isn't he only 18/19 though?
Not looking good for POC-
Locked out O'Connell writes off his Lions tour
Paul O’Connell, who captained the Lions in South Africa in 2009, has virtually ruled himself out of consideration for next year’s tour to Australia fully seven months in advance.
Sidelined during the Six Nations by a knee injury, which resurfaced to rule him out of the summer tour, O’Connell has since been plagued by back problems which have placed a cloud over the career of Ireland’s outstanding forward of this and probably many other generations.
“I’d love to go but at this stage it’s not looking great for me,” a resigned O’Connell said on KFM radio yesterday after just two games in the last seven months. “I’ve spent a lot of time injured now and it’s going to be a bit of a battle to get fitness so while it would have been a goal for me, I suppose right now I’m just looking to get back fit and get back playing as soon as I can. Whatever happens from there happens.”
Interesting that there isn't much love for Farrel-yes he's not great when running at defenders, but let's not forget that he is still very young-he's a very accurate goal kicker which any international team needs. Obviously if you pick him, then you are going to be kicking for territory a lot-hopefully he will improve with ball in hand, and his kicking from hand could be more accurate too...
And you'd want that playing against the AB's, masters of the counter attack?
I'd rather put Tuilagi at 10 and have him create rucks from 10 all afternoon.
He was right about one of them though AA
Darcy was still quite good then. 😆 ... and he was very wrong about Henson at the time.
A-A
Is that the Welsh team above, or your latest pics for the Lions?
Lol at duckman 🙂
Is that the Welsh team above, or your latest pics for the Lions?
both, obviously.
Farrell confirmed at 10, great.
I believe Englands job is now to lose by less than 23 points, in order to look better than the Welshies. 🙂
Meh there isn't an area that the AB's are weak is there? Farrell at 10 isn't going to be the difference between the teams. I'm predicting a hiding!
And that is what NH rugby has come down to, who can lose to the SH by the least number of points.
Has been that way for sometime.
Only before and since the latter part of the Woodward era to 2003 for us AA.
🙂
And that is what NH rugby has come down to, who can lose to the SH by the least number of points.
I think you will find we humped Argentina 😉
Kryton57 - Member
Farrell confirmed at 10, great.
I've never seen a single word ('great') typed with so much obvious heavy hearted sarcasm!
Fair play this is a bloody great thread 😆
I thought Farrel was the second coming of St Johnny. He seems to have fallen as out of favour as Priestland just without the massive dip in form. Sexton seems nailed on for Lions if nothing changes.
England should do better than Wales v NZ. England are playing better and have a stronger pack. I'll be suprised if they get humped.
England should do better than Wales v NZ. England are playing better and have a stronger pack. I'll be suprised if they get humped.
The skills levels are not comparable, we'll lose as the AB's support lines are better than our isolated runs into space. Interested in the Barrit/Smith, Nonu/Tuilgai confrontations though.
I'm really hoping Mike Brown doesn't get on the wing again - if we're to continue with this style we need an out and out winger - and a good one for this match.
Alex Goode needs to get into the attacking line as per his first appearance - he was practically invisible last week - with Farrell able to play 12, there's an extra man option at both ends of the backs there.
Gotta create holes, kick over/through (with a good chase).
England are playing better and have a stronger pack.
Bigger but less mobile, and that's not necessarily good against NZ who are big AND mobile. But England seem to have less of an issue with NZ than Wales, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if England win.
Scotland have more problems than who is going to mis-manage them to defeat.
No real front row and the best is part time (doesn't do Sundays) and teh experienced has stepped down.
Second row and 6,7,8 are decent and abundant but injured.
Several 9's maybe even classy.
No 10, the only real 10 is too inexperienced and maybe not that good.
Reasonable inside centre but dear god we play de luca at 13. He truly has hands of sperm and is a penalty magnet.
Reasonable full back and forward running wings but 11 and 14 both ropey in defence especially under chipped ball or one on one runners oh and on the crash ball they can't pass after making ground.
So to sum up we have no management or good players in link positions
Joy!!!
C'mon Scotland!!!!!
Bigger but less mobile, and that's not necessarily good against NZ who are big AND mobile. But
True, but England should be bale to control their own ball and slow play down, Wales cannot that is why England rarely get humped and Wales often do. However Barrit and Tuilagi v Nonu and Smith is like comparing apples and pears.
Lawes on the bench.
Well, again England have one winger in the squad, let alone the starting team! I'm actually confused as to why, it really doesn't seem to make sense. Surely there are decent wingers out there?
Would i be right in saying the one winger is Ashton who isnt that great anyway. Still wales had two wingers and a full back in their squad and only one of them was playing in the right place.
Varndell and Wade should both be in the squad. Scoring tries for fun. Yes they are crap in defence but when did that become the deal breaker with wingers.....no point not conceding if you can't score. Barritt has no place in the team either. I'd like to see Lawes in the starting line up too.
aa yep, hasn't scored in 11 internationals (not too sure how he's doing at saffacens but given barrett and farrell inside him, I doubt it's well!) and he's the number one.
So many good wingers out there, and we stick with him?
We're going to be stuffed. Can't contain the all blacks and there's no way we'll out score them!
For the first time in a long time England are playing at Twickenham in a game I don't think they have any chance of winning.
