France vs England - Match Thread

[LondonTiger]

First topic message reminder :

Sunday 2nd February 15:00 - France (a)
BBC Sport

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant 1: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant 2: Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)


Recent Form

France:
20th October 2019: Wales - Lost 19-20
6th Ocober 2019: Tonga - Won 23-21
2nd October 2019: USA - Won 33-9
21st September 2019: Argentina - Won 23-21
30th August 2019: Italy - Won 47-19


England
2nd November 2019: South Africa - Lost 12-32
26th October 2019: New Zealand: Won 19:7
19th October 2019: Australia - won 40-16
5th October 2019: Argentina - Won 39-10
26th September 2019: USA - Won 45-7


Head to Head

Matches Played - 90
Wins - England 49, France 34
Draws - 7
Tries - England 165, France 143



Teams

France:


Bouthier; Thomas, Vakatawa, Fickou, Penaud; Ntamack, Dupont; Baille, Marchand, Haouas, Le Roux, Willemse, Cros, Ollivon (c), Alldritt

Reps: Mauvaka, Poirot, Bamba, Palu, Woki, Serin, Jalibert, Rattez


England


Furbank; May, Tuilagi, Farrell (capt), Daly; Ford, B Youngs; Marler, George, Sinckler, Itoje, Ewels, Lawes, Underhill, Curry.

Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Genge, Stuart, Kruis, Ludlam, Heinz, Devoto, Joseph

[nlpnlp]

So has Eddie accepted that Daly is not the full back.

And is Ewel a bruiser?

Yes he has accepted that Daly is defensively poor, but will not admit it.

Ewels may be many things but a bruiser he isn't.  As previously noted he is the smallest of the 5 locks on the field.  Fortunately France are only playing one of there big locks otherwise I think we wold be under some serious pressure at the scrums.

If these are the only two questions you have about this team then you must be quite hopeful for a good performance.

[Geordie]

Hopeful?

Yes i am because despite the SA final, i witnessed the NZ game and that was brutal so i know this squad has immense intensity in them and theres not too many changes to this team to change that. But hes brought a couple of changes like at full back to bring evolution  

Curry , Underhill and Lawes are still hugely physical talented guys who can actually carry despite none being an 8.  

We'll win on Sunday

[sensisball]

I think Galthie's strategy of throwing the baby out with the bathwater will hurt them this season. No Slimani to anchor the scrum will have a big impact on their scrum ball. New cap at fullback will be put under huge pressure from Farrell, is he up to it? No idea- as nobody shows T14 games in Britain since the Sky deal ended last summer.

[Geordie]

I didnt realise that Wales had actually selected Tompkins.

Good player. Should England have fought for hin ir are our options better?

[No 7&1/2]

It always depends what people want. For me hes class and I'd have him at 12 for england. That said we're hardly searching for options are we. Think hes primarily viewed as a 13 who can cover and then we have tuilagi slade joseph and that guy marchant.
He ll come off the bench and a score a couple today.

[No 7&1/2]

Hes on already and looking the best guy on the pitch.

[formerly known as Sam]

Hes on already and looking the best guy on the pitch.

Comes on early off the bench, wins a penalty at the ruck and from the lineout he whips a 20m pass out to Halfpenny to set up the opening try. Good way to introduce himself to the Welsh public.

[mikey_dragon]

Hes on already and looking the best guy on the pitch.

That’s way over the top. He looks kinda slender for an international centre. Anyway, he’s capped now, ta-ra .

[No 7&1/2]

Dont think it's over the top at all. Hes going to be a mainstay for you now. The one who got away. Hope marchant is worth it.

[LondonTiger]

How come Tompkins two appearances for the Saxons against South Africa A did not tie him to England?

[No 7&1/2]

Cough.

[mikey_dragon]

I think he will be a mainstay too, but that was over the top. Not saying he was bad but he did get stepped and struggle with the physicality. Anyway he’s just scored so I expect he’ll continue to grow into the role.

[mikey_dragon]

How come Tompkins two appearances for the Saxons against South Africa A did not tie him to England?

This was mentioned the other week. Wasn’t it because SA’s second team were the U20s at the time?

[No 7&1/2]

Hes often had his size pointed against him. You'll reluctantly accept hes your best player over the next year or so. Setting up the try now.

[No 7&1/2]

Take that back hes knocked on. Terrible player.

[lostinwales]

Nice try but did biggar get to the ball from an offside position?

[Geordie]

I do think Manu and Joseph are better players at 13..but the issue is their fitness /injury record.

Marchant looks a hell of a player...and his stint down under might even enhance that. He may get his chance in the summer. Eddie might also take the summer to have a look at Ollie Lawrence.

[No 7&1/2]

It's a continued issue that England need a way through their b team to tie these players up. Theres frankly manhood number of english players who are good enough for international rugby whose style wont suit etc such as Tompkins and we need to ensure they dont strengthen the opposition.

[yappysnap]

Any one know of any streams where I could watch this please thank you?

[Gooseberry]

He looks kinda slender for an international centre.

Stood next to George North my mother in law looks kinda slender

[whocares]

Penaud injured and replaced by Rattez. Big blow.

[Gooseberry]

Any one know of any streams where I could watch this please thank you?

It's on bbc so on their website? Or are you in somewhere ridiculous

[majesticimperialman]

I am looking forward to this game, but if i am honest i am a bit nervous for England. France can either be fantastic or dross as we all know. But England will have to show that the RWC nerves have gone and this is the start of a new era/squad and will need a good win,and a good performance to move on in this tournament

[Guest]

Penaud injured and replaced by Rattez. Big blow.

Very. Pennaud looks world class to me.

