Rate the match between Scotland and England in Edinburgh, and leave your thoughts on the game in the comments section below.
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Rate the match: Scotland vs England, Six Nations 2016
Rate the match between Scotland and England in Edinburgh, and leave your thoughts on the game
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44 replies on “Rate the match: Scotland vs England, Six Nations 2016”
Job done by England. The supposed areas of concern were not exposed. Hartley kept his temper, Ford and Farrell did well, Farrell marshaled the defence very well. Negatives, Robshaw was anonymous, Brown wasn’t brilliant. But small issues.
Scotland however were abject.
I’d agree with your first point. JJ had a very quiet game as did Ford. The Ford Farrell axis worked but when Slade is fit I can see Farrell taking over at 10. I thought they will move Farrell to 10 in the second half against Italy and bring in devoto. Daly should get the nod against Italy. As should itoji for the starting 4 birth with launchburry moving to the bench. Lakes wil be rested.
I think Robshaw played well as did Haskell but I understand your point.
Were we watching the same game? Ford´s kicking from hand was dire and he is clearly out of form. Farrell was completely devoid of creativity in midfield. If you just want someone to marshal a defence it´s back to Barritt,. (Please not)! Farrell also gave away a really stupid petulant penalty when we were well on top in the Scottish 22. Surely Cipriani has to get a game sometime? Robshaw was Robshaw, tackling everything that moved and sticking his head into all the nasty places. Haskell was terrific, but I do think we need someone in the back row, possibly Clifford, to get over the ball quicker than either of them.. No way Launchbury should be dropped (as Andrew suggests) unless his shoulder is playing up again. He and Kruis are potentially a world class combination. Itoji should start on the bench to provide cover at second row or 6. JJ was quiet because nobody gave him any ball in any sort of space. The pack noticeably went forward in the two scrums when George replaced Hartley, and Care showed that he is in better form than Youngs. Cole still giving away ludicrous penalties. Scotland weren´t all that brilliant but made it a frenetic afternoon, and a win is a win. Onwards and Upwards!
We obviously were. Farrell run late off Maku and then give to Nowell for his try was a) sublime and b) the best attacking moment across both games.
On the two scrums england won late in the game i felt this was more to do with the introduction of Zander Fagerson than Jamie George. In the two scrums prior to that WP Nel had Mako on toast.
Farrell played well but Ford was terrible. Care still needs to work on those wayward box kicks but otherwise played well. Agree that the backrow needed a bit more pace
No one could call this a thoroughly convincing England performance but as Jez says,it achieved it’s prime objective.
I was impressed by the way in which England managed the last 20. You could clearly see jones’ influence in the way they kept the clock ticking and sucked the life out of Scotland’s attempted comeback,in a way they never really appeared capable of doing under the previous regime.
Billy V was tremendous. Care kept the tempo moving nicely although the first 15 was a bit headless at times. Mike Brown showed his composure under the high ball and Watson and Nowell were lively.
I agree with Jez re Robshaw. We need a second carrier to share the burden with BV. Robshaw has his strengths but that is not one of them. I would love to see Ewers in the mix when he’s fit.
Dan Cole still looks below par to me,ditto Marler.
Plenty to work then but better to be addressing weaknesses on the back of a victory rather than a loss.
Thought Marler did pretty well given he was up against Nel, who was one of the stand out tight heads of the RWC
A win is a win.
Ford/Farrell didn’t work for me, far too much uncreative kicking, why do we continue to kick away possession? Why is Ford in the squad anyway he adds nothing, surely with a kicker of Farrell’s ability (and he played well below parr) Cipriani would add another dimension at 10? England on the whole played very average with some good individual performances. lots to work on!
Cips kicking stats keep him out. His age may also be a factor.
If age is a factor then Robshaw,Haskell, and Cole should all be dumped. Hopefully today was just the start of a rejuvenation process that will see genuinely expansive,tactically astute rugby. If so then Cips should be in the mix.
I am guessing the game plan was not to play it wide based on how the game went and EJ’s post match comments (reading between the lines required)!
