France v England, 22nd August

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FRANCE v ENGLAND
22 August 2015
KO: 20:00 BST (21:00 Local)
Stade de France, Paris

Sky Sports

Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: John Lacey (Ireland) & Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Television match official: Simon McDowell (Ireland)

A. Head to Head

100 Played 100
38 Won 55
7 Drawn 7
55 Lost 38
1,244 Points 1,572

B. Recent Form

15 August 2015
Twickenham, London
19-14 to England

21 March 2015
Twickenham, London
55 – 35 to England

1 February 2014
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
26 – 24 to France

23 February 2013
Twickenham, London
23 – 13 to England

11 March 2012
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
22 – 24 to England


C. Teams

ENGLAND

15. Mike Brown (Harlequins, 37 caps)
14. Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 8 caps)
13. Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 11 caps)
12. Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints, 12 caps)
11. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 14 caps)
10. George Ford (Bath Rugby, 11 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 47 caps)

1. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 31 caps)
2. Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 22 caps)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 50 caps)
4. Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 22 caps)
5. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 38 caps)
6. James Haskell (Wasps, 59 caps)
7. Chris Robshaw (captain, Harlequins, 37 caps)
8. Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 13 caps)

Replacements

16. Jamie George (Saracens, uncapped)
17. Mako Vunipola (Saracens,21 caps)
18. David Wilson (Bath Rugby, 42 caps)
19. Dave Attwood (Bath Rugby, 21 caps)
20. Nick Easter (Harlequins, 51 caps)
21. Danny Care (Harlequins, 51 caps)
22. Danny Cipriani (Sale Sharks, 13 caps)
23. Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby, 21 caps)

FRANCE


Spedding; Huget, Bastareaud, Fofana, Nakaitaci; Michalak, Tillous-Borde; Arous, Guirado, Slimani, Pape, Maestri, Chouly, Le Roux, Picamoles.

Replacements: Kayser, Debaty, Atonio, Flanquart, Nyanga, Kockott, Tales, Fickou.

Robshaw was awful. He is usually a very consistent player but he seemed to be an observer more than an instigator.

England don't have any other sevens in their squad do they?

No. Cause we won't bring in the best 7 in the world because he's playing for Toulon. And apparently that would set a bad example.

Can SL learn from this – I’m not too sure. Most of the selections are there or there abouts, but until we concentrate on the basics first we won’t go too far. This is RU and we have to commit to the breakdown. Lawes MUST be told to forget the wing and get stuck in – he’s no Croft after all. And English rugby has to find some hookers. I don’t care how many tackles they put in – first and foremost do the basics well.

We won ONE turnover all match. That's pretty much a guaranteed loss in RWC against any of the top 5 sides.

Did any one else think that Danny Care should be the starting scrum half ahead be Youngs other than me?

Have England missed Dylan Heartley? Should Tom Youing be England first choice scrum half? His line out throwing needs a lot of work before the RWC.

And let's not even start on the line out. Kicking to touch when tom youngs wears white is an offensive weapon for anyone we play against. George should start. An Hartley be brought back in.

Yep, I think Care should start over Youngs as well.

George should, hopefully, get given a starting berth against the Irish in September - the line-out is a colossal worry with Tom Youngs starting (as is the scrum).

Well what a mess. The right players played wrong and the wrong players played right. Good luck sorting that out SL. It will be fascinating to see who falls short of the final 31 and then the make up of the team for the last warm up game in 2 weeks. Robshaw, Watson and Joseph are probably certain starters for the RWC. Beyond them?...!

Clutching at straws maybe but it is encouraging how, even in defeat and when playing abysmally, England find ways to score decent tries. I don't buy this 'France sat back at 25-6' stuff: would any SH side do the same, or would they try and put down a real marker and get a cricket score? France, for all their superiority, scored one try of individual brilliance and otherwise rarely looked genuinely threatening, living instead off a generous supply of penalties from England's constant schoolboy mistakes in stupid places on the field.

Does any think Australia and Wales will be shaking in there boots after that game?

I take the fact that it is the first time some of these guys have played together, but is that realy a good enough excuse for the first seventy odd minutes of the game?

Cipriani is best out of it

Duty281 wrote:Pleased that England lost, and had their weaknesses exposed - now Lancaster and co. will certainly work on fixing it before the World Cup. Lineout most prominent of those, of course. But intensity at the breakdown needs to be worked on. I'm thinking Care will be the starting scrum-half - the back-line was far more fluid than when Youngs was on the pitch.

