England - the build-up and winning the World Cup at a canter

First topic message reminder :

Here we go again.....

Unlucky that. Ireland were stretched. Probably should have been looking for the box kick.

carpet baboon wrote:Should borthwick be concerned that Billy still looks the shadow of the player he was?

He shouldn't really be there, he has looked like this for ages.

Yes

Stuart should have earned the pen there.

carpet baboon wrote:Should borthwick be concerned that Billy still looks the shadow of the player he was?

Should be. Apparently isn’t.

This is a shambles

Excellent lineoit defence that.

England’s maul defence has been pretty decent so far - Ireland have had no pens and only a couple of yards.

Let’s see if Sinckler has got his mojo back

The England players look lost.
I almost feel bad for them (not to much as I remember the days they used to batter us for fun)

Heaf wrote:This is a shambles

It's a lot easier to apply pressure when your miles offside from the kick and just walking forward waiting for your player to overtake you.

No 7&1/2 wrote:Stuart should have earned the pen there.

Shame the ref didn't see it ...

Heaf wrote:Steward is starting to look a bit like a carthorse too ...

Very much so. His last line defence is pretty dire.....Ringrose stepped with total ease and even had time to slip. I know he's "imperious" in the air, but he adds little else.

Listen to the ref, England. If he says use it, use it.
Though as Hartley is pointing out, that was another incorrect call in Ireland’s favour.

Again ref no clue in the scrum - that's 2 pens now not given to England

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Heaf wrote:This is a shambles

It's a lot easier to apply pressure when your miles offside from the kick and just walking forward waiting for your player to overtake you.

Good point - shambles by the officials

Sgt_Pooly wrote:

Heaf wrote:Steward is starting to look a bit like a carthorse too ...

Very much so. His last line defence is pretty dire.....Ringrose stepped with total ease and even had time to slip. I know he's "imperious" in the air, but he adds little else.

He should playing 12

England finally get the penalty they should have had a while back…

Finally an Irish throw picked up! Set piece has went well....attack looks sharper. We look better than previous games.

That's a little naughty.

Oh here we go ....

This might do us a favour

Lol. Wasn't even talking Vunipola. POM led with an elbow.

Oh well - that's sorted the issue with Billy V not being his old self - he'll be out now probably

Poorfour wrote:England’s maul defence has been pretty decent so far - Ireland have had no pens and only a couple of yards.

Lawes adds a ton there. I don't keep my own stats anymore but when I did it freelance there was a direct correlation between having a 3rd genuine jumper and lineout defence. Both defending mauls and the frequency that sides cut numbers, which improves retention but reduces the potency of attacking platform.

Sinckler had Porter under a bit of trouble at that first scrum after he came on too. The set-piece is one bright spot in a shower of s***e.

Billy capping off a great game there. Our 8s have looked dire for a while now. I think I'd be looking at picking two opensides when Curry is back.

Red for Billy. This process is becoming a joke now.

Stephen Jones will be very upset by the crowd reaction there. How dare they!

This is the third red card in three games against Ireland, what on earth was he thinking?

No 7&1/2 wrote:Lol. Wasn't even talking Vunipola. POM led with an elbow.

Didn't see that - but no doubt the eagle-eyed officials will pick it up ....

Cumbrian wrote:This is the third red card in three games against Ireland, what on earth was he thinking?

Not ideal alright also would be preferable to win v England 15 v 15

The comms team are battling England to be worst performers of the day to be fair.

So. 7 match ban after its knocked down back to a yellow delayed a week by some Aussies then the appeal.

How many England players fell off simple head on tackles?

No mitigation for that… `Billy is getting a ban. Will Borthwick replace him, or risk going through the first few rounds with no recognised number 8?

Will dombrant get a recall?

Another 2 players off and I think we'll look to kick to the corner for another try.

This is a bit better from England - Manu and Marchant (and Care) combining quite nicely there. Why does it take a card for them to wake up?

carpet baboon wrote:Will dombrant get a recall?

The same papers that had the scoop on the squad a day early reported that Tom Willis was on the standby list ahead of Dombrandt.

king_carlos wrote:The comms team are battling England to be worst performers of the day to be fair.

I think the officials are in with a shout on that one too ....

We only ever seem to bring any kind of intensity when the game is done.

Ref allowing Ireland a lot of leeway to flop over the breakdown

That’s an appalling call - no way was he supporting his weight.

England aren’t going anywhere though. One up runnings getting double tackled time and time again. Just going side to side

Again though great practice for the world cup. Things will fall the opposition way at times and you need to adapt. We're showing that we can stand strong playing with 14. Hope we keep George on for 80 again important to keep the setpiece going strong.

Side entry at that ruck well before the ball popped out. C’mon ref, actually ref the breakdown.

Ireland messing around at virtually every ruck and the ref giving them a free pass - hopeless

Poorfour wrote:Side entry at that ruck well before the ball popped out. C’mon ref, actually ref the breakdown.

The Ireland player kicked it out. Completely blatant. Ref was a couple of metres away.

And allowing Ireland to play the SH ... it really is woeful

No 7&1/2 wrote:Again though great practice for the world cup. Things will fall the opposition way at times and you need to adapt. We're showing that we can stand strong playing with 14. Hope we keep George on for 80 again important to keep the setpiece going strong.

Think it’s a bit late for World Cup practice. England are a tier 2 side at this point. South Africa made that clear putting 50+ on Wales.

Heaf wrote:And allowing Ireland to play the SH ... it really is woeful

It's because our captain is a mute it seems. He's barely said a word.