RugbyRebels

Epaminondas Pules wrote:Well that was a game of two halves!

what occurred?

18-3 down at half time, lacking a lot of accuracy and coming second best at most breakdowns. Scored 5 or 6 second half tries and really improved the accuracy and determination. Some great performances, but don’t ask me any names, I watched it on mute sadly

Another good crop of players there. JvP will play for England at some point; as will several others I’m sure

England turned that around impressively. The French looked terrific in the opening quarter.

Several good performances from our lads. JvP and Clement stood out but I liked the look of both centres, Relton has some gas and the replacement front row did very well.

This looks a very good group of young players.

Gloskarlos wrote:18-3 down at half time, lacking a lot of accuracy and coming second best at most breakdowns. Scored 5 or 6 second half tries and really improved the accuracy and determination. Some great performances, but don’t ask me any names, I watched it on mute sadly

I only saw the highlights. Most of our tries came from short range through our forwards (apart from Relton and Bailey’s scores). I didn’t get a sense of how the backs looked. Any good?

Full back scored a good try with a clean line. French pressing was very good, up on the 10 very quickly so our backs play often looked a bit panicked. Decent passing though. Defence was good but we did succumb a few times to a french chip over a rush defence.

Banquo wrote:

Epaminondas Pules wrote:Well that was a game of two halves!

what occurred?

A first half mix of not catching a break, France being electric, poor decision making and execution resulting in us getting a bit of a thumping in that first half. We conceded after 3 minutes and then subsequently to roughly a point a minute for the first 20. Momentum was almost entirely against us. When we did get a bit we'd fuck up, or, and credit to France, they killed us at the breakdown.

Second half we were a different side. We got hold, and kept hold of the ball for a start. Got an initial try with a close technical decision. Replacements came on early in the front row and made a huge improvement. Brantingham, Riley and Beaton were excellent, as was Ilione when he came on. The pack started making real inroads and gained ascendency, which in turn gave the backs some quick ball and we turned the tide. Second half was all us and we ran away with it. Some really good performances, especially off the bench.

Epaminondas Pules wrote:

Banquo wrote:

Epaminondas Pules wrote:Well that was a game of two halves!

what occurred?

A first half mix of not catching a break, France being electric, poor decision making and execution resulting in us getting a bit of a thumping in that first half. We conceded after 3 minutes and then subsequently to roughly a point a minute for the first 20. Momentum was almost entirely against us. When we did get a bit we'd fuck up, or, and credit to France, they killed us at the breakdown.

Second half we were a different side. We got hold, and kept hold of the ball for a start. Got an initial try with a close technical decision. Replacements came on early in the front row and made a huge improvement. Brantingham, Riley and Beaton were excellent, as was Ilione when he came on. The pack started making real inroads and gained ascendency, which in turn gave the backs some quick ball and we turned the tide. Second half was all us and we ran away with it. Some really good performances, especially off the bench.

Cheers!

Banquo wrote:

Epaminondas Pules wrote:

Banquo wrote: what occurred?

A first half mix of not catching a break, France being electric, poor decision making and execution resulting in us getting a bit of a thumping in that first half. We conceded after 3 minutes and then subsequently to roughly a point a minute for the first 20. Momentum was almost entirely against us. When we did get a bit we'd fuck up, or, and credit to France, they killed us at the breakdown.

Second half we were a different side. We got hold, and kept hold of the ball for a start. Got an initial try with a close technical decision. Replacements came on early in the front row and made a huge improvement. Brantingham, Riley and Beaton were excellent, as was Ilione when he came on. The pack started making real inroads and gained ascendency, which in turn gave the backs some quick ball and we turned the tide. Second half was all us and we ran away with it. Some really good performances, especially off the bench.

Cheers!

Can watch the game back on the same youtube link as was posted earlier in the thread. Worth a watch. Well the second half anyway

Epaminondas Pules wrote:

Banquo wrote:

Epaminondas Pules wrote:
A first half mix of not catching a break, France being electric, poor decision making and execution resulting in us getting a bit of a thumping in that first half. We conceded after 3 minutes and then subsequently to roughly a point a minute for the first 20. Momentum was almost entirely against us. When we did get a bit we'd fuck up, or, and credit to France, they killed us at the breakdown.

Second half we were a different side. We got hold, and kept hold of the ball for a start. Got an initial try with a close technical decision. Replacements came on early in the front row and made a huge improvement. Brantingham, Riley and Beaton were excellent, as was Ilione when he came on. The pack started making real inroads and gained ascendency, which in turn gave the backs some quick ball and we turned the tide. Second half was all us and we ran away with it. Some really good performances, especially off the bench.

Cheers!