Oh and the pitch was atrocious - difficult to gauge anything from the scrums!

I'm hoping that Harrison/Barnes won't be commentating on ITV through the World Cup!

And I didn't realise England were still the envy of wums, but pathetic, sad posters like no9 clearly prove otherwise.

They'll probably sign him up. The World Cup dream becomes the stuff of nightmares. England's much vaunted pack keep forgetting to eat their third shredded wheat. Steve Walsh will be resurrected to referee every England game and Stuart Barnes pollutes our living rooms with his unique brand of irritating ballcocks.

Is Lancaster one of the least inspiring post-match discussion coaches out there?

Little bit of an over reaction? We play Ireland in 2 weeks and if we re as poor again Id worry.

milkyboy wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Pleased that England lost, and had their weaknesses exposed - now Lancaster and co. will certainly work on fixing it before the World Cup. Lineout most prominent of those, of course. But intensity at the breakdown needs to be worked on. I'm thinking Care will be the starting scrum-half - the back-line was far more fluid than when Youngs was on the pitch.

Oh and the pitch was atrocious - difficult to gauge anything from the scrums!

I'm hoping that Harrison/Barnes won't be commentating on ITV through the World Cup!

And I didn't realise England were still the envy of wums, but pathetic, sad posters like no9 clearly prove otherwise.

They'll probably sign him up. The World Cup dream becomes the stuff of nightmares. England's much vaunted pack keep forgetting to eat their third shredded wheat. Steve Walsh will be resurrected to referee every England game and Stuart Barnes pollutes our living rooms with his unique brand of irritating ballcocks.

I just looked at this: http://www.itv.com/rugbyworldcup/itv-announce-line-up-for-2015-rugby-world-cup

Miles Harrison will be commentating (shudder), but no Stuart Barnes mention.

Yea that Ireland game is quite important now.

Well at least we have a real workout, and anyone who was getting carried away will have been grounded.

yappysnap wrote:Is Lancaster one of the least inspiring post-match discussion coaches out there?

There's nothing post match about it........

Yer yer they're over cooked, but there's a month to go yet which is when we'll need to peak. That said Farrell and Baade will add nowt all

Danny care on top form is a much better scrum half than youngs. He can play on instinct without wasting front-foot ball by weighing up all his options.

How close to top form care is, is another matter.

Our only hooker who can hit a line out jumper is relying on an injury to get a call up. Maybe one of the selected hookers might volunteer to 'take one for the team'?

So the sky pundits pick

Marler
Mako
Cole
Wilson
Brookes
Youngs
George
Webber
Kris
Lawes
Launchbury
Parling
Robshaw
Wood
Morgan
Vunipola
Haskell
Youngs
Wigglesworth
Care
Farrell
Ford
Burrell
Joseph
Slade
Barritt
Brown
Nowell
May
Goode
Nowell
Watson

Thought brown plays well. Defensevly sound and threatening attacking from deep. An excellent return from injury. Few teams have the ability that England do when their backs click.

I dont think England should worry yet, first run out etc. However do it again v Ireland and then it could be a real problem.

One thing I've been saying and Neil Back is also saying, is that you need to now pick a side and stick with it. Far too many combinations and tweaks. Pick XV players and give them the chance to form a team.

Which raises the biggest conundrum, caused by the number of options, who to pick at 12?
One assumes Ford is edging the 10 spot, JJ is 13, Wtason one wing…howell the other? And Brown or Goode?

But who is THE 12?

quinsforever wrote:And let's not even start on the line out. Kicking to touch when tom youngs wears white is an offensive weapon for anyone we play against. George should start. An Hartley be brought back in.

Can he be? what is status of ban? But Lancatser wouldn't do that as it would be a terrible reversal of a perhaps over hasty decision.

Back row..........proper 7 and big nasty 6.......but instead we're got Poopie apart from the very very hard working better than average robshaw

milkyboy wrote:Danny care on top form is a much better scrum half than youngs. He can play on instinct without wasting front-foot ball by weighing up all his options.

How close to top form care is, is another matter.

Our only hooker who can hit a line out jumper is relying on an injury to get a call up. Maybe one of the selected hookers might volunteer to 'take one for the team'?

The only time we had ball was when the big French pack started to tire. Our back row got a pasting, the line out only had one feasible option and Lawes was picked off at will. The scrum lacked a little weight but mainly the French played the ref much better there and we were possibly to honest.

