England v France player ratings
- 11 Mar 07, 01:24 PM
Twickenham - England put their Croke Park nightmare behind them with an impressive and rousing victory against Grand Slam-chasing France at Twickenham.
Tries from Toby Flood and Mike Tindall rounded off a powerful forward effort as Brian Ashton's side showed significant signs of improvement.
See if you agree with my assessment of the players on show on Sunday.
ENGLAND:
Lewsey - 7: This muscular, bristling runner is still trying to recreate his top form. An early break brought the crowd to their feet and the threat is there, but there鈥檚 still a few mistakes, from occasional defensive lapses to slips, wrong options and missed passes.
Strettle - 8: Definitely no one-hit wonder. Backed up his debut against Ireland with a lively display, combining an encouraging hunger for a juicy gap with some enthusiastic defending including several try-saving tackles.
Tindall - 6: Stodgy at times and often the weak link with a back three clamouring to be set free. Occasionally exposed in defence but you can鈥檛 argue against johnny-on-the spot for England鈥檚 second try.
Catt - 6: A mixed bag from the skipper, but mainly disappointing. A raft of wayward long passes, a couple of dropped catches and an interception. But he marshalled his troops well, was effective as a kicking inside centre and it was his break that set up Flood鈥檚 try. Not his best England game by a mile, but not his worst either.
Robinson - 6: His jitterbug running style always ignites the crowd and this was no different but others stepped into the limelight today. Guarded his flank well but not much opportunity to excel, save for one run coming off his wing.
Flood - 7: A confident , inventive and promising performance. One or two glimpses of the 鈥渞abbit-in-headlights鈥 but grew into the game. Received a dead leg at the end of the first half but polished off Catt鈥檚 break for a try and kicked four out of six.
Ellis - 8: An assured effort from a combative, eager and dynamic scrum-half. Plays like another flanker and showed glimpses of his nose for a break. Must have been a contender for man-of-the-match.
Payne - 7: Muscular stuff in the tight and part of an altogether more fiery forward effort. Not altogether comfortable in the scrum against Pieter de Villiers but not overpowered either.
Chuter - 7: Convincing display against French veteran Raphael Ibanez and omnipresent in the loose. Took on the deputy scrum-half duties when Ellis was buried and possesses a decent pass for a hooker.
White - 7: A strong effort from the Devonian. Rock solid in the scrum and a brickwall in the loose. Up there with some of his best England performances. Gave away a penalty or two but more than made up for it.
Corry - 7: Adapted to lock well, catching fair share of ball as well as maintaining ball-carrying presence in open play. Still leading, still talking to his pack and still a must-have accessory for England.
Palmer - 6: Possibly the most anonymous of the much-improved tight-five but it鈥檚 all relative and did his job well in the line-out. Can grow into the role and certainly one for the future.
Worsley - 7: Nuggety and forceful without standing out. Sometimes gets ideas above his station, as evidenced by a miscued chip forward but overall an effective game.
Rees - 8: Impressive display from the Wasps open-side earning the man-of-the-match plaudits. Not quite Richie McCaw but promising work to secure scraps of ball and supported well.
Easter - 8: A pleasing ball-carrying effort from the big number eight. Outshone opposite number Sebastien Chabal and was a powerful force going forward for England. Could be a permanent fixture.
Replacements
Geraghty - 7: Replaced the injured Flood after 18 minutes of the second half and had an immediate impact. Not that Flood wasn鈥檛 effective but Geraghty鈥檚 more dynamic style unsettled France. Took his three kicks well and sparked Tindall's try with a stunning break from a kick return late on.
Tait - 6: Came on for Strettle late on and made a promising break.
Lund - 5: Replaced Joe Worsley inside the last 10 minutes.
Perry - 6: Took over from Ellis at scrum-half with two minutes left, with Ellis moving to wing. No time to tell.
FRANCE:
Poitrenaud - 6: Looked ok going forward and often to be seen hitting the line but with England scoring two tries his defence must be questioned.
Clerc - 7: Looked a threat whenever he touched the ball and caused England a few worries but couldn鈥檛 find a route through and was shaded by Strettle.
Marty - 6: The French midfield defend right on the gain line and was often close to offside. Effective enough without really excelling.
Jauzion - 6: Has a presence and carries a latent threat. A deceptive runner for a big man and disguises his pace well. Glimpses of danger and was in Catt鈥檚 face throughout.
Dominici - 7: Another spiky performance and a continuing problem for England but his hustle-bustle style didn鈥檛 get him anywhere today.
Skrela - 7: Assured stuff and fast cementing his spot as France鈥檚 senior fly-half. Limped off injured 10 minutes after half-time but took his three kicks well and played the distributor role effectively.
Yachvili - 7: Dangerous and a constant thorn in England鈥檚 side. A battle royal with Ellis at scrum time and an equal nuisance factor in the loose. Ellis鈥檚 hunger for scraps of ball shaded it though. Kicked three out of three deputising for Skrela.
De Villiers - 6: Possibly a bit much for Tim Payne but not as visible around the park.
Ibanez - 7: Solid showing from the Wasps man and plenty of ball-carrying around the fringes.
Milloud - 5: Out-scrummaged a bit by White but muscular and busy at ruck time.
Nallet - 6: The French line-out operated effectively enough with Nallet securing his fair share of ball but the engine room lacked the stoke of England鈥檚.
Thion - 6: Possibly shaded his second row partner in terms of effectiveness in areas outside the line-out.
Betsen - 5: A quiet game for the veteran Betsen. Hurt himself in a late tackle on Catt and overshadowed at the breakdown by the England back-row.
Bonnaire - 5: Not much to offer on a disappointing day for the French loose-forwards.
Chabal - 4: A weak effort from the Sale star. Often seen wandering slowly back to the action and rarely involved as much as he can be.
Replacements
Beauxis - 6: Came on for the injured Skrela and did nothing wrong.
Harinordoquy - 5: Replaced Chabal and no more effective.
Bruno - 6: On for Ibanez midway through the second half. Held his own.
Mignoni - 6: Took over at scrum-half for Yachvili and made one impressive break.
Heymans - 6: A late substitution but worried England late on with a couple of enterprising breaks.
Wales 27-18 England
Comments Post your comment
Well well. Having watched the matches this weekend I have been completely vindicated in my England V Ireland match analysis I posted here two weeks ago.
I鈥檓 sorry if it sticks in the throat of the Irish, but having watched that match twice I had the right to a free and objective opinion which I gave to the disdain of many Irish supporters.
After this weekends matches it is evident that - like I said - Ireland are not that good and it will take divine intervention for them to proceed into the semi鈥檚 of the world cup.
Englands鈥 immense strength in depth showed up today in no uncertain terms and for a team to play this well first time round, you have to wonder what will emerge in France in 6 months time (I can say this whilst admitting the French didn鈥檛 play well, Irish fans take note.)
Unlike the unrealistic Irish fans im not going to predict an England world cup final, far from it, I will still be surprised if they get past the quarterfinals, but what I will say is that England will not give the grown up without a fight. And being a player since I was 10 and am armchair fan since I was 5 I will promise you that if any team can cause an upset鈥ngland with their backs to the wall can.
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Great game of rugby, good to see England fight for it! Enjoyed Catt being back, didnt have an outstanding game but still made a diffference. Strettle was superb, really dynamic and has got that hunger. Rees is the best young talent in the side, gave a few penalties away but this guy has power and pace, loves turning the ball over, a world star in the making!!
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Sorry, those England ratings are a joke.
Lewsey 7?? Try 5.
Catt disappointing?
Palmer 6?? Try 7 or 8.
Flood deserves an 8.
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Quiet isn't it!
At last the younguns given the chance. This is the future and its the younguns that will frighten the AB
Its this vision and enterprise that will win the World Cup. OK to play by the book but let the youth free and they will try something different and light the fire.
Well done Brian Ashton youth is where its at !
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how and why?how did england win and why did france play so bad?good performance from englands back row but that was about it.....catt got away with it somehow!as for france they never turned up!!!
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You are a bit harsh on Catt. He deserved an 8. Lewsey only a 6 and Robinson a 5.
Great to see England recover from Croke Park - but one swallow does not make a summer.
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Strettle was England's best back by a mile.Catt,Lewsey and Tindall were awful,dropped ball,terrible passing and decision making.Farrell never made any of these mistakes yet he was singled out by the press and pundits.
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Lewsey's rating was a bit generous. I don't think Lewsey or Tindall merit any further inclusion. Lewsey should regain his form at Wasps, not playing for England. Surely England have other options besides Tindall (considering our player base etc)?
Encouraging performance anyway. Credit to Ashton for taking a risk with some youth and inexperienced players (or very experienced in Catt's case).
PS. Geraghty should start against Wales.
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More credit should be given to White and Payne. Solid in the scrum but very effective around the field. Particularly in the driving mauls.
Rees had a great game.
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Comments seem a little harsh on Rees. Good old english style of knocking debut man-of-the-match player. no need for comparison with Mc Caw. Corry i thought deserved an 8 for playing second row effectively. nice to see a change (of team), passion and finally some SKILL. Off-loading from tackles and backs running is so simple but such a delight to see in an England team.Oh and Brian Moore is awesome.
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The English forwards gave the dominant display that was missing against the Irish but our backs were very hit-and-miss. Only Ellis, Robinson and Strettle have pencilled their names in my back-line albeit there were pleasing contributions from Flood and Geraghty. Wilkinson and Farrell should return if fit and we need to decide who is best suited to play at 15; I would go for Robinson and either play Lewsey on the wing or bring back Cueto but for today, lets laud our forwards for that platform was not only needed today but must be our foudations for the future.
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Were you watching a different match!!!!!!?
Lewsey 7 and Catt 6? - unbelievable!
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A bit harsh on Catty I think. Yes he had a nervous start and made a couple of daft mistakes in the first half but all in all he was always more of a threat than Farrell and not just a one trick crash centre like tindel tends to be in attack.
He communicated well, gave us a lot more options than any other current England inside centre option and was only a fingertip away from scorring the second try himself. I would have given him an 8.
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Rees and Strettle were the outstanding players of the match. Rees secured so much ball and was unlucky to get penalised on a few occasions, and Strettle was an absolute beast in both attack and defense. Both will be pivotal players in the years to come.
good to see a bit of flair back in English rugby with some lively half-backs.
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youth...Mike Catt?
Congratulations to England...they even managed a win without Wilinson...now if they can find some consistency.
Ian B. - I admire your commitment to your team, and the fact that you are also realistic about their chances in the WC. Still, I cannot help but wonder if this victory will set off another round of "England are back," of the type to which we were treated after the Scotland game.
England are not as bad as some people seem to think, but nor are France as good as people say.
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Tindall deserved a 7. Kicked well made several key tackles (Chabal and Clerc- who he then turned over. Kicked from hand well and took the ball up well also.
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England's player ratings are largely spot on, although I think the France ratings are a little generous. England did okay (by their standards!), but had the French turned up they should have won by some margin.
It was refreshing to see the talented english running backs express themselves. They should now be afforded the opportunity to develop partnerships prior to the World Cup. Ashton should retain Catt at Inside Centre, he is still good enough to play International rugby. Surely Farrell has to be discarded, and maybe Tindall also. Their lack of guile/ pace/ invention was highlighted by Geraghty's break, which showed how things could and should be for England
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Great game of rugby, England actually looking dangerous throughout. Solid platform built by great forward display. Rees brilliant, Corry put in some big hits, and allowed the backs to move the ball. Strettle is a fantastic find, and Geraghty and Flood did not look out of place. Won't win the 6 nations, but much better than expected.
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Well my last comments were not published, but Ashton picked in form players and England won, fantastic! All of you who were saying France would win at a canter, shame on you.
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Flood deserves an 8
Lewsey deserves no more than 5
Palmer deserves at least a 7
Harry Ellis - possible MOTM and an 8...sorry were we watching the same game?
His passing was all over the place today, and whilst I think he's getting better, he was one of the more lacklustre English players along with Tindall and Lewsey.
Overall it was a much improved performance from the English and they played as if they truly expected to win.
Plus for France - Clerc and Dominici both scored a 7? I don't think so - they did nothing apart from run laterally and throw loose passes all day!
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I'm not too sure on some of the england ratings? how can you give lewsey a 7 and catt a 6? that just doesn't make sense, I'd have given strettle a 9!!
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I'm not concerned with the ratings.
England deserved to win against a very mediocre French side.With more control and clinical finishing the margin of victory would have been greater. In this game the territory,possession, passing and tackles statistics reflected the balance of play.
I AM concerned about Brian Moore's manner of commentary. Stop 2nd guessing the ref. Start making original observations (not cliches a la Starmer Smith) and cut out unsportsmanlike comments like "He French, so I don't care" after England were penailised for boot scraping. Check the 大象传媒 replay tape after about 15 minutes. Come on Brian, we deserve better!
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Lewsey definitely not a 7! 5 more like and shouldn't start next week - too many mistakes. Tindall may have scored but he too made too many mistakes and Tait should replace him against Wales.
Catt is worthy of a 7, he was very busy and became more composed after the first 30 minutes. He was always in the mix, clearly led from the front, and encouraged England's style of play.
Corry had his best game for a long time and an 8 would not be undeserved.
Otherwise a pretty good summary of England. As for France? You can't score players if they don't turn up!
A good performance by England, but let's not get carried away. Different prospect at Cardiff next week. Despite the look of the table, Wales WILL turn up and will be desperate to avoid a whitewash!
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I'm not concerned with the ratings.
England deserved to win against a very mediocre French side.With more control and clinical finishing the margin of victory would have been greater. In this game the territory,possession, passing and tackles statistics reflected the balance of play.
I AM concerned about Brian Moore's manner of commentary. Stop 2nd guessing the ref. Start making original observations (not cliches a la Starmer Smith) and cut out unsportsmanlike comments like "He's French, so I don't care" after England were penailised for boot scraping. Check the 大象传媒 replay tape after about 15 minutes. Come on Brian, we deserve better!
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What a game!
Next weekend what a decision to make for Ashton. Flood or Geraghty? a difficult deision.
Although if Wilkinson is fit then he should start against Wales with Geraghty on the bench because he is the better impact player than Flood.
What about Strettle he deserves his rating of 8 and played well all game. With some promising runs. He showed determination and has a good future in the England team.
Corry only a 7 he had a cracking game and the England back row were incredible
The future is bright for English rugby!
Dave
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Wilko or not Wilko?
i'm proably not th eonly one wondering about the great connundrum facing BA for next week. Guscott just said he shouldn't be in the squad...
On all around game, Flood is a better bet and beautifully balanced runner. I'd keep Geraghty for impact. However, difficult to ignore Wilko for points which will matter in Cardiff and for the WC. I'd stick with Flood with Cardiff with Wilko on the bench in case the kicking goes to pot, with Geraghty on the bench. What does that mean for Tait. Simple i'd pick in at O/C. Tindall doesn't cut it any more. Tait woudl gain from being outside Catt and and plays off Flood week-in, week out.
As for Josh: not at the top of his attacking game, but still best defensive FB we have. Think Balsahw if not;-(((
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How many times has Julien White going to destroy the opposition scrum before he is a first choice in the England team?
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I would definitely add to strettles score. He made ground every time he touched the ball and looks like he should be around for a long time. Brilliant running and tackle breaking
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What is the status of the 6 nations now...does it come down to point differental between the Irish and French?
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England played well overall.Lewsey looked out of touch though. I would put Robinson full back and bing back Cohen for a physical presence and drop tindall for tait.
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bit harsh on catt, made the 1st try
gerharty was awesome, but not solid enough to start, probably best as an impact player like today
if wilko is fit, probably play him, just as good as flood but does the basics better
and palmer definatly deserved a better mark, set tone of the match by turning over first lineout
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Chuter: "omnipotent in the loose".
