England post 2022 6Ns, Aus tour and beyond

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Hate to say it and I don't wish him injured but I'm glad Ewels not available!
If you're disappointed with Malins and Daly being selected, imagine how most of us feel about Youngs being there.
In fairness, Malins and Daly been superb this season but please give Radwan and Arundell a run.

Yeah looked very flat! We really need to make these mauls count.

Lol. Genge.

Genge clatters over. Nice

Good power from Genge

The one good thing is we are really seeing Gemge reach his potential at this level now. Both in rhe scrum and the loose. Great to see.

Sweet from the locks there. Nice from Farrell too.

Well that's clearly why we play with 3 locks. Itoje just clears em out then 2 basketball passes by the 2nd rowers.

Decent start to the 2nd half

Farrell has got his kicking boots on too - some tricky conversions well taken

Oh no - Mako on

Heaf wrote:Oh no - Mako on

How long before he eats grass?

About 30 seconds from now

Soooo predictable

Free kick at the first. Then pen at the second scrum.

Surely there must be a better option?

Seems odd that the lessons learnt from the WC is play 3 locks rather than pick 4 props who scrum well.

Heaf wrote:Oh no - Mako on

And right on cue

Sloppy from England there...

Steward is having a great game.

Good overall vP. Cokanasiga also looked better, challenging the high balls better. Looked decent overall.

Ffs Billy. Taking passing lessons from Youngs??

Japan's ball speed is excellent. Would love to see Willis here.

And now Mako offloads to thin air - or maybe Billy?

Heaf wrote:And now Mako offloads to thin air

Billy I think. Tbf pretty decent just not read by Coles.

Not getting much possession this quarter but good defence practice I suppose

Line-out throwing has improved since George came on at least

First maul with 2 locks. Great and a pen try.

Had to be a PT

I'd probably be giving potm to Steward or Farrell, if Genge had stayed on he was excellent.

And belatedly May's chase makes such a difference with these kick first tactics.

Steward has been superb today.

Well that worked out well - lucky with the bounce

Ah shame

Much better this week.

JVP to hopefully start next week...

Good scoreline. Have to say Japan were massively disappointing.

If Slade plays like this every game he can have the 13 spot

Through gritted teeth… well done England! Eddie Jones earning that contract extension until 2030 .

Ha. Do you drink the bolly.
Steward: no straight online.

Now add Lawrence and big Ted and it'll look better again.

They were both really good yesterday.

No 7&1/2 wrote:They were both really good yesterday.

Yeah I think they've both gone up a notch even in the short period they've moved

Sorry if I missed it, but is Lozoswki in the squad? I think England would benefit from having him at 12 or 13, alongside Marchant or Lawrence or Slade. You don’t need massive centre’s, just fast guys who can hit angles. Big Joe and Steward would always be my first choice if available. Tuilagi is too injured, sadly.

May added a lot of guile although sadly the absolute top gear is gone. JVP looked good one dodgy pass aside. Back row looked to have a reasonable balance with Simmonds doing a lot of good defensive work. He did truck the ball up a few times and the best that could be said (and it is important) is that he kept control of the ball.

Steward was very good. That first try was a real team effort and high quality.

England still feel very brittle though.

How do you think big Joe went, I was really disappointed, the guy cannot catch a cold. I lost count of the balls kicked his way, against much smaller opponents he still failed to retain a single catch, mostly knock ons. When he was in open space, he takes so long to get moving he is caught before the after burners can ignite.

The pack went really well, but again Itoje was poor at 6, looked much more comfortable when move back into the baller room. He just doesn't have the pace to get around the field like a BS needs to.

Mako and Youngs come on, suddenly we are giving away free kicks an penalties at the scrum, the ball is much slower in coming out and runners are having to stop or slow down to catch the slow service.

May, looked like his old self, what a difference a real chaser makes. He can still catch just about anything as well.

Ribbans and Coles looked comfortable, not special but perfectly at home.

Steward deservedly got MotM, but would he if Genge had stayed on, the Rhino is back to his old self.

The 10/12 axis actually seemed to work today, another plus.

Everybody else played okay, lets see what side he picks for next week. Itoje will get massively exposed at 6 against the ABs, he has to be back at lock, even if it means Coles goes to 6, he is far better there than Itoje.

Ruck is rating LCD as an 8, despite those missed lineout throws that were just too high.

I agree with most of that. I'd say Cokanasiga was OK but if the game plan is chasing high balls there are better wingers, though he's better than Nowell there. I liked the look of Ribbans, did plenty of grunt work. I'm not sure if it's him and the lifters at fault of LCD though for those lineouts. All looked overthrown, anyone better at lineouts know for sure tho?

We have just put 50 points on a team that the All Blacks struggled to beat yet all we get is carping:

Big Joe - disappointed, the guy cannot catch a cold.
Itoje was poor
Mako and Youngs come on, suddenly we are giving away free kicks an penalties
Ribbans and Coles looked not special
Ruck is rating LCD as an 8, despite those missed lineout throws that were just too high.

Just what do the team need to do to get a few plaudits?  I think the reaction of some people is to put it politely strange.

No Du Toit for our game then.

Which bits do you not agree with there sharkey?

mikey_dragon wrote:Sorry if I missed it, but is Lozoswki in the squad? I think England would benefit from having him at 12 or 13, alongside Marchant or Lawrence or Slade. You don’t need massive centre’s, just fast guys who can hit angles. Big Joe and Steward would always be my first choice if available. Tuilagi is too injured, sadly.

If those four options only Slade is in the squad. To be fair you couldn't combine Lozowski and Slade either they are to similar and you need at least one centre always looking to carry.

Eddie eventually realised that Farrell and Slade don't work, see above the Lozowski and Slade issue. At club level Tompkins does the hard carrying to facilitate Farrell and 10 and Lozowski at 13.

Lawrence on current form really should be starting, he's been incredible since coming back from injury.

I’d probably just but Faz on the bench as 10 cover. I was thinking that Tompkins - Lozowski works really well for Saracens, and England in general have a few good centres, not bruisers but guys with pace and good skill. JVP is first choice 9 by far. Big Joe has potential, not quite fulfilling it yet.
I got no dog in the fight but I don’t think Eddie is selecting the best back-row and midfield, everywhere else seems okay.

Good result and 50 flattered England. However Japan were frankly poor.
England looked much more fluid and controlled but would that performance trouble SA and NZ? Can't see it, and Jones saying NZ are there for taking is stupid. Gives them incentive and heaps pressure on Eng.
May was decent, better than I feared but still not convinced he's player he was. Simmonds did well at 8, loads of energy and non stop. Can't say Ribbans did a lot to catch eye, I thought Coles was better last week.
Steward excellent as we know he is, the one dependable player! Farrell good and Smith OK at times but still don't think they are answer to 10 12. Porter did what he had to and was decent.
However, Ollie Lawrence needs to be in mix as does a wing with extreme pace. Hopefully Arundell recovers in time for one of the remaining games.
Billy and Mako still too ponderous. Not sure Heyes pushing his case either.