RugbyRebels

Mikey Brown wrote:Ah, I think I get it now. Weirdly I said the same thing the other day regarding Slade but read Baxter all wrong there.

As for playing at 10, I'm still not sure. I don't know what my reservation is either as he has all the skills.

How often does he kick anymore though?

I'm really not sure how I feel about Slade as a 10?

Theoretically, he brings a similar robustness and physicality to Farrell with elements of Ford's distribution and attacking skills, which could be great.

In practice, I suspect that he'd end up as a good all rounder, but without the game management and points of difference that make either Farrell or Ford stand out as genuine top-class 10s.

For me, his ceiling is far higher as a playmaking 12. IMO Exeter looked better with Slade and Hill working together and interchanging at 12 and 13. They already had Whitten and Campagnaro and Devoto's signing added an unnecessary complexity to the mix.

If Baxter really wants to help him, put him in one position and keep him there!

How long did Billy play for Sarries today?

Looked myself, 72 minutes. Lets hope there's no negative reaction and he can hook up with the squad again.

Thats a good stint. Bench on Saturday? Got to be an option.

Yep. Give Hughes the first 8 then bring Billy on

p/d wrote:Yep. Give Hughes the first 8 then bring Billy on

8? Overly generous.

Great news re Billy. I was a little pessimistic about facing Scotland...even at home, but a fit and firing Billy tips the balance back to England for me.

WaspInWales wrote:Great news re Billy. I was a little pessimistic about facing Scotland...even at home, but a fit and firing Billy tips the balance back to England for me.

Are you thinking then that without Billy we'd see the Scots as favourites to win at HQ? I certainly think it's very possible we could lose to Scotland, but with or without Billy I'd expect England to win

Digby wrote:

WaspInWales wrote:Great news re Billy. I was a little pessimistic about facing Scotland...even at home, but a fit and firing Billy tips the balance back to England for me.

Are you thinking then that without Billy we'd see the Scots as favourites to win at HQ? I certainly think it's very possible we could lose to Scotland, but with or without Billy I'd expect England to win

I'm saying that Scotland are looking in great form at the moment. We should be favourites at home but we haven't really clicked home or away as yet and have got out of jail a couple of times in the process. Billy is a game changer for us and having him in the team eases some of my concerns.

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WaspInWales wrote:

Digby wrote:

WaspInWales wrote:Great news re Billy. I was a little pessimistic about facing Scotland...even at home, but a fit and firing Billy tips the balance back to England for me.

Are you thinking then that without Billy we'd see the Scots as favourites to win at HQ? I certainly think it's very possible we could lose to Scotland, but with or without Billy I'd expect England to win

I'm saying that Scotland are looking in great form at the moment. We should be favourites at home but we haven't really clicked home or away as yet and have got out of jail a couple of times in the process. Billy is a game changer for us and having him in the team eases some of my concerns.

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So tips the balance more in favour of England rather than back to?

I think we've had a lot of get out of jail card moments under Eddie, and not just in this 6Ns, but we are consistently competitive so we're able to take advantage of such moments.

Digby wrote:

WaspInWales wrote:

Digby wrote:
Are you thinking then that without Billy we'd see the Scots as favourites to win at HQ? I certainly think it's very possible we could lose to Scotland, but with or without Billy I'd expect England to win

I'm saying that Scotland are looking in great form at the moment. We should be favourites at home but we haven't really clicked home or away as yet and have got out of jail a couple of times in the process. Billy is a game changer for us and having him in the team eases some of my concerns.

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So tips the balance more in favour of England rather than back to?

I think we've had a lot of get out of jail card moments under Eddie, and not just in this 6Ns, but we are consistently competitive so we're able to take advantage of such moments.

Tbh, I think it's hard to call. As I said we should be favourites at home, plus being current champions and the winning streak and no doubt the bookies will back that up with their odds. Based on what we've seen, I think Scotland have a great chance of beating us. I think we'll have to play better than we have in our previous 3 matches to beat them and having a destructive ball carrier back in the backrow should help us.

If the Scots play the same quality of game they did at home with no title possibilities vs away from home with a potential 6N win on the line, that'll be impressive.

twitchy wrote:

Not too shoddy off the left hand.

kk67 wrote: Not too shoddy off the left hand.

I didn't realise until seeing the highlights, but that's actually Mako putting in the kick there!

Puja

Puja wrote:

kk67 wrote: Not too shoddy off the left hand.

I didn't realise until seeing the highlights, but that's actually Mako putting in the kick there!

Puja

Yeah. You can see Billy spots him in space as he steps and then he winds it up for the bomber.
Mako shuffles, dummies the lob, switches to the grubber. Beauty.

Puja wrote:

kk67 wrote: Not too shoddy off the left hand.

I didn't realise until seeing the highlights, but that's actually Mako putting in the kick there!

Puja

That was why I posted it. Talented brothers.

In an effort to re-invigorate this thread now that the 6Ns is over, and in a vain attempt to kick the 7 debate off again, I'm wondering what people's thoughts are on Harry Thacker as a 7? He seems to chop and change between 7 and 2. I doubt he's big enough for a 2 at test level, but he's a strong, elusive runner with a good step and a great work rate as regards tackling. Major question of course is his work at the breakdown.

Any Tigers fans care to share a view?

TheNomad wrote:In an effort to re-invigorate this thread now that the 6Ns is over, and in a vain attempt to kick the 7 debate off again, I'm wondering what people's thoughts are on Harry Thacker as a 7? He seems to chop and change between 7 and 2. I doubt he's big enough for a 2 at test level, but he's a strong, elusive runner with a good step and a great work rate as regards tackling. Major question of course is his work at the breakdown.

Any Tigers fans care to share a view?

I'm of the opinion that 7 is his position. He's just too slight to play front row nowadays, no matter how talented he is, but he is such a good player in the loose that I really think he could be a potential international if he gave up the dream of playing 2 and specialised.

Frankly, I think it's a coaching failure that no-one's sat him down and had that conversation already.

Puja

Where does the other Thacker play?

Mikey Brown wrote:Where does the other Thacker play?

Centre. Not really that sure he's going to make the top grade though.

Puja

Puja wrote:

Mikey Brown wrote:Where does the other Thacker play?

Centre. Not really that sure he's going to make the top grade though.

Puja

Should become a hooker, then...

Guaranteed England caps.

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Harry Thacker is just a posh Dave Ward

Harry is just a terrific player. One of my favourites. He is very small, though, and getting him into an international side would require counterbalances elsewhere. I think 7 has more potential, but even here his lack of bulk may prove insurmountable. He really has to play week in, week out in that position and then we might see if he has the potential to go further. I'd have him ahead of O'Connor in a heartbeat.

fivepointer wrote:Harry is just a terrific player. One of my favourites. He is very small, though, and getting him into an international side would require counterbalances elsewhere. I think 7 has more potential, but even here his lack of bulk may prove insurmountable. He really has to play week in, week out in that position and then we might see if he has the potential to go further. I'd have him ahead of O'Connor in a heartbeat.

That's setting a bar so low that you could trip over it. To think he was touted for England when he first arrived.

Puja

Perhaps we could move him to 9. Would solve some problems.