Ireland vs England - is this the big one?

[BG01]

Good game to win in difficult conditions, but again too much ping pong from both sides for my liking. When the kick is on BY for Manu etc it is worth trying but kick down middle and few chasers....CASHton poor at his first up tackles at least 5 or 6 missed.
My MOM would have been Barritt for all his hard graft in the middle.

England for GRAND SLAM???

I might have replied to you on the unoffy but I can't see the case for Barritt being MOTM for his 'hard graft' when he was only England's 9th top tackler, and only made 1 metre all game.

[WiggoTiger]

Good game to win in difficult conditions, but again too much ping pong from both sides for my liking. When the kick is on BY for Manu etc it is worth trying but kick down middle and few chasers....CASHton poor at his first up tackles at least 5 or 6 missed.
My MOM would have been Barritt for all his hard graft in the middle.

England for GRAND SLAM???

I might have replied to you on the unoffy but I can't see the case for Barritt being MOTM for his 'hard graft' when he was only England's 9th top tackler, and only made 1 metre all game.

Its not all about metres gained....Ireland were gaining lots of metres and the result = nothing of note!! He worked at the breakdown better than some of the forwards........Haskell how many times does he have to be told (like a :censored: school kid....never listens)??

[tig1]

Outstanding victory from a young England side in terrible conditions.

Credit to Stuart Lancaster who I thought got his substitutions spot on when the England line out and scrum fell apart a bit early in the second half. He didn't hesitate and reacted immediately and both set pieces were sorted out and England regained control.

England showed great maturity for such a young side, played a smart game and totally nullified Ireland.

That's six wins from seven Six Nations games from SL team, 4 of those wins away from home.
Whilst not pretending England are close to being world beaters, the whole set up led by Lancaster off the field and Robshaw on it have done a fantastic job so far.

[Smurphswillgetya]

I thought Ben Youngs should have been man of the match but he is not the darling of the media!

[sapajo]

I thought Ben Youngs should have been man of the match but he is not the darling of the media!

Its seems England only had and indeed needed two players on the pitch namely Farrell and Robshaw, its getting tedious and must be rather galling for the rest of the team?

[Isambard]

Great result and fair play to Robshaw who has grown in stature as captain.
Ben had a good game, as did the referee imho. The irish changed their scrum policy at half time which worked well to our consternation and good subs from Lancaster. Farrell is so cool. How un-English to be excited about playing against first Dan Carter and then Johnny Sexton? His mental toughness is a key to the next world cup.

I think that the Irish gave everything (legaal and illegal and were mightily surprised by the resulting lack of points.

Please bring back Ben Foden, send James Haskell back to sin-bin bighead land and put Ashton on the bench.

Courtney Lawes seems to be so fragile. In recent seasons he seems to be more a ten minute pony before he has to go off.
I noticed that BOD had his customary injury between 50 and 60 minutes and as usual recovered but not as usual did not score a try.

[yellow_balaclava_hunter]

Thought the referee was abysmal again as was Rolland in the France v Wales match.

The Ireland v England referee didn't have a clue about the scrums.

The stamp should have at least been a yellow card and was right in front of the referee.

Look at the game from the 55 minute mark before Haskell gets binned.

Ireland lineout, maul, ball carrier leaves maul then rejoins i.e. truck and trailer. Instead England get penalised for in at the side. Next lineout Ireland knock on from the resulting maul, play carries on, Ireland go off their feet at a ruck and Haskell gets a yellow card for not rolling away.

As for Rolland, he gave Wales the result as there were clear infringements in the build up to the Wales try.

[Broadstaff]

Thought the referee was abysmal again as was Rolland in the France v Wales match.

Have to say that in my opinion you are biased against referees. He did give some good decisions didn't he?

[yellow_balaclava_hunter]

Thought the referee was abysmal again as was Rolland in the France v Wales match.

Have to say that in my opinion you are biased against referees. He did give some good decisions didn't he?

He missed a lot.

I don't mind a referee who misses the odd thing here or there but when he misses that much then he has to be criticised particularly considering who the touch judges were and their supposed pedigree.

The stamp was right in front of the referee yet he apparently didn't see it and nor did the touch judges.

The passage of play just before Haskell received the yellow card was a complete joke and not to the standard expected of international referees. OK so he missed the player breaking off the maul I'll forgive that but how exactly did the ball find itself at the bottom of the next maul? Magic? How did the touch judge then miss the knock on by the scrum half? How did the referee miss the Irish player going in at the side and then off his feet at the ruck, it was clear as daylight. Was the referee watching the game at all?

The scrums were once again a lottery including one where Ireland gained a penalty from a clearly coordinated move by the Irish pack intended to collapse the scrum. Then they got a penalty for England binding on the arm when on the other side of the scrum the Irish prop was binding on the arm and had done so at every scrum. Why wasn't the touch judge notifying the referee?

It wasn't difficult to spot.

[jamiewilkinson]

What a result, Farrell is forever growing into that position (pains me to say that) still has his faults but they are becoming increasingly minor to the bigger picture.
Ashton shouldn't be starting at present, teams not allowing him to play the way he use to? the Sorries effect? tiredness? not match fit? what ever it is it seems he is just there to make up the numbers at the moment.
Bring back Foden, his injury is obviously still affecting his selection by worrying the selectors.
Manu on for 36? was that Lancaster battering down the hatches? Happy with the result as it stood and tried to make it harder for them to break through? A real shame, would love to see Manu and 36 play together again.
Is Joe Marler becoming more intellegent with his scrummaging? until found out after Ireland re group at half time.
Haskell just doesnt cut it for me at international level. We somebody more intellegent to carry the ball.
WHAT A STEAL BY GEOFF, i expected the chants of team parling to start again! Fantastic
AND WHAT AN AWFUL PITCH, as was the Stade.
A good win away to Ireland sets us up for the rest of the championship. The maturity of the players shone through.

[tigerburnie]

Haskell gets a yellow card for not rolling away.

The ref clearly said Haskell was binned for playing the ball laying on the ground with his feet,obvious on the replay.As Keith Wood said,it's very hard not to play the ball in that position,have you never done it, I know I have.

[Ze Stade Fan]

Now the big, big game will obviously and as always be Ingerland (to my left with the shiny belt) vs France (to my right, dressed up as a beat-up ole rooster) ! Stunned and stung by their humiliating defeats at the hands of Castro & Co and the happy leeks singing choir, the Frrrrrench will surely turn up at Twickers for a stupendous game... er... emmm... wait a minute... didn't I say the same thing last week?

Oooooooh I'm happy not to travel to London, this is gonna be embarrassing...

[BJ.]

Inquiry - it's 79:25 on the match clock and England are given a penalty for the Irish going offside. Robshaw clearly pointed to the posts so what the hell was Farrell doing kicking for touch?

[Smurphswillgetya]

Inquiry - it's 79:25 on the match clock and England are given a penalty for the Irish going offside. Robshaw clearly pointed to the posts so what the hell was Farrell doing kicking for touch?

Apparently according to one expert on here who is oozing about Farrell is that he took charge because if he kicked and missed they could have run the ball back at us! I personally think there was more chance of losing the line out and having them run it back while the kick would have run the clock down and end the game.

[tigerburnie]

Inquiry - it's 79:25 on the match clock and England are given a penalty for the Irish going offside. Robshaw clearly pointed to the posts so what the hell was Farrell doing kicking for touch?

Farrel said in a post match interview, he told Robshaw if he missed and the Irish ran it back they might score a try, so I'm kicking for touch.Good decision, if you noticed Farrel was quite vocal talking to the side during breaks in the game.