Can watch the game back on the same youtube link as was posted earlier in the thread. Worth a watch. Well the second half anyway

Brill, thanks.

The French seemed to lose an edge up front when their tighthead went off midway through the first half. He was a real beast. As France tired England were able to bring on more good players. As already mentioned the replacement England front row were very good and certainly not small. We'd managed to stay competitive up front in the first half but second half really took control.

Ilione looks like an absolute unit, the kid looks ripped. Pretty explosive as well. Clement at 8 has a big engine on him but looked more workhorse than star quality. The English halfbacks controlled well and kept France from scoring more in the first half before dispatching them in the second. Lancaster at 12 looks a bright prospect and Relton on the wing was frighteningly quick though we didn't really use him that well.

FKAS wrote:The French seemed to lose an edge up front when their tighthead went off midway through the first half. He was a real beast. As France tired England were able to bring on more good players. As already mentioned the replacement England front row were very good and certainly not small. We'd managed to stay competitive up front in the first half but second half really took control.

Ilione looks like an absolute unit, the kid looks ripped. Pretty explosive as well. Clement at 8 has a big engine on him but looked more workhorse than star quality. The English halfbacks controlled well and kept France from scoring more in the first half before dispatching them in the second. Lancaster at 12 looks a bright prospect and Relton on the wing was frighteningly quick though we didn't really use him that well.

He looked absolute quality. Really dynamic. Plus the little things, like body positioning into rucks and contact really stood out. Was a nuisance on French ball.

And Relton yeah. The first run he made. Got the ball with some space, but then he put his foot down and fuck me he's got wheels!!

Just managed to watch the game. Finn Smith would've been my MotM personally; thought he did an excellent job. JVP showed his experience and a lovely range of passes and kicks, but he did get caught at the base of rucks a few times and it looked like the French were targetting him there. His work-on is on making his decisions earlier and sweeping the ball away.

The French have acquired another ridiculous generation of talent - if they can develop a third of the players they've unearthed over the last few years, they'll be a dominant force in rugby for the next decase. How good was Hadad?

Mind, I think we've got a very strong U20s setup this year as well. JVP and Quirke fighting it out at 9, Vanes and Riley at hooker (traditionally the two areas our U20s are very weak, usually), Smith/Bailey/Lancaster at 10, and a couple of absolute freaks in 6'8 Alex Groves and Arthur "100m in 3.62s" Relton. Could be very good fun if the JWC does go ahead.

Just googled Groves and it says he's South African. Does he have English heritage or is he just in like Mat Protheroe was because he's based in this country?

Puja

Epaminondas Pules wrote:

FKAS wrote:The French seemed to lose an edge up front when their tighthead went off midway through the first half. He was a real beast. As France tired England were able to bring on more good players. As already mentioned the replacement England front row were very good and certainly not small. We'd managed to stay competitive up front in the first half but second half really took control.

Ilione looks like an absolute unit, the kid looks ripped. Pretty explosive as well. Clement at 8 has a big engine on him but looked more workhorse than star quality. The English halfbacks controlled well and kept France from scoring more in the first half before dispatching them in the second. Lancaster at 12 looks a bright prospect and Relton on the wing was frighteningly quick though we didn't really use him that well.

He looked absolute quality. Really dynamic. Plus the little things, like body positioning into rucks and contact really stood out. Was a nuisance on French ball.

And Relton yeah. The first run he made. Got the ball with some space, but then he put his foot down and fuck me he's got wheels!!

What I couldn't understand is why we weren't chipping in behind to chase more. The French line speed was good, exceptional on the first half but a little kick in behind for wheels on the wing and they'd soon be thinking twice. Give that boy some space and he'll be away.

Groves qualifies through his dad.

Team for Scotland tomorrow (The match on Friday kicks off at 1400 BST and will be available live England Rugby Facebook page, Six Nations Rugby YouTube channel and S4C Clic.)

15 Orlando Bailey (Bath Rugby)
14 Deago Bailey (Bristol Rugby)
13 Jack Bates (Bristol Rugby)
12 Dan Lancaster (Leeds Tykes)
11 Arthur Relton (Exeter Chiefs)
10 Fin Smith (Worcester Warriors)
9 Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers) (C)

1 Phil Brantingham (Newcastle Falcons)
2 Sam Riley (Harlequins)
3 Harvey Kindell-Beaton (Saracens)
4 Ewan Richards (Bath Rugby)
5 Alex Groves (Bristol Bears)
6 Emeka Ilione (Leicester Tigers)
7 Lucas Brooke (London Irish)
8 Jack Clement (Gloucester Rugby)

REPLACEMENTS
16 John Stewart (Bath Rugby)
17 Tarek Haffar (London Irish)
18 Luke Green (London Irish)
19 Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby)
20 Harry Taylor (Gloucester Rugby)
21 Nahum Merigan (Bath Rugby)
22 Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks)
23 Tommy Mathews (unattached)
24 Phil Cokanasiga (London Irish)
25 Tom Litchfield (Northampton Saints)
26 Charlie Atkinson (Wasps)

We won 31-12.
Not great. Conceding over 20 pens with a red and yellow card didnt help.
We did look good at times when moving the ball but discipline and turnovers really hurt us. Scotland didnt have the firepower to take advantage.
Riley was good and Lancaster excellent. He should be a Premiership player next season.

