Rugby union?

hood1971 said:
Australia did not get out of their group and were ranked 9th. Losing a few games against best teams is understandable, but England are not learning from mistakes, dropping players for no good reason and don't seem to have a plan.
Rush defense takes a while to implement - it took Leinster a year and that's with playing weekly for months. But you would hope to see improvements since they started it in 6 nations
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Yep - Australia was one of those fluffs. No denying that.

Not learning from mistakes is an interesting one... as a team, absolutely, but *why?* Is the manager or the players at fault with this? I think it is difficult to say with any certainty without sitting in on their team reviews and briefings.

Points about rush defence, position swapping, etc. are all valid, too, but I know humans are quite strange in certain regards and adapting touching is not easy for a good portion... and there has been A LOT of change in the England setup.

I also would agree that the 6N will be a truer test of where we are as a national team than the "friendlies" in the Autumn Internationals. Yes, it is always nice to win, but if we learn nothing in the process it is only an ego boost and not real development. What will the 6N look like? As long as we beat Scotland and Wales, I will consider it a success. :D
 
mrthingyx said:
Yep - Australia was one of those fluffs. No denying that.

Not learning from mistakes is an interesting one... as a team, absolutely, but *why?* Is the manager or the players at fault with this? I think it is difficult to say with any certainty without sitting in on their team reviews and briefings.

Points about rush defence, position swapping, etc. are all valid, too, but I know humans are quite strange in certain regards and adapting touching is not easy for a good portion... and there has been A LOT of change in the England setup.

I also would agree that the 6N will be a truer test of where we are as a national team than the "friendlies" in the Autumn Internationals. Yes, it is always nice to win, but if we learn nothing in the process it is only an ego boost and not real development. What will the 6N look like? As long as we beat Scotland and Wales, I will consider it a success. :D
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Happy to have Italy win at Twickenham (sorry Allianz)?
 
Honestly France are looking really strong. They put their absolute heart and soul into the World Cup last year and if it wasn't for that loss I think they'd be a bit of a threat atm. Even more so than they are currently.
 
I think France flatter to deceive sometimes, they're just not as consistent as the Top 3 sides are but they're a cut above Scotland and Argentina (although we do usually give France a tough game).

I think England will bounce back, they've barely lost by more than a score in their defeats this year (only Scotland and South Africa won by more than 7 points) - although you have to wonder how long they'll stick it out with Borthwick; his record is really poor, worse than anyone but Andy Robinson in recent times.

Wales looks dire, I honestly don't know how they get out of the slump they're in, I half expect Gatland to be sacked but I'm not really sure he's the problem.
 
France are a different side with Dupont, without him they look disorganized. Whilst he is the best player in the world, no team should be so reliant on one individual.
Wales are in a hole of their own making. When Gatland came back most of their experienced players retired from internationals, leaving youngsters to learn without hardened leaders. Alun Wyn Jones left due to health reasons, but why did rest go? And they are still not looking at changing structures when grassroots is dying in Wales. SA have 4 franchise teams with population of 60mil, Wales also have 4 but with 3mil. No wonder their franchise rugby is struggling, and players never knowing winning rugby.
 
Squidgerugby did a good podcast on the state of Welsh Rugby. Sounds like it's just been ruined from multiple angles, be it outright missmanagement from the WRU, or being spread too thin with the 4 regions. It's not fully down to the players, and I don't think you can pin it on Gatland either. I hope they manage to get it sorted, would be a shame to see one of the home nations fall away into oblivion. Seems like that could take a fair while now however.

Think I'd agree with hood1971 on the gaps between the teams. Top 4 definitely in a comfortable league of their own right now. Argentina and Scotland definitely looking consistent. England should definitely be higher, and I hope they Borthwick and co get given a little more time to try and get it going - let's see how the 6 Nations play out before making changes to coaching. I think with a few key moments playing out differently this year they could have won all their games, really feels that despite the questionable high risk defence, most of the lost matches were on a knife edge. I think the gap between Argentina and Scotland, to England and Australia could disapear very quickly looking at the potential the sides have.
 
England have made 2 WC semi finals on the bounce, I think they have the player base but no one has turned that into a system that consistently performs in the last 20 years. The tensions between club and country and the awful state of the finances are a big issue. The overseas rule is one of the issues driving the finance problems. Because the Premiership is not a global brand I personally don't see it as in competition with the Top14 so I question if we should be so precious about our most expensive players being abroad as long as they have the right release clauses.
 
I do think the collapse of the 3 teams has helped the premiership. 12 teams was too much, though probably 8 would be better rather than 10. For the most part the quality has improved but being on TNT sports means less people watching, even with the odd game on ITV.
 
PlacidCasual said:
England have made 2 WC semi finals on the bounce, I think they have the player base but no one has turned that into a system that consistently performs in the last 20 years. The tensions between club and country and the awful state of the finances are a big issue. The overseas rule is one of the issues driving the finance problems. Because the Premiership is not a global brand I personally don't see it as in competition with the Top14 so I question if we should be so precious about our most expensive players being abroad as long as they have the right release clauses.
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The release clauses are a big deal and I don't think it is an easy one to solve... national unions in Ireland and France seem to hold a much bigger sway over their players than ours does...
 
Did enjoy the WWE moves that Stade Français used v Munster. Lovely clothes line on wing, followed with attempted Tombstone finisher on the scrum half. Can only think the players want a few weeks holiday.

2 minute mark and then 2.40 minite mark.

The Sharks are a different team now that the boks are back. Fassi, Esterhuizen, Mapimpi, Hedrikse, Williams, Nche, Mbomambi, Nyakane, Etzebeth and Kolisi. No wonder they struggle when they boks are called up.
 
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I love that the SA teams have joined the URC, but they should not be in the European cups. Both the Sharks and Stormers sent 2nd string this weekend, which devalues the games. With 4 teams from a pool of 6 going through you just need to win home games to get to knockout stages. And 5th place get a berth in the Challenge Cup.
 
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