Two weekends in a row our back row has shown nothing at the breakdown. Robshaw should have been spitting fire after Back's comments in the week but he looked less of a threat at the breakdown than Cole and tackled less than Tom Youngs. I'm starting to get worried. Is it too late to parachute Slater back in to up our work rate and line out options in the second row and to late to give Steffon a second chance?

Ireland lost all four warm ups last time and beat Australia in their group, didn't they? Let's not worry yet, but that was pretty hopeless. Players got rattled and there was a lot of indecision in attack.

I just looked at this: http://www.itv.com/rugbyworldcup/itv-announce-line-up-for-2015-rugby-world-cup

Miles Harrison will be commentating (shudder), but no Stuart Barnes mention.

I don't hate Harrison, though this may be a default position due to lesser of evils. I would hacksaw my leg off with a rusty blade in preference to listening to Barnes self satisfied tosh and disembowel myself with a random blunt instrument before listening to guscott's insipidly banal half time contribution.

But that's probably just me!

Maybe English forwards fitness is meant to peak later so there is not much to be learned for both teams. England backs , when they had the ball, scored and were clinical. The opposite of french backs who had plenty of good opportunities but seemed clueless. I liked our backrow balance today with 2 good jumpers, one carrier, one tackler and a runner. Not sure how dusautoir will fit in now.
And yes they should really boycott that stadium.

Watched last weeks game, listened to this on the radio. You would have thought last week was more Englands first XV than this week given the performances.

I think SL with have more headaches than he would have liked this close to the tournament starting. How many of his 31 do you think he already knows and how many spots up for grabs etc.

Performance wise you'd probably pick more players from last week than this, but given how many of this week's side have performed for us in the recent past I'd be tempted not to make too many changes to the starting XV for two weeks time and challenge them to prove it was just rust, with the knowledge that they'll be hauled off at half time if they don't.  Care certainly sharpened up compared to last week, though May took a step backwards (he needs a week of practicing receiving kicks in his 22 under pressure from big runners - jumping would be a good start).

What was very apparent was that once both sides had made their forward substitutions, Ford (& Care) looked better with players like Easter & George offering hard running lines from deep.  Ford looked rusty on the whole, but for too much of the game in open play he was looking for front foot options that players weren't providing him, resulting in an advancing French defence and static play or him being swallowed.

Agreed hawalsh.

Ford was one of several players who looked rusty. Nonetheless he was integral to the revival in the last ten minutes, a reminder of how good he can be for us.

If Lancaster is going to make one last minute change to his plans, I think it should be to include Easter. On today's evidence we are desperately in need of intelligent carrying forwards, and he can provide that.

This was an amazing match to watch. I need to watch this again to see if there were any real positives to take from the first 65 minutes. Shocking and disappointing. Only saving grace is that ultimately the match doesn't count.

I've never been keen on SL and this is why. He just cannot get a team out there that consistently turns up from one week to another. And for all Rowntree is lauded, our set piece has never truly been a consistent positive under him. Sometimes excellent, but then sometimes worryingly average, even a liability.

Our breakdown work has, however, been rubbish, forever. Watch Ireland when we play them, they'll blast us back about 5 yards behind the ball. We on the other hand will trundle up,stop, grab them, and try and painfully slow crocodile 'death-roll'. Pathetic. Whoever works on this, Rowntree or whoever, should be embarrassed.

I will say it til I'm blue in the face but I'm amazed he cannot see that slow-arm B Youngs is an inferior SH to Care. The idiocy around Hartley is bearing fruit - all the guffage about 'culture' has left us with a hooker who can only occasionally throw and zero experience outside of him.

The rest you have to point the finger at the players. Maybe a couple can be forgiven for just coming back from injury, but not many.

Hood83 wrote:I've never been keen on SL and this is why. He just cannot get a team out there that consistently turns up from one week to another. And for all Rowntree is lauded, our set piece has never truly been a consistent positive under him. Sometimes excellent, but then sometimes worryingly average, even a liability.  

Our breakdown work has, however, been rubbish, forever. Watch Ireland when we play them, they'll blast us back about 5 yards behind the ball. We on the other hand will trundle up,stop, grab them, and try and painfully slow crocodile 'death-roll'. Pathetic. Whoever works on this, Rowntree or whoever, should be embarrassed.

I will say it til I'm blue in the face but I'm amazed he cannot see that slow-arm B Youngs is an inferior SH to Care. The idiocy around Hartley is bearing fruit - all the guffage about 'culture' has left us with a hooker who can only occasionally throw and zero experience outside of him.

The rest you have to point the finger at the players. Maybe a couple can be forgiven for just coming back from injury, but not many.

