Planet Rugby Forum

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Yeeeeeeeeeesssssssss

What a great performance.

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blindcider wrote: ↑Sat Mar 09, 2024 5:07 pm I'm glad we played Italy a month ago...

Although the self declared dark horses failure yet again is quite amusing

Nah. We maybe crap it we still beat Italy

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Well done Italy. Cracking game.

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Scotland not as accurate now.

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Huge turnaround there - Game on now.

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Very entertaining stuff. Italy doing very well to stay in touch against a rampant Scots team.

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Their backs were shocking tonight, the half back’s in particular with that platform. Their forwards were big but most of them looked fairly awkward- like not natural athletes You only need a few 'stars' to come out of an U20s year. For England our two props from yesterday + Fasogbon and Wright (Hoo...

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Definitely not the most talented Irish crop but still looked more rounded players than the English. Not sure what the difference is at underage but something has changed in the last few years. England u20s just a few years ago were winning u20 World Cups and players looked much more competent. Last...

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Probably a fair(ish) result in the end. But I would comment that it is easier to put kilos on the young Irish lads, than teach the young English skills and nous. Kilos won't help them scrummage. Good thing the scrums were even enough then. Scrums were fine - we lost the game at the Line Outs - We w...

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The thing I don't get, is the overly laudatory stuff about his use (reliance on) data. Data is obviously massively important, but Borthwick's 'vision' sees data being used to minimise risk, rather than to maximise opportunity, and that is a fundamental problem if you don't have players who are bett...

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Hawk97 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 09, 2024 11:53 am I’m sorry but it’s yet another year where we finish 4th or 5th. He doesn’t get another year to rebuild. Sick of being shit

He's got a 5 year contract so he's not going anywhere in the foreseeable future

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And what about all the other examples I gave? :lol: Well, Earl has been very good at 8, certainly the best we've had there for quite a while. Daly pretty poor and Marcus at 15 a bit of a shot in the dark - but at least it was adventurous. He doesn't select the players I would, but he has, at least,...

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I'm not criticising his ability to coach lineouts and scrums. I'm criticising his selection. There's obviously a trade off when choosing a Lock in the backrow - but maybe someone that has done so much coaching of elite forwards, knows, better than us, what is needed for the upcoming game. And what ...

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But not selection. And this is the point we're discussing. Being a lineout lackey doesn't mean anything when it comes to selection, particularly the backline. Calling him names doesn't change the fact that he has heaps of experience, especially with forwards. I'm not criticising his ability to coac...

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I can totally believe that a head coach has to make knife edge decisions on a regular basis in any professional competition. I don't see anything wrong with fiddling with the squad. As for ignoring coaches - do we really need to go into this any further, other than to say it's another silly point? ...

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I don't think you can compare a 5-week Lions tour, and the associated squad pressures that come with it, with a coach who has had 20 matches and over a year to develop a squad. Ask yourself why Scabbers has been fiddling with this squad and ignoring the coaches who see these players several times a...

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Whatever about the number on his back, I just don’t think Chessum is good enough. Apparently he is really good on the watt bike and has great cardio numbers….that’s awesome. How’s our quick ball? He's had some pretty good games for England and, at just 23, I think he's worth persevering with - at l...

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He's starting a lock at flanker who's barely played there for his club (once in the last year) and never at test level. If that doesn't scream desperate, I'm not sure what does? I'm seeing shades of Eddie here, with the "I know better than their club coaches" vibe. Smith at 15, Chessum at flank, Ea...

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Drops a specialist 8 who he's stuck with doggedly on the eve of the RWC, so he can move a flanker to 8. Brings back specialist 8 onto the bench 6 months later. He really doesn't have a clue, does he? He's not the 1st player to get dropped and recalled - happens all the time. Looks like he's plannin...

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Dombrandt. No one saw that coming. Drops a specialist 8 who he's stuck with doggedly on the eve of the RWC, so he can move a flanker to 8. Brings back specialist 8 onto the bench 6 months later. He really doesn't have a clue, does he? He's not the 1st player to get dropped and recalled - happens al...

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Italy 19 Scotland 26
England 13 Ireland 28
Wales 15 France 25

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Watched that one in a pub in Bordeaux that was owned by an old poster from this place... Absolute fantastic evening, kept Shaggy in pints for years I reckon. What was his PR handle again? The guy who used to race motorbikes or something like that? Can't remember his PR handle...lovely bloke. The pu...

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no fasogbon and craig wright is a blow-weakens our front row resources. the forwards have looked good and strong but we have offered very little behind the scrum-backline has looked pretty ordinary,so if ireland can get some sort of parity up front it could be very close game. We were quite clinica...

