6 Nations apathy

[TigerLad]

It would be nice to see some teams trying to win with flair and style like Smurph (below) .France I'm looking at you!

http://rugbyonslaught.blogspot.co.uk/20 ... ordan.html

Kicking the ball away in the opposition 22 with a two to one overlap......

Flair

[MrPartridge]

Quite looking forward to it in all honesty… can anyone break France's post Lions stronghold? Looking forward to France v England more than our LV cup game on Friday night…

[tigerburnie]

England: Mike Brown; Jack Nowell, Luther Burrell, Billy Twelvetrees, Jonny May; Owen Farrell, Danny Care; Joe Marler, Dylan Hartley, Dan Cole, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Tom Wood, Chris Robshaw, Billy Vunipola.

Replacements: Tom Youngs, Mako Vunipola, Henry Thomas, Dave Attwood, Ben Morgan, Lee Dickson, Brad Barritt, Alex Goode.

Well this looks like a side that could be badly exposed in Paris. What does Dylan Hartley bring to the game for England, his throwing into the lineout is usually not straight, he stands up in almost every scrum and offers little in the loose and is barely adequate with ball in hand. Biased I might be, but OTY beats him in every aspect of the game. Courtney Lawes is better in the back row, Ben Morgan is struggling for form as bad as YBY is.
Think I'm going fishing on Saturday....................

[sapajo]

England: Mike Brown; Jack Nowell, Luther Burrell, Billy Twelvetrees, Jonny May; Owen Farrell, Danny Care; Joe Marler, Dylan Hartley, Dan Cole, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Tom Wood, Chris Robshaw, Billy Vunipola.

Replacements: Tom Youngs, Mako Vunipola, Henry Thomas, Dave Attwood, Ben Morgan, Lee Dickson, Brad Barritt, Alex Goode.

Well this looks like a side that could be badly exposed in Paris. What does Dylan Hartley bring to the game for England, his throwing into the lineout is usually not straight, he stands up in almost every scrum and offers little in the loose and is barely adequate with ball in hand. Biased I might be, but OTY beats him in every aspect of the game. Courtney Lawes is better in the back row, Ben Morgan is struggling for form as bad as YBY is.
Think I'm going fishing on Saturday....................

Fazz starts as usual and now Goode is on the bench as his replacement. Strange that both play for Saracens where neither are first choice at 10. That said they are apparently both goodenough to play 10 for England. How is this consistent with Slancaster's view that selection is based upon performance and merit

[daktari]

England: Mike Brown; Jack Nowell, Luther Burrell, Billy Twelvetrees, Jonny May; Owen Farrell, Danny Care; Joe Marler, Dylan Hartley, Dan Cole, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Tom Wood, Chris Robshaw, Billy Vunipola.

Replacements: Tom Youngs, Mako Vunipola, Henry Thomas, Dave Attwood, Ben Morgan, Lee Dickson, Brad Barritt, Alex Goode.

Well this looks like a side that could be badly exposed in Paris. What does Dylan Hartley bring to the game for England, his throwing into the lineout is usually not straight, he stands up in almost every scrum and offers little in the loose and is barely adequate with ball in hand. Biased I might be, but OTY beats him in every aspect of the game. Courtney Lawes is better in the back row, Ben Morgan is struggling for form as bad as YBY is.
Think I'm going fishing on Saturday....................

Hartley over Youngs, what is that about? The backs hardly showing a wow factor and there is no proper fly-half back up now Toby is out of the picture.

[jgriffin]

Everyone seems to be talking France down, but if they have parity up front, their backs will have a field day. Trinh-Duc back in the fold, to be honest if France were near full strength England would be put to the sword.
I don't like the backs for England, can't see the logic or pattern, unless using May as a broken field runner off Burrell bashing and 12T as creator.

[tigerburnie]

Apart from the Bill Beaumont side and then Will Carlings, England fans were never very hopefull, it was a definate "come on england" sort of call. Along came the SCW era with first Dayglo then Johnno at the helm and we all got very excited and it was shouting from the roof tops "COME ON ENGLAND". I hoped Johnno could do something, but it was not to be and since then it's definately back to the lower case call again. Are we back to the "have a good team once a decade" scenario again?

[Littletigress]

Well I'm looking forward to the Six Nations. I may end up with square eyes by the end of it, but so be it. Coffee and hot cross buns ready for the afternoon matches and something a little stronger for the later kick offs. I may need it for the France v. England match!