I think that the problem is he can't get a consistent team. The talent is there but the problem is he is aiming for constant perfection by chopping and changing all the time instead of saying something like right, Care, Ford, Burrell, Joseph, Watson Nowell Brown. This is my back line and I am sticking with it.

May and Roko are good examples, in for a while then out in May's case but now he is in favor again, Roko in for a game out then back in. Yarde, Wade etc, they are the flavor of the month for 5 minutes and then not deemed good enough.

PICK A TEAM AND STICK WITH IT, NOW!!!!!!

Pretty disappointing from an England point of view and some worrying aspects in the forwards. Does this prove that it either has to be Launcbury 4 and Wood at 6 or one of Parling/ Kruis/ Attwood at 4 if Haskell is at 6? Youngs throwing was average at best but I think it would be wrong to blame him totally as it was pretty obvious that Lawes was going to have to be the main target, and against France's 4 jumpers that was always going to be a tough ask. Funny how Burgess isn't thought of a six due to that aspect of the game but we then send pick a side with minimal jumpers.

England's scrum being poor wasn't good. Can't just be the pitch as it was the same for both teams. I hope it was just a one off as generally the same front five minus Hartley has usually just about hold their own (Wales 2013 aside). Marler and Cole seemed off their game, hopefully they were both just rusty.

Breakdown was not good at all. It an area where England have been average at best the last few years so we can't afford to go backwards in that aspect. Did we miss Hartley there a bit as well as his throwing? Generally he's good at slowing opposition ball down (at Saints especially you often hear the ref shouting 'leave it 2').

Hard to tell about the backs as they got no platform until 65 mins wee gone. Brown the best of them and Cipriani when he came on. I hope Cipriani makes the 31, even if it is at the expense of Slade with Farrell covering 10/12 in the squad. Thought Burrell wasn't as bad as some made out and did okay considering, more so in defence.

That was a textbook illustration of all our worst fears about the England team in one match. It'll be handy for later analysis - no need to edit together passages from different games to highlight flaws: just click start and watch the first 65 minutes or so of this one.

Most of our problems were up front, but that's also the area where Lancaster has already limited his options. he could consider beaming back in some players like Kvesic or Slater, but if he didn't think they were up to the job before, then he won't have changed his mind.

Our breakdown work was a real concern. It calls into question the wisdom of playing Billy V and Ben Morgan in the same matchday squad, because that doesn't give us any real flexibility to change our back row tactics.

I think we just have to hope that everyone raises their game. As a team, we've performed better than that, so we need to work out how to get things to click again.

Here are the player ratings from this mornings Telegraph.


Mike Brown 5

Started solidly with a couple of good takes but then made too many errors. Did improve in the late comeback.

Jack Nowell 7

As ever, physical and robust. He made a couple of lovely breaks early in the second half. Looks like a starter ahead of May.

Jonathan Joseph 6

Scored a try at the end but was in the game so little before that. So little ball and then so little space when it did come.


Luther Burrell 8

England’s best player and the one under most pressure. Did not necessarily do anything spectacular but did the basics very well and always had an influence.

Jonny May 5

Kicked a ball away early and then just did not see the ball again. Not really an evening for a winger when the forwards being so manhandled early on.

George Ford 6

Had some bad early jitters but found his kicking game and was more assured in the latter stages.

Ben Youngs 5

One of his quietest games for England for some time. His forwards did not help him but he could not provide any spark.

Joe Marler 5

A chastening evening for all the forwards and Marler is not exempt from that. The scrummage struggled and Marler was not seen in the loose.

Tom Youngs 4

Made a mountain of tackles and sported a cut head for his troubles but his line-out throwing, so often his Achilles heel was awful. England have real problems in that area.

Dan Cole 5

England’s scrummage struggled and as tight-head he has to take responsibility for that. Conceded far too many penalties.

Joe Launchbury 5

Looked like a man who has not played Test rugby for a long time, which he has not. Will get better and be better for the run out.

Courtney Lawes 6

Not at his best either. Failed to make the yard yards when the game was in the balance. Played his part in the late revival, though.



James Haskell 6

Did not really show up bar the odd carry and tackle. His battle with Tom Wood for the No 6 shirt is far from over.

Chris Robshaw 6

Not an influence and looked sluggish in the first half. Did get better as the game wore on.

Billy Vunipola 6

Very poor first half like so many others, and did make one huge second-half hit on Bernard le Roux as he made more carries late on.

