Rate the World Cup warm-up match between France and England in Paris, and leave your thoughts on the game in the comments section below.
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I am appalled by first 65 mins showed no hunger desire intensity or will to win.They have been in camp 2 months no expense spared.To perform in such a poor manner is very worrying.Have they been over prepared?A win v Ireland is now crucial to establish credibilty.Oz and Wales will be relishing their chances
Terrible 1st half, give penalty away, chase last 10 mins. Why do we keep doing that. Our centre is still a problem, Burrell was ok but you could tell joseph & Burrell is not balanced nor works well, we really need a ball distributor someone like slade at 12. Our hooker problem is still ongoing, who throws better Webber or Youngs. Ford had terrible game and worried Farrell might take 10 shirt. The only good thing was Cipirani and Attwood laying claim to make the squad.
Webber marginally, although I really thought George stood up well after an iffy start. Youngs confirmed my worst fears.
Agree about George. Thought he really grew into it after a shaky start. Im not sure I wouldn’t be considering him for the starting position
And in fact his one lost throw was quite a good steal by France. Youngs was all over the place, a number of not straight throw ins were missed by the ref.
Ford had a terrible game and you’re worried Farrell will play at 10?! Doesn’t really make much sense. Farrell showed his maturity last week, and how to execute a game plan in an international match. He was more in control of the back line and the decision making.
After yesterday we should be glad to have Farrell in the squad.
On a side note, Cipriani was outstanding!
Dazza I agree with you on Farrell ‘s worth, but let’s not be too down on Ford. Last week Farrell had the likes of Slade and Goode providing extra eyes and communication and I think that showed in Farells more assured performance. I doubt Burrell, Joseph or Brown provided that and it was noticible that Ford improved when Cips was introduced.
I completely agree. Both Ford and Farrell would benefit from a second playmaker outside them, either at 12 or 13. AUS, NZ and SA usually have an extra playmaker somewhere in the back line.
Definitely agree with this – but how do we fit one in now?
Smith acts that was for NZ, Aus always a Giteau or Toomua at 12. Not sure SA do really?
With JJ in the centre though, can England fit one in? A Slade in there with him might be slightly light weight?
Then do we go with Goode at FB to shoehorn a playmaker in? I’d hate to see Brown dropped. Maybe Farrell at 12 with JJ and Ford?
I’ve always liked the idea of an extra playmaker at 12 or 13 – but that is normally paired with a bigger ball carrier. With JJ in the centre filling neither role; it can become difficult.
I think they will go with Ford and Farrell at 10/ 12. But I’m not so sure Farrell is the vocal/ visionary type that Slade and even Cips would be.
It worked at u20 I suppose but I’m not so sure. If we hadn’t wasted a bench slot on 12t could’ve seen Slade at 12 but that ship has sailed sadly.
Well I know Ford said that the cross field kick try that was scored vs Samoa – the call came from Farrell at 12 that it was on. That gives me some hope!
12T’s is a massive waste of time. Whilst I wouldn’t pick him, I’m still unsure as to whether I’d take Slade or Burrell. I would definitely pick Barritt, JJ and Burgess.
Slade at 12 for me. Much better than Farrell in the centres. I feel with the pace threat of Joseph at 13 and Watson/May on the wings there is enough to worry defences and pull them out of shape with out the need for a direct ‘smash’ 12. I know it not been given a real run of games but our backs look so much more creative with more play makers in – whether recently that is Cipriani/Goode at 15, or Slade in at 13 – and for all their brilliant direct attacking threat neither Joseph or Brown are this. We looked good when Goode first came into the team to act as a second receiver back in 2012 (Fiji and NZ games come to mind) before his form dropped off. However, I don’t think we can drop Brown or Joseph (as they are our two genuine world class attacking threats), so for me it has to be at 12. Unless (and I really hate to suggest this), you shift Joseph to the wing and bring Slade in at 13.
Forgot… agree that Attwood seemed to at least add some ballast & devil when he came on… but, will he make the final 31?
Also agree that Slade looks a more rounded centre who plays what’s in front of him… but, with hardly a game to prove himself? What is Lanacaster thinking? Does he think? Or too much about the wrong things?
Well that was depressing. Flash backs to Wales in 2013, it was that bad, even if the score board didn’t reflect it.
Has Rowntree been on holiday? And is Stu only programmed to change props after 65 mins, because I think there was a big case to change the front row at half time, they were that bad.