Varndell and Wade should both be in the squad.....they are crap in defence but when did that become the deal breaker with wingers..
Errr......since rugby became professional and teams started analyzing and exploiting any weaknesses. 😉
True, but England should be bale to control their own ball and slow play down
They may(?) be ok with their own ball 1st phase (personally not convinced, but benefit of the doubt for now).
After that, They're gonna struggle at the breakdown. ABs will be there first, it won't matter how big the England pack is - the ball will be gone.
I've not been a fan of Hovis, but he did a decent job against the ABs backed up well by Tipuric and co. Better than anything England can offer, disrupted them second half and secured a bit of ball for Wales.
IMO, the worst team they could hope to play against without a proper seven.
Am I the only one who thinks England will get pumped?
Ioum yes Warburton was much better against NZ. Carried well too, I prefer the way Tips plays but he's still a bit underpowered at the top level. Faletau was very good as well. Hopefully the players will build form coming into the six nations.aA different ten would have helped wales a lot. Shame Hook is not available this weekend.
loum - MemberThey may(?) be ok with their own ball 1st phase (personally not convinced, but benefit of the doubt for now).
After that, They're gonna struggle at the breakdown. ABs will be there first, it won't matter how big the England pack is - the ball will be gone.
You've hit on England's problem there. They really need to play a 10 man Rob Andrew era game, but the media and fans want them to play an expansive game which they don't have the players for (at least as selected).
And with reference to Rob Andrew era England, it seems instructive that they played to their strengths despite having much better backs than the current squad have.
They really need to play a 10 man Rob Andrew era game
Probably true. But more applicable to the 6nations than this coming Saturday. IMO, it's a style that might work for them with some big carriers up front, strong(ish) first phase, and decent kickers.
But I don't think they'll have the option against the ABs 'cos of the way they use 15 players and every inch of the pitch. TBH, I don't really see England having much control of the match at all, but that's not a comment on them being poor - I think they're improving whilst making a few mistakes and bad decisions - just the Abs are that good.
I thought Wales put in their best performance for a while, a bit reminiscent of the France WC game, but were still 33 points down before their "comeback". Not sure how much of that comeback was actually Welsh effort, and how much was the ABs cruising with an eye on the next test. Normally, I'd expect them to turn 33-0 at the hour into a 50 point win. They'll be getting a bollocking for that this week and they'll come out like after the close one against Ireland in the summer, when the final test went 60-0.
Am I the only one who thinks England will get pumped?
No.
Hore gets 5 weeks
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/20487856 ]BBC[/url]
usual reasons for cutting the length of the ban - admission of guilt, remorse, conduct at hearing (no idea why that should be taken into account, of course they're going to behave themselves in front of the panel),
plus some comedy gold
"However, the Judicial Officer found that the player had not intended to make contact with the victim player's head."
Its ok everyone. Brad Barrit international superstar and known for his presence in world leading dominant teams, states that the AB's are only "people" and becuase of that that are beatable on Saturday.
Apparantly the fact that they are the AB's, and that they have 20 straight wins over 2 years is neither here nor there.
I've emailed Sky and asked for Barrits phone number becuase as its cold and windy outside, I'm in urgent need of his sports phsycologist to help me want to take my road bike for a ride.
😯
And with reference to Rob Andrew era England, it seems instructive that they played to their strengths despite having much better backs than the current squad have.
10 man rugby does not really work now as it is more difficult to tie the defense in so you need to vary the point of attack more. Frankly England effectively play 11 man rugby as we have a back row ball carrier at 12 (and arguably at 13). I'm sure either of them could be a pretty useful flanker.
Isn't the lessons for AB domination is to do the basics better than anyone else. When watching them play, I rarely think that they have re-invented the game, rather they are brilliant at ruthless execution (combined with past masters of the dark-side both dirty play and off-the-ball stuff). So last Saturday, one try was basic passing along the backs combined with drawing the man. U11 stuff done by the best in the world. Woodcock's try again, classic stuff most of us will have done at school. Contrast that with the basic errors - handling, running lines, tackling, kicking, choices - that litters home nations play. Its the only thing that makes me, sorry made me feel sorry for Andy Robinson!!
Anyone got up-to-date stats of kicking out-of-hand between the Rob Andrew era and some of the SH greats - Carter, Lynah, Botha, Mehrtens etc
"However, the Judicial Officer found that the player had not intended to make contact with the victim player's head."
Things like that make me want to say the word I got banned for last time.
teamhurtmore - I mad that comment during the Welsh game and whole heartedly agree. Add to that the previous comments about players out of position and, well....
FWIW, I thinking we should be picking in-form & in-position specialist players and developing their International credentials. Whats the betting Jonathan Joseph doesn't get much of a look in, and doesn't replace one of the two current centres for the 6N?
Looking forward to watching Freddie Burns play went he comes on with 20 mins left and England trailing by 20.
I see Hore didnt eat any of the biscuits then, infact he must have taken his own ( jammy dodgers i expect).
IRB player fo the year nominees
McCaw
Carter
Michalak
Farrell 😯 WTF
So, do we think Jiffy was right, and that the fourth official should be able to alert the ref to such issues when seen? If it gets shown and reshown on the big screens, everyone knows it happened, so why not have the ref act on it there and then? Only for such cases of nasty, cheap violence, though.