Omnipresent??
God (in most religions) is omnipresent, English rugby hookers rarely so. Seriously, that is a shocking misuse of the English language. Please shape up.
Rees deserved a 9, so did White - by far his best performance in an England shirt. His anchoring of the scrum in the first twenty minutes set the tone for the rest of the game.
I'm as weary as the next person of hype, but Rees peformance today was world class, and the comparison with McCaw is apt - too much hero worship of the AB for my liking, excellent player that he is. Hopefully Rees won't have to bend the rules of the game as much as McCaw does to prove his worth in the future.
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For the Wales game:
15-Robinson
14-Tait
13-Tindall
12-Wilkinson
11-Strettle
10-Geraghty
9-Ellis
Perry, Farrell and Lewsey (needs to work on his basics) to bench. Flood played well but has a lot more developing to do, whereas Geraghty has looked more the finished article for London Irish this season. Tindall had a good game- did everyone miss his huge hit on Chabal,leading to a penalty and the eventual replacement of Chabal. Anyone got any other backs lineups?
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"he's french so I don't care" came from the mouth of Eddie Butler, not Brian Moore...
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I admit that I was only listening and not watching, but some of those ratings seem strange. I thought that England ran in 2 tries to none, but to read the ratings one would almost think that France had dominated.
The impression that one got listening was the the French rarely threatened the England lines, the English defence held firm when they did and that England were a constant threat in attack. Surely some England player actually had a genuinely good game?
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A good performance from England, particularly from the forwards. I pretty much agree with the ratings...except would mark down Lewsey and Tindall. Both have been great for England in the past, but I haven't seen them properly threaten or create anything in attack for a while. Time to start with Tait in the centre, and bring back Cueto on the wing.
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Don't care how they did it, but they won. Watched the game with French friends and that made the game oh so good! Well done boys - all of you. Long way to go but lets get behind them instead of picking holes in everything which isn't perfect.
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Re post #16 - if you're not concerned about the ratings why are you posting on this blog? Check out the title!
And whilst we are on the subject of Brian Moore, haven't you got it yet? BM is being deliberately controversial - that's why he is there! Love him or hate him he adds some colour, and openly courts disagreement. Some of his comments today were asine and yet some of his observations were spot on today, and his nationalistic fervour is no worse than others' we have seen and heard this weekend! He certainly knows how to wind people up - you included - and no doubt enjoys doing it!
Oops! This blog is about Eng & Fr ratings! Sorry!
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Isn't it great, the 3 best fly-halves in the world are all English!
Eddie O'Sullivan must be kicking himself he didn't try and poach Shane Geraghty, has Ronan O'Gara ever made a break like that?
Ellis was contender for man-of-match and has been the best scrum-half in the tournament.
Give Rees another 10-15 caps against top opposition and he will definitely surpass McCaw, he is quicker and has a better off-load. He was up against a quality French back row today and was dominant this is a guy who has no fear and totally displays confidence.
David Strette is the most exciting English player since Jason robinson made his entrance to international Rugby Union.
Palmer deserved better than a 6 out 10 he is a genuine world class lock and along side Chris Jones will form the backbone of Englands second row for the next few years.
England has a lot of good young players coming through now, if the national team finally gets the preparation it requires then no if or buts or celtic sceptiscm this will become a scary team England doesn't matter who they play.
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Am I the only one to think that Nick Easter deserved the MOTM award? He constantly stormed over the gain line, and was solid in defence.
I think Lewsey's rating was too high, Tinds was so-so (great kicking and took care of Chabal, with help), and I also think Strettle looks like he should be around for years to come(another Billy Whiz, perhaps?)
It's a little early to tell on Strettle, though...
France were not allowed to settle at all, and could not string together any phases. The looked a little threatening in the loose, but overall they were marshalled pretty well.
(Oh, and it WAS Pitbull who said "He's only French, so I don't care.")
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Watching England without Brian Moore there to abuse the opposition (esp the French) and anyone else who pisses him off just wouldn't be the same!
As for ratings, not bad tho harsh on palmer and too nice to lewsey and tindall who shouldn't be immune to criticism like farrel was. Stick with the same team for the Wales game except get Tait on for Tindall-got to have an O/C to exploit the passing of Catt and Flood and get the ball to the back three.
Great result though and nice to see the team playing so well and with some flair.
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I agree that both didn't have the best games but how Josh Lewisy got more than Mike Catt in the ratings I will never know.
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Hmm, I mainly agree with the ratings I think. A lot of people are saying Lewsey didn't play well, and admittedly there were a few mistakes (that pass being one of them!!) but he worked really really well together with Strettle, did a lot of the stuff that goes unseen like he got to the tackled player quickly to prevent turnovers, and defensively he's the best there is. Ok not his best match in an England shirt but deserves to keep his position.
Farrell shouldn't be back in the side, Mike Catt outshone him and played rugby which was a lot more inspiring. Tindall put in some big tackles so although he isn't the fanciest runner I believe he deserves his place.
This England team could be really good...!
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Great to see England play with passion. This was the biggest difference for me. I think the young bloods have to be given more play time. Take out Tindall, he's never going to be world class. Forwards played extremely well overall. Have to tighten up on discipline. Keep Corry at second row, he's not a number eight at this level. He brings passion and good skills to the second row.
Today, the future looks bright with Strettle, Flood, Geraghty, and Rees. Mr. Ashton please give Tait a chance. England do have the talent to play exciting running rugby if only you will give the youngsters a chance.
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Well, I think the forwards should stay as they are, but with Vickery the captain, if he's fit will he be brought back?
As for the backs, fly half choice will be interesting but Wilko has all the experience he needs, at the moment he needs games so leave him back with his club if he is fit. Keep faith with Flood and Geraghty and let them experience an away match. This is an already better than expected 6 nations for England.
Catt should stay, he played well and dictated the play for England's backs and was a calming presence.
Tindall needs to be dropped, Tait has more attacking flair and is solid defensively.
Bring in Cueto onto the wing and drop Lewsey.
So I'd keep the forwards as they are with a back line of:
15-Robinson
14-Cueto
13-Tait
12-Catt
11-Strettle
10-Flood
9-Ellis
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Firstly: Yeeeessss. Get in.
Second:
I think Lewsey should get no higher than a 6. Another solid display in defence but his skill in attack was very average again.
Why has Tom Palmer got a 6? That should be a 7.
Rees and Strettle should both get 9's.
Rees showed exactly what we needed...physical presence at the breakdown and on the shoulder of every runner.
Strettle deserves a 9 because he never fails to make yards and even when isolated manages to get the ball back. Anyone who has that kind of strength but also excellent pace is a special talent.
Tindall was terrible once again. He seems to have three options when he has the ball in hand:
1. Ignore the three fast players outside him, put his head down and make 1/2 a yard while slowing the ball down.
2. Decide to pass but at the ankles of the player and only when the opposition is right on him.
3. Notice the overlap but hang on to the ball, drift across the pitch and waste the space and overlap.
Tait should be playing at 13.
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The French flanker got the shoeing he deserved, yet because he slowed ball down and gained a penalty he did it again and again. Brians actual comment was quite funny EB said "he wasn't near the ball" BM "well he wasn't after the ruck" and "anyway I don't care he's French". Still winding them up Brian!!
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15-Cueto
14-Robinson
13-Tait
12-Wilkinson
11-Strettle
10-Geraghty
9-Ellis
I think wilkinson could play anywhere in the backs but with his distribution skills at 12 it could really open the england backs up. Also he has a better defensive game than Catty and could be used in a a very similar role to what Catt was playing today.
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well a definate improvement. there are still things to work on. however. personally, i think the most unspoken person from the match today was nick easter. his almost perfect display won the match for the fowards and ultimately for the backs and england. his outstanding ability outshone chabal who played terribly. but well done to all the other players including all the young ones who showed promising abilities!!!
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Well, first things first - France "didn't turn up" - true, but they played as well as England let them. Credit France's performance to England.
Catt - made few mistakes but his influence was awesome - he delivered to the field of play Ashton's vision - he deserves at least a 9 becuse his was the belief on which the team's performance was based.
Actually Ashton deserves an 11 - enough said!
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WELL DONE ENGLAND.A victory well deserved it.
I was watching the game with some friends of mine and they invited some French(WHO ALL THE TIME KEEP TELLING TO us-Italian that we steal the worldcup to France in Berlin) to watch the match... The French in the pub were sicure to win and they were as their French Arrogance with English people in the pub... as we say in Italy with the arrogance you don't go anywhere... and Englad beat France....
WELL DONE ENGLAD. THANKS YOU FOR THIS FANTASTIC MATCH.
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It's amazing - one win and everyone is getting carried away.
At times, Lewsey Catt and Tindall looked like they have never had a rugby ball in their hands. Some of the errors were shocking for international level. It's not the first time we have seen Lewsey running around like a headless chicken with no idea of where he or the ball is going to end up.
The reason England won this game is that, for the first time in a long while against a top team, they got forward dominance (in the second half)which allowed their backs the space to run and create opportunities. Sure, Catt made a great trademaek break to set up Flood's try, but otherwise he was awful.
Bright lights for England were Strettle, Flood, Geraghty and Rees who all looked world class. Corry was also immense - again! Others also played well but expect to see more changes with Sheridan and Vickery coming back. Wilkinson is replaceable on today's evidence.
AB's won't be losing any sleep as a really good team would have won this game by half half time given the number of errors England committed in the first half.
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Richard Bullard #26 makes a good point. whilst it is hard to ignore a fit Wilko, Flood had a fantastic game, was very composed and offers slightly more in attack than the possibly more predictable wilkinson. He's also a relatively unknown entity which could surprise teams for a few more games yet. Geraghty was sprightly, but his kicking from hand wasn't great when he came on. He obviously got the vital breakthrough, but once ahead they needed to control the game more and put so good kicks into the corners, not down the french throats. So the solution. Wilko and geraghty on bench with flood and Catt starting, then you canbring on Geragty for a bit of flair to ignite the back line, but if we need to hang on and play some sensible territorial rugby, bring on Wilko for Catt and get him pinging it in the corner. Also agree with his call of Tait at Outside, would be a rapid back line with tait, strettle, robinson and lewsey.
Lots of posts are being harsh on Josh Lewsey, yes he made a few handling errors, but who on the pitch didn't, the error count was massive. But he played solidly, if unspectacularly, though he did make some incisive runs. He should keep his place for the moment.
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tindall should be a 4 or 5
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Palmer deserves much better for an outstanding game.
Lewsey and Robinson are becoming liabilities.
Good result-but let's not carried away
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How can you give Yachvilli a 7? his service was slow, on the odd occasions that he didn't kick possession away down the throat of Lewsey, Robinson, Strettle, Geraghty etc. We were all calling for him to be replaced by Mignoni after 20 minutes.
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How about these marks for the english players?..
Lewsey-5
Strettle-9
Tindall-6
Catt-7
Robinson-5
Flood-6
Ellis-8
Payne-6
Chuter-7
White-8
Corry-8
Palmer-6
Worsley-6
Rees-9
Easter-7
Rees and Strettle best players on the pitch, Wilko must surely be a certainty for the team when fit. Can't wait to have a fit Dan Ward-Smith in the england side..
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Not sure I would agree with player ratings as much as I like Lewsey today he struggled to stay upright without a French player near him suggest he changes his studs but overall a good performance but if we dont iron out the silly mistakes as most evident in the first half a world class side will be out of sight by half time but at last their is a glint of light at the end of the tunnel.
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Happy to see myself proved wrong, I tipped France to just edge it. But on the ratings, Strettle and Rees were outstanding, the two fly halves helped make Ellis look better than he was, and our overall forward performance seems underrated. Ok, so the line out wasn't 100% and the scrum wasn't always secure, but in open play there was excellent ball carrying from Rees and Easter, and they built the platform for the backs. I agree with Catt's rating, he took captaincy to his heart but there was some of his decision making I didn't like.
Strettle to hold his place, Geraghty to start.
For France, I think Marty was possibly worth another mark, but the rest get what they deserve for playing so laterally and flat.
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Post #29
The status is that France, Ireland, England and Italy (in that order of probability) can win the Six Nations.
At present, points difference massively favours France in the case of France, England and Ireland all winning their last game. England would need a massive win against Wales to have a chance as they are 29 points behind France and 15 behind Ireland:
Current points difference:
France +42
Ireland +28
England +13
Italy -26
Italy could win *if* both England and France lose. They must beat Ireland by 28 points and France lose by more than 41 - in other words, mathematically they are still in with a chance, but realistically, no.
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COME ON ENGLAND!!!
gr8 performance!
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well done england (frenchman here), you played much much better that us. I think Catt should get a 7. he made mistakes, but at least he looked dangerous. as for france, well that was worrying. Chabal should never play again though. he's had many a chance but he is simply ineffective when we need him. hopefully we will still win the title vs scotland. as it stands (i may have missed it if someone already posted), points difference is:
france + 42
ireland + 38
england + 13
france must beat scotland by no more than 3 points less than ireland beat italy (assuming both win, emphasis on 'assuming') england are out unless both lose/draw
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Am I the only person to notice that Ellis has a significant second movement in transferring the ball from ruck/maul to playmaker? There's a pause in his action which means he just can't cut it at international level. Granted, against Chabal, Bonnaire and co. his footwork is good enough to see him out of danger, but what about a world-class, ball-hungry back row? Even without the obligatory AB name-check, someone like George Smith would eat Ellis for breakfast.
The point about his being an extra flanker was well made -- his power, enthusiasm, and workrate in the loose are exemplary -- but we shouldn't have to find out that George Chuter's actually an ok passer of the ball because our 9 buries himself at the bottom of every second ruck...
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For the first time since the World Cup I enjoyed watching England play. I don't know whether this was because they were good or the French were terrible. They never threatened England's line at all. What happened to Chabal? Mike Tindall's tackle on him was my highlight of the game. A great example of how a perfectly legal piece of play can put somebody out of the game.
Mike Catt may have made a few mistakes but I bet Farrell wouldn't have spotted Ibanez was against him when he made the break for Flood's try. Where this leaves Farrell I don't know.
I thought the balance of England was better today and the combination of youth and experience about right. England do have some very good young players who need to be played together to develop into a team.
We still have a problem with too much conflict between club and country despite this victory. This still needs sorting if we are to perform consistantly at a high level internationally.
Looking forward to the Wales game now. I think they will be a better team than they have showed so far and given the fiasco at the end of their game this week will be out to show everybody what they can do, especially as they are at home. If England are patient, stick to doing the basics right and don't try to be too flashy it should be a cracking game.
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apart from one miss pass lewsey was excellent.tindall's fault for dropped ball, and lack of communication.defensively solid again .drop tindall bring in tait or noon, was excellent in autumn internationals
15 lewsey
14 strettle
13 tait/noon
12 catt/noon
11 robinson
10 wilkinson/flood
geraghty impact sub adds different style
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I think your rating are rubbish. Catt was great as was flood and Palmer was excellent too. You have no idea or else you were watching a different game to me.
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Well played by all the lads, no-one had an awful game. I thought Corry and Palmer were immense, Rees and Ellis worked very hard and Strettle is just looking class. No-one put in a jaw dropping performances, but those boys all deserved at least an 8 out of 10.
Everyone else deserves a good 7, apart from Tindall (made up for some suspect defensive work with a couple of good charges) and Robinson (not much to do, not really his fault) with 6s, and Lewsey with a 5 - he was clumsy and made poor decisions, and was by far Englands worst player.
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the forwards should be all 8 french backs scored a bit high for saying they didnt score a try!!!
Corry was awesome put in a fantastic hit on Chabal white and Payne should keep their place as should Palmer.
