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Exeter Chiefs	Driver - RIP 606
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Harlequins	Steven_Sharks
Leicester Tigers	LukeLovesLuka
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London Wasps	Arry
Newcastle Falcons	Sgt_Pooly
Northampton Saints	Dammit_Chris
Sale Sharks	SirJohnnyEnglish
Saracens	LDCPete
Worcester Warriors	prop_lyd

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Waiting List
1. Sam
2. pullthestrings
3. Bathite

Pooly never been a brussow fan. HistoricAlly my posts will tell you that. Chris bought him originally.

For me he is same level as AJ. Alberts much better player. What has brussow ever done ???1 good season when the laws were silly.

Needs to prove himself been injured for ages

Now Steenkamp is a player who doesn't even deserve the decent tag! A prop that can't scrummage?!?!?

"For me he is same level as AJ"

That's the funniest post you've ever done. Thank god other people don't rate like you do Matt. You'd win the league every year at a canter....

Strenkamp who was best lh on world last year. Great scrummager generally.

What had brussow ever done ??? Answer or good season. Juan smith great player burger same. Brussow needs to prove himself

Is this the Same Brussouw who dragged the SA back into the Lions series and dominated McCaw in the 3Ns?

He's about 24 yo and has been injured for nearly 2!

What's Steenkamp done apart from get smashed by a 20yo Dan Cole and destroyed by Castro. Steenkamp lives off one decent year in S15, he's half the prop Beast is. Only in Matt world was he ever best LH in world. The same world AJ is as good as Brussow!

You worry me sometimes Matt, your ratings are absurd. First Iaone, now Brussow, any other world class players you want to tarnish with you brush of averageness?!?!

http://m.news24.com/sport24/Columnists/RobHouwing/SAs-surplus-of-looseheads-20110525

Google steenkamp best loosehead and you get so many pages agreeing. That link above is very accurate.

Brussow for me offers nowt under new laws. Find your mat world comments very cheap. Everyone would say juan smith wc brussow been out 2 years ( your words)which idiot would say he is wc

As I've already said he's World class and Driver seems to rate him, looks like you think we're idiots lol

I wonder if he'd have been upgraded to World class if you'd have managed to sign him a few months back?!? If only we all had as many WC players as you we'd have a chance at winning things

Lovers tiff is it you two?

Guys can we get some predictions in. Was looking to do results this evening but only have 3 sets in so far...

Just our weekly wind up Johnny lol, all in good humour!

How can you be wc when you have not played in 2 yearsZ
. Me and pooly meeting up for cuddles

Every time he's on the pitch he changes games, was involved in 6/7 S15 games and was quality in each. I'd have him up there as world class openside with Pocock and McCaw.

Boys quality, can't understand how anybody can
think otherwise. Reminds me of Ferris situation. He's hardly played in last few years and prob only had 1 or 2 good seasons but he's a world class BS still imo

Personally think brussow suited
Bizarre laws. He does not carry or link so what can he offer apart from great defence??

Pooly you have worlds best 7 in mccaw and best 6 in smith ( although rarely fit) brussow not fit to lace their boots

Cannot agree at all Matt. Brussow has great all round game and has moulded his game to suit laws, not seen him get pinged at breakdown yet. He carries well and is hard to put down, I think he's quality and always have.

I think you like mainly carrying players like Alberts, AJ, Burger etc. I like a bit of balance to my backrowers and a 7 that'll attack the breakdown.

I a huge Brussow fan, think he's the dogs, similar with Pocock.

If had barely players in years how has he moulded his game. Never seen him carry well. Has anyone else ?? Backrow all about balance. I like a fetcher but most dont play One.

If he has barely played in years. Sorry on phone. How does Marty And traile start for France ?? Can think of 10 better players. Hope
Mermoz does not get injured again. Great player

Interesting http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/14495275.stm

All tri nations sides prefer fetcher, Brussow doesnt make barnstorming runs but he carries well and stays up in the tackle. If fit he will without doubt start for SA as he gives them something different and PDiv loves him.

