Comments on: England’s Pre-Season Training Squad 2018

By: Don P

Don P — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 21:10:54 +0000

Ben H
So do you think it is bye, bye Chris Ashton too then?

By: Don P

Don P — Sun, 19 Aug 2018 16:56:49 +0000

Septimus
Seems like a prank gone awry then. Don’t know yr source, but David Walsh of The S Times reckons he’s still searching for a cup small enough in which to put the Cipriani storm. Cip was unable to call on vid evidence to support his case, but the judge opined that the event was ‘a minor incident’. Will EJ agree?

By: Septimus

Septimus — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 22:05:47 +0000

My understanding was that Cips pulled off the doorman’s clip on bow-tie (ok an ill-advised joke, but apparently in laughter and jest throughout); doormen then called police and Ciprianis ‘resistance’ was due to ‘literal’ disbelief and initially believing it must be a wind up!

By: bolter

bolter — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 16:57:01 +0000

Don i also wonder if the police turned a trivial situation into something way worse by being heavy handed.
Eddie doesn’t like Robson which is why he never plays him! Eddie is very stubborn in damning certain players with faint praise…
Armand comes to mine as well.
Will be good to see Daly get a run at 13 I hope! People knock Brown but we have no-one else who is safe under the high ball and he has a great fighting spirit. Just make him.pass!
It’s been the pack which has been the biggest problem this year …the inability to do simple things such as maul is frankly embarrassing! Not sure Borthwick is up to the job…

By: Don P

Don P — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 15:58:13 +0000

Bolter
Have to see how EJ & Mich pan out, although I’d have thought they’d have ironed out demarcation lines prior to kick off in the AI’s.

Yes saw Watson, JJ out.

Daly could probably play anywhere in the outside backs. Where is he likely to be most influential though? What’s club posi (rhetorical)? where do England MOST need him to play? These are all ?’s that EJ ought to have answered, or will have re-answered, come Nov.

Jones, needs to coach & encourage Brown, from f/back, (& others) to enter the line & give him confidence to ‘play’ the ball appropriately. He & Daly could then ‘feed’ off each other & prosper IMO.

Yes. A real pity for Cip.. & England.. OTOH every man & his dog was calling for Hartley’s head a yr or so back with undisciplined record, but on the field for England, since Eddie took over, DH has been ‘angelic’. Sort of.

Most seem & have for yonks, ready to crucify Cip.. & he hasn’t helped himself. Depends a bit on EJ.. & the verdict perhaps. After is not on field rugby related.. & @ 5′ nothing, what were those coppers doing. They could have frog marched the little Lilliputian back to his Gloucester boss & told him to take the fakir home & tuck him up in bed FCOL!

1/2back? Others seem to root for Robson. Look @ what the job’s basic duties are (passing, breaking, kicking) & coach, coach , coach these into the chosen 1. Then work on option taking (IOW decision making) with these skills.

Easy @ the keyboard, but these are areas that coaches & analysts must surely scrutinise. It went well for Eddie for 20 or so games. Then it went wrong for 6. Why? Analyse it, get the answer/s & fix it!

Already been stated, but breakdown, midfield, fixing for a start, but also columns headed ‘decision making’, ‘skills’, ‘playing under pressure’, ‘attack’, ‘D’ etc might help.

By: bolter

bolter — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 11:11:33 +0000

Thanks Don! Great positivity …but then I think I have used up everyone ‘s negativity by being so downbeat!
I did think yesterday that maybe Mitchell helps England at first because he is going to stand up to Eddie and tell him straight how poor his decisions regarding the breakdown &tc have been this year.
I don’t know if you saw the news that Watson and JJ are out until Xmas? Well I don’t think Jj should be playing at 13 anyway given how poor he’s been. I really want to see Daly there…somewhat confusingly i listened to a podcast a short while back with the great Michael Lynagh saying he wanted Daly to play fullback…he also described Daly as England ‘s best player. Well I am a big fan of Daly but it’s a big ask for him to play fullback when he doesn’t play there at club level. So stick with Brown i say.
Cippers is an idiot and that means we will play Ford now. I don’t know what happened to Ford ‘s confidence after 2015! He’s not the same player.
Scrum half is still a mess. Eddie really should have blooded a third choice by now …Care is what 32? It’s entirely possible both he and youngs get injured and then we have no-one but wiggy who is hopeless for our game plan.

