Owen Farrell

[G.K]

Unfortunately Farrell (and Robshaw) are shoe in's no matter how badly they play. Every England coach for the last decade or so has had similar blind spots and these two are Lancasters. Centres and Wings are a revolving door in the hope that Lancaster can find someone, anyone that can fit in with OF.

[TigerCam]

Owen who?

[Nailsworthstiger]

three defeats against the Southern Hemisphere big 3 could be devastating for Lancaster!!

Don't think Lancaster will worry too much about that when his contract has another 6 years to go!

[jgriffin]

three defeats against the Southern Hemisphere big 3 could be devastating for Lancaster!!

Don't think Lancaster will worry too much about that when his contract has another 6 years to go!

Alas for England he may not get that far, indeed may not get much further than Xmas if the meeja really go for him. It takes one or two more to go agin' him and a tipping point may be reached.
Alas for England, equally, he may survive to take us to group disaster in the WC. We need Wales to malfunction badly next year. Imagine what Schmidt would do with our player resources.

[Nailsworthstiger]

three defeats against the Southern Hemisphere big 3 could be devastating for Lancaster!!

Don't think Lancaster will worry too much about that when his contract has another 6 years to go!

Alas for England he may not get that far, indeed may not get much further than Xmas if the meeja really go for him. It takes one or two more to go agin' him and a tipping point may be reached.
Alas for England, equally, he may survive to take us to group disaster in the WC. We need Wales to malfunction badly next year. Imagine what Schmidt would do with our player resources.

I really cannot see the "Old Farts" allowing to get egg on their face.

[jonlin]

Nepotism rules.

[JackFlashJonny]

When you actually consider his play he is woefully inadequate in all areas except those that seem to be King for this England team being Defence and goal kicking..I would rather see any 10 from Cipriani, Ford, Myler, Slade or Burns in the slot if only there was another kicker on the field who could slot those kicks (mainly in Ford and Burn's case) I am hoping that Slade is the future as I think he is a classy player who has everything needed!

[northerntiger]

There are many things that annoy me about the whole Farrel thing, but the one that irritates me particularly is how some pundits (Cleary, Woodward) have conceded he is not the best option at 10, so he therefore ought to play at 12. Any ideas why? Apart from nepotism, obviously

[Will S]

There are many things that annoy me about the whole Farrel thing, but the one that irritates me particularly is how some pundits (Cleary, Woodward) have conceded he is not the best option at 10, so he therefore ought to play at 12. Any ideas why? Apart from nepotism, obviously

Because most of them are resigned to the fact that we struggle to score trys against the top teams, or at the very least we only convert a relatively low proportion of our try scoring opportunities. Therefore, to stand any chance against these teams, we need someone on the pitch who can kick goals from anywhere. The hope is a lot of 3 point penalties and a strong defence will win us the game.

[jgriffin]

There are many things that annoy me about the whole Farrel thing, but the one that irritates me particularly is how some pundits (Cleary, Woodward) have conceded he is not the best option at 10, so he therefore ought to play at 12. Any ideas why? Apart from nepotism, obviously

Because most of them are resigned to the fact that we struggle to score trys against the top teams, or at the very least we only convert a relatively low proportion of our try scoring opportunities. Therefore, to stand any chance against these teams, we need someone on the pitch who can kick goals from anywhere. The hope is a lot of 3 point penalties and a strong defence will win us the game.

I think you are correct in your analysis, but this is a failure of strategy. We have IMO good enough players, but have suffered from the lack of investment on the flair side. SL's side is built to avoid losing, which is nowhere near playing to win.
Apparently Cockers team at halftime against Sale was that, if we are going to lose, let's lose while trying to win. England do not have that philosophy.

[Jay C]

this is a failure of strategy. We have IMO good enough players, but have suffered from the lack of investment on the flair side. SL's side is built to avoid losing, which is nowhere near playing to win.
Apparently Cockers talk at halftime against Sale was that, if we are going to lose, let's lose while trying to win. England do not have that philosophy.

I agree with you jg, but surely picking May, Eastmond & Watson is an indication that Lancaster is looking to include more attack minded players ?
Picking a midfield 10/12/13 of Myler/Farrell/Barritt with Yarde or Nowell in place of May would look much more "defensively sound" surely ? It would certainly look less threatening in attack !!

[ellis9]

I read in the media today that Lancaster is considering dropping Farrell and Care for the South Africa game saying the exit kicking from the half backs wasn't good enough

[sapajo]

I read in the media today that Lancaster is considering dropping Farrell and Care for the South Africa game saying the exit kicking from the half backs wasn't good enough

The kicking from both of them was not good enough but I do not believe either player will be dropped. Farrell has never been dropped regardless of form.

[Jeremy Anderson]

this is a failure of strategy. We have IMO good enough players, but have suffered from the lack of investment on the flair side. SL's side is built to avoid losing, which is nowhere near playing to win.
Apparently Cockers talk at halftime against Sale was that, if we are going to lose, let's lose while trying to win. England do not have that philosophy.

I agree with you jg, but surely picking May, Eastmond & Watson is an indication that Lancaster is looking to include more attack minded players ?
Picking a midfield 10/12/13 of Myler/Farrell/Barritt with Yarde or Nowell in place of May would look much more "defensively sound" surely ? It would certainly look less threatening in attack !!

No point having Eastman, Watson, May and Roko on the pitch if all 9 and 10 do is kick badly. No attacking moves down the back line at all just poor kick / chase. Thank goodness May got his hand on the ball once and as did Eastman who floated what should have been a scoring pass to Brown.

[G.K]

I read in the media today that Lancaster is considering dropping Farrell and Care for the South Africa game saying the exit kicking from the half backs wasn't good enough

The kicking from both of them was not good enough but I do not believe either player will be dropped. Farrell has never been dropped regardless of form.

If you read that in the media then I'd say it was because Lanacster made sure it was leaked and hence was a testing the water situation.

We had the same thing with Manu at wing in the summer (which was as I predicted a failure).

My guess is that Farrell will start at 12, Youngs at 9 and Ford at 10.