Moody Relief

First topic message reminder :

Relief for Scottish and Argentinian fans as Lewis Moody's injury is not as bad as expected and may not rule him out of world cup contention.

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

England desperately need a 7 who competes at the breakdown. The SH teams have these guys in absolute abundance, and they cause chaos (it was evident on the 2009 Lions tour, where we had no answer for it, and got turned over a lot). Now, Wales have Warburton, Ireland have O'Brien (as well as Wallace and Ferris when fit), Scotland have Barclay, and England have a backrow comprised mainly of blindsides. From what I can remember, the last time we played a true out and out 7 consistently, was Tom Rees before he got injured, and no one has really stepped up to the mark again (Despite Fourie, but his inclusion hasn't been consistent).
It's an area that really needs filling urgently. What is Robshaw like at the breakdown? England need someone who will impose themselves.

England desperately need a 7 who competes at the breakdown

Steffon Armitage had a stonking debut for Toulon the other week...

He's someone I'd always liked to have seen given a few more chances in an England shirt. Now that he's gone abroad, he might have shot himself in the foot! Do you think that his size limits his versatility around the park though?

I think Englands problems have not come from a lack of 7....its from a lack of intelligence at the breakdown. We are trying to play a game whereby we commit only the minimum number of players to each breakdown.

At time this has worked...but in the 6n Ireland simply overloaded (put more men) the breakdowns and wiped us out.

Croft, Wood, Easter, and Haskell would make a strong 3 in any combination.

I am a big fan or Armitage...he wasnt given a chance really and i dont think his size is a problem at all. He's like a pocket battleship, with turbo boosts!

Falcon I agree with that any combo of croft, wood, easter and haskell could work because they all have the size and complimentary attributes. But I do think that the lack of a fetcher has limited england thus far.
What I meant about Armitage's size was that usually 7s are also considered a line-out option, and he isn't suited to this. Saying that however, if he were in a pack consisting of Lawes, Palmer, and Croft, this wouldn't be an issue! You're right about being a pocket battleship, with rubo boosts, can't believe how much momentum he gets when he carries! Like a shot from a cannon. Would hate to have to line him up from distance!

Well we could always put him at 12 and tindall at 7 for the lineouts

Also it wasnt a factor with Neil back.

Do you think that his size limits his versatility around the park though? .

Because he's so short and stocky I think it gives him an advantage, for starters he's a real pain to move out from a ruck as his short stature makes for a small target and his bulk makes him a serious weight to try and shift. Similarly ball in hand his acceleration forces his meaty shoulder underneath the opposition tackle shoving them back, the ballast of his weight moving at that speed tends to drive people back. Not the biggest tackle count but a real menace, hopefully we see him return from France a more complete player (certainly helped Haskell and Palmer) and he earns a place in the team.

As for the lineouts you could always throw up Haskell as well as Croft and the two locks. A backrow of Croft, Armitage, Haskell would be pretty dynamic and I'm starting to come round to the idea of Haskell at 8 he seems to have matured a lot whilst in France.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Chris Robshaws main strengths..

1) Tackling - Robshaw is arguably the best tackler in the Premiership, he has consistently been in the top 10 for tackle counts for the last 5 years in the league. Not only does he make tackles, he slows opposition ball down and has the ability to turn ball over through counter rucking.

2) Ball Carrying - This season in particular Robshaw has excelled with his ball carrying. Being the second highest ball carrier in the premiership. Consistently providing a platform and go forward for his team.

3) Link-Man - Robshaw is a fantastic link-man which is a key part of an opensides job. He put in a number of passes and offloads last season, drawing players and putting team-mates into space.

At the weekend he displayed one of the three. Tackling was ace, ball carrying? eh he is average and whilst more powerful than Moody he is slower. Link man? Not bad around the fringes but in wider open spaces just shuffles the ball along the line, on a level with Moody then.

Robshaw is just Worsley Mrk2, decent all rounder, excellent tackler but not much else.

He didn't look too sharp at the weekend, but last year his ball carrying and link play was superb

GeordieFalcon wrote:I think Englands problems have not come from a lack of 7....its from a lack of intelligence at the breakdown. We are trying to play a game whereby we commit only the minimum number of players to each breakdown.

At time this has worked...but in the 6n Ireland simply overloaded (put more men) the breakdowns and wiped us out.

Croft, Wood, Easter, and Haskell would make a strong 3 in any combination.

I am a big fan or Armitage...he wasnt given a chance really and i dont think his size is a problem at all. He's like a pocket battleship, with turbo boosts!

I'm with you all the way on that one Geordie, I've been a massive fan of Armitage for a while and wrote an article on him on the old 606.

Not only do I think he's got the perfect physique and dynamics for a top-class fetcher, but he runs very instinctive lines both in support and defence modes, infact his lines tend towards the unorthodox but do get him where he needs to be when he needs to be there.

A few years ago the RFU published a coaching document that had statistical evidence to suggest the perfect height for a 7 was 5'11" - I agree with that entirely as I'm 6'2" and was devastatingly average.

I don't believe a 7 is a genuine lineout option with the exception of taking a quick one off the back.

I too would have liked Armitage to be given a longer stint, Booth worked wonders with him when he first went to Irish and a bit more intensive coaching and exposure to Test level football could have produced a gem, I can't help thinking someone's missed an opportunity there.