International Rugby

[Gareth]

Should be the end for Borthwick but it won't be

Unfortunately correct, the guy is desperately poor and him being in charge guarantees England won’t win the WC. Ford is not, never has been and never will be the answer - like Ben Youngs was before him he is 40 caps heavy because he is coaches favourite

[paul_e]

Should be the end for Borthwick but it won't be

Unfortunately correct, the guy is desperately poor and him being in charge guarantees England won’t win the WC. Ford is not, never has been and never will be the answer - like Ben Youngs was before him he is 40 caps heavy because he is coaches favourite

Yep, coaches think him doing exactly what he's told is a strength but the reality is you get entirely too many performances like today where he's playing the game to a plan rather than reacting to what is happening.

The most frustrating thing is Smith and Smith had nailed down the 10 and 15 shirts then they went away with the lions and Borthwick seemed to forget they were his first choices and fell back into the pair that had been letting him down, it's just weird. He needs to get rid of the obsession with playing the percentages as well, kicking the ball away if you don't break the line after 2-3 phases is just playing into the hands of teams like Scotland, Ireland and France who are so dangerous in broken play, it's fucking weird that he can't see that.

I'm absolutely fine with not just hammering against a wall phase after phase but it'd be really nice for us to try something else before going to the boot. The main tactic of carrying in pods and dominating the collision is how coaches at the bottom tiers of the pyramid are taught to play because it's easy to instil into players who barely train. When you have top level international players in a weeks long training camp you really need to be adding a bit more than that, "run fast, hit hard, don't get isolated and kick on 3rd phase" cannot be the sum total of your tactics at this level, it's like being a uni lecturer and teaching the students their times tables.

[PaulWinch again]

That was as bad as I remember given expectations and resources. I’ve seen us get more comprehensively but I can’t remember a more error strewn, inaccurate performance.

[Gareth]

Agree with Paul & Paul entirely

[nigel]

That was as bad as I remember given expectations and resources. I’ve seen us get more comprehensively but I can’t remember a more error strewn, inaccurate performance.

Vrs Scotland and Ireland there were numerous times we were within a metre of the try line.

It used to be a case of waiting for the try, now it’s waiting for the various types of knock on or a miss placed pass. Frustrating as fk

[nigel]

Mitchell out for remaining games
Big loss as I’m not overly confident in his replacements

[paul_e]

Mitchell out for remaining games
Big loss as I’m not overly confident in his replacements

Yep, Spencer is shit, Quirke and JVP can't stay fit and Randall has never looked comfortable at international level. 9 is now our biggest weakness as Mitchell is the only 1 that is at the level we need. Thankfully there are a couple of youngster coming through who I think have the potential to compete with him but maybe not until after the world cup. Friday and McParland have both looked very good for the U20s recently and both are breaking through (for Quins and saints respectively).

[dcdavecollett]

I've never seen Friday, but McParland has looked good on the few occasions he's been playing for Saints.

[Gareth]

Is Borethwick just throwing darts at the board at this point - obv a massive problem with Mitchell being injured but other than freeman moving positions a whole new back line.  Atkinson and Freeman in midfield against two of the very best…yikes it’s step up time there

[paul_e]

Daly at fullback and Spencer at 9, our forwards are going to do a lot of cardio.

[paul_e]

Wales are giving Ireland a real test here.

3rd Ireland try was dodgy as fuck and I think they're lucky to have dodged a couple of yellow cards, Furlong in particular.