Team news for Ireland.

[Banquo]

You have to factor in where possession takes place, for example possession in opponents 22: 35 (Eng) v 32 (Ire)
In opponents half: 74 v 58

Yes, but your statement about 'seriously on top' is a tad hyperbolic, which puts you in step with everyone else

You don’t think we were seriously on top? Even if we rule out the first half completely, Ireland were at best second best.

This was your statement- 'we were seriously on top in possession and territory'.

[Epaminondas Pules]

Yes, but your statement about 'seriously on top' is a tad hyperbolic, which puts you in step with everyone else

You don’t think we were seriously on top? Even if we rule out the first half completely, Ireland were at best second best.

This was your statement- 'we were seriously on top in possession and territory'.

Ah sorry I misjudged pedantry. I’ll just take 74% possession in the opponents half as being parity.

[Epaminondas Pules]

And just out of interest how many people that ridiculed the selection are enjoying their humble pie? Tasty isn’t it #nomnomnom

Hey ho, might go tits up next week. That’s the fun of it. Lots to moan about I’m sure. But hey we won, and bloody easily. Smiles all round. Maybe.

[Mr Mwenda]

Well, I'm glad it worked but I think the Welsh pack will present a quite different challenge. I expect some horses for courses selections.

[Digby]

I thought we were on top but gave away too many penalties and didn't score enough points to be seriously on top. It was a comfortable win, and against a good side

How are those splinters?

I don't know, you make one post trying to be positive and this happens! In truth it was a bit of a mix, a good win against a good side, but we left plenty of points out there and by the end the game felt flat and the crowd were reflecting that.

[Epaminondas Pules]

I thought we were on top but gave away too many penalties and didn't score enough points to be seriously on top. It was a comfortable win, and against a good side

How are those splinters?

I don't know, you make one post trying to be positive and this happens! In truth it was a bit of a mix, a good win against a good side, but we left plenty of points out there and by the end the game felt flat and the crowd were reflecting that.

Totally agree bud. Lots that could have been better. Plenty that was good. Just enjoying a good win against a side that we’ve disappeared up our own arseholes against several times.

[fivepointer]

And just out of interest how many people that ridiculed the selection are enjoying their humble pie? Tasty isn’t it #nomnomnom

Hey ho, might go tits up next week. That’s the fun of it. Lots to moan about I’m sure. But hey we won, and bloody easily. Smiles all round. Maybe.

Just about everyone had reservations with the 23 selected. Justifiably so. It was horribly unbalanced and risky. It paid off and we won, but an early injury and a better effort from Ireland could have seen a very different outcome. I hope we never see 5 locks again and i fervently hope we can select players in the position they usually play. Alas, this win might mean that Jones continues with a policy that selects round pegs in square holes.

[Epaminondas Pules]

And just out of interest how many people that ridiculed the selection are enjoying their humble pie? Tasty isn’t it #nomnomnom

Hey ho, might go tits up next week. That’s the fun of it. Lots to moan about I’m sure. But hey we won, and bloody easily. Smiles all round. Maybe.

Just about everyone had reservations with the 23 selected. Justifiably so. It was horribly unbalanced and risky. It paid off and we won, but an early injury and a better effort from Ireland could have seen a very different outcome. I hope we never see 5 locks again and i fervently hope we can select players in the position they usually play. Alas, this win might mean that Jones continues with a policy that selects round pegs in square holes.

And if my aunt had a penis she’d be my uncle. And if anyone picks an England team the world and his mom will moan about perceived negatives.

Maybe we could just actually enjoy a victory and stop being so downbeat about everything? Maybe we could see positives and stop moaning at every opportunity? Maybe we could.....nah, none of it will ever happen. People aren’t happy unless they’re unhappy.

[fivepointer]

And just out of interest how many people that ridiculed the selection are enjoying their humble pie? Tasty isn’t it #nomnomnom

Hey ho, might go tits up next week. That’s the fun of it. Lots to moan about I’m sure. But hey we won, and bloody easily. Smiles all round. Maybe.

Just about everyone had reservations with the 23 selected. Justifiably so. It was horribly unbalanced and risky. It paid off and we won, but an early injury and a better effort from Ireland could have seen a very different outcome. I hope we never see 5 locks again and i fervently hope we can select players in the position they usually play. Alas, this win might mean that Jones continues with a policy that selects round pegs in square holes.

