2015 6 Nations
- Thread starter MikeTheNative
- Start date
Soldato
Eughhhh... talking about 2003 already... /yawn
Caporegime
How tiny is the Irish president?! He just looked completely dwarfed by the Irish pack!
Very small, i think barely over 5 feet.
Caporegime
England need to stop giving away these damn penalties
Caporegime
Great first half! Just need England to stop with the penalties. They're doing Ireland's job for them.
And they go for 3 when already 19-3 down... what..?
Caporegime
Why are they not passing out to the wings, they seem set to just run at 4-5 opponents.
Soldato
England woeful.. but we expected nothing less.. congrats on the 6 nations Ireland..
Soldato
England's arrogance costs them these big games... Before the match on the BBC, they all talked about the 2003 team and the grand slam. They need to realise to go one game at a time like Ireland (notice there was no [specific] mention of an Irish grand slam before the game).
I still have Ireland to take the championship and go the furthest in the RWC.
I still have Ireland to take the championship and go the furthest in the RWC.
Soldato
England need to stop giving away silly penalties in their own half - daft for elite players. Too many handling errors as well.
Soldato
Massive dent in England's World Cup hopes today, hell of a performance from Ireland. England were just not 100%, set piece failures and poor discipline were punished by Ireland. Oh well...!
Soldato
- Joined
- 13 May 2003
- Posts
- 8,947
The better team won today, very poor strategy from England. In the first half they had 10 minutes were they held possession and looked good, in the second half they had 15 minutes where they held possession and they looked good. The other 55 minutes were awful they played the wrong game plan and they played it badly as a consequence. The Lancaster Farrell axis couldn't think its way out of a bag sometimes. England recycled possession better than Ireland but competed for it badly, this wasn't a surprise going into the match. We should have played to our strengths instead of trying to out play theirs.
Vunipola at 8 had a good game, as did Cole and Nowell. B Youngs and Ford looked lifeless at times but I think that was because they were playing the wrong game. 2 years ago in Wales England turned up and played the wrong game and couldn't change their style, they were marginally better today in so far as they were capable of playing a winning game plan but didn't try. On field leadership wrt strategy needs to be better.
Most of the poor aspects of Englands game today stemmed from trying to play the game to Irelands strengths not their own imo.
PS Goode had a few good moments and one or too poor but showed up better than many would have credited.
Vunipola at 8 had a good game, as did Cole and Nowell. B Youngs and Ford looked lifeless at times but I think that was because they were playing the wrong game. 2 years ago in Wales England turned up and played the wrong game and couldn't change their style, they were marginally better today in so far as they were capable of playing a winning game plan but didn't try. On field leadership wrt strategy needs to be better.
Most of the poor aspects of Englands game today stemmed from trying to play the game to Irelands strengths not their own imo.
PS Goode had a few good moments and one or too poor but showed up better than many would have credited.
The amount of ball England had in the first half they needed to convert to points, but didn't.
I wouldn't say average as such, but certainly the first half England playing well and Ireland didn't quite seem to get it together. The Irish flurry (like they found their form) just before half time was a taste of how the second half was going to go.
Same here, but I still think they rely too much on Sexton. He's such a controlling player that if he's not there to make the plays I think they struggle. Still a fantastic side to watch play as they always seem to surprise me with some of the plays leading to exciting game
I have to disagree slightly, maybe average is the wrong word - inexperienced may be better? Ireland could see England making mistakes so let them carry on doing it - give them more opportunities to mess up = free & easy points!
Lancaster is a good coach but again and again it seems to make England play a certain way and if things don't go to plan they seem to fall apart. The penalties, offsides etc all seem to stem from that. They play well as a team but there's just no flexibility.
The two Vunipolas had a good game, but it's just obvious what they're going to do - the Irish forwards were good at shutting them down. Cole is good around the tackle area but has little vision for play outside there. I don't even remember seeing Youngs in the game
and Ford is such a boring player he drives me mad. Goode again - moments of brilliance but equal moments of stupidity! I'm thinking more experience might help but he's had quite a lot?! 
I think Ireland didn't quite get on the front foot in the first half (until near the break) and let England play themselves into the game. The ill discipline (more like lack of experience) from England allowed Ireland to stack up points without really needing to play for them. Once the Irish got into their stride they could dictate the game (for much of the second half - even without Sexton) and make the plays to put the game away.
Last edited: