England v Ireland

[Guinness&Nuts]

Is it just me but does My Angry - M. Brown look a shadow of his former self.
He can't pass, has lost what little pace he had and keeps turning over ball / giving away penalties.

Get rid sharpish!

[The Boy Dave]

It takes all sorts but there are elements of England that I am finding increasingly difficult to stomach at present, don't know why, perhaps the world cup flop, not expecting them to walk with their heads down or anything but some humility wouldn't go amiss!
Credit to Billy V though, I thought he had an immense game and is an understated character, worked his socks off, when is his contract up at Sarries!

[G.K]

I don't know about others but so far although obviously pleased with the wins and that the fact that a couple of promising players have won caps, especially Itoje, I haven't seen that much to excite me yet.

Scrum remains iffy and if Dan Cole gets crocked then I think we'd be in a mess as the one on the bench doesn't seem to be trusted even to do 10 minutes yesterday. Pretty solid at 2nd row though and we have good options there now.

Back row remains a problem, it's just too slow with both Haskell and Robshaw as flankers. Sorry but I'm not on-board with all the hype over Billy Vunipola either, sure he works hard and carries well but is also slow and butchered a try yesterday that just about every other international 8 would have scored.

Midfield still not right for me, Ford not in form, Farrell just ships it on and Joseph just doesn't seem able to cut it against stronger defences. We have some decent wingers but hardly ever seem to put them in space.

Need to beat the Welsh next time out and, as they are now our main (or even only) contenders for the 6N, they will be up for it and they won last time out at HQ didn't they.

[Big Dai]

Going back to the age old adage of kicker + tighthead as first on the sheet Farrell and Cole must play. A fit and switched on Youngs is better than Hartley and I'll take Mako at LH. Itoge and Kruis 2nd row.

Back row? It's a mess. Billy is possibly the best 8 at the moment, until Hughes qualifies, but needs his pals around him more. I may even put a fit Launchers or Lawes in to the second row and have Itoge at 6 and Kvesic at 7 (Seeing as the world is against Armitage............just swallow your pride guys)

Either Youngs or Care at 9. Each put in a shift and either off the bench is a threat.

Farrell at 10, Daly 12 and Joseph 13. The latter benefitting from the former's creativity and pace.

Wings? As we are, and Goode at FB.


I'll get me coat.

[Robespierre]

Mike Brown could soon become a liability (if he isn't one already).
OK, a player has to be aggressive but Brown goes beyond that and soon he could cop a card if he continues to play as he played yesterday.
The "rucking" incident involving Conor Murray was, in my opinion, careless and Brown's boot came into contact with Murray's head a few times. Ok, Murray may have been holding onto the ball and many may say he got what he deserved, but Brown needs to bring some control to his aggression. If not, I'd drop him.

[drc_007]

Could be all smoke and mirrors, but much of the talk since the 6N began has been about having Manu fit to play Wales to combat the size of the Welsh midfield.

[G.K]

Could be all smoke and mirrors, but much of the talk since the 6N began has been about having Manu fit to play Wales to combat the size of the Welsh midfield.

It's been widely leaked by EJ (as seems to be the norm nowadays) that Manu will feature in the last two games, if he stays fit. Think it will depend on how it goes today.

[Big Dai]

There's a way, in war-gaming, to beat an opponent who has fast, large tanks. You avoid them.

Youngs and Care attacking through the elbow of the blitz and chipping behind to keep them turning. You need pace to exploit that. Not a bulldozer.

I'm not a Manu fan, sorry, he's almost as big a risk to England now as Burgess was in the WC. I sincerely hope we don't go back to the bash and crash. The Welsh can stop that.

Sorry to speak against a Tiger, but to support his case is as bad as filling the Lions side with Welshmen! It's just bias.

[tigercaspian]

Agree with you Big Dai, the Welsh defence will cope with bash & crash and given Manu's tendency to dash out of the line when defending they will also exploit that weakness too. He shouldn't be brought back yet and certainly not until other parts of England's game are resolved, including dropping Ford, and putting Farrell at 10. I'd retain Farrell for his kicking even though other parts of his game are off the boil as I posted yesterday

[TigerCam]

Agree with you Big Dai, the Welsh defence will cope with bash & crash and given Manu's tendency to dash out of the line when defending they will also exploit that weakness too. He shouldn't be brought back yet and certainly not until other parts of England's game are resolved, including dropping Ford, and putting Farrell at 10. I'd retain Farrell for his kicking even though other parts of his game are off the boil as I posted yesterday

Manu goes to England Mon/Tues for assessment - time will tell?

[jgriffin]

Definitely NOT up to speed would be my assessment today.

[Isambard]

Joseph made 15 tackles in the game. Impressive for an attacking player.

Wales are so boring.

[drc_007]

Definitely NOT up to speed would be my assessment today.

I agree, didn't look match fit and certainly would not last 80 mins at international level.

[DickyP]

Poorly as Ford may have relatively performed at 10 I though he made a pretty good fist at standing in at 9 when care got yellow carded.

[jgriffin]

Poorly as Ford may have relatively performed at 10 I though he made a pretty good fist at standing in at 9 when care got yellow carded.

IMO his best 10 minutes of the game!