The end for Hartley

[Soggypitch]

I think both teams should be congratulated for a cracking game of rugby.

Yes their back row were better, not really a surprise given the relative experience and our injuries. But we played well at times, our defence was immense and we stuck in there, allowing us to snatch victory at the end. 16 wins on the bounce is no fluke, this is a good England team that will only get better.

Ps. Thought Ford was excellent!
PPs. No it's not the end for Hartley but George will 100% be the starting hooker in the 2019 world cup. Give Dylan some credit however, he's been the skipper for all the EJ era and not let anyone down.

[Mark62]

World Cup only 30 months away that's frightening. When you think of some of the young talent in this England squad, and the the fact that quite a few have recently come from the u20s that seems to be becoming more of a proving ground than The Saxons.
Add in the strength of the current batch of u20s and there is going to be some almighty competition for places come Japan

[Noddy555]

No it's a bit too soon to sy that as he is obviously favoured by Jones as quote "My type of player". But Jaimie George was excellent today at 16 so you never know.

[drc_007]

From the Guardian

"The Wales captain, Alun Wyn Jones, went through his counterpart, Dylan Hartley, to set up Webb for an unsuccessful tilt at the line. Hartley was sought out again, this time by Rob Evans, who went clean past him, to spark the next passage of pressure. "

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/ ... brilliance

Hartley made 6 tackles missed 3. George made 12 missed 0.

[h's dad]

Who was the captain once Hartley went off?

I thought it would be one of the vice captains who I think are Farrell, GF and Brown.

When we had the pen to get back to 16-14 Owen appeared to check with someone off camera as to whether to go for the corner instead....so not him then, or were we led by committee

Owen did ask how much time was left before making the decision.

[h's dad]

Thought Ford was excellent!

A defensive liability again. Not just his own shortcomings in this area but other players repeatedly pulled out of position to cover him including for the Welsh try. The pundits have even started showing clips of this with their little coloured arrows to demonstrate. Perhaps he's not their flavour of the month anymore? However good he is in attack with a team in the ascendancy, he's just not worth it when the chips are down.

[strawclearer]

I think both teams should be congratulated for a cracking game of rugby.

Yes their back row were better, not really a surprise given the relative experience and our injuries. But we played well at times, our defence was immense and we stuck in there, allowing us to snatch victory at the end. 16 wins on the bounce is no fluke, this is a good England team that will only get better.

Ps. Thought Ford was excellent!
PPs. No it's not the end for Hartley but George will 100% be the starting hooker in the 2019 world cup. Give Dylan some credit however, he's been the skipper for all the EJ era and not let anyone down.

Soggypitch - excellent post but why did you have to say the 'F' word in a thread about Dullan? Now look what you've done...

Thought Ford was excellent!

A defensive liability again. Not just his own shortcomings in this area but other players repeatedly pulled out of position to cover him including for the Welsh try. The pundits have even started showing clips of this with their little coloured arrows to demonstrate. Perhaps he's not their flavour of the month anymore? However good he is in attack with a team in the ascendancy, he's just not worth it when the chips are down.

[Soggypitch]

Yes I know Strawclearer, I couldn't be bothered to respond, but for the record I though George tackled well and his distribution was magnificent.

The only thing that worries me about GF is his occasional flaky goal kicking.

I went to a Q & A with Geoff Parling a year or so before he left and he was full of praise for both the ability and particularly the character of George. I will be disappointed if Freddie leaves but will certainly welcome back George.

[Norfolk & Goode]

Thought Launchbury was the unsung hero!

[Grimlish]

I thought Launchbury got MoTM. Hardly 'unsung'!

[Chobbsy]

Isn't it weird how people see different things in a game. I thought he had a good game and would have taken Hughes off before him.
But that is one of the beauties of the game

I thought Hughes had a good game but lacked support, you cannot fault him for his effort he kept going and going

[h's dad]

Yes I know Strawclearer, I couldn't be bothered to respond, but for the record I though George tackled well and his distribution was magnificent.

The only thing that worries me about GF is his occasional flaky goal kicking.

I went to a Q & A with Geoff Parling a year or so before he left and he was full of praise for both the ability and particularly the character of George. I will be disappointed if Freddie leaves but will certainly welcome back George.

Probably best that you don't respond if you expect any player to receive anything less than a glowing endorsement from his teammates in a public Q&A Try talking to players and their families over a few beers.
It's not just his tackling or the ground he gives; it what the rest of the team have to do to cover him.

[tigerburnie]

Hughes is too upright and seemed to be easily knocked back, got a good rugby brain, but his upper body strength looks to be lacking.

[Soggypitch]

Yes I know Strawclearer, I couldn't be bothered to respond, but for the record I though George tackled well and his distribution was magnificent.

The only thing that worries me about GF is his occasional flaky goal kicking.

I went to a Q & A with Geoff Parling a year or so before he left and he was full of praise for both the ability and particularly the character of George. I will be disappointed if Freddie leaves but will certainly welcome back George.

Probably best that you don't respond if you expect any player to receive anything less than a glowing endorsement from his teammates in a public Q&A Try talking to players and their families over a few beers.
It's not just his tackling or the ground he gives; it what the rest of the team have to do to cover him.

I think I can tell when someone is speaking truthfully from the heart and not making public platitudes.

As for GF we will have to agree to differ, I'm just pleased a certain E Jones seems to agree with me and many others on here, after all what does he know compared to you?

[h's dad]

Yes I know Strawclearer, I couldn't be bothered to respond, but for the record I though George tackled well and his distribution was magnificent.

The only thing that worries me about GF is his occasional flaky goal kicking.

I went to a Q & A with Geoff Parling a year or so before he left and he was full of praise for both the ability and particularly the character of George. I will be disappointed if Freddie leaves but will certainly welcome back George.

Probably best that you don't respond if you expect any player to receive anything less than a glowing endorsement from his teammates in a public Q&A Try talking to players and their families over a few beers.
It's not just his tackling or the ground he gives; it what the rest of the team have to do to cover him.

I think I can tell when someone is speaking truthfully from the heart and not making public platitudes.

As for GF we will have to agree to differ, I'm just pleased a certain E Jones seems to agree with me and many others on here, after all what does he know compared to you?

You may be as perceptive as you think you are. If so I'm sure you've made a career as a top level negotiator or made similar use of such a rare attribute.

Unless they're making it up as they go along, if you look at the way England defend around G Ford I'm not so sure that E Jones and I are that far apart. Perhaps you're not as perceptive as you think you are?