Comments on: What next for England?

By: AlexD

AlexD — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 15:48:19 +0000

Rugger80
I totally agree.
JJ has had a free run so far with little competition for his place (more of a monopoly on it) so any threat for the 13 shirt from Slade is good for the team.
Teo/Slade is the perfect balance of power and guile whereas Farrell/JJ had none of the former.
Tuilagi is another matter but would be good to see him threaten for a place too (purely from a rugby perspective)

By: acee

acee — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 10:33:57 +0000

*Billy, Hughes and CR are nailed on!!

By: acee

acee — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 10:32:18 +0000

For me the main areas of concern are : Tight head and the back row balance. Harry Williams must be given significant game time in the 6n. There is no guarantee that Sinckler will have sorted his head out by the new year or even by the time of the world cup.and we can’t risk going into that with a prop who may cause as much damage to his team as he does to the opposition.
With the players available we should not be shoehorning locks into the number 6 berth ,it’s plain daft. Billy, Hughes and CR so we need two decent opensides and two blindsides as cover. Surely there are enough contenders out there?
Simmonds has to be given more games and it would’nt hurt to give Kvesic a reprieve although i’m not sure anyone really knows why he needs one. Mark Wilson is big and abrasive. Hask could
still be in the mix come 2019 and Jack Clifford will be fit and firing hopefully. I agree with others that the Currie bros and Mercer will be a little too callow for ’19. Other than that i think what we see now is ,by and large, what we will get come Japan.

By: Leon

Leon — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 09:05:49 +0000

Touch harsh on Scotland perhaps. They seem to have shifted that failing to close out games monkey off their back that they had a couple of years ago and have shown genuine progression unearthing some great talents in Huw Jones and moved away from Laidlaws glacial passing.
Still not sure they are quite as good as the pundits and media make them out to be but i expect them to come in 3rd in the 6N. They have a new coach which might iron out some remaining demons. Too early to judge but if they have a good 6N then they could give Ireland a run for their money

By: Jacob Jeffery

Jacob Jeffery — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 17:11:29 +0000

Agree with most of that. I’d imagine Genge is pretty nailed on too, as is Underhill. You need 4 flankers (assuming we only take 4 locks) so Haskell and Curry would probably be in if the WC was tomorrow however I agree that it is there for the taking still for those two spots.

In the backline, I think 5 back three players is enough and I also doubt he’ll take 3 scrum half’s so there is space for more utility backs such as Lozowski and Slade.

By: Jacob Jeffery

Jacob Jeffery — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 17:09:22 +0000

Underhill does have 5 turnovers in 2 Champions Cup games for Bath so…

Think he’s as good of a fetcher as we’ve seen in England for many years. He needs to be a better link player in attack for England but his tackling and breakdown work is exceptional.

By: Henno

Henno — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 13:17:16 +0000

This is a little blue sky thinking but perhaps as opposed the sabbatical, they loan them out to Japanese teams. The club and players could get some money back, the players would play aren’t put through quite the same grind and gain a little more experience in a different set up.

Or the RFU dips into their substantial pockets and pays the clubs a bit more to restrict the number of games key players are involved in?

By: Rugger80

Rugger80 — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 11:00:53 +0000

It will be a very interesting 18 months for all of the top tier teams….let’s have a look….

Ireland have a solid starting XV and on their day with, everyone fit, my view is they are (currently) the best NH side. Their best starting pack is excellent. However if they are hit with injuries I am not convinced with their replacement options & they need to quickly improve this.

Wales/South Africa I am putting in the same boat, both in a period of changing and I don’t feel they have enough time to get things right in 18 months.

England – a strong foundation here and have plenty of player options, even if some need to gain some more experience – which is more than possible (even if it may mean not winning a Six Nations title but to blood in some youth). Still need some work on developing their best starting XV & I think they need to be able to have better game plans in place. Sometimes it does look like they just play what is in front of them. Few more leaders developed aswell.

New Zealand – clearly chinks have been exposed in 2017, however no doubt they will suddenly unleash players who are World Class from nowhere. They of course will be favourites

Scotland – as much as I admire their improvements, for the past 3 years I have heard how they will be challenging for Six Nations titles and each year they flunk. So history tells me they will entertain but won’t be realistic challenge for the WC. Sorry lads..

France – hahaha. Forget it

Australia – its a shame for Australian rugby but I just feel they have not been the force they used to be, probably since the 2013 Lions tour. I really don’t know what is going wrong, I don’t watch enough of the Super Rugby to comment on their nucleus of talent. Are many of their up and coming players opting to go abroad for money thus damaging the consistent faces present in the International Squad? A bit like Wales and SA they have a lot to improve upon in 18 months….

So my VERY early Semi final predictions based on the groups and routes will be Ireland v Australia and Eng V New Zealand

By: Leon

Leon — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 10:33:23 +0000

Problem with the sabbatical idea is that the players in question are not centrally contracted so the RFU have no sway to make this happen and the clubs have no incentive to sideline one or more of their star players that they have built their squad around

By: Leon

Leon — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 10:27:47 +0000

I disagree entirely the days of the out and out 7 have been killed off by the new ruck laws. trying to find an out and out 7 now would leave us failing to move with the times.

By: Marco

Marco — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 01:20:48 +0000

I wonder (and I realise this will sound abstract) whether England lack some “X factor”? Its a given that the team composition on the whole is excellent looking at the results and many of the performances. Just wondering whether if we were to decide a world XV based on this AI season, how many English players would be picked?

A different thought I’ve been having for a while is whether it would help to give some players sabbatical years (a la McCaw/Carter/Pocock etc). Some of these guys (especially the senior lot) have been on the scene for a number of years now, and at the very least must need a long physical break? Plus considering how well McCaw/Carter played post sab., and also the recent Guardian story into the Richmond part timers, maybe giving these guys a mental break might help them enjoy the rugby more when they do come back, and benefit the squad in the long run by allowing deputies to develop and have real competition for places. Obviously this isnt a magic bullet to solve every problem but for the right players (am thinking billy V, Faz, maybe Robshaw, maybe Brown especially with his concussion problems but that’s a whole different rant) it might elevate their performances on return?

By: jake

jake — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 21:43:26 +0000

I think the big/strong enough statement is debatable. Though both are still young they seem pretty stocky and there are other backrow forwards around the world who perform at the required level and are a similar size. The experience argument is definitely valid; unfortunately time is running out for them to gain enough experience prior to the WC. Although injury/unforeseen circumstances could change that.