Replacements

All made a difference. Jamie George probably did enough to secure the third hooking spot. Danny Cipriani scored a try and showed some real spark. Nick Easter and Dave Attwood both carried well.

Bizarre ratings there. I don't remember these errors by Brown who saved us from conceding an early try and ran the ball well, while Burrell gave away a couple of really dim penalties and hardly made any real indent on France, even if he carried OK.

Rugby Fan wrote:That was a textbook illustration of all our worst fears about the England team in one match. It'll be handy for later analysis - no need to edit together passages from different games to highlight flaws: just click start and watch the first 65 minutes or so of this one.

Most of our problems were up front, but that's also the area where Lancaster has already limited his options. he could consider beaming back in some players like Kvesic or Slater, but if he didn't think they were up to the job before, then he won't have changed his mind.

Our breakdown work was a real concern.  It calls into question the wisdom of playing Billy V and Ben Morgan in the same matchday squad, because that doesn't give us any real flexibility to change our back row tactics.

I think we just have to hope that everyone raises their game. As a team, we've performed better than that, so we need to work out how to get things to click again.

I agree with all of this.

What I would say is that although it doesn't feel like it now - this game will have been more useful to England's preparation than any other. The old axioms are a ballache but true - you learn a hell of a lot more from a defeat than a victory. If England had pulled another try out of their backside in the last 2 minutes (and with Joseph playing so well, that was possible) - then people would have been looking at the players far less critically than they should have been.

Sorry if this is a boring comment and apologies again if it seems unfair, but one of England's biggest problems under SL has been complacency, by which I mean an underlying suggestion in the press (not coming from England management) that regardless of which players take the field, England will probably win. That's not true any more and anyone in the top 10 nations can beat any of the others.

maestegmafia wrote:Here are the player ratings from this mornings Telegraph.


Mike Brown 5

Started solidly with a couple of good takes but then made too many errors. Did improve in the late comeback.

Jack Nowell 7

As ever, physical and robust. He made a couple of lovely breaks early in the second half. Looks like a starter ahead of May.

Jonathan Joseph 6

Scored a try at the end but was in the game so little before that. So little ball and then so little space when it did come.


Luther Burrell 8

England’s best player and the one under most pressure. Did not necessarily do anything spectacular but did the basics very well and always had an influence.

Jonny May 5

Kicked a ball away early and then just did not see the ball again. Not really an evening for a winger when the forwards being so manhandled early on.

George Ford 6

Had some bad early jitters but found his kicking game and was more assured in the latter stages.

Ben Youngs 5

One of his quietest games for England for some time. His forwards did not help him but he could not provide any spark.

Joe Marler 5

A chastening evening for all the forwards and Marler is not exempt from that. The scrummage struggled and Marler was not seen in the loose.

Tom Youngs 4

Made a mountain of tackles and sported a cut head for his troubles but his line-out throwing, so often his Achilles heel was awful. England have real problems in that area.

Dan Cole 5

England’s scrummage struggled and as tight-head he has to take responsibility for that. Conceded far too many penalties.

Joe Launchbury 5

Looked like a man who has not played Test rugby for a long time, which he has not. Will get better and be better for the run out.

Courtney Lawes 6

Not at his best either. Failed to make the yard yards when the game was in the balance. Played his part in the late revival, though.



James Haskell 6

Did not really show up bar the odd carry and tackle. His battle with Tom Wood for the No 6 shirt is far from over.

Chris Robshaw 6

Not an influence and looked sluggish in the first half. Did get better as the game wore on.

Billy Vunipola 6

Very poor first half like so many others, and did make one huge second-half hit on Bernard le Roux as he made more carries late on.

Replacements

All made a difference. Jamie George probably did enough to secure the third hooking spot. Danny Cipriani scored a try and showed some real spark. Nick Easter and Dave Attwood both carried well.

Real shocker there is Burrell getting an 8. Was the second worse starting back after Ford for me, lucky to get a 5. Also ford getting above 4 a poor score, and most of the forwards have one too many points

Wouldn't read too much into results in the last month for any team. There's been some strange results and no team is showing their hand early. Going to be an epic RWC and the best yet imo.

George,

Before Jonathon Joseph scored a try I didn't even know he was on the pitch he was so anonymous.

maestegmafia wrote:George,

Before Jonathon Joseph scored a try I didn't even know he was on the pitch he was so anonymous.

Absolutely - I wasn't saying he played well throughout the game - just the last 20 minutes.

ebop wrote:Wouldn't read too much into results in the last month for any team. There's been some strange results and no team is showing their hand early. Going to be an epic RWC and the best yet imo.

