Comments on: Six Nations 2018: England squad preparing for Wales

By: jake

jake — Wed, 07 Feb 2018 14:07:49 +0000

*kicking away possession

By: jake

jake — Wed, 07 Feb 2018 14:07:16 +0000

Will Wales not look to play a more open style though, running the ball more from deep. They started doing this against Scotland so i would be a bit apprehensive kicking away too much territory.
I agree that field position is important, but if England are unable to retain the ball then there will be few chances to score.

By: Dazza (Dazzle)

Dazza (Dazzle) — Wed, 07 Feb 2018 13:55:48 +0000

I would say that against Wales a high tempo game would fall right into their hands, just look at Scotland last week!

Whilst I like the abilities and experience of Lawes and Robshaw I think they might struggle to keep up with the pace to the breakdown of Shingler and Navidi?

We will need to keep Wales in their own half as much as possible to win this game. They are more dangerous with ball in hand with Patchell at 10 and have the players out wide to punish us if given the chance.

By: acee

acee — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 17:26:57 +0000

I think the issue lies in the fact that for Eddie Care and Youngs are not vying for first pick, they are complimentary halves that make up a whole. Youngs starts (generally) as he offers more with the boot and is more of a controller. Care is the will’o the wisp who brings pace and inventiveness when the opposition are tiring. You can argue that this may not work against the AB’S who have stellar fitness levels but up to press, it’s served us very well.

By: jake

jake — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 09:42:37 +0000

We did seem to be far too exposed out wide; twice the italians went wide and twice they scored. Not sure how much of this was due to Teo, I think the first try may have been due to May being out of position.
I would still personally like to see JJ and Nowell return, but not sure if Nowell replaces May or Brown. May was very good in attack on Sunday, coming off his wing and providing a nice assist for Watson. Brown needs to step up on Saturday if chosen; England need “Mr Dependable” to come good and command the backfield. Wales will no doubt put up a lot of bombs for their wings to chase.

By: jake

jake — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 09:38:24 +0000

Given the scrutiny France are coming under, I would now say once.

By: jake

jake — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 09:35:39 +0000

If Wigglesworth were to start, which does make sense based on what you have said, it would mean starting out “3rd” choice 9 whilst leaving our 2nd choice on the bench. I know that Jones has a clear role for each player to fulfill, but this just doesnt seem to make any sense. At the end of the day, the best XV should start and, imo, Care is far better than Wigglesworth in the areas we need: high tempo play, with quick ball delivery for our halfbacks.

By: Henno

Henno — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 09:29:26 +0000

How many times do you think he could pretend to have blurry vision and headache after a change in possession before the ref catches on?

By: Jacob

Jacob — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 09:07:24 +0000

Can we have an NFL style swap for Te’o in attack and JJ in defense!?

By: Hutch

Hutch — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 09:02:41 +0000

No word on Hughes yet – it just says they are assessing when he might be likely to play.

Agree on JJ’s defence, he’s outstanding in that role, but I think Te’o deserves some credit for fixing Italian defenders and creating space out wide. He didn’t make the clean breaks like he did for the Lions, but defenders have to watch him carefully all the time.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 08:54:30 +0000

I’m torn on Te’o/Joseph. Oddly, in attack I’d agree that I’d prefer to see a hard running Te’o.

However, some of our wide defensive issues may be solved with Joseph coming back in. He’s one of the best in the world at defending that 13 channel when it’s drifting quickly. I’d lean towards him for that reason against Wales.

Only other change would obviously be starting Care and then bringing Nowell back.

Also just noticed Hughes is above. Do we know when he is expected back fit?

By: Pablito

Pablito — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 00:58:33 +0000

I’d like to see Te’o keep his place. He provides a physical challenge that is generally lacking in the back line. He adds another dimension to the attack and something else for Wales to worry about.

The Welsh defence was excellent on Sat but the Scottish rarely gave them much to worry about. I’d like to see Te’o and Simmonds giving Parkes and Patchell’s defence a thorough test.

Ditto for the Welsh wingers. Adams and Evans are new to this level. They both seem to have what it takes but they need to be properly targeted. For this reason I’d play Nowell over May (assuming Brown is fullback and Watson on the other wing). Nowell is a strong, clever player and a very good defender (he is also an exceptionally good finisher)

May to come on later in the game when space opens up and his running style is likely to produce better results