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Don't think we're beating that England pack. England by 10 Bookies have Ireland as slight favourites !! Can’t see it with talisman and best play Brian Gleeson no.8 out. His absence was felt in the last 2 games. It might be equivalent to England missing no.7 sensation Henry Pollock. England 6/5, Ire...

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Our star player as usual at 7 and one of the best players we've ever produced. England by 15. England to look befuddled and ineffectual when Ireland throw the kitchen sink at them with sheer dog and grit. Ireland by 6. Don't think we're beating that England pack. England by 10 Bookies have Ireland ...

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I suggest you listen to most recent edition's of The Ruck & Rugby Pod where clear from what respected commentators well Warburton at least are saying attack is clearly not being coached so handling the ball is absent which is unforgiveable. If the players need England coaches to teach them to pass ...

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2 How many caps does Jamie George have 9 Same with Ben youngs and now Mitchell when fit 10 only really Farrell or Ford, a few token starts for smith 15 until recently Stewart I meant consistency across the range of those positions, apologies for not being clear. its very rare that England have a pe...

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One way or another, we do seem unable to get the best out of our talent at international level. We've won 9 out of the last 20 under 20/21 6N tournaments - and yet we've lost 4 consecutive games against a side that has won none of them, and had 7 wooden spoons during that time.

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I'm not being a smart-arse, but the step up to international from Premiership is huge. Maybe some players just don't have the time and space to be as precise as they normally are for their clubs. It is for some games - but you can't tell me that Italy and Wales are a huge step up from the Premiersh...

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ZappaMan wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 10:34 pm
ovalball wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 8:31 pm Marcus Smith and Alex Mitchell confirmed as being fit and available for the Ireland match. Just hope that, if they play, they aren't asked to kick the leather of the ball.
Sways the pendulum right back into England's favour, in my humble opinion.

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Marcus Smith and Alex Mitchell confirmed as being fit and available for the Ireland match. Just hope that, if they play, they aren't asked to kick the leather of the ball.

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This conversation is very reminiscent of BOD claiming that mako was the only English player who might get a look in... only for them to absolutely thump the heads off us in Dublin. Most of us are a bit nervous about this one, 13 penalties conceded by Ireland against a poor Welsh team. :x You’re onl...

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Arundell is just not good enough. I wouldn't bemoan his loss too much. Radwan, on the other hand... Arundell is starting from a better position than Daly, Steward and Furbank. And there's no reason one couldn't pick Radwan and Arundell. Not sure who the left winger would be then, especially if one ...

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Well. That was utterly horrific. What an embarrassing, embarrassing display. They all look like pricks and they deserve all of it. Yep - horrific display. Not entirely surprising. They refuse to adapt and only play one way. Root simply doesn't need to go down the bazball route - he's too good to ke...

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Ashwin out of the test match - Family medical emergency. Hope it turns out OK for him and his family - bit of blow to the Indian team though. Kuldeep and Jadeja will have a lot of bowling to do.

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Stuart has done okay, not brilliantly but around par, coming off the bench with 15-20 to go. The questions then would be can he raise his game to more, or do we have a better choice than serviceable as a replacement. Of the current options only Sinckler and Cole have shown at a high enough level, a...

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So with Martin in and Pearson dropped, numpty will be selecting a lock in the back row. That signals to me no intention to change the style of play, more dull 10 man rugby based on forward dominance which has not been a reality for over 5 years. Ewels in but Pearson out, crazy. We need some go forw...

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So with Martin in and Pearson dropped, numpty will be selecting a lock in the back row. That signals to me no intention to change the style of play, more dull 10 man rugby based on forward dominance which has not been a reality for over 5 years. Ewels in but Pearson out, crazy. We need some go forw...

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ManInTheBar wrote: ↑Wed Feb 14, 2024 2:45 pm
Da iawn diolch wrote: ↑Wed Feb 14, 2024 2:44 pm
ovalball wrote: ↑Wed Feb 14, 2024 2:08 pm
F*cking hell, Borthwick.

Our expectations were low, but not that low.
Can't run, doesn't pass, is old.

He'll fit in LOVELY

However, if Lawrence isn't fit enough, Tuilagi could offer a bit more of what we need than Dingwall.

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Centre Manu Tuilagi has been included in England's initial 36-man squad preparing to face Scotland in the Six Nations at Murrayfield on 24 February. Tuilagi, 32, has recovered from a groin injury and is joined by hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie and lock George Martin. Fly-half Marcus Smith and centre Olli...

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