6 Nations Lions chat.

[tigercaspian]

Agreed apart from Farrell who was completely hopeless today in just about everything, apart from one good flat pass to set Daly free he was a waste of a shirt.

I'm no Fazlet fan but the way he stood up Wackamole in full flow today was quite magnificent.

And 3 penalties and a conversion suggests he wasn't completely hopeless......

[Mark62]

Old King Cole just goes on and on and on : how does he do it?? Never seems to get subbed. I think Picamoles was fair choice as MotM but Cole is great.
A monster French team reminded me of our struggles v Racing in Paris so from that point of view England - with four first picks missing from the pack - did well to hold France in the first half. The bench then made the difference in second half leading to Teo's excellent try.
Delighted for Scotland after a number of near-miss losses
Come on Italy indeed!!

Just goes to show no matter what us arm chair pundits might think the England coaches know his value

[WhitecapTiger]

Agreed apart from Farrell who was completely hopeless today in just about everything, apart from one good flat pass to set Daly free he was a waste of a shirt.

I'm no Fazlet fan but the way he stood up Wackamole in full flow today was quite magnificent.

And 3 penalties and a conversion suggests he wasn't completely hopeless......

He hit the post with one though.....

[Noddy555]

Hogg has just demonstrated today why he should be the Lions starting 15. A superb man of the match winning performance and If I were Saracens I would be working on a plan right now of how to stop him in the Euro quarter final.

[WhitecapTiger]

I'm no Fazlet fan but the way he stood up Wackamole in full flow today was quite magnificent.

True, but I reckon that was a response to being rag-dolled in a hand off by one of the other French players a bit earlier, went to tackle too high and was dealt with - embarrassingly, probably fired him up for the hit you mention.

[mightymouse]

England looked better when they brought the bench on. George and Care in particular followed by the big straight running centre.

As soon as Cere came on there was an injection of pace into the proceedings which allowed everyone to get onto the front foot. I cannot believe he doesn't start.

[Noddy555]

Agreed Mightymouse although Youngs was man of the Autumn series, he is still too slow getting rid of the ball in the scrum and in the loose. You can see him at times unsure of which option to take in fear of making an error whilst not realising his indecision is the ERROR because it gives time for the opposing back row to get to him.

[mol2]

England made a mistake in playing Itoje at 6, although starting Haskell would have been a big ask. As a lock he is hugely influential but a pretty average 6 at international level on yesterday's performance.

Hartley and Marler both looked like they hadn't played for some time and that impacted on the pack's performance in the first half. George coming on made a significant difference.

The French pack showed that the Youngs/Ford axis struggles without front foot ball however the French pack is probably the most powerful around in world rugby. If Ford is coming to the Tigers our pack will need beefing up.
Hughes grew into the game as it went on and a back row with him and Billy Vunipola in it would be tasty. The absence of both of the Vunipolas was apparent in the loose.

[Mark62]

We're getting a bit off topic, but I would say the arrival of George and Haskell along with Itoje back in the row was the turning point. Itoje was average at 6 but a different player for the 30 minutes especially in the loose. Youngs was ok but struggled without fast front foot ball. If the only thing that changed was Care starting for Youngs the same things would be being said but in reverse

[Bristol Tiger]

I'm no Fazlet fan but the way he stood up Wackamole in full flow today was quite magnificent.

True, but I reckon that was a response to being rag-dolled in a hand off by one of the other French players a bit earlier, went to tackle too high and was dealt with - embarrassingly, probably fired him up for the hit you mention.

Quick question about that - the replay clearly shows the hand-off is in the throat i.e. high. Why is that not a penalty given the strict "no head" directives for pretty well every other facet of play?

[Mark62]

Bristol Tiger, it was a penalty but the ref missed it, like he did quite a few other things. Demonstrated again yesterday that there is still a gulf interpretation wise between northern and Southern Hemisphere refs

[TomWeston]

...Youngs was ok but struggled without fast front foot ball. If the only thing that changed was Care starting for Youngs the same things would be being said but in reverse

Agree entirely. Lauding Care for bringing quicker tempo is misplaced. The fat French forwards who had given us so much trouble in the scrum (hat tip tour Dan and even Snarler for their efforts btw) were much less effective when Care came on.

[TomWeston]

Agreed Mightymouse although Youngs was man of the Autumn series, he is still too slow getting rid of the ball in the scrum and in the loose. You can see him at times unsure of which option to take in fear of making an error whilst not realising his indecision is the ERROR because it gives time for the opposing back row to get to him.

I don't remember les Frogs scragging Ben at any time.
Given the ponderous French pack Ben may have been looking to run himself.

[mightymouse]

It's the trouble he ships on because of his slow delivery that is the issue.

Actually I think Youngs would be better going on as sub because then his break against a tiring defence would be more effective. Whereas Cares faster service and speed of thought would be much better at the start of games. I have said this consistently for the past, god knows how many, years.

[Mark62]

Care's issue is his kicking game is a short of Ben Youngs, in an England shirt anyway, as demonstrated by a couple of woeful box kicks yesterday