STW 2014/15 Rugby Thread

@loum, one of those clueless moments which make the coaches cringe, if he dives for the line/base of the post he scores.

Yup,touch the post up to a metre from the ground and it is a try.

And England would have won the 6 nations 😥

other games

I only saw a trip in the last game, please enlighten us on this apparent blight on Haskells character…

I reckon there must be at least 10 moments in the tournament that could so easily have gone the other way for every team. In many ways, it may do England more good as a young team to feel the pain.

Could worse Henson once got pinged for thinking about yripping someone and not doing it! 2005 grand slam game v ireland I think.

@loum, one of those clueless moments which make the coaches cringe, if he dives for the line/base of the post he scores.

I’m not one to defend English players but I think he is too far out to dive, then it is the initial part of the tackle that takes him towards the post as he is spun and wrapped. I can’t see him doing anymore than he did TBH. Credit has to go the defenders.

I know others will disagree but for me the 10 of the tournament is Biggar, good in the air and defence, solid kicking and shows leadership and a really cool head under pressure. Doing the basics well and making the right calls under pressure is what wins big games. He scored a nice try also.

people (including apparent england “fans”) have very short memories. Brown was the best FB in the 6N last year by some distance

Was he? He’s an average player who had one very good season – where people kicked long to him and he ran loads of balls back, creating good stats.

He’d rank 4th in Lions selection behind Kearney, 1/2p and Hogg.

Add the fact that he’s too slow to be an international fullback, doesn’t score enough tries and can’t draw a man and give a pass as in Wales v England 2012 (last minute).

Finally, he’s a total dickhead.

I thought Spedding had a great game against England

Bloodandmud.com disagree with you:

Scott Spedding – There are members of native amerindian tribes deep in the rainforests of the South American continent who live a rudimental hunter-gatherer life, untouched by civilisation and unadorned by modernity, who have no anthropological concept of sport and who would make better international fullbacks than this bloke.

He kicked well, and carried well against us. I haven’t seen him previously.

dantsw13 – Member

And England would have won the 6 nations

Posted 1 hour ago #Report-Post

Likewise Sexton may have torn his knob off in a bizarre sex game with DD the night before they played you. It’s all speculation and “what if?” The best team to thrash us won it IMO.

And if you read my post under the one you quoted, you might find I broadly agree with that sentiment.

Let’s be honest, there is nothing between the 3. Over 5 games, a10PD spread and equal points is nothing. The crux is which team thinks they gave the furthest to improve on their performances before the WC.

Ireland have a new, and growing centre pair, and are adding potency to their solid game.
England are gaining experience and exposure for a young team – the WC may well come a year to early.

Wales, if they sort their front row, just need to believe they can beat Australia.

It is nicely set up, IMHO.

One trip is bad enough, I am pretty sure he gave away his usual number of penalties but may of been pushed in this by Cole who seemed spectacularly braindead at times 😆 please review all the games and tell me I am wrong Kryton 😉

Just had my vaguely heated debate with my nemesis in work, I just said Lawes was a lucky boy to be met with a tirade of it was the best tackle ever, the ref said it was alright so whats the problem, he then went on a rant about foot being out of play and incorrect touching down of the ball, I pointed out to him the ref said it was ok he then called me a very rude word and went back to his desk 😆

😆 at Pigface.

As Dragon says up there ^^ I don’t think Biggar has done himself any harm at all this 6N. Got on with his job with no fuss. Kicked out of hand well, except for 40 minutes v Eng. Immense under the high ball, and stepped up and slotted the kicks when needed.

Wales have certainly won the Gary Owen trophy this 6N.

Who’s Gary Owen? 😀

On Haskell – tripping is an embarassment to the team, for that reason alone I think he should be completely dropped! One good half against Wales, then a pretty average 6N culminating in that trip. Tosser.

Namastebuzz, you forgot to mention that Brown can’t tackle either

Really? Can’t think of many tackles Brown misses?

Pigface – is he talking about the French foot over the DB line? Maybe also mention to him on slowmo it appears Vunipola dropped the ball for his try!!

Also, if Wood had been fit, he would have played instead of Haskell, and come WC, he will be in the team. Haskell would make a great impact sub though – can play 6 & 8.

That is Morgans role coming on as a big impact sub, but I dont think he is going to make it.

Brown is too slow and lacks the one on one, last man tackling of a top international FB. Put the other way, when can you remember watching him making a great try saving tackle? One on one you’d always fancy a half decent back to score. Kearney is physical enough to do well, Hogg fast enough with great technique and timing and 1/2p is mental enough to be solid. I am biased though as I fondly remember his attempts to tackle Cuthburt.

The Garryowen (to give it it’s proper name) is the Irish term for the up and under. A bomb of a high ball, chase hard and compete for it.

Wales did it well this 6N, Biggar and 1/2p especially.

Kearney is ponderous and doesnt tackle well, no idea why anyone would rate him.

