What is remarkable is how well Kruis and Itoje have done. If you'd said before the tournament that Launchbury wouldn't be first choice if fit and that Lawes wouldn't be in the squad full stop you'd have been laughed at.
I disagree with you a lot on Brown, but only because I don't understand the nuances of his, and the game, but like what I see of him. Today, I did think he was poor and made the wrong decisions when he was (seldomly) involved in the game. In the first half I think we were too slow at the breakdown which leas to too many penalties. But that was team wide.
I'd say that Jones is probably the best person for Tuilagi, and English fans, as I doubt he'll allow a one-dimensional player to be around the team for long.
Quote from: peter w on March 19, 2016, 11:39:49 PMI disagree with you a lot on Brown, but only because I don't understand the nuances of his, and the game, but like what I see of him. Today, I did think he was poor and made the wrong decisions when he was (seldomly) involved in the game. In the first half I think we were too slow at the breakdown which leas to too many penalties. But that was team wide.The problem with Brown, as I've tried to get across a few times, is that he's thick (as a player), that's leads to bad decision making which comes out as:- His positioning is very iffy at times where he stays too central when teams are attacking down a wing, leaving himself too much to do to get across and cover a missed tackle.- He misses the 'right' pass too often.- He runs into other people's space and wastes overlaps.- He runs into contact without having enough people around him and gets turned over.- He tries to act the hard man by smashing people in the tackle and ends up selling himself.- His kicking game is poor, too often he gives the opposition good counter attack ball when he should just find touch.I won't deny he's a fantastic ball carrier and he's solid under the high ball but like Haskell and Cole the bad things make him a liability and if we want to win the next world cup we can't afford to have those types of players. I have similar concerns about Manu but voicing those around most English rugby fans gets people looking at you like you'r insane. On top of that I think he can still learn how to fix the flaws, The others I don't think will ever change.
I'm glad people are starting to see it because for years I've pointed these things out and people have looked at me like I'm mad. I just think if you won't pick the best try scorer in England (Wade) because of perceived weaknesses then you're treading dangerous grounds to ignore the weaknesses of the players you have selected.This week it's particularly easy to target Brown because the last game he did his best to highlight every single one of problems for me and he was, in my opinion, clearly our weak link.
Quote from: paul_e on March 22, 2016, 10:05:05 AMI'm glad people are starting to see it because for years I've pointed these things out and people have looked at me like I'm mad. I just think if you won't pick the best try scorer in England (Wade) because of perceived weaknesses then you're treading dangerous grounds to ignore the weaknesses of the players you have selected.This week it's particularly easy to target Brown because the last game he did his best to highlight every single one of problems for me and he was, in my opinion, clearly our weak link.Stop being so smug