Comments on: Rate the match: England vs New Zealand November 2014

By: Don P

Don P — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 15:22:06 +0000

Ronnie
So is Lancaster the soultion or the problem then, esp with that 6 yr extension & a WC less than 1 yr away? As an NZer, when I’ve opined some of yr thoughts, I get castigated for being anything to a ‘keyboard warrior’, to a ‘troll’ (yikes!) to having a chip (not micro apparantly) etc, but I (we?) see things differently from many here. The things you say regds SL have surely been apparent from near the start (e.g. sticking to Farrell, chucking out the ‘old’ for the sake of the new – does he remember Nick Easter… or NZ’s Brad Thorn?). He’s the guy who sets the tone (style of game, skills required, tactics, strat) & picks players to fit his ‘vision’. So, the buck stops with him! Apart from having a fundamental game pivot, likely fly1/2, or an esp skilled player such as Brown (ok, so he’s been off the boil a bit latterly), blaming/shuffling players is like shooting the messenger/s. As someone said in ‘The Godfather’, ‘The fish rots from the head down’. So is SL a bit of sardine do you think?.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 14:37:29 +0000

It seems to be clear that Test Match rugby is about the third quarter – you have to hit the ground running out of the tunnel – and the last 10 – endurance. The southern hemisphere teams generally seem to have it whereas we don’t.
IMO England didn’t play badly but they just didn’t play well enough – possibly because they were short of test match play whereas NZ were not. Tactically they looked a bit naïve particularly with the abundant kick/chase a lot of which was poor – why give the ball to the New Zealand back row when you know how good they can be? England’s back row are not in the same class – they don’t have the same quick hands and same flair. That’s probably a reflection of English club rugby where the emphasis is all on forward play.
The whole team lost the match, not just one or two individual players.

By: Benjit

Benjit — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 13:25:04 +0000

Pablito he has had 4 really poor games in a row for England and his club form is not great. Hardly “knee jerk”. ” The butchered try in the first half, and the brainless penatly in the second, when we finally had the ABs on the backfoot arguably cost us that game. Fortunately Farrel’s missed drop goal and missed penalty fo the sin bin were equally as costly. But we know Farrell wont be dropped, can we afford to have both of them underperforming?

By: Pablito

Pablito — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 11:42:26 +0000

Can’t quite believe that there are calls above for Brown to be dropped. Talk about knee-jerk reaction

Yes he dropped a pass that was likely to result a try and whilst it wasn’t delivered directly into his arms, it still should have been taken. Other than that his only mistake was a sliced kick.

However, he also safely took a number of high balls and made more meters and beat more defenders than anyone other than May or Attwood (!)

It wasn’t his best game, but it wasn’t appalling either.

Furthermore, there’s no one else holding their hand up. Foden has made some game-changing errors for Northampton recently and Watson hasn’t set the world alight at Bath (though I think he might well have the talent to be a force in the future)

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 10:10:32 +0000

Going out in the quarters is failing to make a semi ….

By: brighty

brighty — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 09:54:12 +0000

“happy clappy, hopey, changey” well said… Getting bored of the management accountant speak that comes out of the England camp. Another game that apparently was thrown away, etc. I disagree with that assessment but to take it as truth for one second – how many chances will SL be given to stop creating teams that throw it away? As many as Gats?

By: Ronnie

Ronnie — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 08:23:46 +0000

England are not far, yet a great distance away.

The nuts and bolts are there,

The pack (80% ready)
positives
Good set plays, good breakdowns, good defense (mostly), strength in depth (think of the guys who are out.
Negatives
Billy needs help making the hard yards, when fit I think Tom Youngs has to play (not because he is better but he carries more ball) Wood and Robshaw are excellent at the breakdown but they need to bust that gainline more often.

The Backs (50%)
The back three
Nobody knows who is playing, May is getting there, Brown had an off day but is good player. They are not the worst.
The middfield
I think the centres get unqualified stick for Farrell’s inability to stand flat of attack the gainline. His ineptitude puts huge pressure on the inside center to make it happen. One of the reasons Eastmond looks good for Bath is that Ford attracts the attention of the defense and keeps them honest. However when Manu plays Eastmond will have more space as he will attract more attention from the defense. Playing between Farrell and Barritt is tough offensively.

Halfbacks
We saw a masterful display by the SH flys this weekend (I didn’t watch the SA Ireland match) making good decisions at the right time. Farrell and Care could not change the game when it started raining Wales could not kick for the corner towards the end. Where are the generals at 10. I have said it before.

WE WILL NOT WIN THE WORLD CUP WITH FARRELL AT 10

we might not win it with Cipp at 10, but there is a might.

Never gonna happen, SL would have to admit he has been wrong up till now, he will sell himself some nonsense about the team atmosphere and group cohesion, like having talented player in the lineup would upset the other players.

1 year later,

When the pressure is on in the semis, Farrell and that team cohesion will sit deeper and deeper, we will lose the game and we will have come so so so so close. SL will say it is gutting but we will be stronger for it and we will come stronger next time. Sounds familiar?

By: Annie

Annie — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 07:38:00 +0000

A B’s are world class man ! take a look at their stats all class and skill and always manage to come back when down, gave their all to come back to win they give it their all.
they never, give up England to me looked good in the first half full credit to them there, the second half the A B’s had most of the possession, but as they say the world cup is many months away anything can happen between now and than with injuries…….

By: EddieStephens

EddieStephens — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 02:17:59 +0000

I’m a big fan of Nowell, but, just based on Premiership matches, Roko has to be included because he’s a fu*#ing superstar! I mean, he has everything: speed, agility, hands, power, intelligence, kicki…okay, maybe not everything, but he is, without a doubt, the best winger in England, and he needs more time to prove that. I don’t think that one match, against the AllBlacks, in his FIRST test, with extremely limited opportunities is very fair.
Also, I don’t quite buy the idea (although I’m clearly in the minority) that Barrett can’t move the ball out wide. It’s not his greatest strength, but he can do it just fine. That being said, perhaps there are players available who can do it a little better: Jonathan Joseph?

I do agree with Haskell for Wood, though.

By: Benjit

Benjit — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 00:07:28 +0000

Sorry to be picky, but Johno’s Eng went out in the quarters. However SL doesn’t seem to judged on results, happy clappy, hopey, changey seems to be enough.

By: Benjit

Benjit — Sun, 09 Nov 2014 22:43:01 +0000

Don you beat us by 3 points and we were AWFUL. I wouldn’t be too self congratulatory. NZ seem to be on a downward trajectory to me. Still at least you are starting from a high position. England are stagnant from a fairly average position.

By: Benjit

Benjit — Sun, 09 Nov 2014 22:39:28 +0000

Not while their’s still breath in my body! Foden or Watson would do for me.