And if my aunt had a penis she’d be my uncle. And if anyone picks an England team the world and his mom will moan about perceived negatives.

Maybe we could just actually enjoy a victory and stop being so downbeat about everything? Maybe we could see positives and stop moaning at every opportunity? Maybe we could.....nah, none of it will ever happen. People aren’t happy unless they’re unhappy.

Think its perfectly reasonable to criticise a winning effort. We were far from perfect and losing the 2nd half is absolutely no cause for celebration.
Yes, lets enjoy the win, but I dont think that means you turn a blind eye to our failings.

[Puja]

Oh and Stander should be cited. A palm strike is fucking nasty! It’s not a punch but it is just as nasty if not more so when the heel of the palm is used. Yes Farrel held on, no qualms, but if you’re allowed to strike an opponent then it’s a sad time.

Absolutely agreed. I would have yellow carded both of them - possibly Farrell's dickery wasn't worth a yellow in isolation, but I would've felt bad about rewarding it with a yellow and a reversed penalty. There's no doubt it was cynical and utterly unnecessary behaviour and earned the punches that he received, even if Stander shouldn't have given them out.

And just out of interest how many people that ridiculed the selection are enjoying their humble pie? Tasty isn’t it #nomnomnom

Hey ho, might go tits up next week. That’s the fun of it. Lots to moan about I’m sure. But hey we won, and bloody easily. Smiles all round. Maybe.

I'll take my lumps - Lawes actually looked like a back row for the first time in god knows how many attempts and Joseph was a solid okay on the wing. And there's no doubting that the overall performance got the job done very nicely.

I'm just praying that next week will see three back rowers again. I was wrong about Lawes at 6 being a disaster today, but I am reticent to stop predicting it to be a disaster in the future based on all the previous evidence.

Puja

[Puja]

Speaking of citing, did anyone else see the completely unnecessary forearm strike that Ryan did on Curry early on. If the TMO had got his hands on it, that was a clear red card.

Puja

[Epaminondas Pules]

Oh and Stander should be cited. A palm strike is fucking nasty! It’s not a punch but it is just as nasty if not more so when the heel of the palm is used. Yes Farrel held on, no qualms, but if you’re allowed to strike an opponent then it’s a sad time.

Absolutely agreed. I would have yellow carded both of them - possibly Farrell's dickery wasn't worth a yellow in isolation, but I would've felt bad about rewarding it with a yellow and a reversed penalty. There's no doubt it was cynical and utterly unnecessary behaviour and earned the punches that he received, even if Stander shouldn't have given them out.

And just out of interest how many people that ridiculed the selection are enjoying their humble pie? Tasty isn’t it #nomnomnom

Hey ho, might go tits up next week. That’s the fun of it. Lots to moan about I’m sure. But hey we won, and bloody easily. Smiles all round. Maybe.

I'll take my lumps - Lawes actually looked like a back row for the first time in god knows how many attempts and Joseph was a solid okay on the wing. And there's no doubting that the overall performance got the job done very nicely.

I'm just praying that next week will see three back rowers again. I was wrong about Lawes at 6 being a disaster today, but I am reticent to stop predicting it to be a disaster in the future based on all the previous evidence.

Puja

Don’t tell anyone but I’d prefer a more balanced backrow too. Still it’s worked well today so let’s enjoy it. Lawes was very good, as were the pack in general, Kurtis kick aside.

And if nothing else from this six nations there needs to be a serious clamp down on constant appealing to the ref!!

[Epaminondas Pules]

Speaking of citing, did anyone else see the completely unnecessary forearm strike that Ryan did on Curry early on. If the TMO had got his hands on it, that was a clear red card.

Puja

Yeah watched it a few times. Think it’s sufficiently unclear that he’ll get away with it. The dive at Curry was wholly unnecessary after Toner had already dived through him. Ryan did it a few times today and needs to be bloody careful. He seemed to be trying to be an enforcer, in much the same way that my 8 year old is the hulk, until I laugh at him!

