Rugby

Frank Bullitt wrote:

Do you think England are going in the right direction by giving the young players a chance to shine?

Putting Lancaster in the seat, sacking Ford and Wells, playing some youngsters, although I am not sure how Strettle and Hodgson fit into that, are all steps in the right direction, shooting Rob Andrew would make it a nap hand for me.

Blooding young'uns is undoubtedly the way forward from the perspective of achieving a better showing in the next World Cup but I should hate for the eye to be taken off the Six Nations, beating the Bok, Black and Strine is great but nothing tastes as sweet as victory over the locals.

I watched a lot of Lancaster's Saxons teams and often thought I should rather have seen them play instead of the senior side, we have not been good so far despite two wins but Lancaster has a history for me of putting out teams that play with continuity and pace, we can already see the benefits of his having instilled some discipline in the reduced penalty count, so yep, all good for me.

I think the key decision was getting rid of Ford and Wells. I am sure I read that their record as England coaches was something like won 40 lost 40. One of the comments coming out of the world cup was that their methods were woefully out of date.

I do think we missed a real opportunity by not recruiting Shaun Edwards. He is far too good a coach to be wasted on the Welsh.

Frank Bullitt wrote:

I do think we missed a real opportunity by not recruiting Shaun Edwards. He is far too good a coach to be wasted on the Welsh.

Well that's the RFU for you.

I fear against Wales our gameplan will be to get slow ball, kick it in the air, then chase after it. I don't mind the odd tactical kick, their line-out isn't great, but I just can't see us morphing into a decent attacking unit in two weeks. It is tragic, really, with the back 3 we have. It's the reason I'd be tempted by a non-match fit Flood.

I'd move Farrell to fly-half, bring in Tuilagi into the centre alongside Barritt, that should solidify things considerably, and in Farrell I think England are lucky to have one of the most talented young backs I've seen for years. 100+ caps and all-time points scoring records are his for the taking, if he stays fit.

Andy_Symons wrote:

I'd move Farrell to fly-half, bring in Tuilagi into the centre alongside Barritt, that should solidify things considerably, and in Farrell I think England are lucky to have one of the most talented young backs I've seen for years. 100+ caps and all-time points scoring records are his for the taking, if he stays fit.

Seems like the bleeding obvious thing to do doesn't it ?

Farrell is another nut job like Wilko, tackles far too hard for his age and size, his kicking is a gift that we need to look after, how you do that is not quite so obvious.

Too bleeding obvious :

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Andy_Symons wrote:

Too bleeding obvious :

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Good to know the coach can see the benefit of a logical approach, bench looks a tad lopsided and maybe lightweight, especially with a few boys coming back from injury.

Euff, cant believe I get up at 3am to watch and Lancaster has the idiocy to bring on Youngs and Stevens to all but hand Wales the win.

Pencilled in a return visit this September, hope that burger van is still there

Biff, Biff, Biff!

Cole was superb. He'll be some player for England over the next decade if he can stay clear of injury. Same too with Corbisiero. Just need a decent hooker to go in between them.

Croft actually put in some hard yards and was counted at the lineout. What great pace for the try; I actually thought it was Sharples at first.

Great result and a great performance. It's early days yet but England seem to be on the right track. It should be a good game against Ireland.

I don't think Wales will beat France though. Wales are nowhere near as good as they think they are.

Frank Bullitt wrote:

Great result and a great performance. It's early days yet but England seem to be on the right track. It should be a good game against Ireland.

I don't think Wales will beat France though. Wales are nowhere near as good as they think they are.

Agree with this.

As with all rugby matches, if your pack plays well, the whole team plays well. The back row were immense, and the front row performed terrifically in the face of the usual underhand tactics from Les Bleus (if you know what to look for when the scrum bangs together, you can see the illegal binding, the biting, the punches being thrown by the second-row forwards, that sort of thing). Farrell continues to shine; he really has a rugby brain way beyond his years, and to land the kicks he did with 80,000 angry Frenchmen baying for his blood showed the sort of cool under pressure that confirms what I posted previously - that lad is going to be the hub of the England team for years to come.

Mock Cuncher wrote:

What great pace for the try; I actually thought it was Sharples at first.

Should have gone to Specsavers.

Farrell eh Andy ? Have watched the boy Ford at Lei cester, Ryan Mills at Gloucester, our own Henry Slade, or if we want to go up a year or two Freddie Burns ?

I think there will be plenty of competition for that fly half spot, Farrell ain't that sharp on his feet and his predilection for tackling monsters will mean a fair bit of time on the treatment table.

The best thing about Lancaster's tenure has been the consistent improvement, good to see Dowson showing a bit more of his true form before the kick in the face, the tight five settling down although I agree with the Muncher that Hartley is a knob but then Webber is not Int class and Mears is too small in the modern game.

What is it about Northampton, Ashton and Hartley are a complete liability, fecking Knobbers the pair of them and the pairing of Tui and Barritt gets penetrated too easily by a decent runner, too many pens again but a great win from which we can hope Les Blues come back to mash the Welsh.

Lord Tisdale wrote:

Mock Cuncher wrote:

What great pace for the try; I actually thought it was Sharples at first.

Should have gone to Specsavers.

Foreshore, in my defence I was watching a small screen in the corner of an Australian bar at 2.30am. I just saw he was white and rapid, and knowing it wasn't Foden or Ashton assumption took over.



4/5 would be a good return, the Irish look vulnerable without their spearheads but they've upped it recently when faced with England. I'm not as convinced by Lancaster as others, remember we won the 6N last year; bar an abject world cup we've certainly not got an abject pool of players to pick from.

Lancaster appointed coach until 2016. Good news.

Let's hope they get Andy Farrell too.

Sandford_Grecian wrote:

Pencilled in a return visit this September, hope that burger van is still there

Actually made it to the outskirts last weekend, made a visit to Aldi, a nice big impressive store, 8/10