Rugby Winter International Squads

Locky said:
Why are England so crap at rugby?
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Far from it. Personally thought that England played really well, and that they will be a real threat for the WC title, if you can get a decent fly half. Farrell is very poor as a key player.

England scored straight after a really dodgy ref call (Habanna was well within his rights to call the mark like he did), and SA scored an intercept off a rookie scrum half mistake (seriously, what kind of scrummy takes a two step before he passes the ball, this aint strictly come dancing!!!) So the game in my opinion was very close and it really could have gone either way.
 
England did score from a ref error. Should have been a SA scrum in the England half and ended up with an England lineout. They did well to push over from it to be fair.

England looked pretty good but imo Farrell seems out of his depth. Typical English media/fans think that great kicking makes a great fly half. Wilkinson did a lot more than simply kick well.
 
I may get pelters here but i've never been a fan of Farrel. I've been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt to see how he progressed but so far there really doesnt seem to be any at all. He's still a good dead ball kicker and thats pretty much it , just like when he first came on the scene. He does try to run occasionally but really doesnt get anywhere , he hasnt got a step and go like a Freddie B or young Ford. He doesnt tie in the defence so gives them a yard to get ready for our centres to get tangled up.

Again we flatter to deceive and we keep talking a good game without seeming to show progression. As said earlier we seem to have some 'undroppables' when we need fresh impetus and form players being set free to go out and get amongst it.

All in all its a disappointment but there are some positives like Ben Morgans excellent 2nd half and he should now be given the next 2 games.
 
I've just read Austin Healeys take on it and I'm inclined to agree that pairing Ford with Farrell and Barritt will blunt his edge. I rate both but Farrell is out of form, Barritt has more skill than he is given credit for but is no outside centre. I'm happy Haskell is getting a start his form deserves a chance to take a place.
 
Stewy said:
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We were pretty poor with ball in hand. The Saffa full back was unreal, just looked a class above really.
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He's amazing. Went to the Springbok v All Blacks game in Wellington NZ in September and Le Roux was a cut above. I don't watch much rugby these days but I'd really class him as one of the best players in the world
 
I'm continually frustrated that Farrell is moved to inside centre. It makes very little sense to me. Can't do anything about Eastmond's injury I suppose. Overall I thought that England played well, but they lack the killer instinct of the very top teams. They spend so long camped in the opposition 22, but can't seem to capitalise on the territory or possession. The forward pack had an incredible game against SA and NZ, I retract my earlier comment about Marler, he seems to be doing an excellent job. Morgan was outstanding. I can understand the concept of an impact substitution, but he needs to be rewarded for his efforts. I'm glad Haskell is included again. The main problem seemed to be distribution, I really rate Danny Care, but he seemed a little slow against SA and that cascaded down to Farrell who slowed it even more which meant the wings barely got a look in. Can't wait for this Saturday's game!
 
Really looking forward to this weekend. Haskell being brought in will make a big difference I think, the man is an absolute beast. I'd definitely take him over Robshaw!

Can see there being some big hits and some violence, tends to happen with games against Pacific Islanders.
 
Ashton is in great form, but Lancaster realises that his over coached offloadless style of play with his deep slow in attack backline is never going to provide the opportunities that Ashtons high workrate style requires. Its been tried and failed.
Sad because with the right style of play Ashton is devastatingly effective.
 
That's good. I really liked Ashton, other than the swan diving - but to be fair if you were scoring against the All Blacks wouldn't you be absolutely buzzing as well?!

A lack of Foden starting still annoys me, even with Mike Brown out of form.
 
England back three has the right players but looks wrong. They stand much too flat in defence and don't pivot at all. Marland Yarde is not an international winger, Brown ran an in to out counter attack and fixed 3 defenders and rather than choose his moment for a scissors he stayed wide in a deadend channel, that is a schoolboy mistake. By contrast Dane Coles a hooker ran an out to in line standing up 3 Welsh defenders and creating outside space for McCaw, NZ forwards are better backs than Englands backs are, embarrassing. I'll marshall my thoughts because I have more on my mind about the2 games I've watched so far.
 
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