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I thought england were solid but scrappy... catt was dodgy and not good decision making, but not bad for a start
Rees was very good and deserved a 9. Lewesy v.dodgy
Wilko should play against wales with geraghty on the bench... Flood played well but doesn't come close to wilko
Strettle should be first name on the team sheet at the moment.
Tait should start instead of tindall
tindall is average and we need dynamic players against wales.
15. Cueto ( Should be brought bak in)
14. Robinson
13. Tait
12. Catt
11. Strettle
10. Wilko
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ENGLAND
Lewsey: 6
Strettle: 8
Tindall: 7
Catt: 6
Robinson: 6
Flood: 7
Ellis: 8
Easter: 7
Rees: 8
Worsley: 6
Palmer: 7
Corry: 8
White: 7
Chuter: 7
Payne: 7
Replacements-Geraghty: 7
Tait: 6
Lund: 6
Perry: 6
FRANCE
Poitrenaud: 6
Clerc: 7
Marty: 6
Jauzion: 6
Dominici: 5
Skrela: 6
Yachvili: 7
Chabal: 5
Bonnaire: 6
Betsen: 7
Thion: 6
Nallet: 6
Milloud: 5
Ibanez: 6
De Villiers: 5
Replacements-Beauxis: 6
Harinordoquy: 5
Bruno: 5
Mignoni: 6
Heymans: 6
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o p.s. lewsey was very average and should not play versus wales. mistakes like his will cause us to lose the game
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Didn't see robinson as a liability comment 55, lewsey possibly as his form has dipped a little this six nations but agree with general scores and comments posted
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In relation to post #1:
Fair play to England, I never doubted you could do it. Also Id never suggest you are bad because its blatently clear your not
BUT
How exactly does this prove that Ireland aren't a good team. France beat Ireland, England beat France and Ireland annihilate England. This is the six Nations where given the right circumstances any team can beat another. Id be pretty optimistic that Wales will raise their game to beat England next week. One thing is for certain though, Ireland have consistently outplayed the home nations for a few years now and dismantled SA and Australia in the Autumn and were desperatly unlucky not to beat France earlier. These are FACTS so your sounding pretty churlish with your wishful thinking. Its impossible for to suggest that Ireland are bad (unless your stupid of plain biased). Keep it up though because the irony is that the more you write off the Irish is the more likely they will win the WC. Think Munster in the HC last year... its just the Irish mentality. In fact, EVERY team from these isles plays better with their 'backs to the wall.' As for england for the WC.... well lets just give the last word to Arsene Wenger: 'everybody thinks that they've got the prettiest wife '
PS I include Ireland in that one
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As usual the English fans are getting carried away with one performance, as for Brian Ashton picking form players it was just blind luck and injury to Wilkinson, Vickery and Farrell that won the day. Remember the old saying one swallow does not make a summer and one decent english display wont fix the broken chariot that is english rugby.
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Well As an Irishman I owe England a debt of Gratitude, it gives us a fighting chance at the comeption, I am happy also that no one team runs away with the competion.
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The combination of Catt and Flood brought a new dimension to England's back-line. Flood was not afraid to try different things to break the game line and he looked very sharp-particularly with arguably one of the best blind-side's in the world putting him under pressure (betson)Catt's guidance and status as a 2nd decision maker took the pressure off both young fly-halves, and should be recognised as helping to create chances-something England didn't do against Ireland.
The offloading out of the tackle was a key difference in today's victory, and the base the forwards provided for Ellis enabled the backs to get running. Strettle is an exciting talent, and proved he can defend as well as attack. Sloppy mistakes need addressing,although more of the same please!
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To Ian B no1
firstly congratulations to england today for making the most of their oppertunity and giving Ireland the chance to take their first six nations which is much deserved after being runner up on 4 of the last 7 occasions. Ian I hope for yourself you are not looking over yet another false horizon just think back to South Africa in the autumn. Lets see what this team make of a struggling Wales before you get ahead of yourselves. Granted you do have a great player pool but no real leaders to take you to the next level your current captain (vickery) shouldn't be fist choice and todays captain (catt) might just about be able to make it to the world cup.
In relation to Ireland, currently the best northern hemisphere team without a doubt, ok ok we lost to france but that took a fantastic individual effort in the 78th min and the game against Scotland was an off day but think back to England pre 2003 and the victorys they eeked out the mentality being, winners win and thats what Ireland did. Also dont forget that Ireland have produced a number of fantastic displays in the summer against New Zealand (granted we lost but pushed them close), autumn against Australia and a record win over England this six nations. I say its desteny Ireland to win the six nations on Paddys day it couldn't be scripted better. Roll on Italy roll on the World Cup.
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Just great to see England trying to play creative rugby, even if it didn't always work. Much more dynamic back-row; Corry better in the second row where he can do the graft that's needed. In the backs: no-one's been able to fill Will Greenwood's place so if we have to have a 30 something year old at inside centre rather Catt than Farrell. Can't go back to the crash bang style of No 12 trying to blast through the the middle so no room for Noon there; he's more of a back up for Tyndall. Maybe Gerary/Flood at 10 and Jonny W at 12.
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While its been enjoyable viewing, I haven't seen anything in the 6-nations so far that is likely to trouble the freshly "conditioned" AB's later this year. Are South Africa the only threat?
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I know I'd give Brian Moore 2 for his commentary. He is the most biased commentator in history. His exclamatory "overlap" whenever England have an overlap and his constant complaining over decisions that go against England make watching any game with England painful!
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Most of these posts are pretty well spot-on: Rees, Corry, White and Palmer had good games. The fact that Worsley was a bit anonymous probably means that he was on the underneath of the pile-up each time, which is more or less where you want him to be. Chuter played competently and made a real nuisance of himself at times. Well done all the pack: no-one had a real shocker.
Yes, Catt made some errors but he did two things:
1. he played with passion - something that has been missing from England's back division for, oh, the past three years or so; and
2. he inspired the speed merchants in the England side to play with real pace.
Whatever you might say about Super 14 rugby if you watch much of it you realise it is in general a much faster game than English premiership rugby. That really showed in Croke Park: one major factor was that England seemed to expect Ireland to slow down to a snail's pace and play the game that England wanted.
Not so today! Harry Ellis was a real terrier who always wanted quick ball. His loose forwards were able to deliver that today. Add to that a lineout that actually worked and all of a sudden you have a platform that is going forwards most of the time. That was a nasty shock to the French today, but when the Southern Hemisphere teams turn up in the Autumn we had better be ready for eighty minutes of truly quick rugby.
No, today's real questions mostly concern the back three of the back division. I thought Lewsey - who in 2003 was a real reader of the game - had a shocker and should be dropped. He ought to be the best FB in the world, but Cueto plays a better FB game than him. We can blame Andy Robinson if we want to but the fact is that he risks much of the good work of the forwards whne he tries a bit of adventure these days.
My ideal back three? Robinson & Strettle on the wings and Cueto at FB - a big, strong guy who is difficult to get past and can jump well for the high ball. But maybe, just maybe, we ought to pick the team that is best suited to the opponents we face. That might mean there is no single "best" England team, but in that case so be it.
Well done, overall, lads - this was a game you were not supposed to win but you did. The mix has been shaken up a bit and international rugby will be all the better for it.
Tim
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Thought that this was a much improved performance.
I think that the pack in the first three games lacked mobility (NZ would run them off the park), but Rees at 7 and Easter at 8 must stay.
Not sure about the Corry experiement and a better line out side might expose this.
Is Vickery and Farell going to get back in the side next week? I prefer Tim Payne (or Matt Stevens if fit) and Catt must be let out the bag again!
How about a backline (Geraty, Catt, Tait, Strettle, Cueto and Robinson at FB?
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Comments no.22 and 34... I noticed that.
I also want to voice my disapproval over those appalling comments on the 大象传媒 Commentary.
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Re # 38
I RATED the English performance as better than the French.
I RATED the 大象传媒 commentary as less than satisfactory - especially Moore who sometimes even struggles to keep up with the game. If you think people are paid to be rude and undermining the ref, it isn't what most viewers of the game expect or believe enhances a sporting spectacle. Your own comments about Moore seem to support that view.
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England played well but the French were quite simply appalling. This is the only reason England beat the French today. Strettle is THE find of the season. Ex-League just like Robinson. Loves the ball, loves to run with the ball and loves to take on the oppostion without fear. Excellent in defence. Rees, another excellent newcomer.
I believe Chris Ashton, the Wigan RL fullback has signed with Northampton RU. This guy is awesome in defence and attack and will the next England RU full back this time next year.
Enjoy Brian Moore's childish running commentary and loves to play the fool. Can someone please tell Guscott that he his a smug sleazeball. Him and his sidekick, Austin Healey, simply refused to mention Farrell today so instead of focusing on Catt's first half appalling display they chose to focus on another players shortcomings.
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POST 39: best 3 out halfs in the world are you joking? geraghty played well i admit but the best in the world? his kicking to touch was poor and floods kicking wasnt great either. i wonder if you're english? rog has played consistantly good for years now and is without a doubt one of the best out-halfs in the world at this time!
strettle deserved mom without a doubt looked threatening every time he was on the ball and was very solid in defense. tindall was awful missed far 2 many tackles and distribution was poor to say the least and tait has far more to offer. lewsey had an average game by all accounts and made one of the worst passes ive ever seen to gift france a chance which, if they had been firing on all cylinders, would easily have taken.
strange how fortunes change for 'jonny the saviour'. he was supposed to be the man to take english rugby to a new level after a better than average game back and now may not even find himself in the squad when fit.
i think france will easily beat scotland next week and take the 6n on points from ireland who will edge out italy. new zealand will be even more confident after seeing the 6n teams in action and will easily win the wc
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I like BM's bias, all this "neutrality" nonsense gets on my wick. If you want neutral analysis get non-English people to analyse England games. He shouldn't have to hide his loyalty, and he does give the other side credit when they play well. I'm Irish, by the way.
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You this leaves the SN wide open now. Even Italy can win it (not likely though). Even though I don't support England one bit, I senced there was going to be a big result soon. Well done England. And that's from a Welshman! Here's scores for next week:
France 33-28 Scotland
Italy 20-29 Ireland
Wales 23-31 England
Good luck next week all teams.
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Geraghty and Flood both superb considering lack of international experience. Why not Gerachty 11 Flood 12 for WC?
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I like BM's bias, all this "neutrality" nonsense gets on my wick. If you want neutral analysis get non-English people to analyse England games. He shouldn't have to hide his loyalty, and he does give the other side credit when they play well. I'm Irish, by the way.
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ENGLAND WERE FANTASTIC, SOME IMPROVEMENTS REQUIRED AS WITH EVERY PERFORMANCE ANY TEAM DOES, IT IS NOT PERFECT BUT A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION BY THE WORLD CUP WE COULD BE THE DARK HORSES FOR DEFENDING OUR TITLE (what a turn around that would be especially if it could be france in their own back yard like we did to australia).
CORRY WAS ACE AT LOCK WOULD PLAY HIM THEIR FOR ENGLAND ALL THE TIME. AS IT GIVES US THE CHANCE TO FIELD AN EXCITING BACK ROW.
MY TEAM VS WALES
FORWARDS STAY THE SAME
BACKS
09. ELLIS
10. FLOOD
11. STRETTLE
12. WILKINSON (if fit)/CATT
13. TAIT (tindall not up to it)
14. CUETO (lewsey too many errors at crucial times)
15. ROBINSON (his best position look at his performances for sale when he plays at full back)
bench
same forwards on bench
20. RICHARDS (adds more than perry)
21. GERAGHTY (impact player)
22. CATT (if not starting)/VARNDELL (his pace will keep wales on the back foot/can score tries)
REASON FOR CHANGES YOU NEED PACE TO BEAT WALES AS THEY ARE QUICK
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Not a bad win for a scratch side, though Catt did not have the greatest of games individually his organisation of the team was excellent and he does play and I know its a cliche 'Heads up rugby'. We also saw an impact from the bench for a long time with Geraty. A player who we forgot to mention was Easter I thought he was good apart from a couple messed up calls with Ellis from the scrum. White also had a good game as Miloud has put his head up his a--- previously(game in Marselle just before the world cup). Good win not world beaters but just keep the team together not change it again for the Welsh game !
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Heaven help us! Someone (post #74) uses that phrase that is always trotted out when England actually win something. What this poster will say if England actually win next week and finish with a 4-1 record does not bear thinking about. After sunch a long sequence of defeats, any win looks good and beating France is a bit better than putting 80 points past Uruguay.
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Thought England were a bit of a mixed bag, although definetely worth the win.
Some of the skills on show were poor, Lewsey and Tindall being the main culprits. For me, England still lacked structure, although in fairness, a lot of changes had been made.
On the brightside, I thought both fly halves did well, as did both 2nd rows. Nice to see Corry getting praise for once, he has been one of Englands most consistent performers in recent years. Tom Rees was very good, showed the advantages of having a proper 7 in the team.
All in all, a promising performance.
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First up, well done England. It is good to see ambition rewarded. Despite some of the hand-wringing that has been going on amongst their fans, I felt sure that England would perform well, although I did predict a narrow France win. To be honest, only perfect place kicking, and some unforced English errors, kept us in the match. France generated hardly any of their own points. As this match developed, I couldn't help reflecting that it was very like the last "crunch" at Twickenham, in 2005. Again, England scored two good tries tries to nil, but gave away a lot of silly points; again, France played defensive, parasite rugby. The difference was, today England had a functioning goal-kicker. I bet Andy Robinson agrees with me - it's a fine line between success and fiasco.
As regards ratings: correct on Chabal, too generous to Yachvili. Unfortunately, the match provided strong evidence in support of what some of us French have been saying for some time: Yachvili is a mixed blessing at best, and Chabal is a one-trick pony. It is a nice trick, but against a committed and organised defence his limitations become apparent. Lesson for Laporte, #1: Seba = impact sub only in the World Cup, please.
Meanwhile, Yach sees himself in the great tradition of dominant French scrum-halves, alongside Berbizier and Galthi茅. The trouble is, his ambition exceeds his ability and he takes too many big decisions, too often, too incorrectly. This results in a) over-use of the box kick and the long punt and b) his fly-half is squeezed out of the game as a creative force. Yach has his great days, but not often enough. Lesson for Laporte, #2: if you want a kicking scrum half as an alternative to Mignoni, pick Elissalde, why don't you?
Now I'm off to put 鈧10 on Italy to win the championship, at 500-1......
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How do you give Brian More 2 ?
His comment that it was Ok to kick the man on the ground because he was french would have any other commentator red carded without question.
He can ruin a game single-handed and represents the dogmatic, stuffed shirt approach to english rugby that has been so divisive.
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NZ win the world cup??????
They have shown their cards last Autumn... Game plan and a one off game seems to see them off every world cup, no matter what the greats!!! are playing.
On their day any of the 6N teams can beat a southern Hemisphere side.
The Hosts to win the cup.......
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i would say that the marks for Lewsey and Ellis are a little too generous. Lewsey doesn't seem to be able to link with the rest of the backline although his defence is sound. However, I thought Strettle deserved a 9- a very exciting prospect.I would bring back a fit Wilkinson if only for the place kicking-I think he would also benefit from Catt at inside centre-remember the Wales quarter final in the last World Cup.
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I completely agree with comment 63 about Ellis' second movement - that split second allowed a French defence which was almost offside to pinch even more yardage - that's why I don't rate him. Perhaps Geraghty may be better as an impact, I was just impressed with the way he had the confidence to run and offload. That's the sort of dynamism scrum half should be looking to create through passing.
Leave Brian Moore alone, comment 80. He makes 大象传媒 commentary what it is, and even if he may support England, he still makes valid points on the game, including 'Overlap', which when done properly, is an important chance for an attacking side. He also observes advantageous positions for the other team, like when today noticing a pass should have gone to Poitrenaud and he would been in.
