Scotland V England

[Leicestertinytiger]

I know he wasn’t on for long but Earl looked very much a test animal suited at that level. Never been impressed by Ludlam, does the basics well but surely you want more from a flanker at this level.

[fortysix]

The ABC Club should put Gengey in as their President. Interview-he turns up, beer in hand. Stares at the presenter. Gives a very direct PR stomach churning response to virtually every question, and then disses Jones who is standing halfway beneath him. I half expected Ellis to lift him up and put him in front of the cameras. But unfortunately he didnt. What a character-------------------- and Leicester and England are very very lucky to have him.

[G.K]

Well it was a poor game and I wasn't impressed with any of them apart from Curry (should not be at 8 though) and Underhill and of course Genge when he came on. Heinz should not be anywhere near the EPS nor Joseph and Farrell is well out of form and too dull to be captain (EJ seems to like dull captains).

Kicking was unbelievably bad, I counted at least 3 times in the first half when good possession was squandered with a pointless kick to the 22 and a mark called and all pressure gone. Fortunately Scotland made a lot of errors, but that game could easily have gone the other way. Wouldn't be sorry to see EJ at the Quantas check in desk after this 6N. Baxter's the man for me.

[BFG]

The ABC Club should put Gengey in as their President. Interview-he turns up, beer in hand. Stares at the presenter. Gives a very direct PR stomach churning response to virtually every question, and then disses Jones who is standing halfway beneath him. I half expected Ellis to lift him up and put him in front of the cameras. But unfortunately he didnt. What a character-------------------- and Leicester and England are very very lucky to have him.

I thought he did really well to hold his beer bottle the correct way!

[WhitecapTiger]

The ABC Club should put Gengey in as their President. Interview-he turns up, beer in hand. Stares at the presenter. Gives a very direct PR stomach churning response to virtually every question, and then disses Jones who is standing halfway beneath him. I half expected Ellis to lift him up and put him in front of the cameras. But unfortunately he didnt. What a character-------------------- and Leicester and England are very very lucky to have him.

I don't think he did that at all, came across to me as defending his boss against the "swaying in the wind" media types, extolling his virtues one minute then baying for blood one minute, think Gengey is the closest they've come to telling the interviewer where to go.

PR nightmare for some maybe but, IMO, a refreshing change from all of the practised soundbites.

Agree with all other points.

[JGT57]

Is Leicester well known for sausages?

[Hot_Charlie]

I counted at least 3 times in the first half when good possession was squandered with a pointless kick to the 22 and a mark called and all pressure gone.

So, for the sake of argument, they end up being dropped instead of marked, as we saw from several other passages of play.

Are they then brilliant kicks?

[G.K]

I counted at least 3 times in the first half when good possession was squandered with a pointless kick to the 22 and a mark called and all pressure gone.

So, for the sake of argument, they end up being dropped instead of marked, as we saw from several other passages of play.

Are they then brilliant kicks?

No, not in my book. I don't believe in the 'kick and hope the opposition make a mistake approach', smacks to me as a last resort when you haven't got a clue how to break down a defence, which of course is exactly what they are.

[BFG]

I counted at least 3 times in the first half when good possession was squandered with a pointless kick to the 22 and a mark called and all pressure gone.

So, for the sake of argument, they end up being dropped instead of marked, as we saw from several other passages of play.

Are they then brilliant kicks?

No, not in my book. I don't believe in the 'kick and hope the opposition make a mistake approach', smacks to me as a last resort when you haven't got a clue how to break down a defence, which of course is exactly what they are.

Yes but look at the positive, Scotland were better at being worse!

[sam16111986]

I counted at least 3 times in the first half when good possession was squandered with a pointless kick to the 22 and a mark called and all pressure gone.

So, for the sake of argument, they end up being dropped instead of marked, as we saw from several other passages of play.

Are they then brilliant kicks?

No, not in my book. I don't believe in the 'kick and hope the opposition make a mistake approach', smacks to me as a last resort when you haven't got a clue how to break down a defence, which of course is exactly what they are.

The wind was swirling around the place, very hard to judge the kicks in those conditions.

What it smacked of was our playmakers not having faith in the attacking game plan. New attack coach, makeshift backline and missing a big ball carrier in the backrow. All that plus the poor weather conditions and the playmakers were happy to play the percentages and try and keep possession in the Scottish half than take risks in their own.

Helped when the Scottish lineout was woeful and the England scrum secure. Had Heinz not spooned three or four directly into touch it would have helped.

[AngusMcCoatup]

Did anyone see Steve Borthwick at the game as I did not see him in the box with Jones nor at pitch side.
So I wonder if this is Eddie's exit tactic for Steve! The sooner he is at Tigers now the better.

[Tiglon]

All of this nonsense about kicking the ball away - there are days for trying to play Champagne rugby and there are days for "kicking the ball away" and watching the opposition repeatedly drop the ball while trying to play Champagne rugby. Today was the latter and it worked very well.

Scotland played ambitious rugby and beat a lot more defenders than England and made more clean breaks. They also turned over the ball more than 3 times as often as England, mostly due to handling errors. That wasn't because England handled the ball better, it's because they made better decisions. If England had kept it in hand and tried to play, all those people criticising the kicking tactics would now be criticising Jones for making England play in poor conditions instead and all the ineviatble dropped balls and other errors.

It was the second biggest margin of victory England have had at Murrayfield since 2004, in horrendous conditions. Lots to work on as always, but it was a very good result.

England now need to win two home games and beat Italy away to have a good chance of lifting the title. How about waiting until the end of the tournament before demanding people be sacked?

[Scott1]

Superb cameo from BY,got his kicking spot on immediately and one breakdown rip to prevent a penalty was class! Attaboy!

[OakhamTiger32]

All of this nonsense about kicking the ball away - there are days for trying to play Champagne rugby and there are days for "kicking the ball away" and watching the opposition repeatedly drop the ball while trying to play Champagne rugby. Today was the latter and it worked very well.

Agreed. I’m not a fan of the box kick tennis type game but this was certainly a game where that was what was required. Play territory and let Scotland make the mistakes.

My main frustration was not the kicking tactic it was trying to put the ball too close to the touch line in horrendous unpredictable conditions and ending up putting it out on the full numerous times. Once is acceptable, twice is understandable given the conditions but 4 or 5 times is ridiculous. Could have cost us but luckily we came away with the points and the Calcutta Cup. Not much you can glean from a match like that, on to the crunch game at Twickenham.

[G.K]

I fail to see how just kicking to the 22 with no real challenge or pressure put on the receiver and which results in a simple mark is good tactics in any weather. Go check how many times that results in a positive outcome for the kicking team, yesterday there were at least 3 attacking options squandered in that way in the first half. It's a tactic that is also overused by Tigers and how are they doing?