The London Times has part of an article describing the Reffing of the breakdown as one of two reasons why England lost. “They will not complain openly,for that is not their way,and they know it will achieve nothing,but their broken dreams will be full of the image of Jerome Garces,the French referee and his officiating of the breakdown,where they were so heavily penalised.”
Sigh. Must have seen a different game to most folk I know,the sight of Dan ” George Dawes” Cole flopping over had me comparing him to a prop in a school team who sees the ball just at the other side of the ruck and can’t help himself. That group is still wide open especially with the Welsh injury list,although England have a few worries themselves it would seem!

Well I watched the game in a pub up in Golspie (the trails are great) and its the first time I’ve ever enjoyed seeing England lose.

Hats off to a courageous performance by Wales.

England were hopeless at the breakdown – as they have been all along – and got what they deserved.

Mike Brown is a pr**k.

Here you go a_a

Very good analysis of the breakdown in this Telegraph article and other facets where it went wrong for England – here

Brown has been a total w***er for years. He runs round the pitch gobbing off at people, shoving off the ball and yelling at officials in the manner of an association footballer.

He’s clearly a very good player but also a very strange character. Huget on the field, shy as a mouse off. If North is indeed Dai Lama then it makes the pat and comments even more funny 🙂 they clearly enjoy winding him up

Sad stuff, especially so early in his last RWC.
http://www.sarugby.co.za/article.aspx?category=sarugby/springboks&id=3210744

Must have been some impact to break that jaw!!!

A mate predicted this sad exit of JDV.
Perfect way to leave the team he sadly should not have been in for the RWC15.
Look at his post game interview, what broken jaw?
Ps by “perfect” I mean staged/planned.
Only 4 hours of international rugby leading up to the WC?? Should never have been selected in the first place.
Now Bok supporters happy with De Allende/Kriel pairing.

Brown quickly goes from fiery determination to completely cracking which is the problem.

There were some discussions elsewhere on Robshaw being quite an absent leader and you wouldn’t see Warbuton/ McCaw/ Dusautoir/ O’Connell/ etc take a backwards step when someone like Brown needs a bit of backup and then calming down when everyone disperses. Maybe I missed it but I didn’t see him around.

Kind of leading on from that there’s no way he should let two dedicated place kickers on the pitch pass up 3 points. It’s not the first time and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Even if they didn’t fancy it a good captain would instill the confidence they needed. As soon as they went for the corner you could sense every Welsh fan and player be lifted and feel they had a chance to win the game. You can’t defend a penalty!

There are some interesting quotes from Ben Youngs too who apparently has ankle swelling hence the substitution. I’m not sure if I read the last sentence as struggling to find someone in the team who can’t leave the ball alone or struggling to find someone to instill some discipline on pitch

There are only so many times you can tell people to leave the ball alone before you physically assault them on the pitch.

If nobody is willing to do that, it is tough.

Agree a_a. Must be difficult trying to reign him in without losing that edge. Same with Farrell, people call him petulant but really there’s little wrong with a bit of bare aggression. It’s not like they knock around swinging punches. The pack look like they’re out on a flipping picnic sometimes. Wear a bloody frown FFS.
As for the brown interview, I’d be more annoyed if he was smiley and chatty. The bloke has been massively let down by the team and he’s clearly annoyed. He should have had the nouse to say “not tonight lads” to the film crew though.

Number 1 action for Lancaster;
Sack Andy Farrell.
Anyone else hear about the Catt/Farrell fall out?

Which particular starting 15? 😀
It’s the RWC, and England still don’t know what it is!!!!!

I agree, he sat very nicely and didn’t fidget the whole 40 mins.

😳

I read it as “Sack Owen Farrell”.

Hartley, Care, Manu maybe… oops they’re not in because they are very naughty boys

There is a bit of distraction there, it’s nothing to do with where he’s come from. It’s to do with the fact that he’s holding the team back (IMHO).

The next England captain thing is very, very interesting. I suspect that Robshaw will step down unless England at least get to the semi-finals and this is looking a tad unlikely right now.

When picking the captain the first thing to think about is if they are a guaranteed pick which seems to be at the moment Cole, T Youngs, Lawes and Brown none of whom seem to be natural choices. Tom Wood is close and seems to get on the sheet most weeks so I would guess it would be him by default. Not ideal though is it?

And of those Cole, Lawes and Brown are all penalty magnates or need a steadying hand at times.