Ireland vs England

[stonebob]

as an irish supporter could not believe england did not challenge the lineout.kept thinking they will in the second half.....but the game shows the importance of home advantage in rugby ..6

[ellis9]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39318171

This quote is for Ourla:
England captain Dylan Hartley said his team had "big lessons to learn" from the defeat.

"We set out to win the tournament and we've done that. Obviously we're disappointed not to win this final game because we had high hopes, we had high expectations of ourselves," added the hooker.

"Credit to Ireland. We seemed to back up every error with another error. We are not the finished article. This will keep us grounded."

[Robespierre]

[quote="Big Dai"]Disappointed, but not surprised.


Me too, Dai! The wheels well and truly fell off yesterday. Ok, there were only four points between the sides at the end, but England were outplayed and out-muscled by an aggressive Irish team and we never looked like scoring a try.
On the positive side, 18 wins on the trot after a mare of a World Cup is a hell of an achievement but it had to come to an end some time (as it did with the Blacks in Chicago!).
It'll surely have been the last match for England for a few players, Brown and Hartley, for example, and Dan Cole, Joe Marler, James Haskell and Tom Wood may make way for some younger blood come the Argentine tour and the Autumn internationals.

[Bristol Tiger]

It'll surely have been the last match for England for a few players, Brown and Hartley, for example, and Dan Cole, Joe Marler, James Haskell and Tom Wood may make way for some younger blood come the Argentine tour and the Autumn internationals.

Well the Lions tour will ensure some young blood for England - so a good thing.

I have been amazed by Dan Cole though - still playing in the 70+ minute when all the other subs seem to be on. Shows the high regard that Jones has for him and I'm sure he'll power the England engine room for a few more years.

Agree on Haskell & Wood - I think our back-row missed a fit Vunipola (Hughes just not in the same league) and also a true 6 and 7. Robshaw would have been a big help for us at 6 (and probably a much clearer head than Itoje had yesterday). 7 still an issue. When you see Woods come on as a finisher I can't imagine that "scares" the opposition too much. Think Itoje and Launchbury should be our first choice second row, leaving quite a few gaps in the back row.

[Mark62]

Yet again not sure why Coley being put on the scrap heap by some he's not 30 yet.
Back row the issue for me, maybe wrong to start with Billy V should maybe have come off the bench. Argentina tour in the summer needs to be used to look at Ewers and Williams as potential 6s and we need to find an out and out 7, Haskell past it, not sure what the answer is, maybe young Thacker after today's 33 tackles and his link play

[Robespierre]

I'm not sure that Thacker would come in to the reckoning as an England 7, but I remember similar opinions being voiced on Neil Back.
Thacker is a remarkable player and I hope he'll be given more opportunities in the 7 shirt. His work rate and speed could well compensate for his lack of height.
Just out of interest, are Thacker and Back the same height and weight?

[BFG]

HT England 7 oh my days, the likes of Warburton and Tipuric would have an absolute field day!
33 tackles yesterday of which every one conceded ground on the gain line against Chiefs 4ths.
This 6N has shown how physically demanding the game is at international level.
England were the best team and deserved 6N winners IMO, they haven't had a smooth run with the Vunipola's only just returned from injury as have a few others such as Haskell, Watson and Nowell and Kruis and Robshaw been missing, a couple of the players looked a tired at times which is no surprise in the circumstances.

[Robespierre]

I'd forgotten that Tigers have Evans in the ranks, who'd be way ahead of Thacker in the pecking order at 7. So where does that leave him - "A" team and the AW cup only? Not very inspiring for an ambitious player. Has he committed his future to Leicester? If not, will he stay or will he go?
Sorry, for straying away from the thread title!

[h's dad]

I'm not sure that Thacker would come in to the reckoning as an England 7, but I remember similar opinions being voiced on Neil Back.
Thacker is a remarkable player and I hope he'll be given more opportunities in the 7 shirt. His work rate and speed could well compensate for his lack of height.
Just out of interest, are Thacker and Back the same height and weight?

According to the stats (which I take with a pinch of salt) Back was taller and heavier and that was a generation ago when players (and everybody else) were so much smaller than they tend to be now.

[ourla]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39318171

This quote is for Ourla:
England captain Dylan Hartley said his team had "big lessons to learn" from the defeat.

"We set out to win the tournament and we've done that. Obviously we're disappointed not to win this final game because we had high hopes, we had high expectations of ourselves," added the hooker.

"Credit to Ireland. We seemed to back up every error with another error. We are not the finished article. This will keep us grounded."

Thanks for taking the trouble to provide me with the quotes.

Do you want to tell me why you have done that?

Did Dylan Hartley say anything about the game not mattering and being insignificant as you suggested?