[Epaminondas Pules]

Just about everyone had reservations with the 23 selected. Justifiably so. It was horribly unbalanced and risky. It paid off and we won, but an early injury and a better effort from Ireland could have seen a very different outcome. I hope we never see 5 locks again and i fervently hope we can select players in the position they usually play. Alas, this win might mean that Jones continues with a policy that selects round pegs in square holes.

And if my aunt had a penis she’d be my uncle. And if anyone picks an England team the world and his mom will moan about perceived negatives.



Maybe we could just actually enjoy a victory and stop being so downbeat about everything? Maybe we could see positives and stop moaning at every opportunity? Maybe we could.....nah, none of it will ever happen. People aren’t happy unless they’re unhappy.

Think its perfectly reasonable to criticise a winning effort. We were far from perfect and losing the 2nd half is absolutely no cause for celebration.
Yes, lets enjoy the win, but I dont think that means you turn a blind eye to our failings.

Dunno, might be cool to see someone accentuate the positives once in a while. Worked well today.

[Banquo]

You don’t think we were seriously on top? Even if we rule out the first half completely, Ireland were at best second best.

This was your statement- 'we were seriously on top in possession and territory'.

Ah sorry I misjudged pedantry. I’ll just take 74% possession in the opponents half as being parity.

lol- thats not pedantry, its just quoting you.

[twitchy]

Yeah I thought they put in a few nasty hits at the ruck. Ryan was definitely going after curry.

[Beasties]

And just out of interest how many people that ridiculed the selection are enjoying their humble pie? Tasty isn’t it #nomnomnom

Hey ho, might go tits up next week. That’s the fun of it. Lots to moan about I’m sure. But hey we won, and bloody easily. Smiles all round. Maybe.

Well we'll never know how it would've went with a more conventional selection. Lawes did have a good game, kudos to him personally, but then no one's arguing with him being a quality player. Same could be said for JJ, who is intelligent enough to make a decent fist of most back positions if required.

However, wtf was the Ewels at 8 shit all about? Did Earl finish up there eventually or was I imagining that? Maybe Ewels had a quiet word? The fact remains that Eddie's selection worked today but a large part of that would be the fact we were at home, I doubt the outcome would've been quite the same in Ireland. And on another day Manu could've lasted all of 10 mins.

[Mr Mwenda]

I thought Ewels was 8 on opposition scrums with Earl going there on England ball?

[Digby]

Yeah I thought they put in a few nasty hits at the ruck. Ryan was definitely going after curry.

in theory you're supposed to be bound to be rucking but the authorities will ignore it (and we're not exactly angels on this front ourselves)

[Beasties]

You may be right, I wasn't able to give the game my full attention. It took Lol a full 15 mins to spot him at 8 though.

[francoisfou]

Let’s face it, England were fortunate to win. Two lucky tries caused by Irish ineptitude; far too many penalties conceded that other sides would have punished. If Eddie had picked a more balanced side then the victory margin would have been significantly more. However, let’s not grumble too much until he’s announced his 23 for Wales.

[Which Tyler]

I thought Ewels was 8 on opposition scrums with Earl going there on England ball?

That's what I thought I saw.
Of course, Ewels has played 8 a lot more than Curry, both at age grade where he played both lock and 8, and for Bath (when we went about 2 months with 0-1 fit backrowers, and the odd time covering in-match injuries)

[Raggs]

Without doing ruck marks, I'm still going to only credit lawes with looking like a good lock, rather than good backrow. Lots of carries, tackles and lineouts. Thankfully, our tactics seem to be centred around avoiding rucks at the moment.

I'd still love to see a Willis, Underhill, Curry backrow. BT has extended highlights for the wasps sarries game on now, and he appears often enough to please .

http://sport.bt.com/extended-highlights ... 4433195687

[Digby]

I'm almost ready to start watching the game back. In advance I'm expecting to see an England side who make a fast start and dominate the collisions win a game of rugby even though they couldn't do much with the physical dominance

[Timbo]

Let’s face it, England were fortunate to win. Two lucky tries caused by Irish ineptitude; far too many penalties conceded that other sides would have punished. If Eddie had picked a more balanced side then the victory margin would have been significantly more. However, let’s not grumble too much until he’s announced his 23 for Wales.

Lol, good try.