mikeyp102 Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 (edited) Ireland have defended well but England should be a lot clearer by now. Too many mistakes in the 22 wasting opportunities. Vunipola is immense but other two England back row really need to do more. Ireland may tire second half after all the defending they have had to do so far, then the England bench can take affect. Edited February 27, 2016 by mikeyp102 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 I really thought (hoped) that the final round of fixtures in last year's 6N and the World Cup would have been watershed moments for NH rugby. Doesn't look like it at the moment . It's been turgid. The emphasis on defence is strangling the game in the NH. And even then it's not good enough to stop the All Blacks. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turnbull Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 I think England deserved to win but it was closer than the final score suggested. Ireland are in for a frustrating few years while the team develops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Yeah I think a couple of moments of quality hid a pretty tame performance from England. 'Give it to Billy' seemed the be the only discernible tactic for the most part. There was some shocking execution and decision-making. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turnbull Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 I thought we had Ireland on the ropes when Brown went over, but the opposite was true, not helped by Care's yellow. Great save from Daly to prevent van de Flier's try, he did well when he came on, just a shame he didn't get the opportunity to attack rather than just defend. Even as a Wasps fan, I can't see why Haskell is in the England team, he just doesn't offer anything these days, He can hardly run and doesn't make a great deal of ground with ball in hand. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 I said to my mates during the game that Haskell is a relic from the dark days of England rugby before Lancaster took over. He needs to be moved on. Even when he's at his best he's never better than a 7/10. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Oh and while I'm having a good old moan, the ITV coverage is shit. Just doesn't have the same atmosphere as when it's on the BBC. No interviews and very little analysis post-match, despite Clive, Jonny and BOD in the studio. It's just not the 6N without Brian Moore! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rds1983 Posted February 27, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted February 27, 2016 20 minutes ago, JB said: I said to my mates during the game that Haskell is a relic from the dark days of England rugby before Lancaster took over. He needs to be moved on. Even when he's at his best he's never better than a 7/10. Hopefully Clifford gets up to speed quickly and can be trained to be a proper openside and dominate the breakdown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Jonny Wilkinson talks like a business graduate trying to be John Cooper Clarke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 14 minutes ago, Rds1983 said: Hopefully Clifford gets up to speed quickly and can be trained to be a proper openside and dominate the breakdown. Sam Underhill looks pretty handy... Playing for Ospreys at the moment, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Vunipola had the more eye catching game, but I thought Itoje was England's best player. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turnbull Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 It was good to see Billy V last the whole game, but just wait until Nathan Hughes qualifies to play for England. The world won't know what's hit it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted February 28, 2016 Author Share Posted February 28, 2016 thought it was a very good game of rugby as a spectacle but our discipline is poor. thought the majority of the team played well, with the plaudits rightly going to vunipola who was again immense. itoje also had a solid, energetic 80 mins and the new caps acquitted themselves well. some great defence from both teams but loved that jack nowell try saving tackle, which was at a crucial time in the match. really looking forward to 2 weeks time and hoping the luck, wales always get deserts them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rds1983 Posted February 28, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted February 28, 2016 16 hours ago, turnbull said: It was good to see Billy V last the whole game, but just wait until Nathan Hughes qualifies to play for England. The world won't know what's hit it! I wouldn't be suprised if Hughes play at six for England. It was his position in NZ and he only moved to eight when he joined Wasps. Jones seems to have a bit of a man crush with Billy and I don't think he will drop him and I think he might have doubts about Robshaw. Either way it will be great to have some decent options at six and eight, we just need to get a great seven who can actually dominate the breakdown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 England have a great openside playing in Toulon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rds1983 Posted February 28, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted February 28, 2016 29 minutes ago, CarewsEyebrowDesigner said: England have a great openside playing in Toulon. We have a pretty good (if erratic) fullback playing in France too. But the RFU says they are not open to selection so what can we do. They are both getting on a bit though (for their respective positions) and will likely lose pace sooner than later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turnbull Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 7 hours ago, Rds1983 said: I wouldn't be suprised if Hughes play at six for England. It was his position in NZ and he only moved to eight when he joined Wasps. Jones seems to have a bit of a man crush with Billy and I don't think he will drop him and I think he might have doubts about Robshaw. Either way it will be great to have some decent options at six and eight, we just need to get a great seven who can actually dominate the breakdown. Simply put, Hughes is one of the best players in the Aviva at the moment and that isn't just my opinion, so EJ may be forced to give him more than just a passing glance. He'll miss out on England's Aussie tour in the summer so we'll have to wait until the Autumn games to find out what his plans are for Nat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rds1983 Posted February 29, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted February 29, 2016 9 hours ago, turnbull said: Simply put, Hughes is one of the best players in the Aviva at the moment and that isn't just my opinion, so EJ may be forced to give him more than just a passing glance. He'll miss out on England's Aussie tour in the summer so we'll have to wait until the Autumn games to find out what his plans are for Nat. I rate Hughes highly too. I'm just going off the comments saying Billy is going to be the best number eight in the world and our go to guy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Manu in the squad. I would've waited until the summer to bring back, the backs are playing fairly well at the moment and it's an insult to them to bring him straight back in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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