[RWA]

Sorry chaps, I'm not buying any 6 Nations apathy. I'm excited ! Really ! I like an England side that has an element of risk about it, with new caps and players who can produce something out of nothing, rather than the pedestrian rubbish that we've churned out in recent years. New blood is required which will shape the World Cup squad. In the backline, Burrell has deserved his chance after a series of decent performances. Barritt may have started but has only just returned from injury. Nowell and May on the wings excites me, lots of pace and energy and the X-Factor you get with May could be interesting. Everyone wanted Ashton out didn't they ? In the forwards, only the most one-eyed Tigers fan will disagree with Hartley over Youngs. Hartley has been superb this season for Saints. Youngs is one hell of an impact player off the bench, as is Mako Vunipola.

As for the other nations, Wales will again be very good, Ireland promise a lot and the French will be anything from rubbish to supreme. I can't wait for the Welsh game at Twickenham. Bring it on !

[Ze Stade Fan]

I'm sorry I'm late. Is this the thread in which I can hate the English galore until the final handshake at Stade de France Saturday? Good.

My oh my, every year I think my interest for this is wilting, but come the English and here we go again!

ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!!

Come on you lazy overpaid, overweight, overpraised French battalions, let us march until... oh dear, it doesn't look good this year.

Aaaaanyway, as a Stade Français supporter I am proud to say that six of our players were called for training and finally five retained on the match list!

Flanquart, a gigantic although slim lock, with great abilities in touch and a good push at the scrum
Papé : everyone loves him, our baloo from the book of the jungle, sees enough yellow in a season to paint a car with it. Should work a bit on his discipline while keeping his commitment intact.
Plisson: ohmyword, is he ready??? Well he really flourished last season, still capable of mistakes, like kicking a ball into a wingers arms (the wrong winger,that is) but he has the nerve and talent, let's give him a try.
Slimani (on the bench) will be one of the greatest tightheads France ever had
Burban (on the bench): tackles and provokes turnovers, unlucky with injuries, it's about time he is summoned to international glory.

GEEZ I am scared ! Booooh you bunch of Englishmen (and women and hermaphrodites)

[CitizenSmiff]

The 6N, and indeed any international between now and the WC, just feels like treading water before the inevitable dire performance and long overdue sea-change. Lancaster isn't the man for the job, never has been, he just happened to be in the building when all the qualified coaches were backing away from Rob Andrew and his buddies as fast as they could. I'll still cheer for England but between a hefty injury list and some horrific squad choices I don't fancy our chances much.

[RWA]

Who would you have as coach then CS ? From what I hear, Lancaster is a well respected, forward-thinking and innovative coach. He's produced a tighter squad, who now know the responsibility and privilege of pulling on the white jersey. That clearly wasn't present in any previous squads, post-Woodward. Lancaster has also made some tough decisions, typified by the selection for Paris, where he could have played safe with more experienced players. Along with Rowntree, he's developed a forward pack that can match the top sides in the world and is shaping a back line that can hopefully do the same. So we've made progress. Given the shambles that confronted him in terms of player's attitude and ambition, I'd say he's done a very good job in a short space of time and will continue to do so leading into next year.

[LE18]

Ze Stade Fan

You say you have 5 of your players in the team, oh no problem then we will murder you, our new backs will get plenty of ball from our flyhalf, we will thrash you!

Swing low! Rule Brittania,, you have had it!

[mol2]

Is Goode the back up fly half? Or would they move Twelvetrees across?

Apart from the injured Yarde and Manu this is probably the best starting line up of backs England could put out. Burns is off form so Farrell lacks serious competition. Charlie Hodgson may be a better attacking threat but tackles like a wet lettuce leaf.

As for the forwards the absent Corbisiero is potentially a major handicap.
Marler presumably chosen as a more powerful scrummager than Vunipola, and Lancaster probably thinks the same about Hartley over Youngs (although I'm less convinced he's right about the latter, although I think Youngs can have more impact coming on against a tiring defence.) Which is why I wouldn't have dropped Ben Youngs and brought him on for an impact too.

[jgriffin]

French side looks to have a great deal of potential, as i said could get nasty. As long as Plisson doen't do rabbit in the headlights there could be a serious mismatch at half-back.
I for once would go with DayGlo and expect a French victory as per any post Lions tour 6N.
I would seriously disagree with RWA(ndrew?) about SL - the slanders have been done to death, especially the lies and spin about MJ's ultimately disappointing tenure - but I cannot see SL concocting a WC challenge team. You need serious international standard players (please name ours - Parling, Manu, OTY, Cole, possibly Brown & Lawes) and deeply serious guile in the management (FGS Mallett, Smith, White etc not good enough, SL was - don't make me larf). Wig does a good job, but the rest of it is pants.