England v Argentina SUNDAY 4.10pm

[Oakboy]

Your surprised that selecting Spencer at 9, and a kick-ball game plan didn't land us near the top for quick ball from rucks?

I believe the stats were not for a single game so I remain surprised overall.

[Oakboy]

"They were ninth for penalties conceded per game (10.0) behind only France and Wales, while their ruck success (95.7 per cent), turnovers conceded (15.7) and percentage of rucks under three seconds (52 per cent) were all in the bottom three among tier-one nations."

Per DT.

[SixAndAHalf]

Not a great game at the weekend - but not unexpected given the number of changes in the backline?

This is a reasonable summary of where we are at: https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rug ... 71049.html

Feels like there is room for a 9, hooker and lock to emerge - Bracken / Friday; Jibulu / Tuipolotu; Kpoku anyone?

[Scrumhead]

Yes. Hooker and 9 are the most pressing needs.

LCD is injury prone and while George is still good, he will most likely struggle to make 2027. I’m not convinced Dan is good enough.

If George isn’t going to make it to the RWC, we need at least two more hookers ready to go.

The most realistic candidates are Langdon, Blamire, Oghre, Jibulu and Tuipolotu.

I was surprised and disappointed Langdon didn’t make more of his opportunities in the summer and surprised again that Oghre was overlooked for the senior squad and A squad despite his good form. I eon’t think Blamire can be considered a serious contender unless his move to Tigers sees a a huge uplift in his set piece game.

For those reasons, I’d skip that group and focus on Jibulu and Tuipolotu. It might be a stretch to say they’re better than Dan now, but not much IMO. They definitely have the potential to be better in 2yrs time.

9 is a funny one … Spencer is OK, JvP is OK but both are a big downgrade from Mitchell. Bracken, MacParland and Friday all have a lot of potential, but are very young and inexperienced. 2yrs might be enough, but it’ll rely on them getting consistent game time which will be challenging. Bracken and Friday probably have a slight advantage over MacParland because the players in front of them at club level aren’t as good.

Lock is less of a concern for me. Some of that depends on Martin’s fitness, but we have the likes of Sodeke, Kpoku (if he moves) and Burrow coming through and Bamber looking like an interesting (and massive) prospect.

[Which Tyler]

Your surprised that selecting Spencer at 9, and a kick-ball game plan didn't land us near the top for quick ball from rucks?

I believe the stats were not for a single game so I remain surprised overall.

Fair enough - I wouldn't have known that

[SixAndAHalf]

Yes. Hooker and 9 are the most pressing needs.

LCD is injury prone and while George is still good, he will most likely struggle to make 2027. I’m not convinced Dan is good enough.

If George isn’t going to make it to the RWC, we need at least two more hookers ready to go.

The most realistic candidates are Langdon, Blamire, Oghre, Jibulu and Tuipolotu.

I was surprised and disappointed Langdon didn’t make more of his opportunities in the summer and surprised again that Oghre was overlooked for the senior squad and A squad despite his good form. I eon’t think Blamire can be considered a serious contender unless his move to Tigers sees a a huge uplift in his set piece game.

For those reasons, I’d skip that group and focus on Jibulu and Tuipolotu. It might be a stretch to say they’re better than Dan now, but not much IMO. They definitely have the potential to be better in 2yrs time.

9 is a funny one … Spencer is OK, JvP is OK but both are a big downgrade from Mitchell. Bracken, MacParland and Friday all have a lot of potential, but are very young and inexperienced. 2yrs might be enough, but it’ll rely on them getting consistent game time which will be challenging. Bracken and Friday probably have a slight advantage over MacParland because the players in front of them at club level aren’t as good.

Lock is less of a concern for me. Some of that depends on Martin’s fitness, but we have the likes of Sodeke, Kpoku (if he moves) and Burrow coming through and Bamber looking like an interesting (and massive) prospect.

Agree with the above. Unsure if Langdon, Oghre or even Dan have the raw power to be impactful internationals. I'd be looking at Jibulu for the Six Nations squad (with Tuipolotu being closey monitored). I mentioned on another thread but I also liked the look of Wright at u20 level - he hasn't broken through at Prem level yet, but is still pretty young.

[Oakboy]

Your surprised that selecting Spencer at 9, and a kick-ball game plan didn't land us near the top for quick ball from rucks?

I believe the stats were not for a single game so I remain surprised overall.

Fair enough - I wouldn't have known that

No problem - my fault for not indicating it originally.