When I asked yesterday for some slightly more even-handedness in analysis, I was talking about Phillip Matthews using Moore and Jonathan Davies as comparison. I used to feel that he only made biased points on Ireland, though he did improve yesterday and gave credit where it was due, fairly criticising the lacklustre Irish.
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A sound English performance. See what happens when you play an Irishman at no. 10?
Strettle is already good enough to play for any team, except perhaps the ABs, but did not get much help from Catt and Tindall. In his defence, Tindall scored a try and tackled well but neither himself nor Lewsey deserve more chances. Ireland have shown that light centres are not necessarily a liability if they can tackle. I would like to see England play one game with Geraghty and Tait in midfield. As for the World Cup, I think with this performance England has joined France, Oz and SA as a country with a prayer against New Zealand.
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Tindall was awful, i can't believe he is still in the team, 'tunnel-vision' is an understatement, granted he can tackle, but they are playing international rugby so you would take that skill for granted, nevertheless, the one tackle that really stood out was not all that impressive, chabal was catching the ball stationary, tindall just ran into him, and being the big lad he is it would have an impact on anyone. But a centre who cant catch or pass is beyond me. Apart from him i thought england looked an impressive outfit, securing ball well in the tight and releasing the backs which is not a usual sight, a good foundation layed in beating a top side, they can biuld from here.
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Never a great supporter of Corry but thought he was outstanding in the new position of second row.
What sort of person employs Brian more ? We are trying a more creative enlightened game and he is just an embarrassing dinasor.
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OKAY # 38
Ratings:
England 6.5
France 5.0
Brian Moore 3.0
Not keeping up with the game. Not ADDING anything insightful. Undermining the ref's decisions with camera benefit. Making "asinine" comments. Thinking that "winding -up" is what TV spectators expect from a 大象传媒 commentary. Give us commentators with intelligent observations who don't suffer from foot-in-mouth. The visuals were great (9.5). Butler/Moore just don't reach an acceptable standard.
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A lot of the ratings seem to relate only to the attacking play of the backs. Both Lewsey & Robinson put in some excellent tackles at crucial times, you must not forget that.
With a lot of changes, & a big emphasis on the change in style (big credit to Ashton for asking the players to try this) you have to expect some errors & things going wrong. Yes Lewsey made some bad decisions, but at lest he tried. England shuld resist wholesale chenges again; & should remember where we were 6 months ago. We would have taken 3 out of 4 wins, with 2 good performances.
The front row finally looked the part, possible not the greatest ball carriers, but a solid base to work from. The second row was our best so far, Corry was massive & Palmer did enough. The back row was finally balanced, all played well & we finally had a nos. 8 who carried the ball well. Ellis was solid & Flood & Geraghty are starting to look like able deputies for Wilko. The back 3 is almost there, defensively we look sound, just a few mistakes in attack, but Cohen must be pushing hard. The centre is the only place I would make a change. Catt gives us a kicking option & vision, but I would use the last match to try Tait or Lewsey (he plays well in the centre for Wasps) as his partner to give more pace & creativity.
But all in all not a bad performance.
Catt gives us a kicking option
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Cheers for all your replies so far. Fascinating to hear everyone's take on the game.
Compiling ratings is clearly a very subjective business and I'm sure there were plenty of debates going on wherever you were after the game, as there are on here.
It's also all the more difficult in the stands without the aid of close-up TV replays and commentary.
Now the dust has settled a bit, I may reconsider one or two but I think I'd largely stick to my guns. Maybe Lewsey was one notch too high and maybe some of the pack deserved a grade higher but it's all semantics really, isn't it?
I'm not a big fan of lavishing 9s willy-nilly and we must remember that while it was a good display it was far from brilliant. There were plenty of errors and one swallow certainly doesn't make a summer.
But that doesn't mean we should stop discussing it all, so crack on!
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Hey
i agree with mark2007 wilko could play inside centre outiside greghty or flood his distribution is just as good as Catt and he's got more pace.....not to mention his goal kicking
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Moore & Butler, should be applauded; at least they are not scared to give an opinion ... whether you agree with it or not.
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With a name like Owain Davies i would hazard a wild guess this blogger comes from the far west of Englandshire :-)(thats a wind up by the way!). Hands off Brian Moore & Eddie Butler - funniest double act on television since Hinge & Brackett - they always have me in stitches. Mooro still gives the best insight into whats going on around the scrum and breakdown areas and anyway whats wrong with being slightly biased toward the Country he played and bled for ??!! Here's to Hinge and Brackett 2 and personally i hope they continue bickering for a long time to come !
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Talking of biased commentary, I watched the game on RTE where George Hook's rampant francophilia got the better of him. He wrote England off by half-time.
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I think G R E A T game of rugby! Best entertainment of the 6 nations so far i reckon!! I thought that Catty had been an amazing Captain, even though he made a few mistakes, but he made up for them.
France played normaly so thats no excuse!! They just couldn't get past our forwards!! At the end of the day we had a win, and it was a G O O D win. What more do people want??
Brian Aston...Brilliant coach giving the new one's a chance. I mean, Geraghty!! He was awesome when it came down to his try he set up!!
Martin Corry, definatly number 4 is his best position!!
Hopefully Catty will stay captain next weekend and H O P E F U L L Y we win the 6 nations!! COME ON ENGLAND!!
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England did very well with what was in many areas a scratch team.
Wonderful to see new and young players coming through with the confidence to attack - Strettle, Geraghty are obvious mentions along with Rees who was outstanding. Flood had a good game.
Also good to see some balance to the team. I think Corry has found his natural position at last. A big strong runner, good hands, who does not go backwards, but as a lock he is less likely to get isolated as he sometimes did as No8. Well done Corry, he should feel pleased with his performance.
As for No8, Easter looked very comfortable carrying the ball and always made good yardage with ball in hand, obviously a difficult player to bring down, similar to Leamy of Ireland.
Front row worked tirelessly and made the French scrum look ordinary and struggle. White was the cornerstone of the whole England scrum, never took a step backward, his body position was technically superb.
There are still problems, positional and with basic skills. Tindall must surely be on borrowed time all the while there is Tait waiting in the wings. Tait must be chomping at the bit to get a first start again. England are close to having a set of backs with real world class pace.
Also Ellis is good but not as great as everyone shouts about. Watch him carefully, yes he is strong, but his delivery should be quicker, there always tends to be a delay, compare this to Richards or Perry who are much faster. Speed of delivery at scrum half is essential.
Also Lewsey made some appalling errors. These tend to be with his poor lines of running. I can't see him at fullback until he smartens up.
Catt is quite amazing. No he did not have a great game in terms of errors made. But he brought something to the team that has been missing for a long time now - real leadership. Vickery does not possess natural leadership, he needs a couple of others with him to get the forwards moving. This cannot be denied, the forwards today worked very well together and took the game to the French - without Vickery.
So for Wales, I would keep the pack the same, bring Vickery on to the bench.
The backs there would have to be a couple of changes:
15 - Robinson
14 - Is Sackey still injured? TBD
13 - Tait
12 - Catt (Capt.)
11 - Strettle
10 - Flood(50mins), Geraghty(30mins)
9 - Perry
And Wilkinson goes on the bench with Vickery.
Overall good work England!
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Corry is getting back to something like his world class. Best thing that happened was him losing the captaincy. Keep him at lock. Led the pack very well. Was the Ireland game a one off, or does the France game still hide basic weakness. Being optimistic, think the direction is right with mixing young talent with experience but England need world class centres. Where will they come from? Thought the marks were just about right.
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France played badly because there forwards where buried from the start - the English pack pulled the same job on lesBlues that the Irish pack played on them at Croke Park, if your pack is on the back foot then your backs will struggle to function - the French backs often looked directionless and confused today, traits more often associated lately with there opponents
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Much credit must go to BA. He cobbled a side together that, let's face it, we all worried about. Agree with most of the ratings but personally thought Palmer was at least one point better. Corry also. What a great piece of out of position selection. Both Flood and Geraghty did well, the latter better although he had the luxury of coming on with fresh legs. Still, he made things happen and in addition to his break, his off load down the left was superb.
For Wales, I would even be tempted to try Geraghty at inside centre (as a sub) and Tait at outside. Strettle definitely earns his place too. Lewsey was not bad but not his best -he's been England's most consistent performer so I'd keep him. The back row was just great - pace at last. The front row very good also!
Great to see adventurous rugby from us!!!
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It was so refreshing to see the england players playing with such passion. Something that seemed to be missing against ireland and italy before that.
Strettle was superb, a real threat practically every time he got the ball.
reesy and corry were awsome too.
I'd have shane geraghty starting against wales, and leave catt in there even if farrell regains fitness.
England musn't get complacent now though, Wales will give everything to avoid that dreaded wooden spoon!! Oh yeah, and brian moore is the man!!!
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As Brian Moore said " France on this occassion choked "
Choking = No Grand Slam !
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Funny how quick things can change! English rugby in a shambles one week and now they can win the wc! Come on, one good performance against a poor French side and 3 far from convincing performances earlier in the competition. Think about it you beat a French team who were trounced by New Zealand by 44 points in Autumn and think you have a hope of winning. I think a qf exit to Australia (a far superior sporting country by the way) is on the cards!
POOL 1: South Africa, England(just)
POOL 2: Australia, Wales because of their home advantage
POOL 3: New Zealand , Scotland will edge Italy because of home advantage
POOL 4: France, Ireland
QF: Australia will beat England
SA will beat Wales
NZ will beat Ireland (just)
France will thrash Scots
SF: Australia-NZ final and....NZ will win!
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Well,
Congrats to BA on his selection. The same forwards did not hassle the irish at Croke but their belief saw them thru today. I still think their performance today would not have up ended the irish forwards. Only because the scrum was scrappy, but their line out was good losing only one of their own. An excellent England performance, and a welcoming start to the young guns playing on the team.
I must say it was great to see 6 teams playing to win this weekend,and 8 points being the biggest margin. It really does show that any team can win on their day. Ireland just couldn't get firing and the scottish defence together with their unwillingness to give up the ball was enough to frustrate 6 penalties to keep the scots in the game, cos they never really looked like scoring tries. Pretty boring game to be fair.
The c'ship is wide open, France should do it on points, but there's only 5 between them and Ireland. If Ireland fire early, they could do it. My vote is with Ireland.
Wales will beat England by a point, Hook will win it for them, and he'll be the new Henson. Really good to see competitive home nations and great to see Italy looking for their 3rd win in the 6N, one that i hope eludes them.
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Well done to England today , ok the French didn't turn up , but you can only beat whats put in front of you .
If England play like that against a decent team it'll be all over by half-time. To many mistakes , dropped ball ,wayward passes , etc etc .
Asked at half time , how did Catt play , the 大象传媒 panel could only say ''the occasion got to him '' instead of just plain awful , dropped ball , bad passing , kicking instead of passing , but what do you expect , they couldn't slag off the very person they said should play. Last week they hammered a single player for doing nothing more than once being caught holding onto the ball. But back to catt, he did manage to run through a gap along side the QE11 to create a good try but please don't tell me nobody else would have seen the gap.He didn't do much else.
Lets enjoy the moment but please don't get carried away!!!!!
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Brian Moore? Was a good player but too abrasive to be a commentator. Eddie Butler? Appaling. Mistake ridden comments, ignorant and should return to handling Welsh TV games on a Friday night (at best)!
Watch the TV but take the commentary from radio 5. Absolutely ace!
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A good performance by the forwards who worked well together considering the lack of time to prepare. The backs were indifferent and at times sloppy, although they defended well.
Next week will be harder. The welsh will want to end on a high and will give England a real test in Cardiff. Judgement should be reserved on whether England are moving in the right direction until then.
Englands best backs are Strettle and Robinson, but against the worlds best, they wouldnt see much of the ball.
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Post 86. O'Gara still can't defend, doesnt have the gas or side step to make line breaks consitently against top class defences like Flood or Geraghty and doesn't have "Jonny the saviours" pedigree or big game nous, Who's the 6N nations record point scorer? here's a clue its not O'Gara and I'd bet my life he's set up more passages of play leading to tries than O'Gara.
Its still probably too late for England to win the World cup this year unless they hammer Wales and SA twice this year, though they could certainty upset one of the major favourites. Ireland do stand a better chance with the settled squad they have.
However with central contracts, Ashton or Dean Richards at the helm and with a core squad of Rees, Palmer, Jones, Lund, Stevens, Sheridan, Haskell, Ellis, Flood, Geraghty, Wilkinson, Tait, Strettle, Cipriani the WC 2011 suddenly looks very promising.
Am I the only person in this blog who thinks Wilko should start next week with Flood or Geraghty at 12 and Tait at 13? Tait is defensively as sound as Tindall but runs/passes better.
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agree with a lot of comments. tait surely has to start. when is he going to be given a string of games to show what he shows in the premiership? surely no better chance than playing outside catt. tindall was, and has been, distinctly average for a long time. apart from one tackle (on a static player) and his try, for which he just caught the ball and fell over, he did nothing. as for the lewsey debate, i think the critisism is very harsh. didn't have his best game, but did make an awesome break, solid in defence and if catt had given the pass after his break for the flood try would have been straight under the posts. wilko will start against wales, but the two fly halves today showed the future's bright for england. let's hope they get some more game time on the summer tour to SA. rees was reminiscant of mccaw in the way he supported, always on the shoulder of the ball carrier and turned over. not getting carried away, as they have to do it consistently but a good performance.
as for #38 comments on brian moore. the best commentators in history are impartial, and insightful. see richie benaud, andy grey and stuart barnes. moore is an embarresment to the bbc and the licence fee payers.
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The skill level in this six nations is the worst I have ever seen. The respective backlines of France and England today were very very average - poor passing, dropped balls, knock ons, totally misguided kicks. Scotland's backs are completely useless, and it is really only Ireland that have a few world class backs in BOD & D'Arcy. If you guys want to watch some quality, slick, high tempo running rugby - flick over & watch the Super14. Even without 22 AB's - the skill level is far superior to this rubbish. The AB's proved in the Autumn how average this French side is - from memory they put 70-80 points on them in 2 games (in france)! When the AB's won the Grand Slam their B team put nearly 50 points on Ireland at Landsdowne Rd. I can imagine Carter, Muliaina, McAlister, Rocokoko, Sivivatu - licking their lips at this northern hemisphere rubbish. Only really South Africa come close on the world stage. Ireland have had one good result this 6N - against Eng. Their opening game against Wales was average, they lost to France and nearly lost to a woeful Scotland - let's not get too carried away with their prospects.
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Nice to see that the two teams that played with a bit of passion won this weekend. Both England and Italy played not the most composed or pretty rugby, but as Ireland showed against England, if you play with you heart, the result can go your way. But it also helps if your opposition does not play to their strengths.
What a weekend is in store next week, please god show us you are omnipresent, and give us the result we Irish pray for. Well it will be Paddy's Day after all!!
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just like many englsih fans said to ireland fans not to get carried away so i will say this practise what you preach. no 1 there is no doubt that england were fabulous today. i really enjoyed the match and was so impressed by geraghty and flood but it is only ione match just like the ireland england game a fortnight ago. don't know where the impression given that irish fans are saying ireland for the world cup. i don't believe that ireland will win it. it's a bit rich to criticise irish fans for saying it thou, i've read a few comments saying england will retain the wc on the back of this display. come on lads. i was rooting for england today but we all know nz are going to win the world cup. and as an irish supporter i've no shame in saying it! should ireland england or france win it, then great but i don't see a northern hemisphere team winning it.
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why are you all having a go at josh lewsey, since the last world cup he has been by far the best and most consistent player. So he made a few mistakes today but all good players have a bad game once in a while. I'm sure he'll be back to his best soon.
