I still think there’s been some erroneous decision making he needs to learn from. You can debate the merits of Farrell and he’s had some fantastic games for England, but making him captain has boxed Borthwick into a corner. If he thinks Smith should be 10 then Farrell should be on the bench, if he thinks Farrell should start he should be a 10. The combination is just unbalanced.
Just a couple of observations on yesterday’s debacle. 1: Farrell offers nothing. 2: Youngs is shit. 3: Mitchell should be scrum half. His tempo would have been immense the last 20.
Quote from: Jon Crofts on February 05, 2023, 08:18:39 AMJust a couple of observations on yesterday’s debacle. 1: Farrell offers nothing. 2: Youngs is shit. 3: Mitchell should be scrum half. His tempo would have been immense the last 20.4. Dombrandt isn't the 8 we're looking for.
I think it’s a bit unfair to class Borthwick as an average coach. He did a remarkable job at Leicester, but he’s obviously unproven in the long-term or international level. I don’t mind him being hired, but like anyone he will need to be aware of his own errors and be prepared to correct them.
Good game so far but what the fuck was Dombrandt doing in defence for their 2nd? I'd be embarrassed to get done like that and I'm 43 and playing in the 9th tier.Aside from that things are going about as I'd expect, looking a bit disjointed with new coaching and a few players who look like they're only in to keep some continuity. I reckon the team for next years 6N will look very different to this.
Borthwick is an average coach, coaching one of the largest institutions in the world. Why are we unable to get world class coaches? Jones was good a while ago and I don't really mean him but why did we not go for Gatland?
The backrow was a bit of a mess as well, Curry was uncharacteristically poor in defence and Dombrandt looked unfit and out of his depth.