Comments on: RWC2019: England Player Ratings Versus USA

By: acee

acee — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 10:28:04 +0000

Sorry Leon. I haven’t seen any of the RC games. Thanks for the head up.

By: Lawrenson Andrew

Lawrenson Andrew — Sat, 28 Sep 2019 19:31:28 +0000

Not sure what to make of this performance. We clearly have depth in some areas and two major problems if EJ is going to continue with Youngs at 9 and Daly at 15. Absolutely no idea how Youngs can be rated above Heinz, Care, Spencer or even Wigglesworth. His passing is simply too slow and unreliable. Watching Harrison playing for Tigers this afternoon he is not even the best 9 at Leicester. Daly is a centre, but is both out of sorts and lost as a full back. I would start with Marler, George and Cole against both France and Argentina to gring them down for fifty minutes, dependent on whether Mako is fit. Genge, C-D and Sinkler are an ideal impact front row from the bench. I´d have Launchbury and Kruis as second row starters with Itoje at 6, Underhill or Curry at 7 and Billy at 8. Can´t understand why Launch came in for so much criticism. He dropped the ball about three times, one of which was when he got man and ball together and another after the whistle had blown. Apart from that he was in tremendous form, carrying as first receiver, tackling, organising around the ruck and being a bloody nuisance everywhere. I am aware of the reluctance to play one of our four class second rows in the back row, but with Itoje there and Lawes on the bench there is height, power and carrying ability in spades. I´d have Heinz at 9 in the absence of a class scrum half. Ford, Farrell and Tuilagi in midfield and a back three of May, Watson and Nowell (if fit). Bench would be Genge, C-D, Sinkler, Lawes, Curry, Cockonasinga and Joseph, with Youngs reluctantly as reserve scrum half, though I´d be tempted to use Ford as cover for scrum half and leave him out completely, which EJ is never going to do. There is no doubt that there is competition for quite a few spots, which is a good thing, but hopefully by the group stages we will have a bit more idea of what the best combination actually is.

By: Pablito

Pablito — Sat, 28 Sep 2019 12:51:01 +0000

Yes. Not in high tackle but in terms of making a tackle
“A player must not charge or knock down an opponent carrying the ball without attempting to grasp that player”

By: acee

acee — Sat, 28 Sep 2019 10:10:20 +0000

The Japan result is the highlight of the comp for me. I genuinely thought the performance against England in the warm ups was a nit of sleight of hand on the part of Joe Schmidt but Ireland toiled again and that is just an observation, not a veiled suggestion that the Blossoms were lucky. it was their game almost from stat to finish and Ireland are under the pump a bit now.

By: acee

acee — Sat, 28 Sep 2019 10:03:55 +0000

T Shits???? !!! How apposite.

By: Q

Sat, 28 Sep 2019 09:14:19 +0000

Hey Ed how about giving scores out for the Japan Vs Ireland game based on the Heinz score Ireland must be all 9’s and 10’s!

Seriously though what a game a well done Japan the best team won now lets hope they beat The Sweaties!

By: DarthMaul

DarthMaul — Sat, 28 Sep 2019 06:50:33 +0000

I agree with Don. The high level of handling and passing errors & butchered chances to puncture the line cannot be ignored. Yes England racked up seven tries in the end (but only four v Tonga) however the phrase chuck enough mud, some will stick springs to mind! They simply won’t get that many chances against the better sides and this could cost them in a tight match! Would be interesting if we could get some stats around tries converted versus butchered chances across the two games?

By: Don P

Don P — Sat, 28 Sep 2019 05:18:03 +0000

Sure you didn’t sleep through part of the AB game too Rhodeo? You know, ‘Sleep less in Seattle’ & all that. No one’s passing game is perfect, but comparing that of England’s with NZ’s, It’s chalk & cheese so far. As already mentioned, it’s not just the accuracy, it’s the timing of, the running lines & the creation of space. Whom’s execution is currently better?

By: Rhodeo

Rhodeo — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 22:44:28 +0000

I have slept since the AB game (watching at 3:00 in sunny ole’ Seattle but…I seem to recall AB’s did have some pretty poor handling throughout the game? “Ah, but they also had some (Typically) brilliant handling also”! Yes, and so did England!
Just calling out that handling in the tournament to date, by all (except Uruguay, best game to date) has had it’s moments of less than stellar execution.

By: Rhodeo

Rhodeo — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 22:35:35 +0000

I was thinking about Youngs from the comment above and how he is noticeably slower in delivery, allowing more time for defence to set so, do they tire so easily to exploit in the last 20. I think the reverse might be best, run them ragged and catch them out of position with the intent to tire them. Then last 20…do it some more 🙂

By: Don P

Don P — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 22:27:38 +0000

Does ‘attempt’ count in the tackle rule?

By: JK

JK — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 20:21:05 +0000

If a player is banned are you allowed to call up a replacement, or do you just operate with a smaller squad from there on?