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Has anyone thought what James Simpson Daniel may add to the mix at outside centre with Tindall dropping out altogether, Tait on the bench.
Well done
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The three key points about this game were
1/ france didnt turn up
2/ the england forwards performed
3/ the england back line were behind a pack that was going forward
So we (england) shouldnt get very excited about this and you cant compare the backline personnel today to those Vs Ireland a few weeks ago.
Catts involvement in the tries was really good, it makes a place for him in the squad going forward but we know what he can do and what his limitations are - we dont know that yet about Andy Farrell (despite what the England nearly men, ie personnel pre 2003 team, say). In union terms Farrell probably hasnt topped out yet. Who knows how good he can be and what impact he will make on Englands game as he develops in each game as it comes? Whats for sure (hope I am wrong) England are not going to have any chance of winning the world cup without something extra special that we havent seen yet. Most seem to agree that Farrell could be something special AND with that extra physical, mental and leadership edge that makes his odds of success better than most in these circumstances.
Now to contradict myself - what about putting something unpredictable, with gas, outside him - Tait looks so telented, lets give him a couple of yards space...in the autumn he was choked by Noon's crash bang wallop - dont pass the ball - tactics.
Re #10 - How would Wilko go behind a pack going forward?..Maybe, about as well as he did Vs Scotland - certainly a step up against Ireland where the pack in reverse gear ensured that it was extra hard going for the back line.
Strettle was class - it was reminicent of watching those old games involving Dave Duckham - he even dummied the camera man at one point.
Gerghaty looked very interesting - he has got talent and his break was excellent.
Ellis is now starting to look the part.
Lewsey
Strettle
Tait
Farrell
Robinson
Ellis
Plus Todays pack...
Geraghty, Catt as impact 3/4's off the bench...
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I'd fault Strettle for one thing -staying on his wing too much in attacking situations. He should have popped up more often in midfield.
England seem
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I thought Lewsey and Tindall played terribly! Why doesnt he giv matt tait a go, for me hes better than tindall who has been looking pedestrian either crashing the ball, kicking or knocking on. Strettle was immense, ellis played well as usual n toby flood did nothing wrong. I feel that hes better than Geraghty but Geraghty has that bit of extra pace.
As for the forwards the leicester and wasps contingent were awesome along with Nick Easter who played well agenst Italy then was dropped, why? He was immense in the loose and carried the ball well. England were fired up for the game today compared to the Croke Park incident which was embaressing. The forwards strung together about 100 phases so enough said.
As for the world cup we will be very lucky to reach the semis but you have to look onwards to the next world cup when most of the young guns will be hitting there prime.
On the whole an impressive performance we dug in deep and showed some true grit.
After watching the Irish game yesterday i am totally unimpressed by their performance n wanted scotland to win! Hopefull Italy will beat ireland and scotland will beat france, but both are very doubtful. James Hook is the MAN!
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Hey Im half French Half English, so im pretty neutral (though on this occasion i expected France to win).
1. Not the strongest French side, Laporte has changed the team so many times.
2. Back row won the game, no question.
3. Tindall was poor, Catt(I only saw the 2nd Half)created the space for our backline.
4. Lewsey u try and play ur best when u have a club like Wasps who wont play u in ur best position.
England with three chnages could be world class.
Tatit in for Tindall,
Wilko 2 inside centre, Geherty fly half or flood,
(mind u wilko fly half catt centre would work just as well)
so the team would look like so:
15 Lewsey
14 Robinson
13 Tait
12 Wilkio
11 Strettle
10 im going with flood
9 ellis
8 easter
7 rees
6 worsley
5 Corry
4 Palmer
3 Vickery/White
2 Chuter
1 Payne/Vickery
Vickery got 2 be there somewhere hes an exceptional forward
Cant c that team losing often
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No idea how one can give marks to 40 players without 15 replays... Well done to those who can and enjoy the game whilst watching!
A few sparkling breaks but still too much sideways running. Is it so hard for international centres and stand offs to straighten and bring an over lap into play? I have never been a back but I have learned about the straightening and it surely is not hard to enact.
However good to see some flair lead to tries. However there were overlaps and they were not exploited as long passes and sideways running were still the order of the day. Improved pack performance.
How did Ireland lose to France? against if you believe 大象传媒 pundits is a vastly inferior French team! Irish backs are supposedly marvelous and the pack 4-8 better than anyone were yesterdays pearls of hubris. How can one answer that without questioning their increasingly ridiculous need to be under dogs or have something to prove mentality?
Northern hemisphere teams need to start thinking about playing positively and winning games. I am pretty sure if a Southern hemishpere side is favourite they take as meaning they are most likley to win and play accordingly. In the 6 nations it is an excuse to stiffen up and hope the opposition beat themselves - such as France here and Ireland having to defend for 1 minute.
One would like to think it is a nail in the coffin of 1 player star based analysis but that has too much momentum. It is also too embedded in the coaches if the ludicrous England worrying about some players fitness is true. Just pick 15 fully fit and send them out - simple and it works in countries who win more often than we do (in all sports).
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I've got to stick up for Lewsey and Tindall. I fear some of our commentators are forming opinion on only one element of the game i.e. attack. Defence wins games too. Sure - Tindall and Lewsey didn't shine going forward (agreed) but defensively they were both rock solid and dependable - and Tindall's wrap-up hit on Chabal was a beauty.
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A victory over the French is always an achievementand england should be very pleased. Viewing the game is ruined by Eddie Butlers shockingly poor commentary. He gets names wrong and makes light of serious moments in the game. He said "now we come to the fag end of the 6 Nations." He was referring to England v France at Twickenham in front of an 80,000 crowd and millions watching on TV. This is one of the sporting highlights of the year! 大象传媒 must be able to find someone of the caliber of Bill McLarren or Stuart Barnes.
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Give Betsen a white shirt, he was so far over the offside line all game he was nearly in the English backline!
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England dominated possession because the forwards provided a great platform, so the pack should remain for the Wales game. All around the pitch the young English guns dominated- Easter and Rees were magnificent, Palmer went well with Corry and Strettle, Flood and Geraghty were all exciting.This is the way forward to the defence of the World Cup and, carrying on with Ashton's youthful gambit, against Wales i would play Ellis, Wilkinson, Flood, Tait, Strettle and Cueto with Robinson at full back. Lewsey's form is'nt great and all the backs outside Wilkinson have pace in abundance. Flood sometimes plays outside Wilkinson at Newcastle and there is always Geraghty in the wings. Farrell, Tindall and Catt look stodgy by comparison. Give youth its head and let's see if they can cause the Kiwis to sit up and take notice!
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Great result..... at last.
We must be careful though as I'm sure claims of "arrogant English" will follow these postings of congratulations!!
Whilst purveying humility and grace.... WELL DONE!!
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Agreed that rating are subjective and not everyone will agree but why are the figures so bunched together? In Lewsey's comment you mention defensive lapses, misssed passes, and wrong options and in Strettles you mention try-saving tackles, yet there is only one point difference.
Similarly, the general consensus is that france played poorly yet they averaged 6 which is above average on the scale.
I think people people can expect a minimum level of performance in an international rugby match. Anybody who doesn't reach this should get a zero and the rest of the players scaled accordingly. This would be more informative and better highlight players such as Rees and Strettle who were the stand out performers
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Catty deserves a 7/8. Ok, He had a nervy start and some passes went astray, threw an interception and dropped a ball but his vision in setting up a try and leadership were paramount to this win.
If I were Ashton I will keep the forwards the same for Wales rearrange the Backs with the following selection:
9-Ellis
10-Floody
11-Strettle
12-Catty
13-Geraghty
14-Tait
15-Robinson
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Congratulations to England for an unexpected brilliant fighting performance ; I thought their defense was awesome. As a disappointed french supporter, I'm at loss to understand our tactics in the second half ; we played a very conservative game (bring back Mignoni), whereas England showed true flair and earned deserved tries ; in the end, it's the same old story, we're sadly inconsistent and we don't have what it takes to win the world cup. Nor does any team but the All Blacks...Does anyone seriously dispute that ?
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An interesting game today which confirmed my suspicion that the two freak results in the 2007 6 Nations have been Italy v France (Italian front row mysteriously 'pulled' from the starting line-up by Berbizier) and Ireland v England (England prevented from playing and Ireland given every 50-50 decision by a referee overawed by the occasion).
Most of the comments here seem eminently sensible and Ashton has some interesting selectorial problems. Lewsey is beginning to look past his sell-by date, but most of the rest were excellent with Rees, Palmer, Easter and, surprisingly, Corry outstanding in the pack. Worsley was also good and what you describe as a "miscued kick forward" was simply a way of ensuring that a penalty that had already been given was not rescinded by a call of "Advantage over" (it's no wonder the players despair at the press they receive sometimes).
Catt rescued an error-strewn performance with one excellent break, though if he had been a former rugby league player, Guscott and Healey would undoubtedly have been calling for him to be replaced at half time. Few England players can have made so many mistakes and come off to a hero's welcome.
It's interesting that one contributor feels Andy Farrell would not have recognized he had Ibanez opposite him. Once people are truly prejudiced there's no limit to the creativity it seems to generate.
Also, anyone who understands the finer points of the game would have given Robinson a higher rating than 6, since his sheer presence persuaded Laporte that all of France's kicking should be to Dave Strettle - his biggest tactical mistake.
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Tindall is in the team for a reason folks. It might not be pretty, but he is the battering ram that's needed in the backs to set up 2nd and 3rd phase ball. I'm afraid Farrell is much the same and there's only room for one of them in the back line - thank you and good night Faz.
As well, yes, the French didn't perform, but only because they weren't allowed to. They were dominated by an excellent England pack and just weren't allowed the ball. When they DID get the ball, England were again excellent at the break down and the French had to live on scraps.
Celebrate an excellent team performance everyone!
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Catt disappointing?? Thats absolute rubbish. He led England to their first victory against a top ranked team in two years, set up one try and outplayed his esteemed opposite man Jauzion. A few passes not going to hand when trying to play expansive rugby for a change doesn't make for a rating of 6.
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Individual ratings are always going to be very subjective, depending on the viewer's ideas and experiences of the game. On the whole I think the ratings are fair but Tindall is a two-club golf bag - can tackle, can run - can't think, plan, sidestep, pass or kick.
The thing that struck me was that England's first half should have been played on the training ground - some of them can't have been sure of the name of the player next to them. It was clear after 20 minutes that England would win as long as they were in touch at half time - when they've played together a few times they should be very useful indeed.
Oh - and Ireland have now passed their peak - they were dismissive of Scotland and it very nearly caught them out. O'Driscoll in particular had a poor game and reacted by being petulant and behaving like a spoiled child on several occasions - not worthy of a great player.
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post 39 best 3 outhalves in the world my A**. I'm a massive RoG fan but he's only the best in the northern hemisphere. there is only one no.10 that can be called the best in the world you may have heard of him he goes by the name Dan Carter
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All this flak for Josh Lewsey? Remember his tackle aginst SA in the autumn, he has got to play against Wales next weekend!Mike Tindall saw off Chabal - the most dangerous offensive player in the Zurich Premiership.Brian Ashton must pick the same team for next week.
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Why are England so excited, they won against a less than fit france who looked heavily under par and the defense was a shambles. The AB's would have hammerd the french side by at least 30 points
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At Twickenham today - fantastic match and atmosphere, especially in the bar afterwards.
I think you got the ratings about right - but why give Perry a 6 for 2 minutes and Lund 5 for 10 in which he made at least one important tackle?
3 MOTM contenders:
Strettle looks outstanding, didn't drop a ball all game, strong, quick - what fantastic back 3 options we have with Cueto and Sackey out injured.
Rees also fantastic, not much more to say apart from that I saw a number 7 pop up all over the pitch today and we had much quicker ball.
Corry was an absolute workhorse at lock, gave a performance that reminded me of O'Connell last week. Lost count of the number of times he was there just to fall on a loose ball.
Ellis, Flood, Geraghty and the rest of the pack also impressed. Catt's presence was more important than his performance, which was allright, but not close to the 7s and 8s others are giving him. Lewsey looked a bit off, and Robinson had little opportunity to shine.
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The first time England have shown imagination for years.
Catt was the catalyst. Omit him and you've got 15 individuals again.
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Firstly well done England a great result.
I am quins fan and i think every other quins fan would agree with me that easter and strettle have been amazing for us and are starting to produce some very talented english players. We have a back line containing #jordan Turner hall who when fit should start for england he is young strong and quick with great hands he physicaly dominated farrel. Should be in world cup. We have a fly half, Adrien Jarvis, who deservs an england look in. And a full back in Mike Brown who is on fire for us and carved apart Italy A and has done the same to many premiership teams. I think that he should start at full back against wales with robinson and strettle. Bring Tait into the centres with Catt/wilko stick with Flood at 10 as he played well and will thrive on game time. An awsome forward performance Today well organised allowing the backs to attack simply and effectivly for the first time in many many years ( even before world cup)
Brian moore is a legend and speaks his mind but gives a proper rugby point of view he says the things that half the forwards in the country are thinking. Well Done again ENgland
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Well agree rating for Lewsey is generous - but bless him wouldn't it be great if he got back to some 2003 form?
Game was a total surprise - and where were the French? Shows what a difference a decent forwards performance can make - England had so much ball it was almost embarrassing - should have done more with it - but promising step forward, thought Rees and Palmer were the pick of the forwards.
Wilko should definitely start if fit with Flood on bench - can't play Geraghty without another recognised kicker - plus he came on when the team was on the front foot - good impact sub though. Am praying Farrell doesn't play and please can anyone explain to me why Tait wasn't brought on for Tindall - admittedly he finished the try move well but otherwise he had a shocker (again!).
Wales will defnitely be up for it - but they appear to have no direction what-so-ever so even though I think it will be a close game - we should win.
What a bizarre tournament this year though, England beat Scotland who should have beaten Ireland who lost to France who were beaten by England - who knew!! Some how can't see the southern hemisphere quaking in their boots however - but at least England are playing some decent stuff and there were some really encouraging performances today.
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Ding Ding!!!!!!!!!!!
Wake up England fans!
A horrible display by the French. They were awful. Glad the English won, but the only thing it proved is that the ABs are going to wipe out NH competition if Ireland and France don't get their acts together.
The winner of this Six Nations could have a 3 and 2 record.
I think Italy and Scotland are playing the most inspirational rugby right now and I would not bet against them on St. Paddy's day.
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Ive got 20 drachmas on a Scotland Wales WC final.
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Nevere visited this before so I thought I would comment.
England made so many errors it was scary however you have to remember that this side has not really played together before give them time without too many changes and they will be great. I think Mike Catt is a fantastic leader, I have always thought he is a very good player who does not panic and he works will with the youth of the team (partly responsible for the success of the new boys at number 10) he also keeps the game moving fast and positively. Yes he did have his fair share of handling errors but unlike Tindall he also made up for these, gathering fumbled ball, followed up tackles.
I was really impressed with the forwards too they made so much grown and Harry was an excellent person to deliver the ball from the ruck to the backs. Lots of credit to Rees and Easter who were fantastic. Next week I think we need to keep the forwards the same and my back would be:
9. Ellis
10. Wilkinson
11. Geraghty (spelled wrong probably)
12. Catt
13. Tait
14. Strettle
15. Robinson
The French gave a really peculiar performance when they were so quiet the whole time I kept expecting a French wonder try but it never came.
Good luck next week to all six sides. I want England or Italy to win :-)
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I'm a big fan of Lewsey but there's no way he should have been given a 7 with that awful pass of his, it was lucky not to cause a try and he's definitley been off form recently. There's a lot of criticism of Tindall and while he's hardly a smooth operator in the midfield I think he deserves his 6 for a well taken try and his hit on Chabal. 6s for Catt and Tom Palmer are a bit harsh, they definitely both made key contributions to the win. 8s for Easter and Ellis is pretty generous as both made quite a few errors, and Rees and Strettle probably deserved 9s.