Interesting game that. We should’ve put many more points on them, but their doggedness at the breakdown and our errors put pay to that. We showed great resilience when down to 13 and under the barrage of some frankly bizarre officiating at times to see it out handsomely. Still a lot of rust, but a more than comfortable victory.

Epaminondas Pules wrote:Interesting game that. We should’ve put many more points on them, but their doggedness at the breakdown and our errors put pay to that. We showed great resilience when down to 13 and under the barrage of some frankly bizarre officiating at times to see it out handsomely. Still a lot of rust, but a more than comfortable victory.

Thoughts on the red?

Only seen it on the highlights on the 6 Nations site and no replays were shown.

WaspInWales wrote:

Epaminondas Pules wrote:Interesting game that. We should’ve put many more points on them, but their doggedness at the breakdown and our errors put pay to that. We showed great resilience when down to 13 and under the barrage of some frankly bizarre officiating at times to see it out handsomely. Still a lot of rust, but a more than comfortable victory.

Thoughts on the red?

Only seen it on the highlights on the 6 Nations site and no replays were shown.

Looks relatively clear cut to me. Under previous laws, wouldn't even have been a penalty, but nowadays you've gotta bend your back or any head contact's your fault.



Puja

Head hits head in the tackle - always runs the risk of a red this season.
To my eyes, he did bend at the waist... and used that to drive up in the tackle rather than staying low - exactly as was being taught a couple of years ago (AKA, the last time he played any serious amount of rugby).
This season, it's a red all day long, and I've no problem with that.
Previously, it would have been considered a text-book tackle with an unfortunate head on head contact.
Poor bugger probably just hasn't had much game-time to make the new tackle requirements instinctive.

WaspInWales wrote:

Epaminondas Pules wrote:Interesting game that. We should’ve put many more points on them, but their doggedness at the breakdown and our errors put pay to that. We showed great resilience when down to 13 and under the barrage of some frankly bizarre officiating at times to see it out handsomely. Still a lot of rust, but a more than comfortable victory.

Thoughts on the red?

Only seen it on the highlights on the 6 Nations site and no replays were shown.

Pretty much as Which and Puja have said. I feel for Brooke as the Scottish runs does step back in towards him which negates any possible chance to get lower. For me it’s a rugby incident more than anything foul play wise, but in the current climate it’s a red and rightly so.

What got me was about 5 mins later a Scots defender (the hooker I think) tackled an English player in the face (albeit a dipping English player) and it was not only play in but he won a holding on penalty at the ensuing breakdown.

Team V Ireland on Thursday at 8pm

England U20 starting XV
15 Charlie Atkinson (Wasps)
14 Tom Litchfield (Northampton Saints)
13 Jack Bates (Bristol Bears)
12 Dan Lancaster (Leeds Tykes)
11 Arthur Relton (Exeter Chiefs)
10 Fin Smith (Worcester Warriors)
9 Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers) Captain
1 Phil Brantingham (Newcastle Falcons)
2 Sam Riley (Harlequins)
3 Harvey Kindell-Beaton (Saracens)
4 Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby)
5 Alex Groves (Bristol Bears)
6 Ewan Richards (Bath Rugby)
7 Jack Clement (Gloucester Rugby)
8 Nahum Merigan (Bath Rugby)

Replacements
16 Archie Vanes (Leicester Tigers)
17 Tarek Haffar (London Irish)
18 Luke Green (London Irish)
19 Freddie Thomas (Gloucester Rugby)
20 Ollie Stonham (Saracens)
21 Josh Gray (Gloucester Rugby)
22 Tom Carr-Smith (Bath Rugby)
23 Tommy Mathews (Hartpury University RFC)
24 Phil Cokanasiga (London Irish)
25 Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks)
26 Orlando Bailey (Bath Rugby)

Mathews has signed for Hartpury! That must surely be the first time an u20 match day squad features a player dropping out of the Prem?!?
Litchfield gets a debut out of position.
Any chance this is being televised? Can’t see it on any of the usual suspects.

I've been watching these on the six nations website - all the talk of I-player, youtube, C4 etc. never came to pass.