Nobby for England?

[mightymouse]

There was some chatter in the media that Nobby may be considered for a position in the England coaching team.

Nobby was a very fine player and appears to coach some very good packs of forwards. However it seems to me that he is out the same stable as Wig and Cockers for that matter so why change Wig if that is what you want.

Generally Wig has done a good job for England and i think that the failures of the forwards in the last year are more down to the availability of personnel than failure in coaching. Corbisero, Lawes and arguably Dylan the halfwit have been the biggest losses.

Wig's biggest failure to me (and this may not be his choice) was his insistence on playing Brookes and ignoring Wilson. English forward play is based on strong scrummaging and playing a weak tighthead off the bench when you are already under pressure on the loosehead side (due to poor options available) makes no sense.The desire to have front row forwards running around a lot ignores the fact that their primary job starts and finishes at the scrum, and if they cannot perform there then they should not be considered. As a Scot with a strong affinity to England and the English game I found the sight of an English scrum going backwards (to Australia of all people) was embarrassing and frankly unacceptable.

Nobbys biggest failure to me is his failure to control discipline. Lawes, Dylan the halfwit and 'the armbreaker' have all been appalling on his watch and they are all potentially very good players. However you cannot have a player who is a liability in the team. The coaches job is to ensure they keep a lid on their excesses and if they cannot they they must not play. I suspect that Saints are encouraged to be 'over exuberant', and that is not wise in modern day rugby. Aggression has to be much more controlled than in days of yore.

I suspect Jones will skip a generation and look for more modern ideas when he chooses his forward coach and this is where I would be suprised if he does not call for Borthwick again. You cannot fault the job he did with Japan and possibly if successful this would give England the succession plan to a younger more dynamic English coaching team.

[old one eye]

Thank goodness!

I had a need to sit down moment there. I thought the topic said Noddy for England and he had been talking to his "Contacts" again.

[Snorbins]

Nobby will need to come off the pies!

[Maidman]

Some of my Saints mates are concerned about losing Alex King too - though I haven't seen his name mentioned anywhere.

I think Mightymouse is right. Nobby has done some good things at Saints, but not sure he offers much different to Wiggo.

I just want to see Farrell gone.

[JackFlashJonny]

Surely everyone wants to see Farrell gone!

Crazy he ever got the gig really...

[Noddy555]

Sorry I misread this as Noddy for England and I was just going to launch into a long diatribe on why I couldn't take the job when I noticed it was b's not d's.

[mightymouse]

For our dyslexic friends can I just point out that Noddy would only get the forwards job if Big Ears was head coach, and they would be fighting off strong is slightly underhand competition from Sly and Gobbo (or should that be Goddo?!)

Back to reality... Farrell has of course worked with Jones before and was well regarded by him and so therefore if anyone is is likely to be retained ... oh dear ....perhaps Big Ears and Noddy would be the better call after all!

[fleabane]

I was unaware that Farrell had worked with Jones before. When was this? I agree it makes it more likely that Jones will keep him, probably as defence coach, with Borthwick coaching the forwards and AN Other with the backs. Think JW.

[Iain]

When Jones worked with Saracens I would assume?

[MurphysLaw]

Borthwick, with Paul Gustard as defence coach would be my bet.
However, the quiet man at Quins, John Kingston, always goes under the radar, and imo he does a great job there.

Not sure about backs coach, although like others, I think Farrell must go.
After last season Alex King would have been a pick, but I'm not so sure now.
Maybe he will bring in an Aussie?

[tigercaspian]

Matt o'Connor?
I'll get my coat...................