As for the french, I don't see how Ibanez and Yachvili can get 7s. They both missed first up tackles that led to the English tries (rather than being Poitrenaud's fault as you seem to suggest) and Ibanez spilled the ball on in contact in one of France's rare attacking moments near the English line.
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This was the first English performance I enjoyed watching since that world cup final so many moons ago!
Finally some pace on the ball out wide, some decent running lines and reasonably quick ball - only 8/10 for Rees, Brian Moore was spot on in naming him man of the match, without his efforts, and those of a much improved back row, that outplayed a their pretty dencent French counterparts, Flood et. al. would have been made to kick it away.
As it was, I was on my feet for the first time in a long time, it is great to see England play all the rugby! Come on lads, and BA.
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As catty said after the game the team only had 5 days training together before this match! If we can be like this all the time i think the future is very promising! One minute we dont seem to have any good players the next we have too many to pick from!
Well done England!
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Back row was much better without corry slowing it down, but Corry had a good game at second row. Cant see any reason to bring back Wilkinson unless he can be turnrd into an inside centre in a week. Catt did a good job babysitting the kids outside him, think we just need a real replacement at i/c, and perhaps bring Matty Tate in at o/c. should we try Tindall at i/c as the old head?
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firstly, well done england. but catt is seriously overrated at 6 and cries for 7s and 8s are ludicrous! he was essentially a one-break wonder and otherwise an embarrassing liability with his catastrophic passing and his inability to catch a pass (or hold on to the ball once in firm grasp on occasion!) and i thought it was laughable how much personal attention he sought from the crowd after the whistle. and how he endeavoured to pat every english player after the match as if he was actually significant or responsible for the team's performance. a self-respecting captain would have been a sport and at least have shook the odd hand of the opposing players...
however i admire the potential of gerrathy, flood and strettle. pity gerragthy, flood and wilkinson all compete for the one position! strength in depth - maybe. but strength in width???
ireland will still beat you next time around. considering that we're the team to have beaten you most since you were crowned world champions it would be only fitting if we were given the opportunity to dethrone you in the knock out stages!! pity that can't occur;-)
btw absolutely no bias should be inferred from this article. i thought evidence of a successful restructuring of the team was promising today. i just hope catt isn't included in the fromula and the position should be offered on the merits. i'm happy that you were able to beat france. and that deosn't factor in your giving us the opportunity to win the 6N. but still, work to be done...
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Team for Wales:
15. Lewsey/Cueto
14. Robinson
13. Tait
12. Catt
11. Strettle
10. Geraghty
9. Ellis
1. Payne
2. Chuter
3. White
4. Corry
5. Palmer
6. Worsley
7. Rees
8. Easter
Replacements:
16. Vickery
17. Mears
18. Jones
19. Lund
20. Perry
21. Flood
22. Wilkinson/Cueto/Varndell
I think the fewer changes to the team the better. However, Wilko and Vickery should go up to the bench, as should Chris Jones - worldclass lock.
I honestly believe that Wilkinson is a real prospect as Inside Centre, for the future. However, he needs much more game time with club to get back to full fitness.
I rate Geraghty highly. Not much between him and Flood. Both not outstanding kickers but are definitely competant. I just think that Catt can bring more from Geraghty than he can with Flood (purely because of the London Irish link).
Well done Corry. Proved alot of people wrong. Only time will tell if he is able to build on this performance.
Good performance from an untried England team. BUT dont get carried away. Lots of basic errors. Doing the BASICS well is what wins games, especially against better teams than France today.
(Easter and Worsley were the 2 most under-rated players on the team. At the heart of everything good.)
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Overall ratings pretty much reflect the game. How can England put 26 points on France with poor general play from the backs? Because somehow the pack should have been rated higher as a group. Palmer and Payne rated a little too high, and Corry probably not high enough. In the backs, Ellis was at his best and Strettle was excellent, a nice bright future here. Where was Lewsey (poor)? And Tindall was one step slow and one step behind (poorer). I would have wanted to see Robinson in position to get the ball more (not enough ball). And Captain Catt looked nervous (!). Hard to tell about Flood because the other backs were nowhere to be found. Geraghty can run and pass beyond his years, another nice future coming. That was a great run setting up the try. But, he needs to leave the kicking to touch to others, this part of his game was poor. On the up-side, who cares? France is beaten, and a very outside shot at the 6N is alive. The team does need more time to practice, then maybe we can see something real.
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One win for england n& you think you are top of the world again. Cannot wait to see you get knocked out of the world cup (probably at the group stage.)
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Good to see you getting carried away again with an awful England win.
The fact of the matter is they were every bit as bad today as they were against Ireland and Italy, in fact they were worse! I wish that it was that French team that turned up to Croker a few weeks back!
Enjoy it, even though I am not quite sure how yous managed it, but I am glad it leaves us in with a shout of the championship.
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re: 117
Is that the same French team that walked past Ireland in the last minute. Didn't see the 'World Class' ROG do much there.
And the 'far from convincing' performance (true) was against the same Scottish side that gifted Ireland all their points yesterday. Even Keith Wood said that.
As for the world cup... I'm not sure who's in Ireland's group but with their knack for losing games in the last minute and inconsistency like they showed against Scotland they will be lucky to get out of it
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Tindall was awful as ever, never looks for an offload, missed all his important tackles bar the one on Chabal(Moody would have got that one too!) and has just looked awful for England for far too long now, time to give Tait or someone a go outside Catt. About time Rees got a start, was awesome as expected, Corry looked good at 4 (about time he did something for the team!) Palmer looked better, Jones will push them both for their places. Worsley looked his usual self-doesn;t miss a tackle but awful going forwards-is there a lead weight attached to his head that makes him mosedive to the ground everytime he gets the ball? He needs to offload if he wants to keep his place. He's nowhere near Best or Easterby of Ireland, so he's not the answer for England at 6.
Two good new options at 10, back 3 looking good-Lewsey and Robbo can improve and Cueto has his work cut out to get back in
Starting to look a better unit, lets see how we do next week!Condeming Wales to the wooden spoon would be great!
P.S. loved it when Brian Moore was assesing the rucking of a player when a penalty was given, tried to asses whether he though it was fair then just said "oh i don't care he's French anyway". Classic!
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Ian B, your pomposity irritates me but your fickleness astounds me. On what basis can you possibly hold such sudden positive attitudes towards a usually shambolic and occasionally mediocre English team , yet be willing to write off a far more talentated and focused Irish team.
Perhaps you should have started your 'armchair' following a few years earlier.
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Post 117 - everything you said is as true of Ireland as England! One good performance against a poor England side and three far from convincing performances in the competition. As you pointed out, England may have beaten a French side who were well beaten by NZ earlier but, unless my memory is mistaken, Ireland, er, lost. And people suggest Ireland has a hope of winning? Seriously, no rational person would suggest England will come close to winning, only that they might play a couple of decent games, but exactly the same could be said of Ireland (who will struggle to qualify in their group)... NZ will win, steamrollering Ireland in the QF.
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Tindall was brutal 2day chap can't pass at all of his left and anything that comes off his right is not half accurate should have been taken off and tait should of been brought in. Pure luck that he scored that try.
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A good win England. All those that think France didn't turn up should look again. The England forwards were quicker and more dynamic particularly the back five and so the French forwards were shut out of the game. Just like athletic AB packs have done to big lumbering England in the past.
The French backs, well, as I predicted several days ago they were too busy watching the Cattman which gave the new England youngsters room to use their pace.
Yes there were mistakes but it is clear that BA is building a team where pace will be the deciding factor. So my prediction for the England WC squad is that if you cannot tick the pace and speed of thought boxes then there won't be room for you.
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I am a huge England fan but am in NZ at the moment and haven't been able to watch the games.
I am however guessing it's the same old story - England playing reasonably well one week and poorly the next.
I understand that injuries are bound to occur but there seems to be far to much chopping and changing line-ups compared to 4 years ago. Ashton needs to decide his best 15 and stick with them where possible!
And why why why do we continue to play Mike Tindall - he is utterly useless and has been for the last 3 years!! England will never be able to play the more expansive rugby which is needed to compete with the likes of New Zealand while he is on the field. His ball handling skills are about as good as my nan's!!
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I can't believe how little some of the people posting comments here actually know about rugby. It's one of those games you have to have played. Lets give Mike Tindall a bit more credit. He's the kind of guy who will get over the gain line and create a platform for the forwards to build on. Every top class team has one. Wales haven't and they're p4 l4 at the moment. Also Harry Ellis has been excellent so far. The main difference between today and Croke Park is the heart and fight showed by the forwards, regardless of personnel.
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#122 Gareth commented on prospects for 2011,and while it is a long way off the future is bright. With the likes of flood, geraghty, tait, ellis, Rees, Palmer, Lund already getting experience, and Cipriani and Waldouck (Wasps) Turner-Hall (Quins) Danny Care, Anthony Allen, , all relative youngsters waiting to come through and shine, it could be a very exciting few years if the RFU and premiership can sort it out.
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My team for Wales would be
1) Payne
2) Chuter
3) Vickery
4) Corry
5) Palmer
6) Worsley
7) Rees
8) Easter
9) Ellis
10) Wilkinson
11) Strettle
12) Catt
13) Tait
14) Cueto
15) Robinson
Tindall is good in patches but doesn't ignite the back 3 the way he should.
We've got a few issues though - for the world cup who is our 7? Moody, Lund or Rees. I've always thought Moody was a natural 6... but then, Worsley is playing well. Do we stick with Easter at 8 or move Corry back? Should we keep Corry in the locks or play Palmer, Deacon, Kay, Grewcock or a returning Borthwick?
If Vickery is captain, who plays at 1? A fit-again Sheridan, a fit-again Stevens or Payne?
Has Ellis nailed down the 9 shirt? I think so. On the wings, Strettle is a talent but is there a case for Tait, Cueto (who has done nothing wrong... and has an immense record) or even Varndell?
In the centres - Catt, Tindall, Noon, Tait, Farrell, Allen? I really rate Allen and would love to, at some point, see him in a backline with Geraghty, Strettle and Tait...
RCM
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I think everyone should take a deep breath, calm down and look at the match as a whole.
France were as bad as I've seen them.
England made too many basic errors and were extremely ill-disciplined.
Don't make the same old mistakes again England. No, you're team are not back. They are still rubbish. After a 25 minute debut, the saviour of english rugby has arrived?? Come on, grow up people!!
Ian B. Get a grip, I think adrenaline took over there when you ran to your computer to spill your little heart out.
I'm glad England won but Ashton and Co. have a hell of a lot of work to do before England will taste success again at 6 nations level, let alone WC level.
Don't be surprised if your team are brought crashing back down to earth(once again) at the Millenium stadium.
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Well done England for coming back strong after the hammering at Croke Park. However, I thought England only played OK, but that in itself is a step in the right direction considering what we have had to put up with since the last WC.
Our mid-field looked woeful at times and the loose forwards and backs got in each others' way too many times. A scratch side, maybe, but we can count ourselves fortunate not to have been properly punished for poor execution and poor decision making on way too many occasions to be too sanguine about the performance. We ran out of ideas in attack and turned the ball over almost as many times as the French did. This was an entertaining but by no means good game of rugby.
England will be no more of a challenge now than they were before this game at the coming WC. A QF place should be a given, but I can't see us getting into the semis.
Finally, there was a bit of unnecessary 'Brian Moore-style' wind-up from the AB fan earlier in the blog who seems to have forgotten that the ABs have peaked a year too early and then choked at the main event in every WC since 1991. I expect much the same this year. Aussies, sporting? Don't make me laugh! The word means more than just playing sport, you know.
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All around a very nice English performance.
Congratulations!
Watching this match I was reminded of words my Mother told me in the 70's when England struggled.
"They always have the biggest pool of talented players and should be able to win every time but they can't always pick the best team"!
That from an Irish woman.
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Firstly, thank you England for opening up the 6N's, it shall really come down to the last roll of the dice.
Secondly, and by way of assistance, the chap's name is Shane Geraghty, i know it must be tough to copy and paste but please do try!!
As regards the performance today, lets get a bit of perspective, one swallow does make a summer. With three coachs (Woodward Incl.) since the last WC, Eng. have been disastrous, or should i say "in transition", yes it was good to see but there's alot of hard work ahead.
Are you happy that a 35 Year shall be towards the front of the slighty shack chariot come September?
God almighty lads, next it will be a call to arms for Mr. Dallaglio?
Brian Moore will be next if he can find his boots, considering his pasttime of swallowing them so often!!!
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GERAHTY looks lke a fine prospect.
He also looks like a CHEEKY SHINE YE SHOES NICK YER ANKERCHIEF VICTORIAN PICKPOCKET.
He should DEFINATELY be in next week,(little blighter)with the APT "LONG ARMS" FLOOD on the bench.
TO MR. Mike Catt ,WELL DONE SIR, A FINE CAPTAIN, A MAN'S JOB SIR
Next week:
WILKINSON AT 12
Think about it...ALRIGHTY RIGHTY.
WILKINSON kicks the GOALS, GERAHTY makes the RUNS.
Suddenly there is **pace** at 12, accuracy and sheer bloody-minded STICK MY HEAD IN FRONT OF YOUR BOOT DEFENCE,which releases
TAIT AT THIRTEEN.
SUDDENLY THE BACK LINE LOOKS VERY FAST INDEED.
15
"fire ants in his blessed pants"
ROBINSON
14
"give us chance coach"
SINBAD
13
"cocker spaniel"
TAIT
12
"bionic"
JOHNNY
11
"what-a-mess"
STRETTLE
10
"greased weasel shit"
GERAHTY
9
"and the suprising"
JULIAN WHITE
Sorry Josh, nobody gets past the Hulkster but where were your hands? were you stoned? You ll be back soon enough lad.
Pack was great
Lets see DYLAN HARTLEY
John Terry is demanding like 90 000 pounds a week!!!!!!!!
I hate football.
THAT WAS A CAPS LOCKS PICNIC
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im an irish man put in a very awkward position by shouting for england.i find some of these comments today on these blog laughable.england beat a horrendous france today who didnt get started all day. the loss of skrela was a huge hit and made them lose a lot of structure.shane geraghty is a good outhalf but if you were an avid observer you would have seen his is uncertain at times and his kicking is suspect.toby flood is talented but people will have figured him out by the next match and will certainly cater for his downfall.england won today because of mismatches(ibanez) and terrible tackling and again FRANCE DIDNT SHOW UP(TYPICALLY).an improvement on croke park but out and out redemption im unsure.you have aging outside players and a fairly ordinary second row by world standards.two players i rate on the england team, rees and strettle. modern rugby players not dummies for moulding.after that you are scraping the barrel and finding old tuna to feast on.
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Geraghty and Flood had a great game today but i don't think there better than Wilko. However i do think that if Geraghty played with wilkinson beside him that we could really have a world class backline with tait O/C. You get the flair and youthful exuberance from Geraghty and Tait and then the leadership and kicking abilites of JW.
I also think that Rees had an awesome game and with a few more international matchs under his be could see a worthy opponent to Richie McCaw. As did strettle who could be the new billy whizz. I just wish BA would play Chris Jones as he is a great line out operator and is a great athelete
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To correct an earlier post ...it was the execrable Brian Moore who made the disgraceful comment-"He's French, so I don't care". Surely the Beeb must have received so many complaints about this guy's ignorant and wholly blinkered comments over the years that they must be looking for a replacement. He ruins every game he commentates on.
