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

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 09 Aug 2023, 5:05 am

First topic message reminder :

Here we go again.....

by carpet baboon Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:03 pm

Hey England fans just a heads up, your starting to sound like.the Welsh whining about the ref
thumbsup

by Sgt_Pooly Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:03 pm

Steward yet again.......he's had an awful game.

by Collapse2005 Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:04 pm

Theres the bonus point. Average enough performance from Ireland today.

by Heaf Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:04 pm

I haven't seen a single match in this series with all teams where the officials haven't made blunder after blunder - they really need to improve before the cup starts

by Mr Bounce Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:05 pm

Borthwick out of his depth. We are not going to get out of the group. It's so poor!

What coaches might be available after the World Cup?

by Scottrf Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:06 pm

Mr Bounce wrote:Borthwick out of his depth. We are not going to get out of the group. It's so poor!

What coaches might be available after the World Cup?

Missed the boat on Scott Robertson unfortunately.

by Heaf Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:06 pm

carpet baboon wrote:Hey England fans just a heads up, your starting to sound like.the Welsh whining about the ref

Guilty as charged - but he's been woeful in the 2nd half only reffing one side

by Heaf Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:07 pm

High tackle missed there now ...

by tigertattie Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:09 pm

It’s true what they say. Refs lean towards helping the tier 1 nations.

by Collapse2005 Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:09 pm

Fairly average game, way too much kicking.

Good from Prendegast at least.

by Scottrf Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:09 pm

tigertattie wrote:It’s true what they say. Refs lean towards helping the tier 1 nations.

by No 7&1/2 Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:09 pm

Here we go. This is what we've been playing for. Nice scrum in the middle. Try time.

by carpet baboon Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:11 pm

Is the come back on?

by Heaf Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:11 pm

Scottrf wrote:
tigertattie wrote:It’s true what they say. Refs lean towards helping the tier 1 nations.

Could have a point there - Ireland seem to have nicked the AB's invisibility cloaks Whistle

by Poorfour Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:11 pm

Another very clear side entry missed, but Sinckler makes it count. He seems to be finding some form, which is positive

by No 7&1/2 Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:12 pm

Yeeeeesssss. That's what it's all about. Huge character from the team again. Proud to see this sort of performance.

by Poorfour Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:12 pm

No 7&1/2 wrote:Yeeeeesssss. That's what it's all about. Huge character from the team again. Proud to see this sort of performance.

I’d rather see it with 15 men on the pitch and a winnable score line.

And not have them give away a try moments after scoring one.

by No 7&1/2 Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:13 pm

And lively to see Borthwick let the team know that Earl should have a walk in. That's lovely to see.

by Cumbrian Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:13 pm

Come on man, surely that was a forward pass.

by king_carlos Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:14 pm

Theo Dan has been lively in the loose but that scrum was going back rather fast which is a worry.

Care, Chessum, Sinckler and Dan have all had good moments from the bench.

God Zebo is a poor pundit. Doesn't even seem to know who's on the field!

Another straight away for Ireland. Nuts to think that Earls and Halfpenny were on that 2009 Lions tour with Simon Shaw, who was there in 1997. It's been quite the career for Earls.

by Sgt_Pooly Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:14 pm

Obvious block from Irish forward....not sure how that was missed.

by tigertattie Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:14 pm

As a neutral even I’m saying that was a clear forward pass that the officials aren’t even going to look at

by Scottrf Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:14 pm

No 7&1/2 wrote:Yeeeeesssss. That's what it's all about. Huge character from the team again. Proud to see this sort of performance.

Like having the fastest lap in the 10k once the leader has finished.

by formerly known as Sam Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:15 pm

Beirne collapsed that maul from the choke tackle. Ref really isn't the brightest.

by No 7&1/2 Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:15 pm

Scottrf wrote:
No 7&1/2 wrote:Yeeeeesssss. That's what it's all about. Huge character from the team again. Proud to see this sort of performance.

Like having the fastest lap in the 10k once the leader has finished.

You get a point from that in F1.

by Poorfour Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:15 pm

king_carlos wrote:Theo Dan has been lively in the loose but that scrum was going back rather fast which is a worry.

Care, Chessum, Sinckler and Dan have all had good moments from the bench.

God Zebo is a poor pundit. Doesn't even seem to know who's on the field!

Another straight away for Ireland. Nuts to think that Earls and Halfpenny were on that 2009 Lions tour with Simon Shaw, who was there in 1997. It's been quite the career for Earls.

The scrum is 7 against 8, though. Winning your own ball and not conceding is a good result - and they’ve just won a pen against the head.

by mikey_dragon Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:16 pm

carpet baboon wrote:Hey England fans just a heads up, your starting to sound like.the Welsh whining about the ref

What a daft thing to write, xenophobic too.

by Heaf Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:17 pm

Cumbrian wrote:Come on man, surely that was a forward pass.

Only a couple of meters - see what I was saying about the officials?

by Engine#4 Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:18 pm

Delighted for Earls.
Block my hole.

It was a forward pass though.

by carpet baboon Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:18 pm

mikey_dragon wrote:
carpet baboon wrote:Hey England fans just a heads up, your starting to sound like.the Welsh whining about the ref

What a daft thing to write, xenophobic too.

Calm down Mikey it was a joke

by Sgt_Pooly Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:19 pm

mikey_dragon wrote:
carpet baboon wrote:Hey England fans just a heads up, your starting to sound like.the Welsh whining about the ref

What a daft thing to write, xenophobic too.

