England vs Japan minute by minute - Second half

[Puja]

Since Diggers is derelict in his duties and every media outlet is convinced that Fazlet was the thing that swung the second half, I thought I'd give a go at the minute-by-minute thing to see what actually changed and why we went from 10-15 to 35-15.

So:

40th minute: Japan kick off deep. Ewels collects and we instantly set a very good maul. Low body positions and 20m upfield, with Itoje, Lawes and Mercer doing the driving and Harry Williams standing out in the 10 channel for no good reason when his weight could've really helped things move even faster. Care box kicks, but it's too long and Cokanasiga gets beaten far too easily. Thankfully the Japanese counter goes into the advancing England pack and Itoje comes through the middle to wreck the Japanese scrum-half and take the ball off him. Harry Williams waits until the ball is secure and then ruck inspects. Less than a minute into the half and my poor opinion of his performance is being ratified. Care to Ford, Ford to Farrell, and Farrell with a 40m touch finder that we'll call exquisitely judged, rather than flirting with going out on the full. First good thing from Fazlet with his first touch.

41st minute: Japan take the lineout and send a forward runner off 10. They kick downfield, straight to Daly who makes a half-break. Quick ball and Lawes carries well. Ford passes to Mercer who makes no ground, England swing back the other way - Care to Ford to Farrell just being shipped down the line, but Farrell has a choice of Wilson on the short crash or going behind him to a 3-on-1 overlap to Slade, Daly and Cokanasiga. The ball goes to Wilson, of course.

42nd minute: Care has decided not to go to this breakdown, so Slade picks up and runs a bit. Quick ball and Itoje makes a half-break in the middle. Quick ball again and this time Ford picks the wrong option - sending Williams to get munched, rather than pulling back to Farrell looping, who could've made a 3-on-2. From the pull-back being our only move of 2016-17, we appear to have decided not to do it at all in 2018. Japan turn it over and kick it high - Daly comes for it almost apologetically and is beaten to the ball. Thankfully, Japan go off their feet at the next ruck and we get a penalty.

43rd minute: We kick for touch and try to set a drive from the lineout, but don't really go anywhere, so send Cokanasiga up the middle instead. He doesn't come onto the ball at any pace, but stupid television direction decisions means I can't see if it's his run or the pass that stops him. Either way, he's hit 5m back behind the gainline, but just about makes par. We then have another pull-back opportunity with Slade running short and Ford drifting wide with room on the wide outside, but Care only looks at Slade and decides to snipe as he's covered. Gets munched. Farrell covers 9 and resets with another pod of forwards. We got round the corner twice and Lawes makes a metre or two before finally someone passes behind the short runner. It's a 3-on-3 - Ford draws one and passes to Farrell, Farrell does a little step to draw in the last two and then passes out the back of the hand to set Nowell away. Very nice. Nowell's brought down on the edge of the 22 and Wilson is first in to support. He's been very effective in rucks so far.

44th minute: We play off 10 a couple of times and the forwards make good metres, but Ford is standing deep and static, so the good metres basically see us back to the gainline again. The rush defence comes flying up looking for the pull-back and Ford chooses right to pick the short runner in Mercer. Mercer then makes a terrible choice to stop and pull it back to Farrell who now has half the Japanese defence on him. He dummies a pass to Slade that would've been an intercept and uses the Japanese overeagerness to float it over the top to George. We make solid ground again, but have been going so far backwards with our passing that we're now 30m out rather than 22m. Ford goes flat and offloads in the face of the Japanese rush defence a couple of times and another good decision from Farrell sees Nowell free on the outside again, but he spills it in contact. They counter attack and Slade has a defensive nightmare - first wandering out in front of the rest of the defensive line to leave a massive dogleg, then choosing to step in on a player that Lawes has covered while Japan already have an overlap, then after Cokanasiga steps in and thankfully smashes the half-break, Japan go wide and Slade is beaten one-on-one by Michael Leitch stepping inside him in a complete failure to use the touchline as a defender.

So - 5 minutes in. Farrell's been good on balance, Ford's been a mixed bag, Lawes and Itoje have been good, Ewels might not have come out after half time, I wish Williams hadn't, and Wilson's been very busy.