Problems for Lancaster in selection (of his own making). Both Slade and Cips have put their hands up big time, for the final 31 but neither will make it I imagine, which will dent the whole meritocracy argument.
Don’t know what else to say other than to congratulate France. This appeared to matter more to them than the English.
I’m off to have large drink, please ignore any further posts tonight, which will be more nonsensical than usual.
Twelvetrees is toast, centres looked poor generally but maybe its the standoff not calling shots. Lack of focus & hunger.
What a load of …. What have they been doing in camp? The French have massively bullied England up front in the last two games. Maybe too much focus of shedding pounds? Or is it down to mind set? They need to seriously front up physically unless they are to avoid going out in the group stage. Australia and Wales will be having a field day at the breakdown on that showing.
I don’t think it’s possible to judge either front row due to the pitch. Noone could get traction and the ref seemed to be somewhat random in his awarding of penalties.
I am pleased that we showed the strength to come back even if it would have been a travesty were we to have stolen a win at the end
I am not sure what the hell has been coached, but what happened to the clearing out at the breakdown in the first 60? How often was Robshaw left on his own, both in offence and defence? It’s not bloody rocket science – get to the breakdown quickly and in numbers, aggressively drive the opposition off the ball. Cole, Marler, Lawes and Launchbury are all normally good at this so I can only assume they have been coached to hang around clogging up the middle of the field. Idiocy
Still at least Easter and Atwood added some power, nous and steel.
BV and Ford were poor till the last 25. Burrell did as much as he could but I wouldn’t take him. 12Trees made me cringe. Brown, Nowell and Joseph were OK but rusty. Care added some speed. Totally unsure about May. Would probably start Watson and Nowell
Cipriani couldn’t do any more to put his hand up. Personally I’d drop Goode who is a very limited player at this level and take Cipriani instead. The man can make things happen and with Nowell and Watson also able to cover fullback, there’s no danger
Two rusty games with some decent parts. Still lots of selection questions. A dominant performance needed against Ireland
BTW – England also need to be much more streetwise. The French were offside in defence a huge amount, especially in the last 20, allowing their rush defence to really get in England’s face
England on the other hand were rarely pushing their luck giving France that much more time to get on the front foot
But you play to the ref and if he lets you get away with it, then well done
I couldnt watch the game but from the articles i’ve read the first two penalties against England were both for offisde, so it sounds like not pushing the offsides was playing the ref, its just the ref wasn’t consistent
Very worrying is how close the world cup is and how poor some aspects of performance are. So many players went missing and yes, France made it tough…..but the team don’t have balance and are disjointed. SL has a very big few weeks, we look nowhere near contenders. Thought Nowell looked lively, Brown half decent, Joseph good but SL could easily ditch Twelvetrees and Burrell. Big fan of Ford but now I’m not so sure, good in parts but a 10 to propel us to RWC glory, no way. May apparently has been good in training but beyond outright pace is lacking in nous. I DON’T envy SL. Not a big Cips fan but he’s class and things happen when he’s around and he is looking more and more a real international player every time he plays. I would love SL to give him a good go at 10 against Ireland and just see what happens because christ we need to gel in the next few weeks. No consistency and no flare with a few weeks to go. Apologies for ranting long post but surely other Rugby Bloggers feel the same.
Well….I thought England struggled hugely with refs interpretation today which may be a good wake up call to coaching team, if they haven’t played training games to SH interpretation then I would really worry…!!
I really worry that the ‘gun’ 15 were terrible, would rather start with last weeks side! How is it that they were so disjointed? I have always worried the coaching team are not top drawer but I think this adds real fuel to my fear. This just proves, for me, losing Hartley will probably cost us getting out of group…I would start George though as no one else can throw!!
Cips, Easter and Attwood made a difference, Teecee was right that England have lost power with weight, unfortunately I don’t think Cips skill will save him either. SL,and I am drunk, is too inexperienced and conservative to get England to where they need to be to even qualify from the group.
Thanks for the endorsement Stu.
My initial comment is WTF was that? To see England so under the cosh was plain embarrassing and don’t blame the pitch please,both teams played on the same patch. I can only echo the comments of others. No grit,no aggression, no brains (again) and seemingly,no game plan unless it was “go out and make a laughing stock of yourselves for 75 minutes”.
Robshaw was spot on about the discipline but how about saying it DURING the game to his team mates? (you’re the captain Chris,you’re allowed to).
Youngs B had a ‘mare with the boot.He kicked that ball like it weighed ten pounds. Youngs T was fine around the park but his primary role is to throw the ball to the tall gentlemen in white shirts.
