Johnnyp Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 10 minutes ago, Rds1983 said: Great to see Italy improving and starting to look dangerous. Should put to bed any silly talk of Georgia replacing them who ( a ) have only beaten a tier 1 nation once in their history and ( b ) never beaten Italy in test rugby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rds1983 Posted February 25, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted February 25, 2023 25 minutes ago, Johnnyp said: Should put to bed any silly talk of Georgia replacing them who ( a ) have only beaten a tier 1 nation once in their history and ( b ) never beaten Italy in test rugby I agree about not dumping them from the 6N but can see some benefits to allowing Georgia (and maybe Spain) to play tier one nations on a more regular basis. Not sure how you do that though (promotion/relegation or a larger football style tournament like the Euro's to rival the World Cup). Something like that might help to grow rugby's popularity too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 (edited) FFS - utter gift much needed instant response! Edited February 25, 2023 by theboyangel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rds1983 Posted February 25, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted February 25, 2023 Just as the commentator praises someone for being a good ball carrier it cuts to someone in the crowd readjusting themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 (edited) Grim game this. Flattest Wales England game I can remember. England dominant but got very little to show for it. Farrell is shit. Kicked 2 out of 5! Edited February 25, 2023 by JB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 I genuinely think Farrell holds England back 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 3 minutes ago, theboyangel said: I genuinely think Farrell holds England back Massively! I genuinely don’t know what consecutive coaches see in him. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rds1983 Posted February 25, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted February 25, 2023 3 minutes ago, theboyangel said: I genuinely think Farrell holds England back Is World Class on his day and certainly a great point scorer (over a 1000) but probably fair to say not had one of those days for England for a while (since the Saracens scandal?). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rds1983 Posted February 25, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted February 25, 2023 Nice to see England not falling apart in the final 20 but Wales have hardly been threatening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 Made hard work of it, but got it done. Freddie Steward was immense. The back line never really got going. But thought defensively you can see the Sinfield effect coming in. Wales were awful. Gatland has a big job on there and I’m not sure he’s the right person. He’s been great in the past, but can he move forward now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 1 hour ago, JB said: Massively! I genuinely don’t know what consecutive coaches see in him. He’s been playing really well for Saracens this season. It’s not just coaches who rate him, you listen to anyone who has trained with him, played with or against him. Everyone in the game will tell you how good he is. As a coach it must be so good to have a coach on the field like him. That’s not to say he doesn’t deserve to have his place questioned, because he does, but you can see why coaches want him there. Also, with the stage Borthwick is at with this England team, you can see why he’d prefer the stability of Farrell over the exuberance of Smith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 Just now, mikeyp102 said: He’s been playing really well for Saracens this season. It’s not just coaches who rate him, you listen to anyone who has trained with him, played with or against him. Everyone in the game will tell you how good he is. As a coach it must be so good to have a coach on the field like him. That’s not to say he doesn’t deserve to have his place questioned, because he does, but you can see why coaches want him there. Also, with the stage Borthwick is at with this England team, you can see why he’d prefer the stability of Farrell over the exuberance of Smith. Yep, agree with that, particularly the second paragraph. Would’ve written similar if I wasn’t posting and watching at the same time. Everyone in the game who works with him rates him extremely highly. Whereas, at least at international level, almost every fan thinks he’s somewhere between poor and limited - particularly at 12. I don’t see his game management as anything special. He’s consistently failed to get back lines going, he’s not elusive, quick or powerful. But I acknowledge that there must be something us laypeople are missing. I think he’s been objectively poor this 6N, though. A lot of bad decisions and execution when kicking the ball away. Place kicking has been awful. 44% success rate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 Another exciting game between France and Scotland probably down to both teams receiving a red card for dangerous tackles. really enjoyable to watch with both teams attacking at will, unlike the Wales vs England game yesterday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomav84 Posted February 26, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted February 26, 2023 On 25/02/2023 at 18:18, theboyangel said: I genuinely think Farrell holds England back his kicking this 6N has been appalling. used to be mr reliable. now that seems to have changed he's lost a big reason why he kept getting picked 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 Very bold move by Borthwick to put Smith in. I really wasn’t expecting it especially after being released from camp last week. It could really work though as kicking back to France is playing to the French strengths. I really like Borthwick, he speaks well, to the point and seems to judge each game on its merits and picks a team accordingly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnyp Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 Poor this from Italy. Nothing like their previous 3 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 Italy are making a complete mess of this. A bit more composure and they’d be winning. Decision making, passing, discipline all very poor. Too desperate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rds1983 Posted March 11, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted March 11, 2023 England not woken up yet and playing poorly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomav84 Posted March 11, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted March 11, 2023 maybe jones wasn't the problem after all. weak defensively and devoid of ideas going forward. world cup is going to be a write off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 It’s men against boys. France are significantly quicker and stronger of body and mind. Even our supposedly big lads like Dombrandt are being manhandled. There are so, so many levels between these two sides at the moment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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