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The Rugby Thread


Rapey Hugh
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Not sure what to make of the England v France game.  England were the better team for most of the game but lack cohesion and they made silly basic mistakes.  Remains to be seen how bad a result it is..... I personally think France are bang average and will just about beat Scotland & Italy but that's it.  Their game seems to be all about club rugby and the national team is massively suffering. 

 

Some excellent individual performances by a few England players but others don't seem to be international quality.  I think its fa too late to be trying to form a new group of players.  The final year before a world cup should be about fine tuning not major overhauls.  I like Lancaster but i think he's got this one wrong.  Defensively England are a bit of a shambles.  Yes a couple of bad bounces but the positioning of players was poor. I really do not rate Goode at all. Brown has to be full back.  11, 12, 13 & 14 positions complete lottery at the moment.  I don't think Farrell at 10 is the right answer either.  He's too one dimensional. We don't have the flair behind him either to compensate.

 

Wales were poor but it was only the first game.  They are bound to improve .

 

2 good entertaining games but imo lacking real top quality rugby.

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I am surprised that the substitutions seem to be agreed before the game & sense seems to be absent. Can't understand why England brought on a scrum half when Care was having a really good game & wasn't in any obvious physical difficulty. 

 

A bit of a curate's egg all in all, with some glimmers of flair in the backs for once, but very sloppy in parts.

 

Plusses

Billy Vunipola , Danny Care , Ben Morgan , Courtney Lawes

 

Minuses

Tom Youngs , Billy Twelvetrees , Alex Goode

 

We miss Corbisiero & Tuilagi massively.

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I'm happy with the forwards. We've people to come back to challenge and good strength in depth.  Its the entire back area that is the problem.  When everyone is fit there are probably only 3 players assured of a starting position (Care, Tuilagi & Brown)  It only the 1st game but this 6 nations campaign has to be about finding a potential starting XI to develop over the next year.  Building combinations and understanding is vital.

 

France's problems & Wales success in recent years have clearly shown that continuity in selection is hugely important. 

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not surprising given the team selection. not very experienced

I agreed with needing to freshen up the backs but to start the 6 nations away to France with such an inexperienced back line was just daft.

 

Start a couple, get the win and introduce more from a position of strength rather than finish your entire campaign in the first game.

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