6. Brussow
7. Smith/Burger
8. Spies

Mermoz went over on ankle and out for next game. I'm a big fan of Marty, very clever player.

Think we'll have to disagee on Brussow (I'm insulted you compared to him to AJ though and think Alberts is better!?!?! lol)

What a shocking performance by England yesterday, how can any team have that much possession against a poor Welsh team and not even come close to scoring a try - we dont play with any intelligence at all and the only way we are going to do damage at the WC is to play Wilkinson and kick the points.

Flood was hopeless, he does that a lot in internationals, like a deer caught in the headlights - he can play a world class game, but then performs like that 3-4 games in a row. Said all along Wilkinson has to start and I would play Flutey and Tindall alongside him with Flutey on the bench.

England dont play Banahan properly, so I wouldnt bother with him at all - cant believe he didnt score with the one on one with Williams - Ashton would ahve walked that one in.

Quite a few players played themselves out of the WC team there, but such a strange game as we dominated but couldn't score a try - reckon if we were still playing now we still wouldnt have scored!

Ps after the Aus v SA game do people still think Elsom is off form? ;-)

Did you watch the SA v Aus game Chris?

i dont think brussouw is WC.
good player but hasnt played enough under new laws to be WC.

yeah I did - and in 3 papers I read today Elsom was given motm.

Hape was shocking yesterday. Corbs struggling also

Hape was given 1 out of 10 by Stephen Jones in The Times today and bascially said that we should just accept that he's going to be one of those rugby league converts who doesnt ever make it. Think he plays well for Bath but is another the England management play wrong tactically - same as Banahan.

The Australia game v Australia was a complete one off last year, Brian Smith needs to be replaced as soon as possible, as right now it appears our backs moves are actually being planned by a five year old. Pass to 12 or 13 and let them crash the ball forward. If that doesnt work pass the ball back inside to a forward.

Appaling. Thought Fourie had a very good game at the breakdown, must have got 4-5 turnovers during the game. Not sure if he offers enough ball in hand - we've missed out on a top England 7 since Rees got injured, sure he was going to be an England captain, but he's just been too fragile.

Backrow of Croft, Wood and Haskell for the WC? Talk about lineout options! Can see the team as being something like Sheridan, Hartley, Stevens, Lawes, Palmer, Croft, Wood (will be Moody), Haskell (will be Easter), Youngs, Wilkinson, Cueto, Flutey, Tindall, Ashton, Foden and then on the bench Cole, Thompson, Shaw, Easter, Care, Flood, Tuilagi.

Thought Fourie was awful myself, he just looked lost at the breakdown. Seemed like he didn't know how to play ref.

he got a lot of positive press by rugby commentators in the papers Pooly - who bascially said that he and Care were the standouts.

No one knows how to play Roland, he's the worse ref going and dislikes the English - made some odd decisions.

Issue I've found is that when Easter plays at 8 we have absolutely no dynamism from back of the scrum and we lose a lot of speed there.

Thought Phillips, Roberts, Preistland and Hook had cracking games for the Welsh, would definitely play Hook at 10 - you have to play him and give him as much ball as possible.

Steven jokes is worst journalist ever. He gave hape 2 out of 10 when we beat aus last year and hates league converts. Hape had a great 6n and it is tindall that needs replacing. Cueto was zero out of ten for me and needs replacing.

Cueto balances out the backthree though, does some nice things but cant score for all the money in the world - how many other international wings can you say that about.

I wouldnt play Hape, rather an off form Flutey, at least he creates! Also wouldnt play Banahan as his game is just too one dimensional at the international level - gets ball and runs it right at nearest defender, if he breaks the tackle then he runs directly at the next defender. Mindless.

Roberts and Priestland standout??!?!?!

