Rugby union?

Whilst France were terrible, particularly in the first half, England did enough to deserve the win.

Fin Smith's selection has been shouted for for ages, and Borthwick finally started him as last gasp attempt to keep his job. Fin does give England more balance and play's the way Borthwick has set out his team, even when he played Marcus at 10. A good coach gets the right players into right positions in his system, a great coach makes a system that makes the most of his best players.

It does leave Marcus in an odd position. Will he full time full back, or on bench as 2nd string fly half?
 
Agreed, it's a tricky one for sure. Marcus is exciting to watch for his solo work, but Finn is excellent at getting the rest of the team involved - like Fazz and Ford did at their best. I'd like to see Finn get the 10 jersey against Scotland, perhaps with Marcus at 15 again. It might seem unfair that Marcus is being usurped, but if it gets more out of the team as a whole it seems a no brainer?
 
Wales are still awful and nothing to indicate that will change. why didn't they use their maul earlier in the game?

Error ridden performance by France, English defence had a big part to play.

Scotland are still Scotland, full of talent and can play but always find a way to disappoint.11 consecutive losses now to Ireland. BBC pundits churning out articles on an all Scottish Lions back will have to think of something else to write now.

Italy pretty much the same as last year, not worse but not kicked up a level.

Ireland the best by a good margin but not brilliant. Ruthless in defence in the first half. Slightly worried about conceding late try again.

England finally close out a close game. Fitness still needs improving, loss of Aled Walters to Ireland is still impacting. Smart defensive setup kept Dupont quiet.
 
I had felt sorry for Gatland, as it sounds like many of the issues come down to the WRU and overall player quality. But looks like a lot of Welsh fans who follow things closer are pretty happy to see him go. Lots of demonstrable bad decisions, constant changing of the squad and playing people out of position, whilst not really having a proper direction with their gameplan.
It'll be interesting to see what if anything changes over the next few games. Watch them go and somehow beat England out of nowhere now... lol
 
PinkFloyd said:
I had felt sorry for Gatland, as it sounds like many of the issues come down to the WRU and overall player quality. But looks like a lot of Welsh fans who follow things closer are pretty happy to see him go. Lots of demonstrable bad decisions, constant changing of the squad and playing people out of position, whilst not really having a proper direction with their gameplan.
It'll be interesting to see what if anything changes over the next few games. Watch them go and somehow beat England out of nowhere now... lol
Click to expand...

Haha yeah I half expect them to win at Murrayfield in a few weeks time now!
Welsh rugby does seem to be in a dire state, I think its partly money (although maybe Ireland aside the English and Scottish Unions have similar issues)
 
Whilst Gatland cannot be blamed for lack of talent coming through, he is to blame for never laying any foundation for the Wales team to work on. His selections have frankly been bizarre. Playing a young center as fly-half - no surprise that he struggled for fluency. As soon as he brought on the proper fly-half Wales got a few passes together and had some shape. Gatland has kept tinkering for 2 years, he should have had some system in place.
 
Well this game is looking a lot more interesting than expected! Wales leading at half time and a fair chance Ireland are gonna be down to 14 for the rest of the game.
 
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