Rowntree saint or sinner?

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England scrums are mediocre to put it mildly and have been for a while. Against France first Cole was pinged for collapsing then Mako was embarrassing the amount of times he went flat on his face. Overall the England scrums were a mess for most of the time. Who is not doing their job properly? Is it the players or Graham Rowntree? I was a Prop and know the importance of getting perfect body position and binding before engagement. Without it you are on the back foot immediately. England front row players never seem to get this bit nailed. They look almost amateurish at it. In my view it is simply NOT acceptable. It's no good Rowntree huffing and puffing after the game is lost he should make sure they all know what they're doing before the first whistle. If they do and they don't do it then Rowntree should look for players that will. Rowntree should be taking a lot of blame for poor scrums either way. I hope SL has made it abundantly clear that any further embarrassing displays and Rowntree should look for another job.

You haven't seen Wilson or Thomas under major pressure yet! I'm still not entirely sure whether this is a wum or not though!

Ah E4E...your really want Rowntree out?

Your always hugely critical of anything England do...

Surely Cole has a mouth...if hes not fit to play or feels a problem then hes a grown up..he should say!

England unfortunately were in a no win situation this weekend.

Play the more experienced but not match fit Wilson or play the unproven rookie Thomas who has not really shone this season.

I don't blame Rowntree - it's a call that no one would want to make.

In regards to Cole - it's no surprise that England have wanted to play him as much as they could.

Not a surprise he is injured - he's been playing far too much rugby in the last two years.

Could it be that Lancaster doesn't prioritise the scrum? Lawes and Launchbury are very athletic and mobile options not really the big angry shunt monsters like Johno, Shaw, Grewcock and Kay were. We'be gone for mobility around the park over the two more grunt options in Attwood and Slater. That will effect the front row.

The front row did a good job in the AIs and then monstered the Scots. They struggled against the French but Domingo and Mas are very classy operators come scrum time and their replacements off the bench are also formidable scrummagers.

I do worry what will happen with the unfit Wilson being pressed back into an early return vs Healy though.

Well maybe Sam...but that's a concern as the scrum is a major feature for me.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Ah E4E...your really want Rowntree out?

Your always hugely critical of anything England do...

Surely Cole has a mouth...if hes not fit to play or feels a problem then hes a grown up..he should say!

Yes I do want Rowntree out. I think he is always late to the party when it comes to forward tactics in any aspect of the game. I actually think he is not very bright compared with the best in the game. I'd go for Baxter, he has been extremely successful over the last 2 or 3 years for Exeter.

I don't mean to be critical of England per se I just want them to be the best. We should be the best in the world with the resources we have. It's down to the coaches/ selectors.

englandglory4ever wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:Ah E4E...your really want Rowntree out?

Your always hugely critical of anything England do...

Surely Cole has a mouth...if hes not fit to play or feels a problem then hes a grown up..he should say!

Yes I do want Rowntree out. I think he is always late to the party when it comes to forward tactics in any aspect of the game. I actually think he is not very bright compared with the best in the game. I'd go for Baxter, he has been extremely successful over the last 2 or 3 years for Exeter.

I don't mean to be critical of England per se I just want them to be the best. We should be the best in the world with the resources we have. It's down to the coaches/ selectors.

Considering that Lancaster isn't the best coach in English or international rugby, (he hasn't proved himself at any level previous to his appointment, he lacks experience, is learning on the job, England could have found a better option, same could be said of Mike Catt too) why vent the same damning report on Rowntree...

englandglory4ever wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:Ah E4E...your really want Rowntree out?

Your always hugely critical of anything England do...

Surely Cole has a mouth...if hes not fit to play or feels a problem then hes a grown up..he should say!

Yes I do want Rowntree out. I think he is always late to the party when it comes to forward tactics in any aspect of the game. I actually think he is not very bright compared with the best in the game. I'd go for Baxter, he has been extremely successful over the last 2 or 3 years for Exeter.

I don't mean to be critical of England per se I just want them to be the best. We should be the best in the world with the resources we have. It's down to the coaches/ selectors.

I still think that Englands pack has rarely been beaten over all aspects of play for a fair while and not many times under Lancaster and Rowntree. Why Baxter and not Rob Hunter?

Lancaster has done a very impressive job in moulding a disciplined mobile pack, and generally strong unit as a 15 on the whole.

He's sorted out the long term breakdown problem, which we all we crying out about.

He has also made playing for England a fun and happy environment to be in...which i believe was not the case under MJ.

There have been selection puzzles from Lancaster, no doubt - the back row v Wales for example - but we all wanted to see that aswell. Its been trialled and he learned..it didnt work.

There have been calls for more attacking impulse...ive been very vocal about this myself (specfically the effiiciency in taking chances) but slowly even Owen Farrell is starting to look like he may have that creativity we thought he was lacking...added to his aggression and power, maybe Lancaster has seen something we missed and is being proven right.

Bringing in carriers like Billy and Ben Morgan is only going to aid that and lets be truthful he has also been unlucky with injuries. Its not often he's really had a chance to pick from a totally fully fit squad.

I coaching team are learning like the players are...hopefully the three remaining games will see us move on and score some tries and take the chances we are now starting to create.

I think Farrell is looking so good in attack right now because Care is running the show and is in such great form. It is a combination that works.

I don't think Dickson/Farrell works that well, and its pretty obvious that the opposition would prefer to run at whoever/Ford, even if Ford in attack may offer a little more.

Indeed, Care has been very impressive this championship. It is a combination that works very well.