Puja

[Puja]

45th minute: Japan break down the wing after Leitch's break, but are eventually snagged by Cokanasiga. A couple of inconsequential carries and solid defence by England sees them go for the up and under, which is far too long. Daly collects and marks easily.

46th minute: Daly kicks for touch from the mark and makes the 10m line. Japan throw long at the lineout to their winger who has a good head of steam, but gets munched by a combination of Ford and Hepburn. Japan recycle and Farrell goes mano-a-mano with Lafaele, judo-throwing him to the floor. Unfortunately, Farrell doesn't actually hold onto him, so Lafaele stands up and keeps running for another 5m before Mercer brings him down

47th minute: Japan recycle a couple of times and make another bust through a Hepburn missed tackle, but another Mercer clearup tackle sees the ball go loose. George goes down and pops te ball up to Daly who has a 3-on-1 with him, Slade and Cokanasiga against Leitch. Daly belts the ball downfield with nary a look outside him. It's a good kick to space, but New Zealand would've scored there. Even worse, the kick bounces to the middle of the 22m, where Japan pick up and counter. Thankfully our chase line is good and Japan are stopped and decide to kick to clear. Farrell has dropped back to cover Daly's chase and takes the kick. Farrell draws a man and passes to Cokanasiga for a narrow 1-on-1 - he's not going to make a break, but he's going to make the Japanese winger unhappy.

48th minute: The Japanese winger gets boshed, but does enough to bring Cokanasiga down. Quick ball and an Itoje offload sees Lawes beat three defenders with nice footwork and England recycle to go back blind again. Daly is first receiver and kicks away perfectly good attacking ball - there is space behind, but the kick isn't attacking and Japan are always going to regain it first so it's a waste of good possession. To make matters worse, it rolls into goal and is touched down for a 22. Hepburn and Mercer off for Moon and Underhill. Japan kick deep to Cokanasiga who smashes up - again, mostly just looking to hurt a few people rather than make a break.

49th minute: Quick ball and Ford takes to the line and sends Itoje through half a hole. He's brought down and Care makes a meal out of stepping over the tackler before passing to Ford's thighs. Ford has Williams standing gormlessly outside him and so he kicks through - it's not bad as it bounces just in play in the 22 and Nowell tackles the fullback, but if I'm criticising Daly for kicking away attacking ball, then I'll do it for Ford as well as that could've been pulled back to Farrell coming round. Anyway, Nowell brings down the full-back, Williams is there in a great position to steal the ball... but instead flops belly first on top of it. Hepburn must be feeling upset at being the prop hauled off. Japan go for a kick and Nigel pipes up to say Underhill's offside in going for the charge-down. He's not, but he is very quick out of the blocks, so it's an understandable mistake.

[Puja]

50th minute: Japan kick up to the 10m line and now Sinckler is on for Williams. Japan win the lineout and run at Ford again - he loses 2m in the tackle, but brings him down. Underhill is up fast again without Nigel chirping this time and hits the 10 behind the gainline. Someone makes a weird shrieking noise on the ref's mike three times - no-one seems injured and if it's a battle cry, it's a f*cking weird one. Japan kick high and too long and Daly takes easily again.

51st minute: Daly goes across the pitch in a May-like fashion, but no holes open and he is brought down without threatening to break. Lucky that George is there to support... except Japan were all offside from the kick. Care feigns to go quickly, but gives up halfway through following the ref, which is a shame as it's really on. We eschew the kick for the posts and Ford goes for the corner, making touch 7m out. This turns out to be a poor decision, as Ewels fumbles the take under pressure from Leitch and the ball hits the deck. Care does very well to dive on it and is nearly turned over, but good work from Underhill clears out.

52nd minute: The forwards rumble a couple of times and then we put it out to runners off 9 who are rebuffed without making too much ground. The ball then swings left to Ford who is faced with a 4-on-3 and a rush defence, so steps inside and resets possession. A couple more forward runners and then Care goes for what looks like a really stupid snipe, but on replay there was a massive hole there and he was only tackled by someone getting up from the previous tackle who was massively offside. The ref doesn't spot it though, Care is isolated and Japan get the penalty.

53rd minute: Japan kick for touch and there is a lot of fannying about that means that the only other thing to happen is that they win the lineout and run into midfield.