Burrell made little or no impression,Ford got the jitters,and once again the first up tackling was marginally better than non existent.
Finally,what the hell has happened to the scrum?
I think we saw tonight that SL and chums really have taken this group backwards and are seriously out of their depth.
Lancaster is talent phobic. cipriani should be nailed on but we saw In the 6N the contemptible way he was treated. Add in some bizarre omissions( Ewers especially),the stupid refusal to give Slade,George,Daly,etc game time in the 6N and AI’s and it all adds up to a disaster waiting to happen.
The RFU will have serious amounts of egg on their faces if we don’t get out of the group.The casual watcher will switch off,the tournament will be completely devalued for English fans and the cost would be huge .both financially and to the image of the game.
Other than that and a fire in my hat it’s been a very nice day!
How far was this debacle down to incompetent coaching?Maybe Mr Ritchie needs to call them in and advise they can collect their P45s if we go out in the group.SL needs to examine the performance of the coaches and himself before speaking to the players.
I reckon quite a large amount Harlequin. Sure there was some rustiness, which is to be expected especially from players like Launch bury.
But that doesn’t explain the total failure of the forwards to hit the ruck aggressively (even when more than one forward managed to hit a ruck the clear out stopped at the ball rather than going beyond it to make for quicker, cleaner ball a la NZ)
It also doesn’t explain why they persisted with these silly pretty patterns behind the scrubs before getting the basics right. Every time I saw three or four players lined up in a row behind the scrum my heart sank – another over complicated move that will come to absolutly nothing.
BTW when I mentioned the pitch it was to say that I don’t think you can judge either the French or the English scrum given that I don’t think there was a single one when either side was able to get a firm footing. A pitch like that at this level is absurd and unfair for both sides.
I’ve been saying this for years and been shouted down on these boards a number of times. BIGGEST mistake both SL and RFU made was when they gave up so quickly in their pursuit of Wayne Smith and then settled on Catt.
SL needed (needs) an experienced coach in the set up, someone who’s been there and done it. SCW surrounded himself with people like Brian Ashton, Andy Robinson, Phil Larder, John Mitchell etc.
SL has three ex players who had barely cut their cloth at club level before getting the international gig. How they went from Smith to Catt baffles me. A lack of southern hemisphere input into the coaching set up was also a mistake.
Benjit re Wayne Smith maybe SL did’nt want a coach more experienced than himself but coaches chosen by him and less experienced so his authority would’nt be threatened.Ditto Robshaw who is just a yes man and low key.And yes subs are preprogrammed by the clock.
God now I’m depressed.Tell me we have’nt wasted another 4 years let alone the £millions that have been spent
Upon sober reflection, still utterly depressed. A few things (other than the obvious) that really worry me:
1) Robshaw ‘s inability to turn things round during the game. A great captain gets his team by the scruff of the neck and pulls them with him. He seems so clueless at times.
2) To hear coach and captain come out with the tired maxim of the team “having to learn our lessons” after 4 years of near misses, set backs and failures makes me wonder if this group of senior players and coaches have the capacity to do so. Lessons should have already been learnt.
3) Substitutions came on too late. Once props get on the wrong side of a ref, it’s better to change and hope you can get the better of the next decision. George and Cips should also have come on earlier. SL just seems pre programmed with the timing of his subs imo
4) France seemed to want this more. Shame that the “first” team didn’t shoe the same level of commitment and enthusiasm as last week’s England team.
It may sound bizarre but ,on reflection ,last night England reminded me very much of the Football team during the McLaren years and the back end of Sven’s reign. Disjointed,fearful,easily harried into mistakes,with nobody (and I fully agree with Benjit about Robshaw) taking the team by the neck in the way Johnno or Dallaglio would have done.
Three weeks out from the biggest tournament in world Rugby and we really have no idea which England team will turn up. Maybe ,he said clutching at a very large straw, Lancaster was lulling the rest into a false sense of security with that display.
No , I don’t believe that either.
Lancaster should go after the WCup. England have no chance of real progress under his leader(?)ship. As benjit says, four years is long enough. It’s not as if the players are learning the game from scratch. This is what they do for a living. When they pull on the white shirt however, they look like complete tyros. That HAS to down to the coaching or lack thereof.
Very very lucky to win at Snickers last week but this week there will be no hiding place.
My God what an about turn from all these dedicated Engerlund fans on this site in the last few hours.