Lighten up a bit Mikey, we're much worse.

by Cumbrian Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:20 pm

Thank God that is over, was painful.

by Heaf Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:20 pm

So only 2 forward passes for tries today, a ball touched down for a 5m scrum possibly missed, and don't even start on the breakdown - this 2nd half is challenging for worst officiating performance of the series now ..

by king_carlos Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:20 pm

Poorfour wrote:
king_carlos wrote:Theo Dan has been lively in the loose but that scrum was going back rather fast which is a worry.

Care, Chessum, Sinckler and Dan have all had good moments from the bench.

God Zebo is a poor pundit. Doesn't even seem to know who's on the field!

Another straight away for Ireland. Nuts to think that Earls and Halfpenny were on that 2009 Lions tour with Simon Shaw, who was there in 1997. It's been quite the career for Earls.

The scrum is 7 against 8, though. Winning your own ball and not conceding is a good result - and they’ve just won a pen against the head.

Lawrence was in on the flank for that scrum. The one against Ireland felt like a bit of a guess from the ref as he didn't want another reset. England had one go against Stuart in the first half.

Dan is really prominent in the loose though. Looks a good player but I think scrummaging will be a steep learning curve against the bigger international scrums.

Ireland the better team by a mile as expected. A very scrappy game.

by No 7&1/2 Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:21 pm

Ah man. That final pass again when Smith made the break. Excellent again from us. Another improvement. Can't wait for Argentina. Fiji may be thanking their lucky stars that players will just be trying to avoid injuries next week.

by Collapse2005 Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:21 pm

Terrible match, hope Ireland improve especially in maul and lineout.

by Poorfour Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:22 pm

Well thankfully that’s now over. By the time England play Fiji, we will know how long Vunipola and Farrell are out for… and whether Borthwick will replace them or not.

by mikey_dragon Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:23 pm

carpet baboon wrote:
mikey_dragon wrote:
carpet baboon wrote:Hey England fans just a heads up, your starting to sound like.the Welsh whining about the ref

What a daft thing to write, xenophobic too.

Calm down Mikey it was a joke

Come on, you’ve always got a bee in your bonnet over the Welsh. It’s like you think there’s 3 million PhilBB’s here…
Congratulations to Ireland on the win.

by No 7&1/2 Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:23 pm

Poorfour wrote:Well thankfully that’s now over. By the time England play Fiji, we will know how long Vunipola and Farrell are out for… and whether Borthwick will replace them or not.

Surely he'll want to keep both in even if they cam only make the semi's. Question though, I know we named the squad early but are we allowed to replace suspended players?

by mikey_dragon Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:25 pm

Poorfour wrote:Well thankfully that’s now over. By the time England play Fiji, we will know how long Vunipola and Farrell are out for… and whether Borthwick will replace them or not.

This fixture will be quite telling on whether Wales stand a chance of making it out of the group stage… Only two of the top 4 (Ire, NZ, Fra, SA) can make it to the final stage, with a pair of jokers like Wales and England possibly in their way.

by Cumbrian Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:25 pm

I'm not going to start bitching about the ref here, it masks a serious problem. England were just awful. I can forgive being outclassed, but I cannot forgive being outfought. They still look unfit and lazy! How can this be? The number of times we got turned over because there just weren't enough bodies to hold off the counter ruck... It is unforgivable!

by carpet baboon Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:26 pm

All jokes aside, Ireland were very scrappy today, lots of dropped balls and poor passes. But still got the win and only let in one try.

England have the players to be a top top team, but not one England player looked like he wanted to be on that pitch today

by Heaf Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:29 pm

Agreed they had no intensity - It's almost as if they were playing trying not to get injured ....

by No 7&1/2 Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:35 pm

Hartley is really good on comms and analysis.

by No 7&1/2 Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:36 pm

Respectfully Courtney I do think it's as simple as you need to tackle lower.

Fantastic question as well from McLaughan as well to Lawes re concussions he's had and the need to not hit people in the head.

by Yoda Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:40 pm

Well that was pants.

In order of s**tness.
1. Billy V
2. England's attack
3. The ref and officiating team (not for the red as that was more of a red than Farrell's)
4. Stuart and steward double act rotating door defence.

How can it be 2023 and forward passes still aren't picked up for two tries? Admittedly it would have made little difference but blimey really poor.

Sorry but didn't see any progression and are really fearful for next week, it could well be our first defeat by Fiji.

by Yoda Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:44 pm

carpet baboon wrote:All jokes aside, Ireland were very scrappy today, lots of dropped balls and poor passes. But still got the win and only let in one try.

England have the players to be a top top team, but not one England player looked like he wanted to be on that pitch today

I think you're being overly generous there. We are s***e and you know it. Well it goes in peaks and troughs I suppose and we will have to suck it up and take the beatings.

by Collapse2005 Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:46 pm

Itoje was good enough

by Mr Bounce Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:46 pm

Still want to see someone else at 15 next week....

Can we have some players with a fire in their bellies? Nobody seemed to want to be there apart from Care, Smith, Marchant and Dan. Youngs passed to the bleeping ground again.

But worst of all is the complete lack of cohesion and support. And the lack of decisive cutting edge in attack. Was there any attack?

by mikey_dragon Sat 19 Aug 2023, 7:48 pm

Would love to see a coaching team like Andy Farrell and ROG coach Wales after the world cup. England can keep Borthwick.

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