For a first run out it was spot on with funnily enough a win to show. No requirement to throw all the toys out of the pram whatsoever as in a lot of these comments. On to the next game
I disagree with comments about Robshaw I think he had a good game and sure the stats will say the same. Haskell however was awful. He sat behind the rucks every time don’t think he ever once tried to get a turnover. He should be dropped and this time for good.
Our kick chase was poor a lot of the time, and we gave away far to many soft penalties in the first half. That said it was always going to be a very tight game and we definitely looked the better side without really clicking into gear.
I don’t understand Scotland if you look at their players individually they look great on paper but can never seem to pull off a complete team performance?
Also thought their fans were very footballish the way they made so much noise during all Farrell s kicks. Poor form!
End of the day we got through the first test and can now build. Hope to see new caps in next game especially Itoje and Daly
Haskell had a great game! He carried well, didn’t knock on once, and was a behemoth in defence. Scotland secured their ruckball well, forgive the guy for not being Superman and single-handedly chucking the \Gray brothers simultaneously off the ball to force a turnover.
Totally agree with the kick-chase comment – awful. Poor timing, not weighted properly, and never had chasers running on it at pace (result of mis-communication with the back three?). Particularly dangerous with Hogg waiting to receive. And yet Ford, and Care as well to an extent, kept trying it…
Can´t believe what you say about Haskell! He had quite clearly been given a role to play and had probably his best game in an England shirt. He tackled and carried ferociously and gave Scotland no room at all round the fringes. I still think he is a better 6 than 7, and would have him there in preference to Robshaw, but as a pack we won seven turnovers to four and forced the Scots to cough up possession at impact 16 times, several of which were due to the hard tackling of the back row. It may be a somewhat one dimensional plan but at least it was well executed and until we find a better 7 (which looks to be some way in the future) I´m happy to leave well alone, though I´d like to see Itoje on the bench instead of Lawes as back and second row cover.
Agree on your other points re kick chase, consistently too long and straight to a man, the soft penalties issue, Cole as usual to the fore in that respect, and the booing of the kicker which is not acceptable. Have another look at a recording and see if you change your mind about Haskell! .
I agree with Will and Andy on Haskell. The bloke was immense.
Exhibit A is leading the tackle stats with 18, (Kruis next on 16).
I think the issue is that Haskell and Robshaw should be playing 6. Therefore it would not suprize me to see Robshaw dropped (he didn’t have his best game). And bring in a proper open side!
Robshaw was fine, however haskell was terrible for a 7, what was he even doing at the breakdown i’m not sure what george smith taugh him because we weren’t getting quick ball. Robshaw on the other hand actually gave us a turnover. To sum it all up we have two number six again. We need a real 7 as we struggled at the breakdown.
Ford carried his form from bath to england, i have no idea the amount of times he just kicked for some reason we should’ve brought in devoto and moved farrell to 10. Farrell showed he is not the answer for 12 but is rather a temp fix.
B Vunipola was are primary carrier but if he gets shutdown i think we will be in trouble. Eddie Jones looks to have improved our set piece but outside of that we seemed to rely on the spur of the moment. Guess we really need an attack coach.
Haskell made 18 tackles (only Roberts and Faletau made more over the six nations games this weekend) and missed none. Robshaw made 7 so presumably was freed up to work more in the securing-of-ball department.
Sure, England fans want to see a David Pocock figure in the white 7 shirt, clamped onto the ball like a limpet, but collectively England won 16 turnovers so they must have done something right.
What I saw was Haskell working his arse off and I think he should get a bit more recognition and appreciation for it.
Well a win is a win, however unconvincing it was. Can’t see Ireland or Wales being overly concerned about us though.
Was worried about playing 2 6s instead of a 7, and don’t think that worked (like it didn’t for SL). I am however pleased that we seemed to know what were meant to be doing even if the execution in several areas – particularly all kicking – was often poor.
It’s going to take EJ time to get England playing like he wants, with the players he wants, so for now I’ll just take the win and see if there is a further improvement in the next game.
