Comments on: Rate the Match: Ireland v England 2017

By: Pablito

Pablito — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 11:58:23 +0000

Not the greatest game of the tournament. Lots of passion from the Irish but not much in the way of great rugby from either side.

Thought the ref was rubbish, especially at the breakdown where he was very unclear – but I guess he was equally rubbish to both sides. Felt the Irish pack were a bit more streetwise in taking advantage of the breakdown mess though.

Nowell should have started for his work rate. BV doesn’t look 100% fit. Youngs had another poor game and Haskell had one of the games he used to have under Lancaster, where he is pretty ineffectual, not shifting players at the breakdown and being driven back or held up in the tackle.

POM gave Itoje a masterclass in blind side play – more proof that he should be back at lock as soon as possible. Can’t help but feel it’d been a different game if we’d had Robshaw and Kruis back.

And on that note and as I metioned above, what the hell was going on in the lineouts? We have three superb lineout players in Lawes, Itoje and Launchbury – all of whom are adept at stealing opposition ball – and an opposition with a hooker known for his flaky throwing and missing their giant lock. And yet we did not contend a single Irish lineout!!

Why on earth not, given the week before the Welsh had shown just how vunerable it was and how much losing that certainty gave the Irish problems. Even for Irish lineouts in their own 22 there was no attempt to even spoil the throw, instead they gave Ireland the easy throw and let them happily clear their lines.

Crazy considering Itoje was nicking oppo lineouts for fun in last year’s 6 Nations and against the Aussies. It was one of our major strengths.

By: CRFC1874

CRFC1874 — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 08:54:18 +0000

Ireland turned up with a game plan, executed said game plan and won the game.

England turned up.

Eddie will learn from this but I was a bit shocked when I saw the team to start, yes I understand why Watson started but I still would’ve started Nowell and also Hughes over Billy for the sheer fact that bringing Billy on at the moment ups the game, yes he is a better player than Hughes but Hughes softening a team up for Billy works better than the other way round.

I am not saying this should be the way England should be just for that game.

By: Naeem Ahmed

Naeem Ahmed — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 06:35:40 +0000

Oops – typo above….”big guns!”

By: Naeem Ahmed

Naeem Ahmed — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 06:34:12 +0000

100% agree, Claire (see my comment below on the main thread). I was watching the match with my father-in-law and was shouting “go for the corner and lineout!” That was the moment missed and the match gone…

Ireland also did a great job with targeting Vunipola and Haskell (our big gums!) when they had ball in hand, designed to crush our spirits….which it did so effectively….

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 23:38:12 +0000

Too many English mistakes with Brown butchering a try in the first 20 mins which would have been a decider at the end of the game. I think that too many key English players under performed through pressure from the Irish. However for fear of being accused of soar grapes did not C J Stander obstruct Launchbury from trying to tackle Henderson before he scored his try. Would like to hear opinions just in case I’ve been a bit bias but then I was born on St Georges Day and a Taurean.
Still made to look very ordinary against a very spirited Irish side. For England always very difficult to win in Dublin

By: Banastre

Banastre — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 23:13:12 +0000

If you go on the bases that the set of fixtures last year were ‘A’ (Italy, France and Scotland away) and this year was ‘B’ (Ireland and Wales away) I think it is much harder to win on the B years, particularly in recent years and I think history
Might agree (iv not bothered to check-too lazy) however it does seem a bloody tall task to go to Dublin on the final day to win the slam (as wev failed there numerous times before) can we have Italy instead please?

By: Naeem Ahmed

Naeem Ahmed — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 18:28:19 +0000

That was a poor show by England… The pressure told in the end!! All week the talk was about breaking records and playing New Zealand in November…the Irish must have loved that!!

I still can’t work out why we (England) did not challenge any line outs…?