Here’s the book cover to August 2015 launched ‘House of Lancaster’….how English rugby was rebuilt by a squad of super-being Aryan Herrenvolk coached by a man who wanted to play rugby for Scotland.
‘Over the three years since England’s farcical appearance at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand England have been building a team with the work ethic, humility, skill, and confidence to compare with that all-conquering, World Cup-winning 2003 side. Much of this is down to their coach, former burger-flipper and PE teacher, Stuart Lancaster. But how, with seemingly little relevant experience, has Lancaster turned this team around? Part biography, part examination of leadership, House of Lancaster pulls apart the England rugby machine and looks at how it’s been put together. Filled with exclusive interviews of the leading protagonists, players, and coaches, as well as containing unprecedented access to Lancaster’s methods, House of Lancaster shows how the vision, personality, and leadership skills of one man can turn a team of also rans into world beaters.’
Who on earth wrote this awful rubbish……a certain Mr Neil Squires of that thoughtful and balanced publication the ‘Daily Express’ newspaper?
Well Engerlund didn’t look anything like this last night did they?????
Joseph Goebbels could not have written a more one-sided load of rubbish than the intro for Scottish Stu’s book.
What it means is that ‘
We are Engerlund and the rest of the World can lick the mud from our boots’
So with that in mind there was much merriment here as a house of ordinary, decent, hardworking valley folk let off some steam and laughed and laughed last night as we watched Stu’s 1s choice team (?) England limp along to their the much heralded and often predicted RWC 2015 win over the rest of the planet..
We decided to give the match 11/10 as it as that good.
Enoch please bugger off these threads unless you actually have something constructive to say rather than just airing the immense chip on your shoulder
Just ignore him. Often the first to post when England lose, but strangely (or shamefully ) absent when Wales lose or England win. At least the Brightys of this world have the guts to front up when results don’t go their way.
please Stuart lancaster, for the sake of English rugby, put Danny Cipriani in the squad , he is 1 of the few naturally gifted England players who can change a game.
Unfortunately I don’t think that will happen, ironically the few players who made a difference in the match, Cips,Attwood and Easter seem most likely to be the ones cut
Just as the win over New Zealand in 2012 didn’t make us overnight world-beaters, nor does a bad day at the office mean all hope is lost.
It was interesting to get an outside perspective on the game – a Kiwi mate asked if the England players were trying not to get injured, an Irishman wondered why players such as Lawes and Billy V were looking for the pass rather than taking it into contact like they normally do.
Is it any wonder, then, that the replacements – fighting for their world cup places – showed more drive than the starters, who are all but guaranteed their spots, and (maybe subconsciously) were trying to avoid the game taking a toll on them?
I’m not going to panic just yet. I’m banking on the players stepping up and showing commitment and passion back at home against Ireland. If they don’t, we will lose dismally – and that’s we will be in trouble.
Was Youngs iffy throwing due to holding himself back?
I hope you are right, but the issues we had (poor breakdown, poor kicking game, poor start) is something that has been a problem on/off for a while now.
Yeah, there certainly were problems that weren’t caused by lack of commitment, but I imagine they can be fixed in a month (or maybe George is the answer at hooker).
It’s worth remembering that a strong England team lost to France in 2003 (which turned out to be our only loss in 24 games), but that wasn’t the end of the world. We responded by dishing out and almighty hammering the next weekend, we need to see the same response this time around.
2003 was quite funny. Both coaches agreed to field 2nd teams in the respective away fixtures, only for England to thrash France b at home and come within a whisker of beating the a team with our b team! Those were the days. That said the England b team looking better than the first team atm!
I see in the papers SL quoted playing down Cipriani’s cameo (whilst name checking Easter). I say again, as I did so before the match, what was the point of playing Cips if he had no chance of making the squad, as I’m not sure what more he could’ve done. Surely having another look at Burgess or Slade from the bench would’ve been more worth while.
Gentlemen a question.How much do you think the players have enjoyed the last 2 months with the Headmaster and his cohorts?What is the general level of their morale.What is the Stu/Robbo relationship?Healthy debate or master/servant?
Psycologically is the camp in good or poor condition?
Your comments of much interest
Well that was very depressing to watch. The pack looked like they just weren’t interested.
I’d definitely bring Parling into the starting line up asap. Without Hartley, the best set piece hooker in world rugby, our line out has gone to pot. Parling is out best line out forward; so I’d probably end up dropping Launchbury despite being a massive fan of his. Personally I’d still have, and still would, have Hartley in my squad. He’s only going to miss the Fiji game which is hardly a massive issue having two hookers for one match – Aus have two hookers for the whole tournament!