To a degree that's true... But let's look at the teams in discussion and compare that to a few other warm up results...

England first XV blown out the park by France first XV. England were second best in every area. Ireland, like France, looking really sharp in all areas.

The guys who got England back on the scoresheet last night are the ones Lancaster hasn't seemed interested in, no matter how well they played for their clubs. Cipriani and Easter made a huge difference.

Before they can on England looked like headless chickens in possession.

These are a bit better

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/aug/23/france-england-stuart-lancaster-player-ratings

Very few positives from last night. The forwards lacked intensity, were clueless in the set piece and at the breakdown and carries very poorly. I wouldn't give any forward more than a rating of 4. Easter and Attwood improved the pack but France hadnwon the game bybthen and switched off.

The backs had very little ballnto play with but what they did have was used very poorly. Ford looked great when France switched off but he failed miserably in his game management prior to this. It never ceases to amaze me how many backs we have who can't pass. 36 will rightly be dropped from the squad which leaves us only with Slade in the outside backs. Brown had an OK game but he does limit our attacking options; Goode has his critics but at least he knows how to put players into space rather than always running.

France have been a poor side for a few years. They are at a same stage of preparation and also had injury returners yet they were infinitely better. If we're clinging on to the hope that England have been coached to peak for the start of the RWC then we're going to have to see a seismic improvement. I see little chance of beating Ireland and 1 win out of 3 going into the tournament hardly fills you with confidence.

I always try to take these warm up games with a pinch of salt but worryingly for SL that was one of Englands poorest performances up front I have seen for a very long time.

I won't judge to much until I see what sort of side we put out against Ireland next week and how they go.

I am still not sure which way the group will go or who will get out of it.

Based on one frustrated viewing I'd go with:

Brown - 7. Saved a try and countered well at times.
Nowell - 8. Our main spark in the backs. has a great step and fights for every yard. I'd start him with Watson.
Joseph - 5. Defended alright but little with the ball in hand. Only had to jog the try in. At one point he had the ball on a strike move and practically stood still while deciding what to do, before getting tackled. Needs to improve.
Burrell - 5. Carried OK but didn't beat any defenders or offload, and gave away a couple of dim penalties.
Ford - 5.5. Awful start with his kicking out of hand but thereafter he was hardly helped by the set piece problems and lack of cohesion outside him.
Youngs - 5. Didn't get anywhere. Care improved things.

Marler - 5. Scrummaging didn't go well and didn't show up elsewhere. Arguably at fault for their try.
Youngs - 6. Great effort in defence but the lineout was rubbish. Not all his fault of course.
Cole - 5. Scrummaged ineffectively, although I thought at least one penalty against him was given incorrectly.
Launchbury - 5. Part of an ineffective lineout and didn't show up much elsewhere. Made quite a few tackles I think though.
Lawes - 6. Also part of a poor lineout but he covered a lot of ground and carried well.
Haskell - 6. Not too bad but didn't show up much at the breakdown.
Robshaw - 6. Ditto Haskell. Made quite a few tackles though.
Vunipola - 5. Carrying didn't get anywhere. Hopefully just rustiness for someone of his size.

Subs
Cipriani, Care, Atwood and Easter all contributed well to the fightback.

thomh,

On the highlights programme, Guscott mentioned that BV had lost something like 10kg from last season, could have affected him fair bit.

The problem Lancaster has is that the pack is light and picked for their ability in the loose. France picked a pack that could do a job in the tight and we expected our front row to sort that out for us.

The best line outs in the AP are Tigers, Sarries and Saints. There you have;

Slater, Kitchener, Gibson/Croft and Crane - three strong jumpers and one passable.
Day, Lawes, Clark and Wood - four string line out jumpers.
Hargreaves, Kruis, Brown and Burger - three strong jumpers and one passable.

Then England last night;
Launchbury - can't jump at the line out.
Lawes - second choice line out general for his club in charge for us.
Haskell - can jump but not really known for it.
Robshaw - passable tail end jumper.
Vunipola - doesn't jump.

Yet people are blaming Youngs and George. They had sod all to aim at! Lawes was the obvious target and France could mark him with two pods. Pape and Maestri have plenty of experience they can mark one man at a line out and they did. The throwing was fine it was just easy to intercept.

What do you reckon for a solution, Sam? Lawes and Launchbury went fine in the linout when they had Wood with them at 6, but he's out of form. Drop Launchbury?