Talking of which – anyone see Christian Wade in the Premiership 7S? He was brilliant. Seven tries in three games.

Mind you, he’s had his international chance. One solitary cap on the 2013 tour to Argentina. He was electric in the 1st test but missed the 2nd test due to being called up by the Lions. Since then – nothing.

If I dare go back to the Haka for a moment, this was a rather well put piece;
http://www.eatsleeprugby.co.uk/blogs/hakad-off%E2%80%8F/

What they failed to mention in this clip was how in the 10 years since professionalism was introduced, the cash strapped NZRFU were doing their best to monetise the famous All Blacks brand. Performing a traditional Haka that existed in the public domain was damaging to their brand as other brands were free to use it too. Further complications arose as tribal elders were unhappy with the commercial aspects of it’s use. The various copyright ramifications of a Maori tribal war dance in the modern commercial world are complicated and explained at length in this thorough piece; http://www.academia.edu/2028087/A_Game_of_Chants_Can_a_Haka_Constitute_Intellectual_Property
In the long run, it was easier for the NZRFU to simply create a new Haka that could be protected by copyright, thus protecting their brand, I would have accepted this as a reason. Like shirt sponsorship and corporate hospitality, it’s the ugly, mercenary side of the game but hey, you have to accept it as part of professionalism. But instead of coming clean about the reasons, the nonsense and mendacity has been stifling. It’s become almost unacceptable within the game to say anything negative that could disrupt the respect shown to this recently choreographed, commercially necessitated war dance due to ‘tradition’ and ‘history’. For a while they became really sensitive too, stories about the All Blacks being angered by the opposition’s ‘lack of respect’ were frankly embarrassing to read. Check it out yourself http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7750284.stm . Lions captain Brian O’Driscoll in 2005 threw grass in the air to accept the challenge of the Haka on the advice of Maori elders only to get spear tackled 2 minutes later. As he visted hospital the Kiwi press laid into his ‘lack of respect’ what was he to think of his efforts to show exactly that? For fear of upsetting the All Blacks any more, World Rugby tournament rules apparently now even protect the Haka against being approached by opposing teams, negating the drama so beloved by many fans.
I don’t know why the All Blacks need such a chip on their shoulders about this, it’s not as if no-one respects them, they are the best rugby team on the planet, and they know it. But every time the Haka is now performed I don’t see something priceless and precious, I see people being precious about something with a price tag and it annoys me, just get on with the game.

Does anyone know where you can get proper stats such as meters carried by player etc?

Most of the stats are pointless shite.

Couldn’t agree more. If they’d put a tracker on Dean Richards back in the day I bet he wouldn’t have run very far yet, magically, he always appeared in the right place at the right time.

Some modern coaches seem more interested in picking players based on their stats rather than watching how they actually PLAY.

here you go , from the 2 france games, wrecker…

metres run:

Burrell 43, jj 60, May 9

Burgess 27, slade 12, May 124

http://en.espn.co.uk/scrum/rugby/match/248675.html

http://en.espn.co.uk/scrum/rugby/match/248939.html

I’ve included may too ‘cos i see that as one of the significant points.
Massive difference in his metres between the two games, more so than all the centres put together.

burrel may have almost doubled Burgess’ metres, in a losing side too, but Sam ran 5 times and passed 5 compared to Luther ran 10 times and passed 1. It’s not always about individual metres in the centres but about creating space and releasing outside backs which he seems to have a good knack for. Neither kicked at all
k/p/r for slade was 3,9,2 and for jj was 1,10,10

Also defence – tackles made – burgess 12 ( and a turnover), slade 2, burrell 2, joseph 4.
No contest really.

there’s a lot of dislike for Sam, but in my opinion, he’s England’s ticket out of the group stage.
Wales throw big runners – Roberts, North, Cuthbert, jDavies(inj so A.nother) down the 10/12 channel on rotation repeatedly until they break through. England beat them last time by overloading their best back row tacklers in that space and negating the threat. nullify Wales there and the’re not the team they can be from an attacking point.
Sam doesn’t need to even offer in attack, his job would be to cancel the threat of Roberts and let England beat them elsewhere.
Is it coincidence that the biggest Sam haterz mostly seem to be Wales fans? (plus, maybe, a couple of snobs who don’t like that “northern game” 😉 )

For the record, IMO England, Wales and Oz are all of a similar decent standard and could all beat each other on different days.
Lancaster’s minimum requirement is to beat 1.
I don’t see it as easier to beat Wales. But it is easier to predict where their treat comes from (dealing with it – North and Roberts running at you full pace – is a different matter), and so if you can put a 19 stone tackling machine in that position, you can at least give yourself the best chance.

No-one’s calling Dr Roberts thick. Or shit. Or saying Williams is shitter than jdavies.
I think it’s a mark of respect to the Welsh backs that Burgess is even involved, and being considered by Lancaster.
But I also think even Lancaster picking him wouldn’t be claiming he’s one of the best 4 centres. Just that he might just be the most appropriate tool for the job to nullify Wales biggest threats, and then try to beat them elsewhere on the park.
Even the biggest Wales fan would have to admit, it’s got to be easier to predict how Wales are going to attack england than how Oz are going to attack England.
lancaster’s got to try to come up with a way to stop at least one of them.

wrecker, so what do you take from the stats you requested now that you’ve seen the figures you asked for?

Jiffy Jr is indeed a rare talent!

I doubt it!

Williams is almost identical to Mini Jiffy. Less experienced but uncannily similar.

The irony of Roberts is that he is actually a fantastic gifted rugby player and the coaching/ game plan really does him a disservice sometimes. People often think he is the death of a flowing Welsh backline. The difference in how he plays for Wales the majority of the time and how plays when given some extra freedom and doesn’t have to play the percentage game is huge. The pairing with Jaque Fourie for the Barbarians is one of my favs

Oh,Kryton is coming out swinging! He has also just called the mostly England supporters bemoaning the England performance “Welsh Fanbois” Is he pudding pressure on his own team to beat the Welsh?

There’s some weird English infighting going on! English fans suggest (correctly IMO) that big Sam doesn’t deserve a WC spot and they get labelled Welsh Haterz and now English fans express feelings of uncertainty after some poor games and get called Welsh fanbois 😯 😆

I’m a Welsh fanboi?
Ooooo shit myself have you? Sorry, it’s the only Welsh I know. I tried to say go morning once; apparently it’s not pronounced “borrow your dog”