6 Nations 2013

[PaulWinch again]

Robshaw just continually is magnificent.

[Jon Crofts]

Great substitutions, I'm no fan of Flood but I thought he was great when he came on, Robshaw was immense.  2 weeks rest again should see Farrell fit but probably not essential for Italy at Twickenham.

Refereeing was poor in the first half, I lost count of the times the French were crossing, the trip on Farrell under the refs nose plus the way he got conned by the French at the breakdown, glad it never cost us in the end.

[PaulWinch again]

Joubert is normally very good, missed several things for both sides today.

[Jon Crofts]

On the downside yesterday, Jonathan Davies, Christ on a bike that man is a cock.

[andyaston]

For a very tight game I was worried for the first hour. But in the last 15 minutes you could visible see the French lose it. Their stamina isn't as good as England's or as a consequence their discipline. When they brought Michalaek I was truely puzzled, what did Trun-Duc do wrong to get subbed? Who cares we won with a bit to spare in the end. Captin marvel Robshaw had a stormer.

[Jon Crofts]

Michalak should never play for France again after the Wales game, he's a joke.

[nigel]

Was saying to my mate that Robshaw reminds me a lot of Martin Johnson. Leadership and the players seem to repect him.
Looks like we're beginning to pick up some momentum for 2015.

Wales at the Millenium for the Grand Slam???

I missed the first couple of minutes, but Farrell seemed to have a bee in his bonnet. What was it with him?
Composed himself for the kicks, though.

[Dave Summers]

Firstly Paul e, you were right I did miss Haskell out of my back row options on previous.  Actually think he is the perfect sub as able to cover all three positions.

Not the greatest performance by England at all.  In retrospect Lancaster picked the wrong side and it cost us first half.  However we made the changes at the right time, with the right players on in the correct positions, I felt we won comfortably enough in the end.

It really does highlight the fact it is a 23 man game these days and we are lucky that we don't weaken our team by who we bring on.

Very concerned at how the scrum went on Saturday and I am guessing that Dan Cole has done his Lions test chances no good at all.  I really don't understand the scrum, so if people better qualified than me can tell me why France had the upper hand, I would be grateful.

The Lineout with all of our options also didn't go well on Saturday, which again was concerning.  I do like Courtney Lawes but he can't be playing back row again in an international test match.  2nd row or bench from now on.   The other two members of the back row I thought had immense games, Tom Wood and Robshaw were on absolutely stunning and worked hard at negating a very good French back row.  Did think Picamoles was excellent though.

Be interesting to see if Lancaster freshens it up for Italy as I think we will win the game either way.  Like to see Twelvetrees get a start with Manu for sure.  Christian Wade is another I would like to see get in the 23 and this is the perfect game to bring him in.  I would start with Vunipola instead of Marler and have his brother on the bench. 

There is no doubt we will have to up our game to win in Cardiff, but equally Wales will have to up there's because they were also poor in Rome.

Weekly rant regarding the Scrum V BBC Wales Lions team, this week chosen by Jiffy.  6 Welsh, 5 Irish, Stuart Hogg from Scotland and Care, Launchbury and Robshaw from England.  Does he want us too lose down under??? :-)

[PaulWinch again]

Cole is still one of the outstanding props in world rugby and he's work in the loose is outstanding as well.

[ADVILLAFAN]

No one thinks that Scotland can nick the 6 Nations then?

Still pleased with how it's gone, in spite of a blind Irish kicker helping us.

[paul_e]

Agree Dave, Lawes looked uncomfortable in the back row.

Scrum - most of our problems seemed to be on Marler's side more than Cole, I still don't quite trust Marler in there against the best sides, he's just too passive, Vunipola brought a lot of aggression when he came on which helped, but more importantly their scrum fell apart when they made changes.

Lineout - we did ok, I don't actually think there was much between the teams at the line, they were a little more adventurous than us in the first half but again we got stronger later on.

Wood and Robshaw - both were immense, I really wish we could find a way to fit them both in and have stefon armitage in the side as well (I really should stop going on about him now though) though, france bossed the breakdown for an hour and we really could've done with a nasty little bugger in there to disrupt things.

Barritt and Manu really doesn't work for me, we were fairly solid but we were so predictable through the middle, it was only a lucky break that saw us score a try.  We need billy 36 or JJ in there to give us a bit of guile.

Goode and Brown - Much like Manu and Barritt, the combination just doesn't feel right to me.  I've never been a big fan of Brown and, other than the odd moment, I don't think I'm far off in my assessment of him.  I just don't think he's a threat, he does a good job of running the ball back in broken play but he can't do 'a fofana' and beat half a team on his own and he doesn't offer much the rest of the time.  If we had Foden inside he might get away with it because Foden has the ability to do something special but Goode again doesn't quite have it in him to really run through a team.  My solution would be to replace Brown with Johnny May who gives you the same defensive stability but adds a bit more acceleration and is a bit tougher to predict, shame we can't call him up for the Italy game.

10 - Farrell was great again but Flood just doesn't do it for me.  As soon as Burns is fit he has to come onto the bench.

Finally - 8 - Vunipola has to be on the bench for rome.  He doesn't seem to rate Waldrom but is sticking with him for an experienced option, but Robshaw, Wood, Haskell are all providing that experience, Vunipola is going to be a world class 8 so lets give him a sniff early on.