I watched the game and Fourie was no standout, very poor. England front 5 were pretty good but apart from that nothing. Don't need a paper to tell me that.

Sharples need gametime as does Flutey imo

Easter is our only backrower with half a brain, he was fighting a losing battle yesterday.

fourie was average.
hape was poor but first game in a long time

easter was poor too much prefer to see haskell at 8, need an explosive 8

not sold on wood, am hoping moody is fit, if not fourie or haskell at 7 for me.

didnt think foden had a great game either and is under real pressure from delon.

Haven't seen anything but the first 20 mins of the game.

With regards to Easter Pooly I usually find him easy to criticise when England are playing badly but he tends to look good when we're playing well. I hate his american football passes though!!!

And I have said for a long time that Hook should be the Wales 10, and if Jones isn't at 10 then Hook simply has to play there.

Nick

Even if Foden wasn't great, that is his first bad game for a long long time. And last week was Armitage's first good game for a long long time.

If Johnson dropped Foden for the WC there's a chance I wouldn't watch in protest to such an awful selecetion decision. Same for players like Palmer, Ashton and Cueto

No chance of Foden getting dropped, Delon is nowhere near him. Foden is WC for me and with decent ball is explosive.

I like Easter Steve, think that's a fair point. Wood was disappointing too. We look a different team without Croft and Palmer. There was zero carrying threat in the forwards and even less in the backs.

haha little extreme steve, could think of alot worse selection decisions.

erinle springs to mind.

Wood is class I would have wood Haskell croft

Do you think there is enough balance in that backrow Mat? I really like Wood, reminds me of a young Richard Hill, does a lot of work that goes unnoticed, if he could develop a ball carrying game then he is going to secrue the 7 spot easily.

Stag do I went on was with a lot of Saints fans and they think he's absolute quality.

they would do.
likewise me with armitage.

only player i'm a bit concerned about is hape, no chance he is filling mapusua's boots! hope he can prove me wrong though.

Fourie got 4-5 turnovers - he did the job England asked of him, thought he did well. Just because someone isnt seen running with the ball time and time again doesnt mean they've had a bad game.

Hape isnt used right by England, tactics all wrong - Johnson sees him as a big player so gets him playing crash ball all day, also expects him to play like a flanker in defence and get turnovers with TIndall in the centres.

We dont have a midfield and its stopping us attacking.

4/5 turnovers? What paper did you read that in?

I can remember possibly one. On espn they have him down for 1 turnover, 5 metres with ball and 3 tackles. He had a poor game imo and won't go to the WC

Wathed the game last night and Fourie was pretty anonymous to me.

Right, deep breath time, and here are my thoughts on the Wales vs. England game.

12 hours or so after watching the game, and having slept on it, I am still at a bit of a loss as to how England managed to blow it so spectacularly. Having watched the game already knowing the reuslt and having read reports I paid very close attention in order to try to establish it all went wrong.

Yes, we were one dimensional. There was a lack of invention at times, but for long spells we controlled terrioty and possession and that is fairly worrying, given the fact that we failed to score a try as a result. Having said that, it is fair to say that England could have been as much as 33-6 up at half time and really should have been at very least 19-6 ahead.

However, the fact that we were not was of our own doing with the exception of Rolland failing to award what to me was a clear penalty try on 18 minutes, when England were destroying the Welsh scrum under their own posts. (I thought Rolland was excellent apart from that one decision).

The most worrying thing for England for me was a lack of intensity and dynamism. Too many times at the contact area England players ambled towards and watched as the Welsh forwards fought tooth and nail to either secure or slow down the ball. It looked as if when we were defending that the players had been told to not commit to the ruck but to maintain a strong defensive line. That is ok in principle, but if the opposition is getting clean, quick ball, they will still get across the gainline as you are reorganising, and England really need to find a balance here.

I have read on here that Stephen Jones in the Times gave Hape 1/10. The man is a complete fool. Whilst Hape has his limitations, he kept offering himself up and looked to be part of the game. In fact for me he was the most productive of England's outside backs on Saturday.