54th minute: Again, they run at Ford and he stops the runner for Wilson to finish. The Japanese get a bit overzealous about clearing out the ruck and give away a penalty. It's a similar position to the last one we turned down (slightly more central), but this time, we go for goal.

[Puja]

55th minute. Ford nails the penalty, Twickenham cheers, and the television focusses on Farrell.

56th minute: Japan kick off and we once again look to maul. Japan bring it down and it's a penalty. Ford has a massive kick and we have a lineout on their 10m. Quick ball off the top, Ford is running hard and flat and Japan have a massive dog-leg. If the pass is good, he's walking through.

57th minute: It's not a good pass. Floaty, wobbly and high. Ford checks his run and just about hangs onto it - he's over the gainline, but the chance has gone. It was a long and challenging pass, but every other top international side has two scrum-halves who would hit that 9/10 times. Still, we get quick ball twice in a row and Lawes does a nice pullback to Farrell, who gives George and Nowell a 2-on-1. Nowell makes it well into the 22m before being dragged down and then Sinckler and Itoje both make excellent metres running off 9. There's now space wide, but Care decides Slade wants the ball slow and low to his ankles and he has to go back inside to get munched. Sinckler is calling for the ball and draws the Japanese tacklers onto him before offloading to a charging Underhill. Great work. Care then passes to Ford's hands, and the fly-half attacks the gap between two players to draw Leitch out before passing back inside to Wilson to score.

58th minute: Nothing but lots of replays of the try.

59th minute: Ford does actually get the conversion done within the 90 seconds. Wigglesworth is on for Care. Japan kick over our mauling pod and Daly is tackled inside the 22. We have a couple of futile phases just resetting the ball on our 22m line while the commentators laughably try to pretend that they know anything about Japanese rugby and have ever heard of Hendrik Tui before, as the stats people frantically pass them bits of paper with facts on. "Tui's good. Good player. To have in reserve. Erm. Third on the list of Japan forward try scorers. In their history."

[Which Tyler]

Thank you - especially as we didn't give Diggers enough love for doing these.

[Puja]

60th minute: Wigglesworth box kicks, but doesn't find touch or give anything to chase. Disappointing considering box kicking is the only thing to recommend him. Thankfully, the Japanese 15 has been watching Daly and runs aimlessly across the park too. There's a bit more harem-scarem sideways running before England give away a penalty for something at the breakdown. Japan tap and go and make good ground before slowing things down and sending a succession of runners to be destroyed by the England forwards. Tackling practice.

61st minute: A pull-back and some very nice hands sees Leitch break down the wing again. Japan get to our 22m, but sportingly decide to slow things down so we can reorganise. The TV direction decides to show a shot of the crowd while play is going on and I miss BT Sport once more. When they decide that we might be interested in the game, Japan pass behind their runner and Ford does well not to dive on the Japanese player who goes to ground to retrieve. The ball bobbles out and Nowell breaks forward. Excellent attacking ball, but Wigglesworth is MIA, so Ford stands in at 9 and box kicks for some reason. It's better than a lot of the box kicks we've seen so far, but that's damning with faint praise. Utterly aimless use of turnover ball and we're lucky the Japanese 15 spills it under no pressure at all. I'm just imagining what would happen if we kicked the ball this aimlessly against Ireland... oh wait, I don't have to, because that was exactly our tactics last 6N.

62nd minute: We drive on at the scrum for a penalty advantage. Wilson feeds Wigglesworth who runs sideways and then decides to ignore Ford and throw a floaty miss-pass to Farrell who is stopped dead by it and has the Japanese rush in his face. He kicks through as basically his only option and he's unlucky that the ball doesn't bounce for Slade or Cokanasiga. Japan regather and we go back for the penalty.

63rd minute: Barnes starts wanking off about Farrell "really having added something" and how England are running straighter now that he's on the pitch. He's been good, and far better than Lozowski, but I don't really think we can credit him with our forwards running hard lines off 9.

64th minute: Anyway, Ford kicks the penalty. Barnes now starts wanking off about Lawes's handling for a simple pull-back ball and I miss BT Sport again.

[Puja]

You're welcome Which.