By: Don P

Don P — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 21:30:52 +0000

Ben H
Well, perhaps Dany Cip ought to hire Ben Stokes’ lawyer then. Worked for him.

PS And BTW, haven’t the ‘wallopers’ got anything better to do, like getting knife crime down? Surely their usual threat of ‘truncheon therapy’ (remember Orgreave?) rather than using plod’s sledgehammer to crack another celeb’s nut might have been appropriate, especially in England’s hour of need? Otherwise, this could leave them with the can’t play under pressure Ford or the stolid, but will probably kick some goals, Farrell.. & they’ve only just been saddled with Mitchell! Srry Bolter.

By: Don P

Don P — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 20:48:55 +0000

Hi again Bolter. Can’t believe how many errors I make. Must stop re-reading my posts when responding.. & stop blogging from my mobile.!? Anyway, not much point in my banging on about Mitchell as he’s in situ now, so we’ll have to see he he shapes up. Wasn’t aware Edwards was leaving Wales. I see he’s going to Wigan. Maybe he didn’t want a ‘D’ job in Union & got a better offer? Doubt that England will go out in this WC as they did in the last somehow. They still have the players whom won 20+ on the bounce & Eddie did out think NZ in 03 & his Japan played in that thriller to defeat SA in the last WC. Just reckon he needs to act as though he’s still in charge of Japan instead of the ‘biggest job in world rugby’ with England. I don’t go along with the idea that England shouldn’t play like the AB’s do (whatever that actually means), but rather Jones ought to view it as how England can score a try every time they have possession & also how they stop the opposition from doing so when they don’t. IMO Jones needs to look at creating opportunities through guys like Cipriani & Daly (in their club posi’s) by working on their running lines (& veering IN just before offloading), bringing wings & fullback into the line, using pause & cut out passes, wrap arounds & getting Daly to pivot in midfield & pass directly behind him to Brown following directly behind him & in a straight direction to the oppo line. IOW, take the initiative.. & go back & review that Japan, SA match. Of course this will depend on the forwards getting clean, QUICK ball to facilitate all this, so he’ll need a real 7. He’ll also have to trust his players & give them responsibility to make decisions, @ speed & under pressure as to whether to run, pass or kick. Regarding the latter, it MUST be purposeful. No aimless s***! Then there’s Mitch! He’s got to sort the ‘D’ & that includes who’s going to fill where when someone in caught out of posi (e.g., in a ruck) or when they sustain a yellow (disciplined players might be a good start). If they can do all those things my son, they’ll make you proud!

By: Ben H

Ben H — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 20:09:41 +0000

You can take Cips off that list. How thick is he?? I mean come on…really?? Just spent 10 years trying to get back in the England squad and throws it all away again. Getting in a fight I can understand as people probably try and have a go all the time. Assault police and resisting arrest though? bye bye danni boy!

By: bolter

bolter — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 14:25:07 +0000

World cup not worker cup!

By: bolter

bolter — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 14:22:11 +0000

Don thanks for your reply above. I have read quite a lot about Mitchell now and most of it is negative.
He has been head coach generally rather than defence coach! and it makes you wonder if Eddie is actually looking to sneak in another head coach through the back door! If true, this would betoken an uncharacteristic loss of confidence on his part as his reputation is to take everything on and micro manage.
There are so many obvious pitfalls taking Mitchell on given he isn’t a specialist defence coach and it’s depressing to hear that Eddie didn’t even try to poach Edwards from Wales who was way more suitable. Apparently the rfu is looking at a big bill to take Mitchell on which is going to annoy a lot of people given that the rfu has been sacking people who were very good left right and centre.
If England lose their first match in the Autumn the crowd is probably going to get pretty angry.
I read some of the comments in the nz press and people are saying Eddie is a dud who is dragging England down and that taking Mitchell on won’t work. Everyone thinks England are going to go out early at the next worker cup!

By: acee

acee — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 12:50:01 +0000

This autumn is going to be VERY interesting!
Brendan Venter ,writing in the rugby paper , seems to think that Mitchell has curbed his harsh tendencies and is a bit more human than in the past and dear old Jezza thinks he will be a good foil for Mr Ed, having been in the set up when he was appointed by SCW in ’97.
Time ,as ever , will tell.