I thought England were at last adventurous and Strettle was MOM as he injected pace and excitement every time he touched the ball.He sparked England into the best running rugby they have produced in years so please B.A. don't bring back Wilko and his interminable kicking game. Strettle, Flood, Geraghty,
Tait et al will thrill crowds for years so play the lot of them. Let them learn on the job.England have af future after all.
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Just glad this team did'nt show up in Croke Park.Despite all the posession wasted by Catt and Tindall England fully deserved their victory. Forget the blinkered old men of the back line and go with the flair and brilliance of Strettle,Geraghty,Flood and Tait.English pack with White dominant and Reece finally getting established can dominate anyone except the AB'S.Martin Corry deserved this win for all the crap he's taken. Congratulations from a Paddy in the USA.See you when the Red Army invades twickers in May.
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re: #164
i have a 拢100 bet with a friend ireland will not win the world cup, and i couldn't be more confident of that. sure, england won't win it, but they have more of a chance than ireland. know why? because ireland choke when it really matters. they should have scored 3 or 4 tries against scotland, but they got sucked into a dog fight because the scots knew how to rough them up. ireland are, and will forever be, a second rate team.
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Great performance today especially with what is a second rate front row. Remember White has been poor for ages, he is immobile and gives away stupid penalties. Vickery every time. Matt Stevens and Sheridan arereturning for the loosehead position aswell. Wait for dan ward smith.
Probably cant play catt and tait in centres as they are too lightweigt which would show against the likes of Mortlock and Nonu.
Ideal W Cup team
15.Robinson
14.Cueto
13.Tindall
12.Catt
11.Strettle
10.Wilkinson
9.Ellis
1.Stevens
2.Chuter
3.Vickery
4.Corry
5.Palmer
6.Worsley
7.Rees
8.Ward-Smith
16.Mears
17.Sheridan
18.C. Jones
19.Easter
20.Perry
21.Geraghty
22.Lewsey
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OK I know nothing about Rugby. Brian Ashton did everything wrong, England aren't getting enough time to together. He was playing the best side in the six nations, England had one bad result against Ireland, but were generally getting better.
The last thing he should have done was to pick a scratch team of young guys. They were going to lose to France but this way they were sure to get creamed.
I am just pointing out that I and a whole bunch of England fans got it wrong, and need to say sorry to Brain Ashton.
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been reading some of the entries here and can't quite believe some of the negative comments. Instead of bashing each others countries we should try and support improvement in the northern hemisphere game. 6n has always been a tournament with ups and downs, good performances one week, bad the next...that's what makes the championship exciting.
Stop the bad vibes and spread the love!!
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With regard to the comment 80, it is painful but not as painful as listening to Jonathan Davis, it reminds me of the old AB saying, no matter how many more points you score than Wales you never beat them.
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England were effective but limited .Tindall is a one trick pony very predictabale and boring and France didn't show up today.
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Great to eat humble pie, albeit Catt did not fail in my expectations of him. Ashton is doing a good job, the hard way, and there is no other way.
Well done England, lets rally all the best troops for the retention of the World Cup.
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To message no. 183, Adam H......
I agree that Ireland are not consistent enough, however, we annihilated England at Croke Park. So that didn't matter?
Ireland have won the triple crown 3 times in the last 4 years. Yes, Ireland will probably always be seen as the "should have beens!" but they know how to play when it matters.....and they have shown that in many of their games.
I'm sorry but your comments are nonsense. For some reason, the Scotland - Ireland matches are regularly close no matter how each time is performing.
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To 168, Al H. I'm Irish. Based on our performances over the last 4 years, we are easily the best team of the Home Nations and not too far away from France.
Unfortunately, I don't think we will see a northern hemisphere team win the world cup for some time. NZ, South Africa and co are far too strong and thats taking into account last summer's results as well.
At our best, yes, I think we could beat NZ, and I think we have all the chance in the world that if the team plays to their maximum capability, there is a real chance that we could beat the All Blacks. You can't say that of England at the moment. Maybe in 2 or 3 years time?
Ireland too have a lot of great up and coming youngsters and we are looking to a successful future. Unfortunately O'Sullivan is not in the same league as Ashton and will not pick a single one of these guys to start. I think if we still had Warren Gatlin as manager, then, we would be a far stronger, and rounded team.
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Ashton showing the qualities I would wish to see in a top coach and ratings should include one for coaches. His intelligence and clear thinking shine through. Ratings given are fine although Palmer was better than that.The blend and commitment was most encouraging. Robinson will never let a team down but would be on my bench, Lewsey would be my 15, the new lads were great and Tait is there for a centre slot anytime. As we saw against a rrattled franch side,pace is an essential element in top sides and for that reason I think Farrell might not re-appear. The feel of this team excites me and with a vigorous, athletic and urgent pack as we saw yesterday I think England, under Ashton will be a team to enjoy in the next few years but Wales are much better than their results suggest and that games might be fast and furious.
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Just had the chance to review the match on the web in Moscow....Still a sense of not to read too much into what was , once again, a one match performance, we've always had the ability to upset a confident French side, there has to be a sense of a side coming together, which I with the exception of the pack I dont see yet, lets keep the forwards together and time to lock in the options for the backs, well done Catty..
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Come on Pressana, what nationality is the coach of your Italian side?
Give credit to the French to make the Italian side what it should be while developping your very own style.
French arrogance is clearly something you trigger in me and you don't take any risk putting that cliche forward, especially in England (I would not say every Italian is a brown nose but you clearly are mate).
Having said that all the credit to those exciting English new talents. It was a decent display from England and another hint of unpredictability from the French (although we were desperately predictable this time around)
Who deserves to win this year's Six Nations? Well given the performance of the Irish against England and France, I think they would deserve that one. Given that the French win at Croke Park was not quite convincing. On today's match the Poms would deserve it too, but overall I still reckon the Irish have prgressed more than any other team from NH this year.
Which means plenty of hope and work ahead for Ireland, England, France and even Italy. Still want to see Argentina taking the place of the wooden spoon though. Six Nations should be way more competitive although the outcome is still hard to predict.
As per the French, well back to the status we belong to (along side many outsiders). That should suit us better. Many French including me would like to see Dominici out of the team (remember the crappy kung fu tackle on Robinson during RWC 2003)and the only good point of that encounter with England is that we will no longer have to cope with Yachvili who was another cliche of the english marauder (don't make me laugh).
Lack of depth with our props (following Marconnet brilliant idea to go skiing... someone must have told him to break a leg and he took it too litteraly) will be a very serious issue and I still hope Michalak will be fit along with Nyanga, Martin, Castagnaide... our best players that we have rested until September ;-)
Apart from that Vermeulen proved he is ahead of Chabal on the full 80 minutes. And we miss Castagnaide badly. Roughly I agree with your ratings, but we learnt more from England than from France today.
(and no Italy has not stolen the Football World Cup they only stole the Australian Socceros... fortunately theatrical display does not pay in rugby, is that arrogant enough for you Pressana?)
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Not sure why everyone is being so harsh on Lewsey. Yes, he made a big mistake with that pass but he made a couple of nice line breaks and had it not of been for the half tackle on Catt by the French 15 before the first try Lewsey would have scored from the off load and we would all be applauding him for his support play and running such a good line. I agree he has not been in top form this 6N but how many chances to run has he had. Remember his game is all about running lines at angles as opposed to having disco feet like Strettle and Robinson.
As for Palmer I thought a total workhorse and deserves more than 6. Corry had more of an impact as he had the ball in hand more but Palmer was just as effective, if not more, at everything else. I was sorry Borthwick could not play (instead of Corry) but this is definately a second row combo to watch for the RWC!
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I think that's about right from Catt-he did well to create Flood's try but don't let that cloud the rest of the match.
He played ok, but not great.
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The match was completely ruined for me (a Scotsman) by that buffoon (Brian Moore?) co-commentating on 大象传媒1.
To say that, regarding a player being stamped on, was "French so I don't care" was a total discgrace and I hope he is never let near a microphone again.
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How nice to have a commentator who speaks his mind - good on you Brian Moore ! Also I don't believe, on this performance, Mike Catt should replace Andy Farrell (if fit) for Wales.
Otherwise a very good England performance - at last they tried to play what was available and appeared to have lost the fear of failure.
Bazza
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Congratulations England for a well deserved victory. France weren't at the races in the second half, and the move to a tighter game plan paid rich dividends.
It was refreshing to see and England team have a go and play off the cuff rugby, after 3 years of a RWC hangover. Going back to basics (i.e let the forwards win the ball and let the backs do good things with it) created more space for the English, and I thought Flood and Geraghty look great prospects.
The 6N to date has been full of stifling play, and although the execution was poor the ambition of the England backs in particular was good to see. it all came from well won ball from their pack, and their side is shaping up well for the WC.
On a general note, I feel that this has been a disappointing championship - with the exception of the Italians who have have stepped up another gear this year, I believe no-one has demonstrated the consistency required to be worthy winners. Ireland, if they are not careful might get a fright on Paddys day. England may well steal it, but i think it may come down to whether the French turn it on against my beleagured Scottish team in Paris.
By the way I thought Catt had a stinker of a first half and a stormer of a second half, so his rating is fair.
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Fare play to England didnt thnink they had it in them, Have to say though I dont understand how Tindell is in that England team he is probably the worst international centre I have every witnessed, he's one dimensional, not one once of creativity and terrible hands. Im Irish and theres about 10 centres in England that are far better then him. Does any one else think so cus I dont understand his selection, as tait would walk all over him.
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to pundit20 ------>
Actually, either can be used, it depends what the writer is trying to say. 'God' is thought of as being both, omnipresent and omnipotent - but Chuter clearly neither.
PS. Clarke from Northampton, or anyone but Tindall. Also, Glos outside half should be in the squad and Corry on the Bench to cover three positions, IF ABSOLUTELY NECCESARY - not as impact player (hardly!).
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I'm sure we would have thousands of permutations on the ratings if we all did them, but mine wouldn't be too disimilar to those posted. Was great to see this victory, congrats to all the guys.
How good was it to see a display like that from a dynamic back row playing in real positions! Of course they weren't perfect, but a great improvement. Mr Corry, sorry but you shouldn't be considered for that trio at all, but IMHO you were the best England 2nd row I've seen for a long time and long may you continue there.
What does Mr Ashton do with those centres though?? I thought Mike Catt had a pretty poor playing game generally, but I am sure his just being there had a huge impact on those around him, so does that make him worth a place? My one huge concern is Mike Tindall, I just don't get it! One big tackle (granted, a good one) on a Frenchman that wasn't really interested doesn't make up for the missed tackles and strange off-loads that went wrong. Good job Strettle was around and so eager to cover for him. I know he scored, but before anyone crucifies me because that proves his pace, positional awareness and eager support play, take another look at a replay. He was only there because he didn't/couldn't get back from the previous play. Geraghty made both him and Mike Catt look like olympic sprinters by running right back to them in that tremendous break. I am a huge Farrell fan, but I wouldn't play him with Catt, possibly instead of Catt, but not with him. I think that the pace, eagerness and effectiveness of the youngsters yesterday suggests that Tait should be the man. The younger guys didn't miss much in defence yesterday and I don't think that International players care how big a guy is when he's running at them, but raw pace terrifies all defenders.
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Solid performance by all. Except Josh Lewsey. He had what can only be described as a nightmare. He's trying too hard to be the old Josh Lewsey and can't do it.
He'll be gone for the wales game, Cueto will replace him.
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So Mr.Guscott wouldn't select a fully fit Jonny Wilkinson
in his next starting XV and wouldn't even have him on the bench.
Is he mad? Sure he is entitled to his opinion,
but typically it took a Frenchman - Thomas Castaignaide
to point out the merits of JW, whilst many seem to be knocking him at the moment and say that all he is is a great dead ball kicker - they seem to forget that when England were at their best from 2001-2003, it was the
handling and running skills from a certain JW that produced a scourge of tries. I don't want to take anything away from Flood or Geraghty, but Jonny has not lost the ability to 'create'. Would England have beaten
France by more than eight points if a fit JW had played? Probably.
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Dear All,
This Irishman congratulates England on their performace yesterday. I watched it with my girlfriend, who is English, and a couple of our friends, English as well. They were all very nervous but I had a feeling that England would do France....I really liked the team that Ashton had picked. For the first time since early 2000's England have taken that big step to fast and free-flowing rugby. And. for those that are criticising Catt, yes he had a dreadful first 15 minutes but he was then immense. His tackling was brilliant, his attacking prowess was there for all to see and he brought a calm to Flood.
Strettle is easily the find of the Six Nations.
Well done all, you deserve it and it's great to see England on the road back.
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Very generous ratings to the French, particularly their totally overwhelmed forwards- the scores add to 99 for England and 90 for France and EQUAL for their eplacements!!
Rees snuffed out La Row Derriere - tres simple! Also don't forget we had a captain who was a captain (does this not count towards his rating?).
Anyway ecstacy at Paignton RFC!
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Ps. Apart from Tindall's try, he was pretty shoddy. Timne to bring Tait into centre methinks....he's not a winger and would flourish outside Catt.
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Well I was wrong and thought england would be beaten but there realy was a lot of energy and zeal out there, the desire to win was really evident, you could tell it really meant something, that passion which was so absent against Ireland.
Yes Catt's old and will be retiring soon, but he proved his worth, he captained fantastically, kept his head after a shakey start and created the first try
Yes, there was a lot of mistakes, but it a fairly new team thats to be expected, plus the nerves. What I really liked was that heads did not go down when we kept conceding penalties etc we just carrid on and really took the game to France who we completely outplayed.
I really like the look of the new talent thats emerging, Rees, Easter, Strettle, Flood and Geraghty were all outstanding and suddenly English Rugby does have a future.
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Will you lot leave it out about Ireland. I am English but I also like Ireland as a side and do think they can at least reach the final if their team stays 100% fit. They are better than England and they are better than South Africa. Why on earth people in these islands seem to believe in some mystical force from the southern hemisphere is beyond me with regards to South Africa and Australia as both are not better than any of England, Ireland or France. New Zealand are a different matter of course. As for France, they were pretty flat yesterday (so the same old France - they either turn up or they don't) and I don't actually think Englands performance was anything special either - just a step in the right direction.
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57. At 08:19 PM on 11 Mar 2007, ted morrison wrote:
How about these marks for the english players?..
Lewsey-5
Strettle-9
Tindall-6
Catt-7
Robinson-5
Flood-6
Ellis-8
Payne-6
Chuter-7
White-8
Corry-8
Palmer-6
Worsley-6
Rees-9
Easter-7
Rees and Strettle best players on the pitch,
I totally agree with you
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What about the principle that you don't change a winning team? This win, however earned has built up the confidence of the players.
A lot of the early mistakes were due precisely because it was virtually a new team. My vote would go to leaving it completely unchanged. I can't see an arguement for bringing in Wilkinson (maybe on the bench...but even then not sure). I'm even more convinced that Vickery would not necessarily be a good recall - the whole pack showed much more strength and commitment than in either this match or the one against Italy.
This was a really good 22 man squad that can only get better by playing together. Anyone else would have to make an exceptional case to get in. Hopefully all the knocks and bruises will clear up in time to smash Wales
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Those french ratings are a joke.
Yachvili getting the same grade than Geraghty is sick. The former played poorly nearly any minute he stayed in the pitch, the latter was just brilliant.
Yachvili made a blatant foul in a ruck, resulting in 3 points for England, landed a poor kick directly on Geraghty for the winning english try, sent an easy pass directly to touch, and missed important tackles. What more ? What must a player do to get a deserved low grade from the 大象传媒 ? Did they get stuck in 2005 or what ?
Dimitri "England's Scourge" Yachvili, like woah! This got to be the laughing-you-ass-off joke over the Channel these days. And we laugh too. Bitterly, but so we do.
Good game England, and thank you for making us to get back to Earth. Thank you for making some mediocre players on our side look like what they really are: mediocre players.
