Super Saturday, Game 3: England v France

First topic message reminder :

  
ENGLAND v FRANCE
Saturday 21 March 2015
KO: 17:00
Twickenham Stadium

Referee: Steve Walsh (ARU)
AR1: John Lacey (IRFU)
AR2: Leighton Hodges (WRU)
TMO: Ben Skeen (NZR)

***********************

A. Teams

ENGLAND
 
15. Mike Brown (Harlequins, 36 caps)
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 8 caps)
13. Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 10 caps)
12. Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints, 11 caps)
11. Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 7 caps)
10. George Ford (Bath Rugby, 10 caps)
09. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 46 caps)

01. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 30 caps)
02. Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints, 65 caps)
03. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 49 caps)
04. Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers, 22 caps)
05. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 37 caps)
06. James Haskell (Wasps, 57 caps)
07. Chris Robshaw (captain, Harlequins, 36 caps)
08. Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 16 caps)

16. Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 21 caps)
17. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 19 caps)
18. Kieran Brookes (Newcastle Falcons, 9 caps)
19. Nick Easter (Harlequins, 50 caps)
20. Tom Wood (Northampton Saints, 35 caps)
21. Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens, 20 caps)
22. Danny Cipriani (Sale Sharks, 11 caps)
23. Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby, 19 caps)

FRANCE

15 Scott Spedding, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Sébastian Tillous-Borde, 8 Loann Goujon, 7 Bernard le Roux, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Alexandre Flanquart, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Vincent Debaty.

Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Uini Atonio, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 Rémi Talès, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud.

B. Head to Head

85 Played 85

45 Wins 33

33 Losses 45

7 Draws 7

147 Tries 135

78 Conversions 77

151 Penalties 90

22 Drop Goals 33

1,218 Points 1,036

Those soft French tries....

Owens-yet another 6 Nations referee refusing to enforce the offside line. It's been a blight on this tournament.

Nige time.

Oh oH look like the French are waving the flag of surrender.... That's never happened before has it

TheRugbyMaster wrote:

Steve_rugby wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:

Late hit when opponent isn't looking = cheap shot.

No, it's not.

Yes it is.

No it's not

ok. time to get rid of GE, GG. he's just trying to cause trouble. he is a hater, with no actual bone in the fight. report all his posts as he is just baiting/trying to cause fights, and that's enough to get banned.

So, if you tap tackle a player when he's not looking at you, is that a cheap shot ?

Burrell outpaced by a flanker

Another off side not called by Owens,

He can only spot French infringements today.

Officials just being influenced by the Twickenham crowd again. Appalling.

Fecking tmo

can he not just say, he grabbed his arm. Do we have to wait for them to queue up the replay and then play the video repeatable.

Can the ref not take the tmo's word for it?

TightHEAD wrote:Fecking tmo

Ok enough posting from me, been a great game eh lads?!

TheRugbyMaster wrote:Officials just being influenced by the Twickenham crowd again. Appalling.

this must be hurting you, england currently winning.

all to play for, depends what france do when they come back out

Very odd game but its now all England, feeling very nervous as an Irishman right now... England only need 15 points

Still on, but England are their own worst enemy

TheRugbyMaster wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:France are getting absolutely whistled out of Twickhenhan, properly.

Yes Owens drafted in to help out England yet again.

You mean the TMO

Nachos Jones_1 wrote:Very odd game but its now all England, feeling very nervous as an Irishman right now... England only need 15 points

but thats without conceding points though

Here's hoping France put in a much better second half

Nachos Jones_1 wrote:Very odd game but its now all England, feeling very nervous as an Irishman right now... England only need 15 points

Don't worry. Even if we get three more tries I'll sure we'll do something to muck it up.

I can't see France not unraveling now. The white flag will be waved and only England can trip themselves up.

In every game so far more points have been scored after half-time than before.

nathan wrote:

Nachos Jones_1 wrote:Very odd game but its now all England, feeling very nervous as an Irishman right now... England only need 15 points

but thats without conceding points though

I cant see the French scoring many more points myself. England can be their own worst enemy though...

As expected then: error-strewn and a defensive mess.

Both teams have looked like they could be in for a thrashing, before producing some scintillating attack to dispel such a notion. Couple of poor TMO decisions - why does he get involved so fricking much! - but I think they have balanced out.

Title still on, but still unlikely, for England.

Nachos Jones_1 wrote:

nathan wrote:

Nachos Jones_1 wrote:Very odd game but its now all England, feeling very nervous as an Irishman right now... England only need 15 points

but thats without conceding points though

I cant see the French scoring many more points myself. England can be their own worst enemy though...

latter point is what im worried about

Such a waste by France. Giftings easy tries to England who have done little aside counter rucking and kicking well.

whocares wrote:Such a waste by France. Giftings easy tries to England who have done little aside counter rucking and kicking well.

