Rugby Union Thread

[PaulWinch again]

I'm hoping now to see a backline of Care, Flood, Tuilagi, Joseph, Ashton, Wade and Foden. I think Farrell will come good, but he does need to be taken out of the firing line. I also like Youngs, but he's someone who has massive peaks and troughs in form.

[paul_e]

Genuine question what has dickson done for england to deserve to be dropped?

I'd pick Care as the option from the bench, Youngs, like Farrell, needs a bit of time to work on the basics of his position, he's a great talent but at the moment he's restricting our attack too much.

EDIT:  Whoever plays 9 is only caretaking the position anyway, Dan Robson will make the breakthrough at Glaws next year and is a top talent, just as quick as Youngs, good passer from the floor or in open play, he's a good 10 as well which means he can be much more involved in the build up rather than just hanging back waiting for the breakdown.

[PaulWinch again]

I'm not sure on Dickson and he had an absolute shocker against Ireland at the end of the six nations.

[Dave Summers]

EDIT:  Whoever plays 9 is only caretaking the position anyway, Dan Robson will make the breakthrough at Glaws next year and is a top talent, just as quick as Youngs, good passer from the floor or in open play, he's a good 10 as well which means he can be much more involved in the build up rather than just hanging back waiting for the breakdown.

He's the fella who is playing 9 for the Under 20's in South Africa at the moment isn't he?.   Was impressed with his sniping the other day in the first game.   He plays for Glaws so he has no chance of being picked for England :-).

I know people on here aren't the greatest fan of twitter, but I am following two Rugby journos who are on tour and certainly one of them believes that Joseph will start on Saturday and I am presuming that it will alongside Tuilagi with Flood at 10.  We will see anyway.

Under 20's vs the Boks tonight at 5.45pm, so let's see if we can get a bit of revenge for last Saturday?

[paul_e]

EDIT:  Whoever plays 9 is only caretaking the position anyway, Dan Robson will make the breakthrough at Glaws next year and is a top talent, just as quick as Youngs, good passer from the floor or in open play, he's a good 10 as well which means he can be much more involved in the build up rather than just hanging back waiting for the breakdown.

He's the fella who is playing 9 for the Under 20's in South Africa at the moment isn't he?.   Was impressed with his sniping the other day in the first game.   He plays for Glaws so he has no chance of being picked for England :-).

I know people on here aren't the greatest fan of twitter, but I am following two Rugby journos who are on tour and certainly one of them believes that Joseph will start on Saturday and I am presuming that it will alongside Tuilagi with Flood at 10.  We will see anyway.

Under 20's vs the Boks tonight at 5.45pm, so let's see if we can get a bit of revenge for last Saturday?

That's the guy, he's got huge potential, Just as good a prospect as George Ford to me.  He's got all the technical skills, is quick and looks strong enough to look after himself.

The other one to watch tonight is Billy Vunipola, he's the most powerful back row I've seen for his age, saw him flatten tonga'huia with a hand off last year.

I kinda see what you mean about glaws but I think they're going to be impossible to ignore in another year or 2, the young backs are all top drawer, and with Morgan and Twelvetrees joining they've only gotten stronger this summer.  If as seems likely Nigel Davies takes over they'll really play to those strengths as well, he'll be great for Burns in particular who I think will blossom next year.

[Dave Summers]

[quote author=paul_e .

The other one to watch tonight is Billy Vunipola, he's the most powerful back row I've seen for his age, saw him flatten tonga'huia with a hand off last year.

[/quote]

Yes I have been keeping an eye out for him over the past couple of months since you mentioned him.   I tweeted this journalist that I follow and said I thought he was good, he mentioned a weight problem.    Well, he can always shift the weight, but his handling skills will always be right up there.   Interestingly he is playing at 6 instead of 8, so will be good to see what he does there.

On Sky+ so will watch when I get home .

[Dave Summers]

[quote author=paul_e .

The other one to watch tonight is Billy Vunipola, he's the most powerful back row I've seen for his age, saw him flatten tonga'huia with a hand off last year.


Yes I have been keeping an eye out for him over the past couple of months since you mentioned him.   I tweeted this journalist that I follow and said I thought he was good, he mentioned a weight problem.    Well, he can always shift the weight, but his handling skills will always be right up there.   Interestingly he is playing at 6 instead of 8, so will be good to see what he does there.