The backs; I feel sorry for. Ford was dreadful but he did have some crap ball to use. That being said, the pack weren’t much better last week and Farrell was much better.
Cips, whilst brilliant, I’m still unsure if I’d pick him. Is he a better full back than Goode? I certainly wouldn’t have him at 10 before Ford or Farrell. Whilst he looked brilliant yesterday, it was after France had already checked out for the day.
Easters performance re-affirmed by opinion that he should go at 4th choice lock. The 4th lock is never going to start a game anyway, with Launchbury, Lawes and Parling all nailed on. Worst case is that he covers lock from the bench which he can do fine at. Good option to have in the squad.
I’m desperately hoping that the pack performance was a one off – haven’t seen anything like that under SL since Cardiff in 2013.
Yep I am with you here – Easter for the 4th lock position. If he is on the bench it allows us to change out game plan if necessary – I would have both him and Morgan in the 23. I liked the choice to beef up the back row with Vunipola shifting to 6 and Easter coming at 8. Gave us more go forward when we were really lacking it. He is a much smarter footballer and offers a degree of stability at the base of the scrum that Vunipola sometimes lack. He also brings the ability to offload out the tackle beyond the gain line – the (old) Harlequins style. It was what Picamoles has added to his game and totally transformed the way the French pack attacks. Puts the opposition on the back foot immediately and allows you to keep attacking. Been really impressed with his performances during the 6N and off the bench. He looks fired up and hungry, which is more than I can say for the starting 8…
Have to say for the first time I didn’t see a thing of Launchbury. Completely anonymous. That worries me more than anything (except our first choice front row getting chewed up and spat out. Oh and the lineout failing).
Well after that game, I think we need to take Easter as second row/back row cover. Even if Morgan is fit, will he stay fit? (Lawes, Launchbury, Parling and Easter).
We also definitely need to take Cipriani. I would take him as one of the centres, because essentially that’s the job he was doing despite coming on at FB. He did more effective work in his 20 minutes than most of the other backs did. I really hope this was the end of 12T. Apart from being a decoy runner in the lead up to Cips try I didn’t see him do anything, and was a waste of a substitution. Would have been better leaving May on and having Cips at 12. (Barritt, Burgess, Jospeh, Cips).
I think some of these players came into the game thinking their selection was safe, and didn’t need to play to the best of their ability. Also some of them were playing after only recently coming back from injury. Launchbury looked good for someone who only played a handful of games at the back end of the season. Brown looked tired, and apart from that one fantastic catch and a couple of decent clearances, he didn’t make much of an impact.
I though the ref seemed to be picking on us a bit at the breakdown. A couple of the penalties he gave for not releasing the ball were questionable. One of Coles, and one of Billy V’s. Billy V was clearly the first player there, hands on the ball, and still gets done for not releasing. I also think the French got away with a lot. Some of their front ball lineout throws were not straight and couple of forward passes missed. The offside was not well marshalled by the officials either.
12T did do one thing – he threw a quite appalling pass at one point when we were close to the French line
I agree about Cipriani but would take him intead of Goode (wlthough that will never happen)
Brown I thought, not only grew into the game but also provided some very good kicking at points when no one else was doing it and it was badly needed.
What’s happened to Billy V? He seems to have lost some size and with it some power.
BTW – Attwood has to be starting or on the bench. He had a great impact when he came on. He gives the pack some much needed heft
I think Ford’s improvement was mainly due to the pack finally getting their act together – running straight lines, hitting the defence at speed, getting over the gainline and clearing out effectively and quickly. This, allied to Care’s quick service (much better than the previous weekend), meant that Ford had much more space and time
I’m sure Cipriani helped as well but to my mind the main reason for the improvement was down to the pack and Ford not getting ball + Frenchmen at the same time.
Picking Farrell at 12 would be a mistake. What defence will look up, see Farrell at 12 and worry about him? He’s not going to do anyone for pace, he won’t be bouncing anyone off in the tackle, he’s not going to dance out of tackles. Playing him there will allow opposition defences to focus on closing down space for the more dangerous men outside of him.
Apologies – this was meant as a response to Dazza and Benjit further up-thread
The only reason I would play Farrell at 12/13 would be as an extra playmaker, and his defensive abilities. He would take quite a bit of pressure off Ford, and allow Ford to play second playmaker as well. Defences wouldn’t know who will be receive the ball until it’s flown. Much like Slade did for Farrell last week. Of course Farrell doesn’t have Slade’s pace. But he does have a lot more experience at this level, and his kicking from hand is more consistent than Fords, especially under pressure.