[No 7&1/2]

But with the concentration of a goldfish.

[lostinwales]

England U20 won but it sounds like it was a 79th minute try to do so.

Final score 29-24

[nlpnlp]

Well 2 games in and Italy despite packing their team with South Africans New Zealanders and English players were hopeless. Sorry to be hard but they offer absolutely nothing to the 6 Nations and the sooner they are kicked out the better. Wales did what they had to do, but will have more difficult jobs getting off the bus for the next game. However a decent start under Pivac although I think the other teams would be licking their lips if North is picked at centre against them.

Ireland v Scotland - was this a case of who was less worse than the other or a good game? I think we need to see how they go in their next games to see what the truth was. Could Scotland give away any more brainless penalties than they did - it killed any momentum they had.

If either England or France can put in a good performance tomorrow then they will fancy a grand slam.

[mikey_dragon]

Who are you planning to have run at North? Anyone bar Vunipola would get smashed. Tompkins is a very intelligent player, skilful and fast. If today is the norm then beggars belief why he wasn’t capped by England. Tompkins and North look like a good partnership based on today’s game against umm, Italy. Both are fast and intelligent players and I would like to see them tested against better opposition.

[yappysnap]

Any one know of any streams where I could watch this please thank you?

It's on bbc so on their website? Or are you in somewhere ridiculous

NZ so no bbc for me I'm afraid, the country is blocked from viewing any of their content and I cant find it on Iplayer.

[Poorfour]

Any one know of any streams where I could watch this please thank you?

It's on bbc so on their website? Or are you in somewhere ridiculous

NZ so no bbc for me I'm afraid, the country is blocked from viewing any of their content and I cant find it on Iplayer.

You are Joe Marchant and I claim my £5

[Gooseberry]

Given half the players and coaches in the six nations are from new zeland you think someone would show it. I guess this is what happens when you choose to leave the British Empire

[Gooseberry]

Couple of bold statements in the selection of the England team. Furbank at fullback was a fairly well predicted one, but having no proper wing cover pretty much ties that decision for the full 80.
Daly retaining a place shows how much Jones likes him as a player even if he acknowledges the fullback experiment wasnt working out. I guess Joseph can cover wing at a push but really it looks like they want to be able to shift to Farrel at 10 anytime in the game.
Something about scrum halves in the squad.
The surprise really comes in Ewels as a starter. England do have four locks in the team, and that's leaving Launchberry out. Perhaps a statement about the future there?
Lawes at 6 never felt great when it was tried before but perhaps an acknowledgement that without BVP the back row could do with some more power. Also a selection perhaps driven by the opposition pack and the way SA out muscled England.

No radical changes for England and the way they play by pressuring the opposition with territory and intensity isnt changing. If they come out fired up and switched on like Scotland did I'd expect them to win this, but if they come out lethargic and lumbering like Ireland did then itll be a different story.

I'd say theres more weight of expectation and pressure on England. Although people have been talking up france they are at the very start of a 4 year project to build a team to win the world cup, whereas England are tinkering with that feels it needs to atone for losing the last one.

[maestegmafia]

A lot of pre-match reflection on the Wage Cap situation on BBC. I think they are barking up the wrong tree, I can’t see it having any effect on the players. Good to see ex-Sarries Castinede sticking up for the club. Good banter, though I personally wouldn’t want to upset Hartley and have to sit next to him for the next two hours. He will literally chew you’re ear off..!

[No 7&1/2]

Didn't seem to negatively impact wales so doubt you could use it as an excuse for england today.

[Guest]

The stadium announcer singing Seven Nation Army over the tannoy makes me think Brexit wasn't a bad idea after all...

[Guest]

Cannot see any situation where England lose this game. No one really talks about it because it doesn't fit the stereotype of the stiff upper lip or Saxon pragmatism but I think England are a very emotional team and have been for a while even before Eddie Jones. I think we saw that last year against Scotland. If this were the last game of the tournament, a bit like in 2015, I could see France playing loose and causing an upset, but England will be emotionally ready and that means their focus should be enough to let France beat themselves like they seem to do. But France have got better in the last 2 years and shouldn't be a walkover.

As a side note as well this was one of the clashes we should have had in Japan.

[maestegmafia]

Enjoying the Shaun Edwards interview, an absolute legend....!

[No 7&1/2]

Dombrandt has another couple of tries today. Just saying.

[Guest]

Was Furbank ever a possibility for the world cup? If not why not?

[Gooseberry]

Was Furbank ever a possibility for the world cup? If not why not?

Dont think hes got a Welsh grandparent

[Geordie]

A few nervous looking England players...

[Guest]

Was Furbank ever a possibility for the world cup? If not why not?

Dont think hes got a Welsh grandparent

For England.

[No 7&1/2]

Anyone who qualified was a possibility.

[Geordie]

Ben ypungs....what kind of tackle attempt was that!!!

[formerly known as Sam]

Was Furbank ever a possibility for the world cup? If not why not?

Dont think hes got a Welsh grandparent

For England.

Only really broke through towards the end of last season. Edgy start letting the ball bounce losing 15m and meaning he then can't kick clear of the English half and France use the platform to create the try.

Sinckler having a shocking start. Knock on when he should have had an easy catch and then rushes out the line leaving Youngs too much space to cover for the try.

[tigertattie]

Good try that. Was deserved after Itoje slapped the ball out the Frenchman’s hands

[quinsforever]

france have a great 9. we have ben youngs....

[TightHEAD]

Ben Young's is Love sacks

[No 7&1/2]

Disadvantage of having a flanker at 8. And having youngs not paying enough attention.

[tigertattie]

Owen Farrell has hurt his arm in a tackle

Th irony

[Sponsored content]