On Sky+ so will watch when I get home .

Well that was a shower of shite.  Was an appalling display of ambition by our Under 20's and we deservedly got knocked out.  For the first time since this tournament started we have failed to make the quarter finals.   I think they got stuck in a negative mindset by just trying to make sure the Boks didn't score the 4 tries needed to get into the semi's and they blew it big time.

He took Dan Robson off midway through the second half, as well as Vunipola and replaced them with crap.  Spencer from Sarries came on and by god he is the slowest scrum half at getting the ball away from the breakdown I have ever seen.   They didn't trust themselves to offload the ball, always taking contact and when they did get close to the line, instead of spinning it out for the inevitable overlap, tried to bash it up.  Boks loved that and negated it easily.

Feeling quite down about our Rugby at the moment, hoping that we can see some light somewhere today and on Saturday.

[paul_e]

Yup, yesterday was about as poor a judgement (tactically) as I've ever seen.  Worst thing is, with a bit of ambition, we could've had a good lead by half time as we were totally bossing the scrum and seemed to have their number in the line as well.  2nd half display was then woeful.  I was a touch worried when I saw the team, lots of kickers in the backs which suggested we were aiming for a low scoring game with us trying to keep them at arms length for the 80.

Spencer is typical of sarries, solid defensively and more than happy to keep it tight and grind out results.

[paul_e]

The yellow card for Haskell there is a shocking decision.  Decent performance from england so far but a couple of drops in concentration so far.  Trying to push it too much though, still need to do the work in the tight to create space, look like we're expecting to run through them at times.

PS I love working from home.

[paul_e]

15 Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
14 Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints)
13 Jonathan Joseph (London Irish)
12 Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
11 David Strettle (Saracens)
10 Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

1 Joe Marler (Harlequins)
2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
4 Mouritz Botha (Saracens)
5 Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers)
6 Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs)
7 Chris Robshaw (capt, Harlequins)
8 Ben Morgan (Scarlets)

Pretty pleased with that.  Not a great fan of Strettle but on yesterday's showing Wade isn't ready for this tour, so no other options, wish sharples was there though.

At 9 I'll reverse everything I've been saying and suggest I'm fairly happy with Youngs as his game is better suited to having flood outside (who stands much flatter than Farrell), Youngs and Farrell don't work and I really didn't expect him to drop Farrell.

[PaulWinch again]

I think Lancaster has been quite bold by bringing Flood and Joseph in, should add creativity. Also Foden back at full-back is a good move. I'm pleased Lancaster has shown he's prepared to make changes.

[Dave Summers]

Yup, add me to those who are happy with this team.   We may not win, but at least we are showing a bit of intent to have a go at the Boks and try and score some tries.   I really hope Manu and JJ go well and have a decent amount of games to try and cement a partnership.   They are both 21, so injuries permitting, they could be there for some time.   Flood stands nice n flat, so Manu should be getting the ball on the gainline and hopefully he can smash it up all afternoon.

Strettle I am not convinced about and speaking to my "friend" on twitter I believe that Ugo Monye would have played this weekend, but he is carrying an injury.   I asked about Wade, but guessed that they wouldn't pick him because of perceived defensive issues (see Cipriani D) and that was confirmed.   I guess that is a typical English trait, worry about what someone CAN'T do, rather than what he can.   Sinbad suffered a little like this as well.   If Wade was from Aus or NZ, I reckon they would throw him in and work with him to reduce any problems.   From what I saw yesterday, his tackling was okay and he just got caught for the last try when he moved infield too much.

Anyway, exciting team and let's hope we play an expansive game and run em off their feet.  We are capable !!

[PaulWinch again]

I hope the Wade defensive issue doesn't hinder him long term, I want him in the side as soon as possible.

[PaulWinch again]

I also think moving forward that Barrett should be second in line as a replacement behind Tuilagi.

[paul_e]

I also think moving forward that Barrett should be second in line as a replacement behind Tuilagi.

I'd think horses for courses with them for the time being.  Manu is a bigger threat going forward but Barritt is a fantastic defensive option, against a side with a running 10 it'd be a good shout to pick Barritt and use Manu as the impact sub.