[charlesdeboeuf]

Yes. Hooker and 9 are the most pressing needs.

LCD is injury prone and while George is still good, he will most likely struggle to make 2027. I’m not convinced Dan is good enough.

If George isn’t going to make it to the RWC, we need at least two more hookers ready to go.

The most realistic candidates are Langdon, Blamire, Oghre, Jibulu and Tuipolotu.

I was surprised and disappointed Langdon didn’t make more of his opportunities in the summer and surprised again that Oghre was overlooked for the senior squad and A squad despite his good form. I eon’t think Blamire can be considered a serious contender unless his move to Tigers sees a a huge uplift in his set piece game.

For those reasons, I’d skip that group and focus on Jibulu and Tuipolotu. It might be a stretch to say they’re better than Dan now, but not much IMO. They definitely have the potential to be better in 2yrs time.

9 is a funny one … Spencer is OK, JvP is OK but both are a big downgrade from Mitchell. Bracken, MacParland and Friday all have a lot of potential, but are very young and inexperienced. 2yrs might be enough, but it’ll rely on them getting consistent game time which will be challenging. Bracken and Friday probably have a slight advantage over MacParland because the players in front of them at club level aren’t as good.

Lock is less of a concern for me. Some of that depends on Martin’s fitness, but we have the likes of Sodeke, Kpoku (if he moves) and Burrow coming through and Bamber looking like an interesting (and massive) prospect.

Agree with the above. Unsure if Langdon, Oghre or even Dan have the raw power to be impactful internationals. I'd be looking at Jibulu for the Six Nations squad (with Tuipolotu being closey monitored). I mentioned on another thread but I also liked the look of Wright at u20 level - he hasn't broken through at Prem level yet, but is still pretty young.

Re Wright - he wasn’t named in the England A squad for either fixture but was featured on the RFU YouTube channel as being with the squad in Spain. So clearly on the radar.

[Danno]

SH scares me the most at the moment. If Mitchell goes down we are absolutely shagged.

[p/d]

Just get Bracken in. The apple ain’t falling too far from the tree.

No problem with Dan or Langdon stepping up

I think lock is a problem area. Where are the big nasty ones?

[twitchy]

Just get Bracken in. The apple ain’t falling too far from the tree.

No problem with Dan or Langdon stepping up

I think lock is a problem area. Where are the big nasty ones?

Just signed for sarries.

[francoisfou]

Curry's was just a fair tackle, arguably a bit late.

Sadly, Juan Cruz Mallia's anterior cruciate ligament injury means he'll be unavailable for Toulouse for the rest of the season.
Tom Curry may not be off the hook yet. I've not heard if the Argentinian Rugby Union are taking the matter further.

[Oakboy]

Curry's was just a fair tackle, arguably a bit late.

Sadly, Juan Cruz Mallia's anterior cruciate ligament injury means he'll be unavailable for Toulouse for the rest of the season.
Tom Curry may not be off the hook yet. I've not heard if the Argentinian Rugby Union are taking the matter further.

The resulting injury is unfortunate. Should it form a part of the disciplinary debate, though? Ford was tackled just as late but survived the collision uninjured. Was one worse in terms of foul play (or not?) because of the outcome? I'm 100% certain that neither tackler set out to intentionally injure the kicker.

[Danno]

It's too late to cite him now and it was only a pen on the day (and quite borderline at that). We don't have to bend the rules just because Contempini is a little bitch

[Captainhaircut]

It's too late to cite him now and it was only a pen on the day (and quite borderline at that). We don't have to bend the rules just because Contempini is a little bitch

100%. I look forward to the CCTV and investigation showing us that Contepomi mouthed off, Curry gave him a little shove and then he whinged about like a soft arse, thoroughly embarrassing a country that prides itself on being tough.

[morepork]

The testosterone in here does burn mine eyes.

[Puja]

Curry's was just a fair tackle, arguably a bit late.

Sadly, Juan Cruz Mallia's anterior cruciate ligament injury means he'll be unavailable for Toulouse for the rest of the season.
Tom Curry may not be off the hook yet. I've not heard if the Argentinian Rugby Union are taking the matter further.

My sympathies to Mallia as that sounds like a horrible injury. Hope he has a swift and successful recovery.

However, there's no hook for TCurry to be on, as it was an incredibly harsh penalty in the first place, considering he had less than half a second to entirely reverse his momentum to avoid contact and there was nothing illegal about the tackle itself, so a citing committee won't even consider it.

