England vs Wales

[tigermad]

Good win for England and great to see so many Leicester Tigers in action for England and Dan Cole getting his first cap from the bench. So sweet.

[Bill W (2)]

Wales to win. Easily.

Nah, England to win. Unconvincingly.

Actually it was less unconvicing that I thought it would be!

[tigermad]

Lewis had another good day as usual at 7 for England. Any thoughts on how Dan Cole played coming off the bench today?

[chinnjamie]

England won and at times played very well, we nearly let the Welsh back in it at one point but managed to hold out, and in the end it looked quite convincing. The binning of Wyn Jones was the biggest point in the game, but hes got no one to blame but himself because it was stupid. Haskell deserved his man of the match, Floody was pretty quiet although having a part to play in the final try, Moody had a good game as usual and i thought Cole steadied Englands scrum when brought on. I also thought Easter had a great game too.

[Mr Bean]

The scrum seemed to steady up when Dan came on. Wilson was having a very poor game in the scrum, he even made payne look good :S. My man of the match has to be borthwick (never thought i'd say that) he was constantly working during the ruck and the line out was very well organised.

[chinnjamie]

My man of the match has to be borthwick (never thought i'd say that) he was constantly working during the ruck and the line out was very well organised.

Agreed, he answered a few critics today i thought.

[tigermad]

That more than made up for the loss at Franklins Gardens and great to see England get off to a winning start. Time for drink or two I think.

[Mr Bean]

My man of the match has to be borthwick (never thought i'd say that) he was constantly working during the ruck and the line out was very well organised.

Agreed, he answered a few critics today i thought.

Phew I've got some support with that

[westwinds31]

I agree, credit where credit is due, Borthwick had probably his best game in a white shirt. Superb in the line out, in particular on the Welsh throw and prominent in the tight...his steal led to the Care try. Improved performance, not great but improved. Impressed with Easter, Tait and Monye looked dangerous every time he had the ball.

[MJ Chairman]

I may be biased but I thought Dan Cole looked to the manor born when he came on. He and Thompson steadied the scrum when they came on he put in some good tackles and made a nuisance of himself at ruck and maul time. Towards the end there was a really important tackle steal in England's 22 when Wales were attacking which the idiot Butler credited to Moody who had just been replaced It was definitely Dan and finally closed the game out.
I think he must stand a very good chance of starting in Rome next week/

[tigerburnie]

Curiosity got the better of me and I ended up watching both todays games.Cole has to be first choice at 3,Hartley good round the park,but seems to add nothing come scrum time.All who had a go in the back 5 were good enough,but Care is a worry.Talk about blowing hot and cold,from poor to very good and back again as fast as you could say it.The amount of times we had Cueto standing un marked on their 22 line and no one even looked.Andy Goode would have been a hero with his chips out for the winger,we made some good positions but didn't seem to realise it.
They know that won't be good enough for France,Ireland or even Scotland.

[AidanMcDowell]

[quote="MJ Chairman"]I may be biased but I thought Dan Cole looked to the manor born when he came on. He and Thompson steadied the scrum when they came on he put in some good tackles and made a nuisance of himself at ruck and maul time. Towards the end there was a really important tackle steal in England's 22 when Wales were attacking which the idiot Butler credited to Moody who had just been replaced It was definitely Dan and finally closed the game out.
I think he must stand a very good chance of starting in Rome next week/[/quote]


Aaahh, the idiot Butler...earlier on he called Monye 'Armitage'. Is it just me or is he becoming more obnoxious by the minute? Every time a Welsh attack broke down he was sighing in frustration; not so when England were going forward. And talking of national allegiances, did anyone else notice the bizarre sight of Prince William leaping up in delight at Wales' try, while Prince Harry sat looking glum? Then when England scored, the opposite reaction from each. What with Anne being such a big Scotland fan, are they all on orders to find a home team to support?

[Rizzo]

Prince William is Vice Royal Patron of Welsh rugby (his father IS the Prince of Wales!) and Prince Harry has just become Vice Patron of England RFU. Hence William jumping up for Wales and Harry jumping up for England!

[WhitecapTiger]

Aaahh, the idiot Butler...earlier on he called Monye 'Armitage'. Is it just me or is he becoming more obnoxious by the minute? Every time a Welsh attack broke down he was sighing in frustration; not so when England were going forward. And talking of national allegiances, did anyone else notice the bizarre sight of Prince William leaping up in delight at Wales' try, while Prince Harry sat looking glum? Then when England scored, the opposite reaction from each. What with Anne being such a big Scotland fan, are they all on orders to find a home team to support?

Not just you mate, I find Butler's overtly partisan commentary very annoying, impartiality man!! Brian Moore manages it, or at least did today, he calls it as he sees it (though he's not perfect). Butler has a right to be proud of his heritage, but a DUTY to commentate impartially (imho), if he can't, then sit in the studio and complain with Jonathan Davies

The royals comment has already been answered!

[RobGale]

Little off topic but doesn't Will's usually support England? (I know he's vice president of the WRU but I'm sure I remember him being at Twickers with Harry all the time a few years back)

The game - England tried our best to throw it away but managed to hand on. Dany Care is turning into one of those players that just doesn'y handle the test arena. He missed 2 5 on 2 overlaps. Well taken try but his very slow passing from the ruck is killing us. Hodgson needs to start next week (actually Youngs needs to start nect week but no chance of that)

Hopefully Sheridan will be back soon (or Julian gets called back up) and Dan Cole at 3 and we might finally have a decent front row again

Had a great time today (though finding out Tigers lost (so I assume miss out on the semifinals) has a least partially dented that enthusisasm). The atmosphere at HQ was great and the Welsh (as I usually find to be honest) we're great fun.

Thanks to all that made it a good day