Full Back running order (excuse the pun)

1 – Hogg

2 – 1/2

3 – Spedding

4 – Kearney

5 – Brown

6 – McLean

Anyone listening to the 5 live rugby show? Matt Dawson is a total piece…how did he get that job?

Not sure what Hogg has done to be so highly thought of. Brown is certainly above Kearney.

1/2p and Brown are on a similar level imo. Different strengths and weaknesses.

Really??

Kearney has been a class act for years – and still is. Just because Ireland never pass it out we don’t see him much in attack.

Most other 6N teams would stick 1/2p at fullback if they had him. He was good on the wing and he takes those skills to fullback along with his faultless kicking.

Hogg is a brilliant attacking player and his defence helped stem the white tide at Twickenham.

Foden is England’s best fullback, by miles, but in SL’s masterplan he ranks behind Brown and Goode even when fit. I’d like to have seen Watson get a run at fullback because he doesn’t look so much at home on the wing.

Kearney couldnt tackle a kebab.

Oh Dear…

Yes, a ridiculously arrogant statement.

Yes, a ridiculously arrogant statement.

Agreed.

In one sense he’s correct, England should dominate the home nations in competition wins and be more competitive globally. I just did a quick look at registered players from the home nations:

Wales = 79,000
Scotland = 38,000
Ireland = 153,000

England = 2.5 million.

England have 9 x the players to pick from. They should be able to coach the elite players into a winning team though.

Still arrogant.

Those statistics are slightly misleading as the huge difference is accounted for by juniors – both boys and girls. Senior male registered players are 131,000 compared to 124,000 in France, 25,000 in Ireland, 22,000 in Wales and 11,000 in Scotland. Still a significant advantage though.

Kryton57 – Member
Yes, a ridiculously arrogant statement.
Agreed.

It’s not arrogant at all imo, it’s realistic. If Wales had the resources, both in terms of numbers and money, that England have then I’d expect them to win almost every 6N. Especially when comparing it to the current resources of their rivals.

Wales punch well above their weight, in resource terms, England and France well below, in recent times anyway.

I seem to remember having this discussion on STW a while ago, and pointing out that England has more registered referees than most of the home nations had registered players.

Of course, there’s a lot more to sport than money or player numbers although the Euro Cup is dominated by rich teams. When international rugby goes the same way that’s when I give up watching it. 😥

Those stats are BS, Scotland has 11,300 and something senior players. In my rugby area which extends from Fife to Orkney,there are 14 u18 sides,so I don’t know where they find another 27,000 players. I am in an 800 pupil school and can’t raise anything more than a token side to send to 7’s comps at u15 or u18. Rugby here is dead,has been for years.

It is a stupid thing to say but how do the players and Lancaster feel about it. Are they underachieving? maybe the players are just not world class. It is getting more like soccer, press build them up to be world beaters, they lose press crucify them. It is just as bad in Wales but on a smaller scale. If I was an english player or coach I would be pissed off that some suit had just said we werent trying hard enough.

I find it hard to believe that a lot of the players who played on Saturday will be turning out for their clubs this coming weekend. A schedule like that doesn’t benefit the national squad at all. Benefits the clubs though, can the fall in French national rugby be mirrored with the dominance of the club game in France?

England have the most money, the most resources and the biggest pool of players, by far.

People can argue that sheer numbers alone don’t ensure decent talent but England have won the last two U20 World Cups so something’s going right.

Historically the “blazers” have buggered it all up but, even in the professional era, the RFU lost control of the game to the clubs.

Like France, the problem is sorting through the huge number of players in a highly competitive club environment and finding a coach capable of selecting the right ones and melding them together into a cohesive side with a clear idea of how to play.

Since SCW, England have failed to appoint a coach capable of doing this. I don’t think France ever have – despite Grand Slams and 3 RWC finals.

It’s surely no coincidence the fact that neither Union has ever employed an overseas coach and neither team has come close to its potential of late.

The fall in French rugby is all about the number of imports and the fact the majority of clubs are vanity projects for very wealthy men. See France’s inability to grow a number 10 and the names Wilkinson,Sexton,Carter and dunno how many else as an example. There was a recent article in the London Times showing how this permeates even down to the academy level.

True Duckman but even before that, the French have never made use of their huge pool of talent.

Interesting what you were saying about the dearth of rugby in the North of Scotland. I drive past the Mackie FP training in Stonehaven on a regular basis and there are always tons of kids of all age groups out there.

Like France, the problem is sorting through the huge number of players in a highly competitive club environment and finding a coach capable of selecting the right ones and melding them together into a cohesive side with a clear idea of how to play.

Can’t disagree that the coaching element has to be one of the biggest factors in the resources-success ratio of late. Not necessarily just those at the top (although Lancaster makes some odd decisions at times) but all the way down to the culture of play at younger ages. We always harp on about NZ and how they coach their youngsters but the truth is they have some really sensible ideas that we could do with learning from!

I don’t think Lancaster is qualified for the job.

The RFU should have pushed the boat out and made Graham Henry an offer he couldn’t refuse. He could have hidden his reticence about coaching against the ABs behind large bundles of cash.