Scotland V England

[jgriffin]

Also in the future struggling to see where Daly fits into the England team. Watson and Malins are arguably better at 15. Nowell, May, Cokanasiga and Thorley are better wingers. Slade and Lozowski are better centres.

Coka, Watson and Nowell injured.

[Leicestertinytiger]

Also in the future struggling to see where Daly fits into the England team. Watson and Malins are arguably better at 15. Nowell, May, Cokanasiga and Thorley are better wingers. Slade and Lozowski are better centres.

Coka, Watson and Nowell injured.

Yeah I know, plus Slade and Malins. But when they all come back in fit, where does Daly fit?

[Noggs]

The Heinz/Youngs switch is difficult to understand.

Furback is worth a second try but he has to do much better than last week where nerves clearly played a part.

Curry at 8 did not work and there are much better options available. I don't recall one good carry from the set piece and his control at the base of the scrum was lacking. He will have to play much better against the Scots to retain his place at that position.

[westwinds31]

Ok, Ben didn’t have a great game, but it’s difficult to play quick ball when the forwards are not punching holes or presenting the ball back properly. So in comes the guy who can’t spot a 4 man overlap. Sheesh !

[BigDan50]

Scrumhalves don’t spot overlaps, it down to the fly half to give him the call which way to pass the ball , so by that reckoning George didn’t give him the call and is therefore the one to blame.

[northerntiger]

But why should Currie have to play well at 8 to retain his place? He's an outstanding flanker, that's where he should be judged on.
Also there are better 12s than Farrel, and better wingers than Daly.
So why, why does Jones persist with shoehorning players out of position?

[POSTIGER]

As an aside, is anyone else fed up of Jones's penchant for petty pre-match winding up of the opposition? I'm an Englishman and an England fan but I think it does the game no favours and makes him look pretty stupid tbh. It only seems to stoke the opposition, see last week when he said that France would not live with out power and hey presto, they put us to the sword. It works against us a lot more often than it works for us so stop doing it!

[Jacko27]

I guess the answer to the above question is that Eddy picks the most talented players, The guys who in his opinion are the most talented, most driven and bring most to the team and then decides how to fit them into the team. I've always been a bit suspicious of this English idea that a rugby player can only possibly play in one specialist position. The skill set that makes a good 7 isn't so different from that needed for a number 6, similarly full back/wing and 2nd row/number 8. And dare I say it: even tighthead/loosehead! (Yes as a player I was a back!) I think Eddy's problem really is injuries in particular positions. Billy's out and - having looked at him - he doesn't rate Hughes highly enough and three of his best wingers/ full backs are out of contention.

[CitizenSmiff]

The skill set that makes a good 7 isn't so different from that needed for a number 6, similarly full back/wing and 2nd row/number 8. And dare I say it: even tighthead/loosehead! (Yes as a player I was a back!)

The skill set is one thing, the experience entirely another. Do one thing over and over a thousand times and you have a distinct advantage over the bloke who's done it twice. And bless your perfectly preserved ears but no you absolutely cannot interchange 1 and 3! The players that do both give it an almighty try but mostly end up doing an average job at best.

[mol2]

Funny how things change.
In days gone by the bench prop had to cover both sides. Now we expect the tight head to be a pure old fasioned prop yet we have turned the loose head into more of an agile bullock, knowing he can be subsititued when he runs out of gas. This has made the two roles more specialised.

If Curry had regularly played 8 in the past fine, but to expect someone to play 8 at top international level who doesn't fo so for his club is silly. Not as silly as playing a flanker at scrum half as Italy did one with Bergamasco. 8 has to be able to control the ball at the back of the scrum and have an eye as to when to give to the scrum half or run with it. It needs a big bullocking runner to tie in players at scrum time. Scoop up the ball one handed and run down the fly half channel before the opposition flankers have broken off is an essential skill set, something England lacked against France. This meant that the French defence was able to fan out ready to rush, which they did effectively.

[Robespierre]

I'm rapidly losing faith in Eddie. All that bull about brutality in Paris backfired with interest and now Ludlam's spouting about mutual hate between the English and the Scots. Enough is enough cos it's only counter productive and will as near as always come back and bite us on the backside.
And then there's Jones' persistence in his selection oddities - 2nd rows in the back row, no genuine number 8, out-of-form scrum-halves, Farrell at 12, a captain who seems to be unable to command the respect of his players and communicate effectively with the referee.
If Scotland win, and retain the Calcutta Cup for a third consecutive year, Jones' position as coach will cease to be tenable, but without doubt he'll go and wind up the Irish and the Welsh with nonsensical verbals and persist with his weird selections, and England could end up playing in aly on the last day of the 6Nations to decide the wooden spoon.

Rant over! It's enough to make you turn to drink, so it is

[BFG]

I agree with the above.
If Farrell were the best 12 then Sarries would play him there, they don't and for good reasons.
Add in no recognised No8, four locks in a 23 etc and it's no wonder England players often receive the ball flat, and who does Eddie drop but the scrum half, what a plank!

[JP14]

Jones just can't bring himself to drop Farrell.

[fortysix]

I met John Connelly in Queensland as he is Chairman of a cricket club. What he said about about EJ was a bit like the Democrats and Trump.... reckoned we would very soon get rid....

[Tiglon]

It's funny how easily people lose confidence and forget how far a team has come.

When Jones took over we weren't able to get out of the WC group stage at home. Now, after losing a WC final against an excellent team who have many of the worlds best players and losing a game in France (where, FYI, England lose far more often than they win) we think he should be sacked.

Who do we think England are, the All Blacks? When did England suddenly become a rugby team that should be expected to win every single game?