For the record, I’m not advocating a Ford/ Farrell axis, it is just my gut feel for what I think mgt will try.
Interesting.
Cipriani – clearly – had a great game (or was it only 15 mins?). Easter and Attwood too. George, I thought was also very lively.
Positives? I saw a stat that showed in the first 30 mins, England made 54 tackles against 4 from France. With one exception, Englands defence was very good (clearly, it had to be!).
Unlike some, I thought that Burrell did well, and I was a little disappointed to see him come off. He may have done enough to save his squad place.
I do wonder whether Cipriani’s cameo, whilst probably not saving him, may have shifted the sands of starting 15 from Brown to Goode. It showed that England need a second playmaker somewhere, and whilst I know that there are many that don’t rate him, the bottom line is that he is favoured by the coaching team a lot more than Cipriani.
Big problems for me are the unknown form/fitness of;
Morgan
Brown
Launchbury
Barritt
On form and fully fit, they are starters (to me). BUT, whilst there remains an unknown around their true match fitness, there is a danger that England will carry passengers in the squad, and leave out the likes of Cipriani, Slade, Burrell, Easter, Attwood and Kruis.
From a Welsh point of view, I’m not reading too much into this. Okay England played last weekend, but for most of these guys it was their first match this season and after what was probably a harder than usual pre-season which may still be taking its toll.
The troubling thing from Lancaster’s point of view would by why this wasn’t such a problem last week and that it’s that much closer to the world cup than Wales’ debacle against Ireland.
It would take some serious justification for him not to pick Cipriani now, though I hope he still doesn’t. As someone mentioned above, with Watson, Nowell and Brown in the squad and the only recognised 10s being Farrell and Ford, pick the 10 who can play 15, rather than the 15 who can play 10.
England first team should include Cipriani ,Dylan Hartley and Steffon Armitage. I for one from this side of the Severn am glad that it will not . No dog in that pack nor the previous Saturday’s which is down to attitude as much as personnel . I’m sure once these phoney war games are over some will be found and I do not expect too much of a repetition frfom the English pack come the World Cup .
There’s not really any point in discussing S Armitage. Whether you agree with it or not we all knew he wouldn’t be picked and why he wouldn’t be picked.
Hartley is a difficult one. I can understand why he was dropped but given he’d only miss the Fiji match, there’s an element of cutting your nose off to spite your face.
Agree about Cipriani, Unfortunately I feel that SL’s inexplicable love for A Goode will rule him out
Some balanced views from our Welsh correspondents.
I think it is probably worth noting that of all of the major candidates for the RWC, none will be entirely happy with their warm-ups.
Whilst Ireland have won both games, I suspect that probably France will be the happiest of all. As Pontylad notes, there is an element of “Phoney” to these games.
The Denver altitude training worked well then. England had no scrum, line out or breakdown… & they leaked penalties for fun. Foolproof way of how NOT to win a game! This was a giant step… in the wrong direction.
Oz must be over the moon Jim, over the moon & Fiji & Wales must be lovin’ it! Lancaster must be hatin’ it.
On the other hand it could have been worse. Eh? It could have been 36 zip as in 07… when they got to the final.
Is it the coaching (lack of) or are the players’ not standing up. Did anyone impress?
Well Mike Brown had a couple of good moments & saved, then helped England, by almost pulling their fat out of the fire at the death.
Danny Cip, who almost certainly (?) won’t make the cut, created & finished off the 1st TRY in the ‘comeback’. He was also instrumental in initially setting up JJ’s last gasp try. I believe, incidentally, that Lancs said put Cip on for 2 (because I don’t trust or like him), but Catty got it wrong & put him on for 20 instead!
What if Cip’d been on, in posi (i.e. 10), from the start!? I mean Fordy only made 4 mistakes within the 1st 7 mins; i.e. he missed touch & a catch, dropped out on the full & as per the Prem final, again kicked down the oppo’s (Spedding’s) throat. And did anyone notice that, as if not satisfied with all that, he ran E 2 W thereby cramping his outside backs into the touch line? Ah well, he’s only young, he’ll learn. Although SWC seemed to agree as he’d have had Cip in 2 years ago!
It could have just been a bad day at the office, but a mth out? Mmmm?
Last chance saloon with Ireland looming, must/has to be be a mouth watering prospect then!?.