Isnt that half the game of rugby?

I agree with Brian More England need to keep the ball in hand, and stop this licking the ball hoping France will slip up and England get the turn ove.

France have shown how dangerous they can be given a bit of space. we need to tighten up in the second half and not give France a chance to run with the ball.

England should handily get the points they need. The French defence is awful. Their line, which lived offside against Ireland, is completely passive (no idea why as Owens is ignoring the offside line).

Duty281 wrote:As expected then: error-strewn and a defensive mess.

Both teams have looked like they could be in for a thrashing, before producing some scintillating attack to dispel such a notion. Couple of poor TMO decisions - why does he get involved so fricking much! - but I think they have balanced out.

Title still on, but still unlikely, for England.

What was wrong with the TMO decisions? I thought he was right for both tries

England are definitely favourites to win the championship with 40 minutes to go. Can't see France doing much to trouble them second half.

majesticimperialman wrote:I agree with Brian More England need to keep the ball in hand, and stop this licking the ball hoping France will slip up and England get the turn ove.

France have shown how dangerous they can be given a bit of space. we need to tighten up in the second half and not give France a chance to run with the ball.

I always knew the English rugby players were dirty pervs

ah, didnt see the french hand for that try.

thats why he wasnt offside

Engine#4 wrote:

Duty281 wrote:As expected then: error-strewn and a defensive mess.

Both teams have looked like they could be in for a thrashing, before producing some scintillating attack to dispel such a notion. Couple of poor TMO decisions - why does he get involved so fricking much! - but I think they have balanced out.

Title still on, but still unlikely, for England.

What was wrong with the TMO decisions? I thought he was right for both tries

I thought there was enough doubt to disallow both.

Didn't Owens ask, for both, "try: yes or no?" If he did, there needs to be conclusive evidence for awarding a try. The Frenchman looked as though he dropped the ball, and the Englishman looked as though he were offside.

Nachos Jones_1 wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:I agree with Brian More England need to keep the ball in hand, and stop this licking the ball hoping France will slip up and England get the turn ove.

France have shown how dangerous they can be given a bit of space. we need to tighten up in the second half and not give France a chance to run with the ball.

I always knew the English rugby players were dirty pervs

what ever happens in the next 40 minutes its been a brilliant day for rugby. Some nice tries to watch

Come on France sort it out. You can go back to France while we will have to live in the aftermath of an England 6N title during a world cup year

Notch wrote:England are definitely favourites to win the championship with 40 minutes to go. Can't see France doing much to trouble them second half.

nice try. no way are england favourites imo. that was the craziest half of rugby i've seen in a long time.

england still need 15 points more than france, and only in 1 half. thats still a big ask. i dont see france rolling over the way scotland or italy did.

Notch wrote:I can't see France not unraveling now. The white flag will be waved and only England can trip themselves up.

In every game so far more points have been scored after half-time than before.

After sorting through the triple negative there (I think) I've no idea. They could do an Italy/Scotland or we could.

Duty281 wrote:

Engine#4 wrote:

Duty281 wrote:As expected then: error-strewn and a defensive mess.

Both teams have looked like they could be in for a thrashing, before producing some scintillating attack to dispel such a notion. Couple of poor TMO decisions - why does he get involved so fricking much! - but I think they have balanced out.

Title still on, but still unlikely, for England.

What was wrong with the TMO decisions? I thought he was right for both tries

I thought there was enough doubt to disallow both.

Didn't Owens ask, for both, "try: yes or no?" If he did, there needs to be conclusive evidence for awarding a try. The Frenchman looked as though he dropped the ball, and the Englishman looked as though he were offside.

I thought the French winger had his fingers on the ball all the way, almost dropped it but not quite. That is all that's needed. I think JJ was put back onside after Haskell(?) shinned the ball due to a French hand playing the ball.

Will be interesting to what happens when the subs come on

quinsforever wrote:

Notch wrote:England are definitely favourites to win the championship with 40 minutes to go. Can't see France doing much to trouble them second half.

nice try. no way are england favourites imo. that was the craziest half of rugby i've seen in a long time.

england still need 15 points more than france, and only in 1 half. thats still a big ask. i dont see france rolling over the way scotland or italy did.

Quite right.

We need four more to continue Lancaster's tradition of second place, and four wins out of five.

come ford, we need better than that!

france holding on to the ball and looking better for it

Yes get in there

Not the way England wanted to start the second half...

21 points + now needed

Game on again, great play by France very difficult to stop than play.

We just love to make it difficult for oursleves..