Digby wrote:I would wonder again how many rucks the two sides hit in the lead up to this game, on attack and defence. As I once again ponder did Eddie go with a kicking game not just to exploit space but also with playing 5 games in 5 weeks in mind (albeit a nice Typhoon knocked us down a match)
It's an intriguing idea. If we win the thing you'll probably find out in the book-laden aftermath
It never occurred to me as a possible method until into the WC and starting to look at team like Ireland and NZ and suddenly (belatedly) realising they were taking many more hits than England. And then you get a side like Japan who slowed as the tournament went on.
richy678 wrote:
Ahhhh - but will the replacement be kicking towards Liam Willams?
If Care was on stand by I would still go for him as a "Finisher".
Dont think I would go for Foden.
Good point, Barrett's shit isn't he? Will Williams be fit enough in a week's time?
Let’s just say we’re more likely to be kicking to Willi...e le roux
Y'know - I hope so. An Eng/Wal final is so charged for all of us it could get really nasty.
Mind you - we havent really paid them back for the 2013 30 - 3 in Cardiff - the TV showed the clear nasty, horrible anti-English, bordering on racist crowd reaction. Never seen anything like it. I have friends who are English and get tickets for Cardiff - members of the Lichfield club, and they've said they have stopped going because of the anti English crowd.
Danno wrote:Potential injury list is a big concern of mine:
May clearly isn't right
Nowell would have been on the bench at least, if fit, for this game based on the manner in which we played, so must be crocked
Farrell carried a knock for about an hour
Sinckler was limping shortly before he was subbed
Heinz
So a SH and TH are ideally packing bags for an early Sunday flight right now. Worst case scenario I reckon we will be alright (at least) with Ford-Tuilagi-Joseph and Coka on the wing.
On the plus side, Slade looked alright.
Yup - May has lost a yard of pace - but still does the bread and butter - great in the air.
Sinks is now an icon so maybe a big loss. He is still a little raw at the craft but offers so much.....much much more than that used to mean.....it will be a big loss.
Let us not forget...in the old days....we were taught to start your team selection with your best Tighthead. Sinks is our best at the moment.
I finally downloaded it. A huge shout out to watson (who I know you guys mentioned) he just constantly either caused problems for NZ or cleared them up for us. Massively under rated performance.
Mako/maro and billy were just machines. Constantly making ground from standing starts and shit ball. Immense from the flankers as has been recognised. Massive from sink (and the whole front row).
Just amazing all over the pitch. Pretty much every one had a blinder.
The issue with Farrell is that it is the complete opposite on here of what the pundits think. It almost feels as if certain posts go so over the top on their criticism of Farrell and in their praise of Ford that it is ridiculous. Ford was pure class today, but, for example, if Farrell had missed the drop goal like Ford did, or put the aimless kick in to the 22 which they counter attacked from on the first half he would get absolute pelters on here! Ford doesn't, and rightly so because it was just one of those things that happen in a game.
We do over react on here but it’s mostly a reaction to the lionising of Farrell despite some mediocre performances. A lot of us think Ford a better player and the type of 10 we like. For me, Farrell gets praised for his attitude, aggressive tacking and the like whilst ignoring his inconsistent passing and poor running game. That’s the sort of attitude that got us to a Noon and Tindall midfield. It’s why some of us weren’t happy with the midfield selected against Italy in this year’s 6N. Big is best has held back English rugby too much.
It’s also a reaction to things such as explaining a missed kick followed by nailing another as proof of his cojones rather than just the fact he missed a sitter. Further to that, there’s his selection when he first broke through despite not being ready for the test arena.
I’ll also point out that we all stated he had a great game against Aus and quite a few of us think him at 12 comprises one part of England’s best backline.
It is simply the lack of criticism that truly grates. Ford has a better tackle success rate and heads the field in goal kicking success sadly he doesn’t snarl and get in the face of the opposition .... but then again nor did Wilco, Carter or David Pears
Danno wrote:Curry's stats look way off, although he did seem to be the second man in a fair bit.
Doing the minute-by-minute, they look right to me. He charged up a lot and got beaten, but drove players back inside by doing so.
Adam_P wrote:So do we think Care/Spencer/Robson are going to be flown out this week for Heinz, or will we see the crazy selection of Ford at 9?
I'm given to understand that Spencer is being pulled from the Leicester vs Sarries match to fly out tomorrow. Right call - he was in the training camps and has the best knowledge of the systems.
Just read in an article that Spencer has never won a game for England. His three caps have come in losses to SA, Wales, and the draw with Scotland. Is it too late to call up Robson?
Not even the slightest discussion of calling up a tighthead, which bodes well for Sinckler's fitness.
Puja wrote:Just read in an article that Spencer has never won a game for England. His three caps have come in losses to SA, Wales, and the draw with Scotland. Is it too late to call up Robson?
Not even the slightest discussion of calling up a tighthead, which bodes well for Sinckler's fitness.
Puja
Yeah, I didn't get the impression Sinck was truly injured. He usually looks like he's hobbling every time he comes out. He does have a weird gait.
twitchy wrote:I have a weird question. At around the the 20 min mark were they playing/singing "the fields of athenry"?
Not a weird question, because some fans were singing this (which was a bit weird.)
It was just after the uplifting 'Oh/Go Maro Itoje' blast by the Eng fans following his monstering of a maul....can only assume it was an optimistic group expecting/hoping Ire reached the semis but happy to enjoy the occasion anyway...No rendition of FoS unfortunately..
Not much praise of Daly so far. NZ kickers had nowhere to put the ball in our backfield, could be correlation rather than causation, but he's taken plenty of flak for some iffy coverage at times.
What he does deserve some stick for is that penalty that only just crept into touch, interesting that Ford took the next pen one might have given the left footer
Digby wrote:Not much praise of Daly so far. NZ kickers had nowhere to put the ball in our backfield, could be correlation rather than causation, but he's taken plenty of flak for some iffy coverage at times.
What he does deserve some stick for is that penalty that only just crept into touch, interesting that Ford took the next pen one might have given the left footer
Yep I thought he would be the weak link but he stepped up. Brilliant.
He wasn't last week's version by any means but I thought he faded a bit once moved to the wing. His chasing of kicks looked a bit half-hearted, which was weird given the occasion.
Will Williams be fit enough in a week's time?