65th minute: Japan change tack and kick off wide. Taken well by Itoje who brushes off three Japanese tacklers to set up a ruck which Lawes and Sinckler clear quickly. Barnes is still wanking on about Lawes being able to play centre "with hands like that" which is probably true for this England team, but has a different connotation when I say it. Wigglesworth box kicks and this one is very contestable, but Nowell goes flying gaily through the air without getting anywhere near where the ball's landing and Japan regather. They run at Ford again and he brings down the big runner with George - he gives up a couple of metres again, but I've yet to see him miss a tackle.

66th minute: More tackling practise for England as Wilson, Itoje, and Lawes punish the Japanese for running into midfield. However we somehow end up short on the blindside and compound it by rushing up instead of icing across and Japan break down the wing. Nowell does well to catch the winger and brings him down with a technically gorgeous tackle. Daly snaffles the ball well at the tackle before ruining it by attempting a kick and missing the ball. Japanese scrum.

67th minute: Moon drives right through the Japanese tighthead, but the referee gives a comedy penalty for not driving straight. Japan tap and go and we have a few phases of being dishevelled, before righting ourselves and doing some good defensive work.

68th minute: More regulation and solid defence, but then Sinckler overdrifts and becomes detached from Wilson, leaving a gap for Tamura to step back inside and make a half-break. He offloads and England do well to bring them down. Lawes is quick in over the ball and wins the turnover. Farrell comes running in with a very over the top "YEEEEEEEEEAAAAASSSSS!!!" which I guess is leadership?

69th minute: We win the lineout and maul it ineffectually for a little bit. Wigglesworth box kicks and this one is contestable - 20m forwards and a long way up. Cokanasiga is under it and palms it back to George who finds Wigglesworth at... pace? Really? Where did that come from? Wiggy runs long enough to draw the 15 and passes inside to Cokanasiga who beats the cover to score.

[Puja]

70th minute is entirely replays - that was a very good try. The passes from George and Wigglesworth were perfectly time and well executed.

71st minute: Barnes has a dig at Ford as he kicks the conversion from the touchline. Farrell has had the ball once in the last 15 minutes, but he is "controlling the game" unlike Ford who has "question marks"

72nd minute: Itoje fumbles the restart, but Slade gathers and is free down the wing. He chips ahead and is clearly and blatantly tap-tackled off the ball by a Japanese player as he goes to regather, but the referee isn't interested and gives a knock on. It's shown on the big screen just to help, but no-one cares. Hartley is on.

73rd minute: Japan win the scrum and pass wide in their 22 - England look to have it covered, but Slade rushes up and is easily stepped by the Japanese centre, who saves us from a break by making a no-look pass at a no-look receiver. Farrell and Ford make the tackle. Japan go out and Wilson should have been given a turnover, but for some reason being first person in and latching onto the ball isn't good enough. Japan then go back to their tactic of running a forward at Ford and once again the tackle is made. England then start blitzing and Lawes, Underhill, Itoje, Moon, Underhill, and Ewels hit Japanese backs behind the gainline.

74th minute: Japan spread it wide and Leitch is faced with a one-on-one against Slade. The result is exactly the same as last time - Slade overchases, presumably out of fear that Leitch might burn him on the outside, and Leitch steps inside and waves merrily to him as Slade flies past. Leitch then drives into Ford, who brings him down. Lawes is in early again and wins the penalty turnover.

A special note from Clive "Did you know I won the world cup?" Woodward. "Just picking up what you were saying about Farrell, Stuart - a 20-0 second half. I just feel that the moment he came on at half-time that was the whole game changing... the second half, he's just dominated.... I still think he's better at 10, but him on the field, the whole game changes for England. That's been the difference. Sinclair's [sic] been very very dominant, but Farrell is the guy who's really turned this around for England"

Excuse me while I go find a vomit bag. Like I said earlier, Farrell's been good, but given that he's only touched the ball twice since the 49th minute (at which point we were still 10-15 down), it's a bit embarrassing to be giving him the credit for us being ahead.

Ted Hill is on.

[Puja]

75th minute: Stuart Barnes clearly doesn't know who Ted Hill is. We take the lineout and rumble over the line - good solid maul work. Glad to see that we're finally getting better at that.

