Rugby Union 2013-14

[PaulWinch again]

I hope Sam Burgess does switch to union, I think he'd make a great union centre which is something we really need.

[paul_e]

I hope he switches codes and gives it a go because he could be very good but I also hope they don't just fast-track him into the England squad.  We have a lot of potentially very good centres (Manu, Burrell, Twelvetrees, Joseph, Eastmond, Trinder and Daly all have a lot of quality) some of whom have missed out on caps because they fast-tracked Tomkins in on the basis of  very little evidence that he was an international class union centre.  They've made the same mistake in the past with Farrell and Henry Paul who both got international status in union far too quickly.  I worry Burgess will get similar preferential treatment and get a place regardless of his club form.

[lovejoy]

Other than Jason Robinson name me one UK player whose made a successful switch?

[PaulWinch again]

Eastmond looks like he is currently.

[paul_e]

Eastmond could be top drawer but it's taken him a while to settle and he's had a fair few problems.

[paul_e]

U20 game vs Scotland has been very good so far, can watch online here

Kibirige at 14, topmkins at 13 and Billy Burns at 10 have looked quality and the England back row has dominated the breakdown from what I've seen.  8-19 to England at half time, it could've been a lot more though, we've been a bit poor on their tryline.

[PaulWinch again]

I was very impressed today. I don't think I can remember a game where we were so comfortable and in control of a game. Yes we could have scored more points, but I think the pitch had a massive impact on that and I thought our attacking was pretty good. Burrell is really impressing me as well.

[lovejoy]

Indeed. Other the Yonugs throwing being wonky after Hartley went off, it was top quality stuff.
Typical of the Scots to boo the kickers, no class in that.

[taylorsworkrate]

I think that bar the first 20 minutes at France, England have been excellent in this Six Nations.

Completely dominant yesterday and 20-0 massively flatters the Scots, who had no answer to the power, pace and tempo of our game. We must now keep this set of players together and they will only improve.

The only gripe I have is that we need to get Watson on the bench ahead of Goode

[Dante Lavelli]

Other than Jason Robinson name me one UK player whose made a successful switch?

Chris Ashton has been good, excellent for spells, but he had the benefit of the Saints getting relegated so had a whole season to play at a lower level.  He struggled in his first season after the switch if i recall correctly.

[PaulWinch again]

One thing I'll say is that England's game is certainly developing. It's noticeable that whilst we still have a lot of power in the forwards which we need, in the first two games of the 6 nations we've been a lot more expansive in the backs. Farrell is offering more as an attacking fly half and the backs are running good lines and looking threatening. Lancaster is clearly moving towards the style he wants to play and developing, which is quite a stark contrast with Lambert's inability to develop his tactics.

[paul_e]

Not been on since the game.  We should've won by a lot more, very dominant performance and everyone who started deserves credit.  The pack is exceptional.

The bench/subs were poor though, with only really Mako coming on and having a positive impact, Tom Youngs had a nightmare throwing in after a pure masterclass from Hartley, less than a year ago there were people genuinely calling for Youngs to get the nod and Hartley be dumped for good, I thought it was stupid at the time and I'm glad that they've all gone very quiet in the last few months.

All that said the only changes I'd like are the same ones I wanted to see 2 weeks ago, Watson in for Goode and Ford (or Eastmond if you're happy with twlevetrees as an option) for Barritt.  We need some late impact, France did us after being battered for an hour by having an open field runner to bring on late in the game, as a game changing option, we need to have the same option(s) on the bench.

[paul_e]

Glaws missed out on a big win at Tigers on the back of 2 shocking decisions which led directly to 8 points for Leicester when they weren't really in the game.  I'm very disappointed with the officials over it.  The free kick for feeding at the scrum was pathetic.

[lovejoy]

Same old Leceister always cheating.

If this was football it would be all over the back pages.

If there are any Leceister fans on here, can you tell me how you feel to win in that manner? (Honest question).

[paul_e]

Sam Burgess confirmed for Bath, they're going to start having problems fitting everyone in to that backline; Eastmond, Joseph, Burgess, Henson as the 4 primary option in the centres is pretty strong, Ford and Heathcote inside them and then Watson, Abendanon, Rokoduguni, Banahan and Biggs are all very good premiership players on the outside as well, it's becoming a very impressive squad.