[nigel]

Just found this on the Yahoo sports page.
Interesting.

With three convincing victories behind them, Lancaster's men are in irresistible form and are now odd-on favourites to win their first Grand Slam in a decade.
But while the likes of Manu Tuilagi, Chris Robson and Owen Farrell have been in superb form, winger Ashton has been a shadow of his former self with just one try in his last eight Tests - and he was one of the key culprits in Wesley Fofana's try for France at the weekend.
Lancaster has now openly warned Ashton that he could be benched.
"I think he's trying hard and working hard but equally he knows there are areas of his game he's got to work on," said Lancaster.
"We've been talking to him about that. Like everyone else he'll be disappointed by the try Fofana scored."
Saracens star David Strettle, whose England career has been hampered by a string of injuries over the years, is tipped to get Ashton's spot on the wing - but Lancaster claimed that is only one of the ideas he is toying with.

"One of the options is that Manu (Tuilagi) could play there (on the wing) with Billy Twelvetrees at No12.
"That would put some pressure on him, wouldn't it?"

Former England backs coach Brian Smith believes that there is another man in the frame as well: London Irish's uncapped winger Marland Yarde.
"Marland is a better player than Chris Ashton and he would be a better bet against Italy," said Smith.
“Ashton redefined wing-play when he crossed codes from rugby league Wigan in 2007. He’s a very effective finisher. But Ashton doesn’t get his hands dirty the way Marland does, getting involved in the nitty-gritty of games."

[paul_e]

Just found this on the Yahoo sports page.
Interesting.

With three convincing victories behind them, Lancaster's men are in irresistible form and are now odd-on favourites to win their first Grand Slam in a decade.
But while the likes of Manu Tuilagi, Chris Robson and Owen Farrell have been in superb form, winger Ashton has been a shadow of his former self with just one try in his last eight Tests - and he was one of the key culprits in Wesley Fofana's try for France at the weekend.
Lancaster has now openly warned Ashton that he could be benched.
"I think he's trying hard and working hard but equally he knows there are areas of his game he's got to work on," said Lancaster.
"We've been talking to him about that. Like everyone else he'll be disappointed by the try Fofana scored."
Saracens star David Strettle, whose England career has been hampered by a string of injuries over the years, is tipped to get Ashton's spot on the wing - but Lancaster claimed that is only one of the ideas he is toying with.

"One of the options is that Manu (Tuilagi) could play there (on the wing) with Billy Twelvetrees at No12.
"That would put some pressure on him, wouldn't it?"

Former England backs coach Brian Smith believes that there is another man in the frame as well: London Irish's uncapped winger Marland Yarde.
"Marland is a better player than Chris Ashton and he would be a better bet against Italy," said Smith.
“Ashton redefined wing-play when he crossed codes from rugby league Wigan in 2007. He’s a very effective finisher. But Ashton doesn’t get his hands dirty the way Marland does, getting involved in the nitty-gritty of games."

That would take some balls but he is one of the most promising wingers in europe so I'd be willing to give it a go.  I think I might cry if strettle starts, we have lots of young wingers with bags of potential, a guy who's failed at every opportunity and can't score is a waste of a shirt.

[Dave Summers]

Unfortunately Strettle is the only other winger in the Elite squad, so I guess he will be picked.  I would suggest that this is the only area that Lancaster has a blind spot.

I am with you Paul, off the top of my head, Sharples, May, Sinbad, Wade, Varndell, Monye, Yarde, Ojo, Thompstone, Biggs, Eastmond I would all put ahead of Strettle as international wingers.   The try that Wade scored vs Irish on Sunday was just top class and something that Strettle is nowhere near capable of

That said, I would rather have Strettle playing than Tuilagi on the wing.  I hop and trust that Lancaster has learnt his lesson about playing players out of position after the Lawes experiment on Saturday.

On to Billy Vunipola, I think he may well be in the squad if he is fit for the Italy game.  Been unlucky with injuries so far.

[paul_e]

Unfortunately Strettle is the only other winger in the Elite squad, so I guess he will be picked.  I would suggest that this is the only area that Lancaster has a blind spot.

I am with you Paul, off the top of my head, Sharples, May, Sinbad, Wade, Varndell, Monye, Yarde, Ojo, Thompstone, Biggs, Eastmond I would all put ahead of Strettle as international wingers.   The try that Wade scored vs Irish on Sunday was just top class and something that Strettle is nowhere near capable of

That said, I would rather have Strettle playing than Tuilagi on the wing.  I hop and trust that Lancaster has learnt his lesson about playing players out of position after the Lawes experiment on Saturday.

On to Billy Vunipola, I think he may well be in the squad if he is fit for the Italy game.  Been unlucky with injuries so far.

Yarde, May and Wade in particular are looking in fine form this season.  Sharples is a bit unlucky, I think getting his chance, seeing no ball and being dropped has dented his confidence quite a bit.  Wade seems to have a stronger character and has stepped up his game this year.  How May isn't in the Squad I'll never know, he's quick and runs great lines but is also great under the high ball and solid defensively, he's just a straight up upgrade on Brown in every way as far as I'm concerned (but then I'm not a great fan of Brown and never have been).