Looking at the game as a whole, I think it has shown a couple of things.

1. England will have to fight tooth and nail to get out of their pool, although I do believe they will, but are unlikely to go much further and would not beat any of the 3N's teams on this showing.

2. Wales should be worried. Credit to them for defending manfully for long periods, they were excellent in that regard. However, if you give on of the 3N's teams or Samoa that much possession and territory, they will hurt you in a way that England failed to do. Wales looked fit and strong which will serve them well, but they need to find a way of keeping a bit more ball if they are to compete with the real top teams.


Roll on next weekend and more rugby to chew the fat over.

You wouldnt have even noticed Fourie was on the pitch Saturday to be honest. Did nothing. Same with Hape. Flood was dreadful. None of them should be near the starting team for me.

Bit harsh on Cueto Matt. Him, Care and Foden were pretty much the only line breakers we had in the backs. If we had a flyhalf who didnt have his head up his ass and a midfield that could pass we would see alot better of Cueto.

If Wilko had played that game we would have been looking at a comfortable win in Cardiff. Cannot believe with 75% possession for most of the game we finished with just 9 points. Truly shocking.

I think realistically we should be looking to make the quater finals this world cup and then post world cup have a reshuffle of the coaching set up.

Whomever is telling our pack to leave the breakdown alone should be shot. Sky Sports showed one clip were I think it was Wood and Lawes?? stood on the edge of the breakdown without getting involved and just watched Wales secure turnover. I doubt they would have just sat there for Northampton. We need a new backs coach as well. This inside ball play just doesnt work unless Ashton is involved. Think our back play is totally reliant on his tracking runs now which is truly disgraceful for a country with the resources England have.

We did seem to have an awful lot of ruck inspectors SJE, it was very poor indeed.

The thing is MJ announces the WC squad next Monday, so that's it in terms of looking at players as we have no game this weekend. I can't see him changing things much to be honest and am now resigned to the fact that Hape and Tindall is clearly his preferred midfield.

This weeks match thread is up: https://www.606v2.com/t11611-fixture-9

Can we get a few more predictions in this week please guys? A couple of games only had 3 predictions for results and the whole idea of these summer games is to give us a chance to vibe peoples ratings of different combos etc

Tindalls hands butchered a few attacks for us but his carrying game was pretty good for me. And he really leads our attck. No problem with him strating over Tuilagi currently but how hape is still in the side is ridiculous. Our best option for 12 wasnt even looked at. Brad Barritt should have been involved... Hopefully Johnno looks at Flutey/Tindall outside Wilko against Ireland. At least theres a bit of creativity there and we know Wilko will happily take his drop goals and get us a few points

I would have Hape over Barritt but think Flutey should get a start alongside Tindall.

Apologies for not predicting wasnt around much over weekend.

there is a problem with the balance of our midfield. Hape and Tindall are both good players but cannot play together. BArritt certainly would not help the midfield. he is a great defender but not much else.

Hape did not look that fit either which is to be expected. I also agree with the post where people said that we are using Hape wrong. he has the potential to offload and be a menace but we dont use him right.

Wilko has to be ten. Wiggles was looking decent until he went off. I also think the players have to start stepping up. 70 percent possession and 9 points is pitiful

Barritt would be worth a shot a bit earlier but a bit late now. He's had a much better season than Hape and offers more in attack imo.

MJ has limited himself slightly though with sticking with players even though they've never kicked on at Int level.

I'd have Barritt and Allen before Hape. Had a very poor year for Bath this season and apart from the autumn internationals last year hasnt looked up to much at all for England. If you want a strong carrying offloading threat at 12 might as well have gone with JTH who was in cracking form at the seasons end.

Lets just pray to God Twelvetrees or someone kicks on next year because we are looking ridiculously sparse at 12 for true top class international quality!