More importantly though at 66 minutes at 13-6 to Ireland, we had our best match-winning opportunity…we had just started to get a big of rhythm for the first time in the match and just rolled our maul so effectively from the lineout on the 22 yard line to within a couple of metres of the Irish try line, forcing a penalty…. This was our moment…the time to make the big call….as Ireland had in the first half in a mirrored irony as it turned out. I know conventional wisdom these days suggests that you should take the points, but these pivotal one-off moments demand greatness and bold decisions…. We went safe and with it went the match…we took the penalty and 3 points… Yet Ireland in this moment went bold….as we found out in the first half, it is so difficult to defend a good mauling team from a lineout a couple of metres out….and we are very good at that!. I honestly think with the momentum of the previous maul we would have definitely scored and I would have backed Farrell to convert and the scores would have been level… Completely different complexion….momentum with us…this would have amassed the pressure on Ireland and got our “finishers/finishing” tail up!!

Instead the end petered out and felt like the end of Lancaster’s time when you would be shouting and screaming at the screen for white shirts to support a tacked player or get to the breakdown quicker…seemed like we were totally spent again in the dying minutes…the team scattered always the ominous sign…

All that said fairplay to Ireland (green shirts where everywhere all game!) and Sexton – he is a superb tactician and executes so well so consistently and adapts so well to what is in front of him….and of course and an immense warrior… He must surely be the first name on the Lions team sheet…

Overall a fair reflection of where England and the other home nations are currently….not much to split them with England marginally ahead but anyone able to beat anyone on a given day…. We’ll see if England can go to the next level know….our defining moment….

By: AlexD

AlexD — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 17:18:37 +0000

Absolutely!

By: AlexD

AlexD — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 16:06:40 +0000

Benjit
Well said Benjit my son!
There were always going to be bitter and snide comments made as soon as that FIRST defeat came. Just a shame it came on Saturday.
As virtually all the sports writers are saying apart from Jones (not surprising) is that this is the kick up the pants EJ needed.
I look forward to the autumn, the Lions, Argentina and next years 6N.
EJ will need to look at some new flankers (Robshaw and Hask looking old for 2019)
Someone said it above: “Take a look at Underhill” ; a sentiment i’ve advocated since February when he became England eligible. Will have to take a look at Mercer though (don’t know of him).
Not overly worried by Saturday’s result.
As far as revenge being a dish best served cold: need look no further than England v Ireland at Twickenham 2018

By: Dazza (Dazzle)

Dazza (Dazzle) — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 14:49:46 +0000

You should probably worry about your own teams performance before criticising others. I’m guessing you are Welsh? Sour grapes at being beaten by the luckier team? You’ve always got Italy for company at the bottom of the table.

By: Dazza (Dazzle)

Dazza (Dazzle) — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 14:38:01 +0000

As an England fan I am disappointed we didn’t get the Grand Slam, but still happy we are Six Nations Champions two years on the trot. We didn’t cope with Ireland’s intensity and they won fair and square.

If I was an Irish fan I would be far more disappointed as they were so inconsistent. Brilliant against England and France but slow and plodding against Scotland and Wales.

By: Claire

Claire — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 13:15:20 +0000

The one set piece that did seem to be working well for England was the rolling maul…so was anyone else surprised when Farrell went for the posts when they had that penalty (won from a completely dominant rolling maul) with just over 10 mins to play, at 13-6 down? With the three points from the penalty, England still needed either a try anyway (or two penalties) to win – surely drawing the score equal at that point in the game would have made more sense? Or were they concerned about POM poaching at the lineout? Though again, they had just won successful lineout ball and done brilliantly with the maul, so if anything, confidence should have be high on that front. Or did shades of the Wales game in the World Cup come back to haunt…

Overall, I agree with others who found the game a poor spectacle and the breakdown a hot mess. Thought the Irish were completely deserving of the victory. Re the late hits on Sexton – to what extent is some of that due to his skill at delaying the pass until the last moment, to excellent effect in terms of releasing players into gaps, but with the unfortunate consequence that flankers flying in for the tackle will often hit after the ball has gone?