No Noon No!!!!

[Will S]

Just heard Tindall is out for England and Noon has been brought in to the team

[Darc Tiger]

Travesty...

I would have had either Tait or JSD.

But certainly Hipkiss if he was fit!

[TigerCam]

This is complete and utter rubbish. So much for going forward. Panic England! Don't think I can bear to watch next weekend at Cardiff - a slaughter is on the cards.

[dailywaffle]

Tait or JSD would have necessitated a change in the gameplan.
Noon is as near a like-for-like replacement as you're going to get for Tindall.

A logical, albeit unpopular decision.

[Darc Tiger]

Tait or JSD would have necessitated a change in the gameplan.
Noon is as near a like-for-like replacement as you're going to get for Tindall.

A logical, albeit unpopular decision.

But to be fair, Tait is virtually the same height and weight as Noon, its just he has a vastly better game than him.

[dailywaffle]

Out of interest, how many full games have people seen Tait play this season?

[Gate]

Not being a Sale fan, I haven't seen him play any.

[Will S]

I saw the highlights of the Sale game the other weekend. Obviously you don't get a full appreciation of how the player performs over 80 mins but it did show him dancing through the opposition defence with some lovely foot work before off loading for an easy try. As mentioned this was only one flash and for the rest of the game he could have been total rubbish - mind you, one flash of brilliance is probably one more than Noon would manage in a game!!! I just can't see who in our back line (DM excluded) who will be able to break a good defensive line

[Duncan B]

ok im also very disapointed noons playing over tindall BUT to suggest tait is the same size as noon is ridiculous, and to select tait would be mental as he doesnt even start for sale. Even if Hipkiss was fit he is starting to resemble a one trick pony whos one trick has been devalued by the ELVs. Noon will be in so that they dont have to completely change the game plan.

[Will S]

But what is their game plan? From looking at the team it will be keep it in the forwards and bash it up the middle from the backs (creativity avoided at all costs!). To be fair this will probably work against Italy but against the better teams in the 6N's you can't expect to run over them - we need players who can find / create space.

[Duncan B]

The idea will be to use tindall/stroke noon to get the pack on the front foot, hoping to therfore provide quick ball for the backs to weave wonders. However this seems to have been the plan for 8 years and thoit workd till 2003 we dont seem to be savvy enough to recycle he ball with the necesary speed

[Will S]

I get the plan but if you work on that basis you need some backs to work the wonders when the quick ball comes. If I was manager, and it was my neck on the line, then to be honest this is probably the sort of team I would pick. It would be nice however to see a young backline given a go as Italy would be the ideal opportunity to take some risks and be a bit experimental. If it didn't work we could always go back to the Noon type backline for the Wales game but this is a game we are probably going to win but doing it playing the backs line we have is not going to teach us anything.

My backline would be Ellis, Cips, Cueto, Geraghty, Armitage, Sackey, Foden

I'm sure they would still win you the game and at least we would have learnt something.

[Smurphswillgetya]

Will S, probably that backline you suggest would be good in the world cup in 2011. At the moment Johnson needs to ease them in gradually. He has to balance results with change. Look what happened to Tait when Robinson threw him in too early. Develop them in the Saxons first