76th minute: Replaaaays. Nigel chirps up asking if the referee is happy with the grounding after watching it on the screen. The ref says he is, although doesn't add that Nige should piss off and mind his own business.

77th minute: Ford goes for the conversion and misses his first of sixe. Drop him and bring back the iceman! Clive is talking again, this time wibbling about how we should try and pretend that we're a point down to the All Blacks and go for a drop goal. Maybe last week was the time for that, huh? I miss BT Sport. Everyone flubs the restart and Japan regather.

78th minute: Solid tackling from England, including one by Hill (nice that he's involved) and one by Slade (nice that he's decided to get involved). Japan drop the ball and Itoje hacks forward. Nowell is through, but the ball won't sit up for anything but a grubber and he overkicks it. Japan take a quick 22 drop out and Cokanasiga and Farrell get in each others' way. Sinckler munches a Japanese runner in midfield, but the ball is recycled quickly and quick hands see them get to the outside and Fukuoka is free.

79th minute: Daly nails him - great contact, but not sure about the technique. A bigger player might have bounced him. Still, he brings him down and then gets up to make another tackle. Underhill is back and gets over the ball early to win a penalty. Ford kicks really well to go from the 22 to past the Japanese 10m line.

80th minute: We win the lineout and Wigglesworth once again misses Ford to go to Farrell. Farrell attempts to pull back to Ford with a no-look pass, but he maybe should have looked as it's massively behind Ford and he does well to bring it in. Ford picks out Nowell who is tackled and then chooses to offload to a Japanese player. Nowell then comes back and tip-tackles the Japanese player that he passes to and is probably lucky to escape a yellow card.

81st minute: Japan do a tap penalty with a three-man-wall routine the likes of which I haven't seen since the 90s! It's not very effective, as no-one buys it and the defence flies up for Farrell to smash the Japanese centre. We'll call it a good read, as if the ball went to anyone else, there was a massive dogleg. It's a penalty to England for Japan being offside and Ford makes another great kick to land us 5m out.

82nd minute: We maul again, but Japan bring part of it down and we have to play away. Farrell runs a hard line off 9, which is an odd choice, but does recycle the ball. Lawes offloads to Sinckler, but he fumbles it in a carbon copy of his NZ one and Japan have the ball. They fling it back a couple of times, but eventually the ball goes dead and the game is over.

[Puja]

So, Farrell was good, but not "CHANGED THE GAME, RESCUED US, OUR SAVIOUR" good. If you wanted subs that changed the game, Sinckler and Underhill did that, with Wigglesworth as a close third. Wilson was solid, as was Lawes, Itoje was a standout and Slade and Daly were wastes of space.

Puja

[fivepointer]

Wigglesworth a close third......I quietly sobbed at that.

Your conclusions about Slade and Daly match what i thought yesterday. Slade just isnt anywhere near consistent enough and i'm not convinced Daly has really got to grips with playing FB.

[Oakboy]

I think, for his sins, that Farrell has the same effect on the team as Hartley does on the pack. They both jack up the overall performance no matter how much their individual contributions may attract criticism. Ford and George may be better players individually but it's a team game and painful facts are still facts.

[Which Tyler]

This conversation really isn't doing my fragile mental health much good.
Especially asnim forced to agree with the conclusions.

Hartley I'm happy enough with, as he's no ineffective, and still seems better at the lineout than any ofnhis pretenders (and even more especially as I don't understand front row play outside of the lineout).

I still won't write off Ford just yet, as we still haven't seen him inside a pair of real centres for England.

[Puja]

I think, for his sins, that Farrell has the same effect on the team as Hartley does on the pack. They both jack up the overall performance no matter how much their individual contributions may attract criticism. Ford and George may be better players individually but it's a team game and painful facts are still facts.

So why not shove Farrell at 12? He's less damaging to the attack there, it suits his lesser decision making well, offers us a wider kicking option, and it's not like we've got good 12s that he'd be forcing out.

Puja

[Oakboy]

I think, for his sins, that Farrell has the same effect on the team as Hartley does on the pack. They both jack up the overall performance no matter how much their individual contributions may attract criticism. Ford and George may be better players individually but it's a team game and painful facts are still facts.

