A Cole's ranking in rugby paper

[arickett]

Rugby paper has cole down as the worst starter on both sides four out of ten next lowest starter is six. Some replacement s got five (youngs). I throught he had a average game but was never a prop so interest in others veiw

[johnthegriff]

Who ever did the marking for The Rugby Paper could not have been a prop either. Dan did a lot of good work he did give away a penalty but his work in the scrum was sound. All too often the prop gets the blame for a collapse or an infringement when others are to blame, sometimes the opposition and sometimes his own team mates. Referees and journalists just don't have a clue!

[Noddy555]

Just shows that the quality of sports journalism is lolling about the gutter with their colleagues in the entertainment & Fashion sectors. If they'd given
Cole the 7 or 8 he deserved then I would have been literally amazed. I stopped
believing what I read in Newspapers over 50 years ago and buy them now solely for the cartoons and crosswords.

[jgriffin]

There seems to be a London-centric tendency permanently in the papers that trumpets the useless as long as they play for Quins, Saffas or occasionally Barf. Cole and OTY have been the targets of media brifing and negative comment throughout the run-up. As I pointed out elsewhere, Marler is a liability, as is Hartley the stand-up comic, and Cole gets a lot of pressure on him in every way. He is also one of England's best scavengers, since Wood and Robshaw are so :censored:.

[MurphysLaw]

If he played so badly then why was the only prop in the 6 nations this weekend not to be subbed?
Imo, he should be better managed. Otherwise, sooner or later he's going to be under the care of our over-worked medics.

[Cardiff Tig]

Personally I don't think that Cole has had the best season when it comes to the scrum, Cole seems to get the better of opponents less these days.

Whether that is because he is having to play more 80 mins now Castro isn't around after being on the Lions tour as well, or because of the new laws I don't know.

But those thinking he deserved a 7 or 8 at the weekend seem a bit bias to Tigers, although I would say 4 is a tad harsh on the lad.

[voice of the crumbie]

Marler is a liability

That's putting it kindly. Basically he's a thug with a dodgy haircut that can't scrummage legally.

[4071]

If he played so badly then why was the only prop in the 6 nations this weekend not to be subbed?
Imo, he should be better managed. Otherwise, sooner or later he's going to be under the care of our over-worked medics.

The answer to the first question is Henry Thomas.

When he's the guy on the bench, you can't afford to take your starting tighthead off. He would have been hammered.

And this has been Cole's problem - he's playing pretty much 80 minutes every week because there is no one to rotate him with; at Tigers Logo is injured and for England Wilson is injured. The drop down from Cole to his non-injured understudy is so marked that he stays on and is getting a physical battering that few other props in the modern game have to endure, with the 8-man benches and wholesale subs being the norm.

[The Boy Dave]

I don't think any of England's front row players can claim to be shoe-ins at present. Wig is clearly a big fan of Cole but if it is the new laws or tiredness, something has changed. Personally I think it's the new laws. My lad plays tighthead and he reckons the changes have put massive pressure on tightheads to dig and disrupt their loosehead opponent if possible until their own loosehead can get moving forward on his side, then the locks come into play and the push comes together. The old hit and drive through has gone. Ayerza is worth a lot to Cole in our scrum although it's still tough. England don't have an Ayerza level scrummager!

[drc_007]

Comment from Phil Vickery

Cole doesn't scrummage badly but the pressure ganged up on him, with the loose-head Domingo staying tight and narrow with the hooker coming across. Hartley and Youngs needed to do more to help him out by using their right shoulder to block that out and I'm sure they'll work on that this week. Dan's a big guy and he's gone from having a big gap where he can slam in with his long levers and long back to suddenly experiencing a bit more parity and technically he needs to be different.
http://www.espnscrum.com/six-nations-20 ... kuoxzyX.99

[Lammy]

Dan Cole made it into Jonathan Davies' team of the week.............
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/26011527

[FrontRowUnionMember]

I'm an (aging) tight head, and due to an ACL reconstruction I have yet to play under the new laws. Scrummaging has always been my forte with my 6ft2 19st frame, but my long time loose head buddy (some 15 yrs 1st team rugby together as a unit) reliably informs me these new rules will crucify me upon my return to competitive action, taking some time to get used to. Now I don't claim to play any great level, but in terms of sheer mechanics, Cole must be finding it tough.
I think the factor of minutes played is also counting against him. He's not playing poorly, let me make that clear, but he is not at his own high standards. Those seasons spent sharing the load with Castro have enabled to him to stay fresh as well as competitive previously. The lack of Castro to share the burden and coming off the back of a Lions tour, so non stop for 18months plus now, all taking their toll.
I think the return of Logo at club level and return on Wilson at international level is fast needed to allow Cole to take the pressure off.

[tigerburnie]

I'm an (aging) tight head, and due to an ACL reconstruction I have yet to play under the new laws. Scrummaging has always been my forte with my 6ft2 19st frame, but my long time loose head buddy (some 15 yrs 1st team rugby together as a unit) reliably informs me these new rules will crucify me upon my return to competitive action, taking some time to get used to. Now I don't claim to play any great level, but in terms of sheer mechanics, Cole must be finding it tough.
I think the factor of minutes played is also counting against him. He's not playing poorly, let me make that clear, but he is not at his own high standards. Those seasons spent sharing the load with Castro have enabled to him to stay fresh as well as competitive previously. The lack of Castro to share the burden and coming off the back of a Lions tour, so non stop for 18months plus now, all taking their toll.
I think the return of Logo at club level and return on Wilson at international level is fast needed to allow Cole to take the pressure off.

Well put, I agree with all of that(though my front row experience was at loosehead)

[wormus]

Dan Cole is tremendously mobile in open play, keen to tackle and move forward. Forget the Post !! in the Telegraph he was rated 6 but in the Observer he was 7 and Domingo was also 6.
He did a great job on Saturday perhaps his studs were too short for the ground as he was pushed back once or twice but an excellent 80 minutes.
Now let him loose on the Jocks.

[Isambard]

He's a good player who may be regarded as great when his time is over. Any pro player should be able to play for a full match. imho. The French with 6 forward replacements made a joke of the laws of rugby.