Awful freak accident on a rugby pitch, nothing more.

Puja

[Mikey Brown]

It's too late to cite him now and it was only a pen on the day (and quite borderline at that). We don't have to bend the rules just because Contempini is a little bitch

100%. I look forward to the CCTV and investigation showing us that Contepomi mouthed off, Curry gave him a little shove and then he whinged about like a soft arse, thoroughly embarrassing a country that prides itself on being tough.

Sounds like you witnessed the incident first hand?

[Captainhaircut]

It's too late to cite him now and it was only a pen on the day (and quite borderline at that). We don't have to bend the rules just because Contempini is a little bitch

100%. I look forward to the CCTV and investigation showing us that Contepomi mouthed off, Curry gave him a little shove and then he whinged about like a soft arse, thoroughly embarrassing a country that prides itself on being tough.

Sounds like you witnessed the incident first hand?

Yeah. I’m Richard Hill.

[FKAS]

Curry's was just a fair tackle, arguably a bit late.

Sadly, Juan Cruz Mallia's anterior cruciate ligament injury means he'll be unavailable for Toulouse for the rest of the season.
Tom Curry may not be off the hook yet. I've not heard if the Argentinian Rugby Union are taking the matter further.

My sympathies to Mallia as that sounds like a horrible injury. Hope he has a swift and successful recovery.

However, there's no hook for TCurry to be on, as it was an incredibly harsh penalty in the first place, considering he had less than half a second to entirely reverse his momentum to avoid contact and there was nothing illegal about the tackle itself, so a citing committee won't even consider it.

Awful freak accident on a rugby pitch, nothing more.

Puja

Yeah, desperately unlucky for Mallia. Hopefully he's able to make a swift recovery.

There's nothing on field for TCurry to worry about but what happened in the tunnel is likely to be what the Argentinian Union wish to take further.

[Danno]

100%. I look forward to the CCTV and investigation showing us that Contepomi mouthed off, Curry gave him a little shove and then he whinged about like a soft arse, thoroughly embarrassing a country that prides itself on being tough.

Sounds like you witnessed the incident first hand?

Yeah. I’m Richard Hill.

Glol

[jimKRFC]

It's too late to cite him now and it was only a pen on the day (and quite borderline at that). We don't have to bend the rules just because Contempini is a little bitch

Having meet Felipe in person several times a "little bitch" is the last thing I would categorize him as. He is pretty tough character and never moaned about things despite being in a pretty rubbish, Bristol, side that we're frequently physically done over. He's also actually a really good guy and he (& Pichot) turned up in the pasty vans serving food after leaving Bristol (as they went bust).

[Danno]

It's too late to cite him now and it was only a pen on the day (and quite borderline at that). We don't have to bend the rules just because Contempini is a little bitch

Having meet Felipe in person several times a "little bitch" is the last thing I would categorize him as. He is pretty tough character and never moaned about things despite being in a pretty rubbish, Bristol, side that we're frequently physically done over. He's also actually a really good guy and he (& Pichot) turned up in the pasty vans serving food after leaving Bristol (as they went bust).

Fair enough. He's not exactly covered himself in glory this week though.

[Puja]

It's too late to cite him now and it was only a pen on the day (and quite borderline at that). We don't have to bend the rules just because Contempini is a little bitch

Having meet Felipe in person several times a "little bitch" is the last thing I would categorize him as. He is pretty tough character and never moaned about things despite being in a pretty rubbish, Bristol, side that we're frequently physically done over. He's also actually a really good guy and he (& Pichot) turned up in the pasty vans serving food after leaving Bristol (as they went bust).

Fair enough. He's not exactly covered himself in glory this week though.

I suspect the answer is everyone being a little bit to blame, but understandably so. Contepomi was emotional having had his friend and subordinate be badly hurt (and clearly had a very skewed view of the action that led to it), and I imagine TCurry was also highly upset - I've accidentally injured someone seriously before and, even when it's categorically nothing that you've done wrong, you feel awful. He's gone from having every Argentina player in his face at full time, gone to the Arg dressing room to see Lobbe, probably as an olive branch and to see how Mallia is doing, and then got Contepomi in his face telling him to get lost because he broke his player's leg - I'm not surprised if he's reacted and also not surprised Contepomi is outraged given he's overwhelmed and overemotional, and not in a place to see things from another's point of view.

Puja

[Danno]

Boring Puja being all rational again