So why not shove Farrell at 12? He's less damaging to the attack there, it suits his lesser decision making well, offers us a wider kicking option, and it's not like we've got good 12s that he'd be forcing out.

Puja

You are obviously convinced that Ford + Farrell is better than Farrell + T'eo. Jones appears not to be (unless he reverts for Saturday). I think Ford is history now as a starter.

I am only saying what I think Jones has concluded. I'd pick Cipriani at 10 so, as always, it is not an open debate. From Jones's squad, I 'd pick Farrell, T'eo and Slade but from personal preference I'd omit the first two.

[Danno]

Quick question on minute 41: was the Wilson option a right to left pass?

[Puja]

Quick question on minute 41: was the Wilson option a right to left pass?

I think so, yes, but can't be bothered to check.

Puja

[Danno]

Quick question on minute 41: was the Wilson option a right to left pass?

I think so, yes, but can't be bothered to check.

Puja

Don't blame you.

If you aren't missing BT Sport enough I can recommend the beeb highlights for commentary. Assuming you enjoy the 5live rugby podcast with Ugo Monye and his co-presenting lege!!oneone

And thanks for doing this. I was going to harangue you for failing to get Diggers' sneer into it, but you went with snark instead, which totally works.

[Stom]

I think, for his sins, that Farrell has the same effect on the team as Hartley does on the pack. They both jack up the overall performance no matter how much their individual contributions may attract criticism. Ford and George may be better players individually but it's a team game and painful facts are still facts.

So why not shove Farrell at 12? He's less damaging to the attack there, it suits his lesser decision making well, offers us a wider kicking option, and it's not like we've got good 12s that he'd be forcing out.

Puja

You are obviously convinced that Ford + Farrell is better than Farrell + T'eo. Jones appears not to be (unless he reverts for Saturday). I think Ford is history now as a starter.

I am only saying what I think Jones has concluded. I'd pick Cipriani at 10 so, as always, it is not an open debate. From Jones's squad, I 'd pick Farrell, T'eo and Slade but from personal preference I'd omit the first two.

Tbh, Ford is a clearly better 10. I would pick Ford, Farrell, Tuilagi in a heartbeat

[Mr Mwenda]

Tah for doing this.

[Mellsblue]

Tah for doing this.

What this man said.

[WaspInWales]

Great write up Puja. Appreciate the effort and time taken on that.

Imagine what could be done if we could somehow combine Puja's and Digger's DNA and clone and super-analyst?

The possibilities are endless...well almost.

[Puja]

Great write up Puja. Appreciate the effort and time taken on that.

Imagine what could be done if we could somehow combine Puja's and Digger's DNA and clone a super-analyst?

The possibilities are horrifying.

FTFY.

Puja

[Scrumhead]

Thanks for this Puja.

Pretty much reinforces my view of the game.

Williams in particular was crap.

There are some key themes throughout - lack of intensity, poor tactical kicking and a lack of awareness to recognise opportunities. Daly was particularly culpable with several attacking options entirely wasted by not even looking and kicking aimlessly.

Watching Slade stink out the place again makes me realise how much we’ve missed JJ.

Even if his attacking game has been blunted by Eddie’s system, his defence is vastly superior to anyone else at 13.

[Mellsblue]

Thanks for this Puja.

Pretty much reinforces my view of the game.

Williams in particular was crap.

There are some key themes throughout - lack of intensity, poor tactical kicking and a lack of awareness to recognise opportunities. Daly was particularly culpable with several attacking options entirely wasted by not even looking and kicking aimlessly.

Watching Slade stink out the place again makes me realise how much we’ve missed JJ.

Even if his attacking game has been blunted by Eddie’s system, his defence is vastly superior to anyone else at 13.

Daly seems like a fish completely out of water at fb. He’s missed numerous opportunities to put the winger in to space, his kicking from hand has regressed, he’s average under the high ball and his kick return is far worse than Brown’s. I was sat at the end that saw virtually no action and it was obvious to be that on kick returns he is very muddled as to what he wants to achieve.
As for Slade, I’m not sure what he brings to the party. He’s defensively questionable and he’s not being used correctly in attack. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Farrell - Te’o - Tuilagi this sat, assuming latter is fit.