Despite the low score I enjoye the first half. Intense and thunderous, the halftime whistle seemed to come really quickly. The second half quickly bored me – it was clear Scotland were not going to score and Eng were on top so for a non fan the excitement quickly petered out. Job done by Jones for his first match – not the Japan free flowing excitement approach, rather a solid enough workout. Launchbury and Care were excellent, Hartley nearly popped (the ref told him off for swearing when talking to him), Farrel ran at people who weren’t looking at him and Lawes wasted time trying to find Scotland’s backs so he could big hit them. Marler got away with murder at the scrum, Brown always made the first few yards fantastically well again. It looked like an SL side with a gameplan which I suppose I should have expected. But worried about today’s game – the std of rugby was fairly low yesterday, if today doesn’t deliver then it’ll have been an exciting but low quality weekend.
Eddie’s had the players for only 2 weeks.Away to a good Scottish side this was a good result.I don’t care how we play as long as we win.And that is Eddie’s single goal-fine with me
Ford kicked far too much, but that was the game plan. Set piece was solid. Breakdown was average. An openside is badly needed as is a second ball carrier. Defence was very solid and organised. That said a win is a win and at least EJ has a game plan that his team played to. Early days but England have points on the board.
Tbh I don’t think that was too bad for a run out, and as Brighty pointed out above, it was a fairly comfortable win in the end, despite the numerous opportunities England seemed to want to give Scotland in the last 10 minutes. Thankfully it appears we’re more likely to see the rapture than a Scottish try atm.
2 well taken tries, some improvements in the set piece but still a lot to improve. Defence was very good, clearly that was the priority in the limited time EJ had with the squad.
I thought Launchbury and Kruis were great, Itoje may have to wait a little longer, though would have him above Lawes. Nowell was impressive, his kick created the opportunity for the first try and great finish for the second. Billy V was immense, it’s a shame his fellow vcs didn’t follow his lead.
Farrell had an ordinary match up until the needless shove on Laidlaw, which sent him into negative territory IMO, Brown had one of his worst matches for England. Flankers seemed quite anonymous. Ford not great either.
Still a win away, 2 tries scored, none conceded. I really hope Devoto and Clifford start, Itoje and Beaumont at least to be in the 23, maybe Josh to start.
Would play Itoje at 6 as replacement for Robshaw.
This was a very poor game with two poor teams, bottom line! Two many mistakes, turnovers and misplaced kicks. The only highlight was England second try. A simple loop around. creating space for the try.
This was a terrible game, one ok team against one awful team. The mistake count was massive, the penalty count was too high for England, both teams butchered chances.
So we learned that England can bully Scotland and Scotland cannot score tries, that’s new. England’s backs did not create much space, the best pass of the match was from a prop. England’s forwards still struggle at the break down n what was a slow game, God help them in a fast one.
I hope Eddie can sort it out, I was never expecting him to turn the world cup disgrace into a WC winning team in 2 weeks, but we are short on real quality players.
At least someone won unlike the game the saw this afternoon!
A lot of negativity here for a win at Murrayfield. 1st game for a new coach with 2 weeks to instil his ideas, accept that not everyone was world class but no one was really poor either and at least people seemed to understand what they were being asked to do. Any team coming off the back of a World Cup like England’s should be happy to get a win, lets criticise if they don’t improve but right now a win is a win and we shouldn’t ask for more.
Jones has made a great start imo and seems to be building on the good work done by Lancaster. This is a much improved Scotland team and England’s defense was very proactive. They hustled and harassed brilliantly. Hartley was solid and led by example.
Sorry but score was relatively close and I accept Scotland lacked creativity England were poor. On this form the two least imaginative sides. England will do what they always do use muscle to make up for lack of skill.
Think Mako displayed the most sublime bit of skill of the weekend.
Was a fairly even game I thought. England deserved the win overall, they defended very well and had good structure. Scotland started badly , played well in parts but never got into their stride..partly because of England’s organized defense and partly because of lack of focus and structure at key moments. England, despite scoring 2 tries, looked pretty lame in attack. Scotland had chances and managed to make total hash of them.
