Rugby Union (was 2014-15, now an ongoing thread)

[PaulWinch again]

I think lots of people forget how good an in form Ashton is. He's a quality player and should be involved in some capacity.

[paul_e]

I think lots of people forget how good an in form Ashton is. He's a quality player and should be involved in some capacity.

People see the defensive errors and see nothing at the other end and have decided he's crap when in reality if used properly he's still the best support runner in England (probably in europe if I'm honest) him playing off Ford, Eastmond and Burrell with all 3 of those looking to pick the weak shoulder and then offload would see us punch through teams regularly, if Manu can get his offloading game working and Burgess can translate his over from league we'll have a perfect setup in the squad for the wingers to be support runners rather than leaving them out wide to feed on scraps.  If we do get to that point Watson needs to be on the other wing as he's the other English winger who looks suited to coming looking for work rather than waiting for stuff to happen.  May and Wade are great as broken field runners and Roko and Yarde are the right choices if we carry on playing the percentages game we have now.

[lovejoy]

I think lots of people forget how good an in form Ashton is. He's a quality player and should be involved in some capacity.

How long ago was he in top form? 3 years?
I dont think he should be picked on former glories. As with Robshaw a whole host of players have most ast him and he did get picked for a few years when not on top of his game.

[Dante Lavelli]

The problem I see with Ashton (and Cohen before him) is that he seems to have lost the belief that he can burn an opposition winger on the outside.  As a consequence he comes back inside, presumably to avoid getting isolated.  There's nowt wrong with that tactic as it keeps the ball alive however if it becomes predictable - which I think it has - the defensive line can congest the central areas and not worry about the space beyond the winger. 

[PaulWinch again]

I think lots of people forget how good an in form Ashton is. He's a quality player and should be involved in some capacity.

How long ago was he in top form? 3 years?
I dont think he should be picked on former glories. As with Robshaw a whole host of players have most ast him and he did get picked for a few years when not on top of his game.

He did pretty well at domestic and European level last year.

[PaulWinch again]

One of my frustrations is that I wouldn't argue that Billy V and Care deserved to be dropped, but then so did Farrell and Robshaw. It just seems that there are players who will play regardless of form. What I want is an England team who plays dynamically and is picked on form. I just want everyone to have a level playing field.

[paul_e]

One of my frustrations is that I wouldn't argue that Billy V and Care deserved to be dropped, but then so did Farrell and Robshaw. It just seems that there are players who will play regardless of form. What I want is an England team who plays dynamically and is picked on form. I just want everyone to have a level playing field.

Agree, sticking with a player who doesn't deserve to be in the team because he's your captain only works if you have someone who' a really good captain and there are no other viable candidates.  I'd argue that Wood is a entirely viable alternative and is in the team on form (he should've been made captain in the first place) so the only reason is that Lancaster feels he owes Robshaw something, which is admirable but clearly misguided.

[PaulWinch again]

Steffon Armitage still has a burning ambition to play for England again and believes he is "100% a better player". Armitage has won five caps for England and has dismissed any suggestions that he might switch his allegiance to France even though he was included in a provisional French squad this summer.

Right well come back and play in England then Steffon please!

[Jon Crofts]

Wasn't Steffon born in Trinidad & Tobago or is that Delon I'm thinking of?  Anyway the only play in England rule is an interesting one again as we head toward the RWC, last week Habana stated very publicly his thanks that SA Rugby allow SA players to play outside of SA, after all his game has surely improved playing against better players in France and in the European Cup rather than back home in SA.

[UK Redsox]

I could understand England not picking players who play in SA/NZ/AUS but can't seen any reason for not picking those in France.

If Newcastle had any players in the England squad they'd be further away from HQ than any English players in a Paris team.

[paul_e]

I could understand England not picking players who play in SA/NZ/AUS but can't seen any reason for not picking those in France.

If Newcastle had any players in the England squad they'd be further away from HQ than any English players in a Paris team.

It's based on a agreement between the premiership and the RFU to allow the Elite squad members a number of days with the england squad outside the international windows.  What makes that argument a complete farce is that Toulon have agreed to allow him to travel to those sessions (and when it was rejected they agreed to loan him to an English club for a year, which fell through) so the club are doing everything to make it happen.  As I've said before I'm convinced that Lancaster is using the England based rule as an excuse to avoid making a decision on dropping his captain.

[PaulWinch again]

I won't be able to see the game but it'd be nice if we could put in a performance.

[UK Redsox]

Good effort by Wales but they've had it now.

The Forest's own Wayne Barnes reffing

[UK Redsox]

Red shirts and black shorts is a strange look for England

[paul_e]

Farrell is even worse this week than he has been for the last 2, this is about the worst centre pairing I can remember for england it's painful to watch given that we actually have some good centres available (Burrell, Joseph and Slade would all be a massive upgrade).