Both teams can play worse and both can play better. Not much between them imo.
Farrell is a temporary fix at 12 until Tuilagi returns I’m guessing. I’d replace both Robshaw and Haskell before the Autumn series and tour to develop the next generation if neither of the aforesaid players have shown enough improvement under Smiths tutelage. Blooding Itoje against the Italians might be a good idea as Launchbury struggled. Itoje and Kruis would be a great combo with more ball carrying ability.
Job done. First game won and it was away from home. Nothing pretty, but a win is a win. What we don’t want to do is underestimate Italy, as they were very industrious against France.
Ford was very poor. HIs kicking from hand was wayward, and he didn’t seem to be running any of the plays. Farrell needs to be in at 10 and Devoto at 12. Stick Ford on the bench, and hope he can make an impact late in the game. I would keep Joseph in though, as him and Devoto play together a lot so there should be good communication there.
Changes I would make for Italy game; Devoto in for Ford (Farrell to 10). Clifford in for Robshaw (Haskell to 6). Itoje replaces Lawes on the bench. Brookes in for Cole (Cole to the bench).
Also tempted to have Daly on the bench instead of Goode. May be handy to bring on late in the game with his pace and he can cover 13, wing and 15 (and kick penalties from his own half of the pitch).
Agree completely with the changes. I would definitely bring Daly on to the bench instead of Goode, and aim to give him a proper 20min run. He could wreck havoc against a tiring Italian side.
A job done but that’s about it. These are time served players who lacked confidence and aggression. The line speed was pedestrian. If England play like that against Wales or Ireland, they will loose. I thought the whole idea was to be abrasive, to use EJ’s words. It was Ireland that set the tempo this weekend. I’m getting a bit fed up with ” it’s the first game, new manager new team,what do you expect”. We seem to carry the wait of expectancy far to heavily and it results in a nervous and indecisive performance. Marler and Cole are not playing well enough and Ford has forgotten that on his day, he is a class fly half. We have to be more dynamic at the breakdown or Wales and Ireland will give us a torrid afternoon. Still not sure about Jones. I expected England to hit the ground running ( with some direct talking Jones man management ) but it was not to be. I don’t want to be cynical but I can’t see better than third place at the moment.
Interesting view Sharpy. Not sure how you think the line speed was pedestrian and not abrasive. The line speed and abrasive defence was the main reason Scotland couldn’t get any decent front foot ball.
Compare this to the England team that crashed out of the World cup, and given the fact that EJ and his coaches have had two weeks, I was pleasantly surprised. A few tweaks, and some possible selection changes and we could win it.
The better team won mainly due to a well organised defence which strangled Scotland. As for the booing of the kicker – it reminded me of the RWC at Twickenham when Welsh and Oz kickers were jeered and Fiji’s Cibi was poorly respected. So criticising Scotland fans for booing is the pot calling the kettle black.
Scrum was even, line-out better for England & Robshaw & Haskell did a good job against 2 ‘out & out 7s’
Happy with the win but realistically Scotland aren’t as good as their last game suggested & England aren’t as bad as their last game suggested.
Yeah, the two 6s came out on top of the two 7s didn’t they?
I think many England fans are so hooked on the necessity of a “proper” openside that they refuse to accept the achievements of the flankers we do have.
Or to quote from the film Cocktail, “Coughlin’s law: anything else is always ‘something better'”!
I think this showed that having a “proper 7” is only more valuable if they are better players.
Which is why I wouldn’t be shoe-horning a 7 into the team unless they are someone that is clearly better than Haskell and Robshaw. Jones obviously feels Kvesic isn’t, and there aren’t many other options.
This was the same old stuff from England albeit with a better lineout and scrum. The recycle is usually too slow to bother quality teams. When the first flourishes of back moves come to nothing they revert to type and start booting away their possession. Some one tell me what the point is of booting the ball up the pitch and not chasing it and putting the receiver under as much pressure as possible ? Its just saying “There you go have another crack”. They got away with it on Saturday, I doubt the same will be true with Ireland or Wales and probably France.