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What! Palmer - 6
Palmer was everywhere. Watch the game again see the amount of crucial tackles he made and his great support work. I thought palmer was up there with Rees and Easter as possible man of the match contenders. Corry played well but it is wrong to say his performance was exceptional. All he did was finally produce a performance expected of an england forward
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can't believe some of the comments here about england only winning due to a bad french team. rubbish. i'm irish and i'll say england were a far superior side and attacked the french from the word go something we failed to do at croke park. i for one am delighted with the match not only because the championship is now up for grabs but because the english provided a great afternoon's viewing. also enmglsih fans go ahead and praise your team much as we did 2 weeks ago. i for one do not think ye arrogant. ye deserve to praise the team for playing well. it's awful that some ppl are calling it arrogance just because it's england. seen much more arrogance from other fans. just on a note to scottish fans what is it with the booing of teams at murrayfield when they are taking penalties or whatever. the irish fans don't do it and didn't boo patterson when he took his so why did the scottish fans boo o gara? it's ridiculous.
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Reckon France weren't that rubbish ... they seemed worn out ... could see it in Ibanez and Chabal's body language ... Their forwards weren't looking that bright without Marconnet. And Laporte's strategy on 'make no errors', seems to be taking the spark out of them !
They tend to rely on opponents mistakes, but even though England made a few (especially in the first half) they didn't take the advantage.
England had lots of support in the scrums, ball came out a lot faster and cleaner than against Ireland, forcing France to gather and defend more rapidly.
I don't know how our guys managed to keep the pace for 80 minutes. Well done boys ! Well done Brian ! Hope we've got something to build on for the long run !!
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OFFLOADING IN THE TACKLE AREA!!! it's about time!, wouldn't change the team give these lads another shot against wales, thats right, leave vickery out, even though it would be hard consdering he is captain. Tom Rees is something special, it's a brilliant (and the only)direction for the English back row, speed and strength to the breakdown and in the loose. Really changed my opinion on Nick Easter too, had a great game, and best I've seen Corry play in a long while. Well done lads, only one game, however an extremely encouraging performance.
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These player ratings are pretty fair, Catt getting 6 is fair enough but thought he made a real improvement to the England team and maybe could have squeezed a 7.
I have to say, I did warn you English fans that you were in for a nice surprise. Catt the maestro and that young Strettle ain't a bad fella to have on the pitch is he?
Bring it on for Super Saturday and may the best team win the championship.
COME ON IRELAND !!!
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Ok, I'm not going to get sucked into giving my opinion of how I thought individuals "scored" performance-wise. What I am going to do is open up a slightly new quaestion of what the starting line up should be to face the wounded dragon that is a Welsh team facing a possible fifth defeat on the trot this coming weekend.
I would largely keep the team the same after yesterdays good showing, but there are a few key permeatations that might crop up through injury and such like.
So...the what ifs...
What if Messers Wilkinson, Farrel and Vickery are fit and available to play in the Wales game, how would this effect Brian Ashtons thinking for the starting line up?
What if Toby Floods dead leg rules him out?
I think there are also a few positional changes that could be introduced....
What if you played one of the younger fly halfs and included Wilkinson as one of the centre pairing? Thus providing the same degree of experience as Catt has, but then not merely leaving a huge asset like Wilko out of the team, and then give him the spot kicking duties also, due to his greater accuracy over Flood or Geraghty.
The team as I would like to see it.
15- J Lewsey
14- D Strettle
13- M Tait
12- J Wilkinson
11- J Robinson
10- Flood/Geraghty
9- H Ellis
8- N Easter
7- T Rees
6- J Worsley
5- T Palmer
4- M Corry
3- J White
2- G Chuter ?? (there must be a better alternative somewhere!)
1- T Payne
Subs:
Flood/Geraghty
M Catt/A Farrel
S Perry
M Lund
S Borthwick
P Vickery
L Mears (again, don't think this is the best available!)
The final choice of fly half and centre pairings is a tricky one, as Flood, Wilko, Tait....in theory, as are all club mates, could be quite good! But I really like the look of Geraghty, I think he has huge potential.
I really don't think M Tindall has done enough to warrant his contiued inclusion in the 22. Solid defensively, but still isn't breaking any defenses, not enough creativity, and too many errors.
And although I'm not the greatest Corry fan, he has put in a lot of hard graft, an I feel he really did deliver yesterday, powerful in the breakdown, good line out jumper, good leadership qualities, so I think he would be well justified to keep his place in the second row.
And a few players that I think deserve a look at from solid Guiness premiership performances, that may add some flair, if things need tweeking:
J Simpson-Daniel
A Allen
R Lamb
A Hazell
Not that I am a Gloucester fan, but they are playing well and deserve a look on their performances!
Please post and comment on my ponderings!
Thnaks
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What Bazza and other bloggers are failing to grasp is the "Catt effect" that was clearly evident in the play of others yesterday, particularly the young backs. Catt had nothing to lose, and that was evident in his game:he was willing to gamble.Farrell was still trying to establish a reputation in Union earlier in the Championship, and it showed in the safety of his game. This would have rubbed off on the others around him. There's no way Farrell could have made the break that Catt made for Flood's try. And, I don't believe Geraghty would have felt the freedom to counter as he did yesterday if he'd had Farrell as his 12. Safety first attitude spreads in a team. It's a nonsense to suggest Farrell should return for Catt against Wales. Catt should be treasured now, mistakes and all (it is Catty after all) as someone who can spark England through to the World Cup.It won't be plain sailing, but it'll be worth following! Unlike the stodgy rubbish England supporters have had to put up with since well,before the World Cup win actually. And by the way, we'd have gone out of that if a certain Mike Catt had not nursed precious Jonny through his basket-case spell.
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mosman whale... how the hell can you bring back farrell after the performance on the weekend, i've yet to see anything from him, and this so called leadership and mental toughness. Keep the 22 exactly as they are, we don't have to keep changing things all the blooming time, they played excellent against france (the best ive seen them play for goodness how long), so don't make any changes!! they deserve another shot, everyone did their part.
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France played the worst rugby i have seen this six nations but yet could have still won it. Looks better for england but they would have been beaten if at least a couple of the france players had bothered to turn up. Reckon england could now edge wales after their poor game.
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I think in general people are trying to not get carried away, which makes sense, but I think that thre were some inspirational big hits in defence which lead to the team lifting themselves......
Also they generally played the game with a smile. Smiling wont win the world cup but hunger and enjoyment will improve the team. Well played England, you need to beat the team that turns up. Give the French the chance and they run riot. We managed to keep them quiet. Cut the mistakes in open play by half and beat Wales in Cardiff, then we can start to build. The England team in 2003 did not make many simple mistakes and they hurt the other team when they had chances. All Blacks have always played the game at pace. Freeze any shot and you generally see 6 7 and 8 within touching distance. We need to get 6 and 8 to blend with 7 I think.
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France didn't play well but England didn't let them. Same as the Ireland games 2 weeks ago. England didn't play well but Ireland didn't let them. There has to be a sense of balance here.
Yes England won but lets not get carried away. We will have to improve if we are to beat Wales, yes I'm serious. The home nations always raise their game to play England, no matter how good or bad we are or have been. Wales will be right up for it, the have gone from the best team in 6 Nations to the worst in 2 years, not quite as grand as our fall from grace, but still quite impressive. They will be eager to try and improve on that.
My opinion is not to change a winning team. Wilkinson came back into the side because we had no-one else, Goode, Hodgson et al had all proved inadequate at this level. Geraghty and Flood have shown this not to be the case this time. If we bring back Wilkinson then we will be like the England football team in that some players are undroppable. He was injured, two players have come in and more than done a job, he should have to prove he is worth his place now not just on past glory (although he is a good player).
Catt was a gamble it paid off. It might not next time but again each player deserves another go until they don't perform.
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Quick Ball, Quick Ball, Quick Ball!!!
This is exactly what BA wants his players to do. The old english way of taking the ball into contact for a number of slow phases does not work in modern rugby because defences are too fit and too well organised.
The French and AB way of moving the ball out of the tackle is the only way to disrupt defences and the English forwards gave the French a masterclass the likes of which I've not seen before. The only thing that stopped a record score was poor execution in the backs (something that Ireland didn't have a problem with a fortnight ago). Now England have something to take forward and develop.
RE: Tindall - he offers stability in the English midfield, yes he has lost some of the form of 4 years ago but he is a good player to have to steady the young guns and can play a tight game if needed.
RE: Catt - he was exactly what Flood needed to allow him to express himself. Yes, his creativity got the better of him a couple of times but he also tidied up a couple of hospital passes and appeared to be well marked by a couple of the French midfield.
Re: Lewsey - when he came on the scene he was phenominal, unfortunately since Wasps did their deal with Maximuscle, he has turned muscle-bound and seems to be lacking a degree of flexibility. Ball in had he is always a handful for defenders but he drops a lot of ball and that pass on Saturday was all about arms not capable of delivering on what the brain wanted them to do.
RE: Chabal - was sussed on Sunday and when word gets out, may find himself marked like that by everyone else.
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Who is the guy writing the ratings ? Was he at the same match?
Lewsey deffinitely deserves a 5 - didnt you see the long wayward forward pass straight in to the arms of a frenchman? Ben Cohen could have done better !
Chabal was pretty meaty and did lumber around somewhat but he was starved of the ball and lets face it, all season hes been a monster with ball in hand.
Catt was awesome - what a captain - I think a different team turned up to play this weekend and it was down to one mans character and enthusiasm.
Tindal was stodgy and seems a little unfit possiby? But did you see that tackle on Chabal - no wonder he was put off his game.
Need I go on?
Go on England Hammer the Welsh !
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also the grades for the french players are far too kind but me thinks it is to make englands result look better than what it is.
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Well well have come some way since Croke Park! All those negative blogs (200plus) before the game me included. It was a French blog I recall who told us to shut up and have some faith in your team, which has good players. Now eating serious humble pie. So what the French didnt play as we know they can , but England didnt let them. Chabal was pulverised, Betsen non-effective. What do you say about Catt, good try creative, the team won with a brilliant fighting team effort under his captaincy and set up a try. But he dropped passes and threw some dodgy ones. I think Farell can still be a fixture, he would have release the fliers much more. Lewsey and Tindall should be worried. Good to see there is back up for Wilko. Pack brilliant. I said that Vickery would not be missed. Palmer was safe but didnt get any yellow cards like a certain DG. GOOD JOB ASHTON AND ENGLAND, THERE IS HOPE NOW FINISH JOB IN WALES!!
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Strettle is causing as much of a stir as when Robinson first hit the scene. Hope he doesn't get injured for the world cup.
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It seems there are a load of biased comments either way on this board.
As someone else said earlier, rugby is a game that you cannot properly understand (or coach) until you've played it extensively. There are too many technicalities.
One of the basic premises of the game is that the forwards decide who wins the game and the backs decide by how much.
England's pack completely outplayed the French. Fact. That is why France looked poor - they had no ball and struggled to win any. England's backs were average, with a couple of excellent individual exceptions. Hence only two tries. With the amount of possesion England had, it should have been a 30+ point margin of victory. So as well as building on the good forward display and reasonably sound defense, Brian Ashton should and will focus on getting his backline to click.
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I have read many comments and I still don't understand that some people believe that the french didn't show up ; they did, alas, and all the defects in the game, normally shadowed by the players' talent, with them :
- enormous tactictal errors, especially from the scrum-half, especially kicking in wide (the second english try, on that matter, was what we call a "gift" to the english)
- lateral runs froms the centers and passing the ball to the wings only when there's no other solution and plenty of oponents ready to tackle them on the split second (what is dubbed here "sending your partner to the cardboard")
- not disputing high balls
- giving the priority to standing on a defensive position beside a ruck instead of going in it even when there's a chance to retake the ball (THAT was particularly blatant yesterday!so many rucks won by england with french players outnumbering the english at the start, but not deciding to get involved! just imagine the number of balls the ABs would have gained from english possession! )
- General slowiness in attacking the 10-12 in defence (there was plenty of time yesterday!really the transmission is slow on the english side!)
That's why, just as many french people, I was really disappointed by Yach's performance, but also Jauzion, who, IMO, is more of a drag to the french backs now that he has lost his ability to tear through the opponent defence ; by the way, you brits can understand now why we defy so much of Chabal : he can play (very) well only when the rest of the team plays well, otherwise, he's clumsy, out of his shoes just like yesterday
Anyway, that was a good english show ; Strettle will be a great ; your backrow was impressive and Corry's reconversion is promising, although it should be confirmed ; Catt is a dead-end solution ; Tindall is below par but very solid, always embarrassing ; Robinson is, like Jauzion, past story now, but if you don't have any better (just like Dominici on this side of the Channel)...Flood and Geharty seem both very pormising ; Ellis is good tactically and agressive ; Lewsey is still dangerous, you shouldn't bury him...
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can't believe some of the comments here about england only winning due to a bad french team. rubbish. i'm irish and i'll say england were a far superior side and attacked the french from the word go something we failed to do at croke park. i for one am delighted with the match not only because the championship is now up for grabs but because the english provided a great afternoon's viewing. also english fans go ahead and praise your team much as we did 2 weeks ago. i for one do not think ye arrogant. ye deserve to praise the team for playing well. it's awful that some ppl are calling it arrogance just because it's england. seen much more arrogance from other fans. just on a note to scottish fans what is it with the booing of away teams at murrayfield when they are taking penalties or whatever.for example the irish fans don't do it and didn't boo patterson when he took his so why did the scottish fans boo o gara? it's ridiculous.
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Hardly a surprise the improved performance by the forwards following the dire effort in Ireland. And I'm pretty sure that it was the memory of that outing plus picking a back row with something about it that brought about a better English performance.
What a surprise also that the backs look better when the pack dominates.
Catt didn't make any difference - his first half was appalling both with the ball and defensively. Second half marginally better and he got lucky when he took the ball into contact following what was a good break.
France were poor but you can only play what is infront of you - more fool them as England still made enough errors to allow a French win.
Rating for Lewsey - 2!
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The ratings are fair assesment. France were poor. Chabal was no where and the distribution from the scrum was poor. Skrela's injuriy was key as he made Flood look pretty ordinary. Catt was nervous and made some pretty awful decisions. Knocked on a few and his kicking was amateur. Tindall saved himself by scoring the try which catt almost knocked on. The french were due a bad game and didnt turn up for most of the game. Geraghty's break was a prime example as the french just walked around the pitch. The biggest upset of the day was that an irish man brought the English a shock victory. Hard to swallow.
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Well done England. Unfortunatly I only managed to see the second half but it was a great half to watch. Very exciting, running rugby. England tried very hard, tackled well and counter attacked extemely well.
I thought Catt had a decent game, he threw a lot of dodgy passes but I think he was just urgent to spread the ball wide to Strettle, who he knew was a real danger man for France.
Stettle and Geraghty were the best players for me. Geraghty is a very exciting prospect at outhalf. Not bad for your third choice number 10 to make such a difference to the game.
Its great for the 6Nations as a competition for there to be 3 teams on level points going into the last game.
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geraghty was good in the open play when he came on although some of his kicking for touch showed his nerves. i thougt flood played outstanding considering the pressure the team were under and that was in no small part down to having mike catt outside him! england tight five were solid and the back row were immense and corry looked more at home second row than he has at eight for a while! apart from strettle the back 3 were poor at best. give tait a shot in the centre against henson, hes got something to prove against him, it will be the making of him!
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I was at Twickenham yesterday and thought the young lads saved us in the backs. Lewsey and Tindall looked slow and cumbersome and made bad decisions again and again. Catt made some errors but his positional play was very good and he brought out the best in the young guys and kicked out of hand quite well.
For Wales we should keep the pack unchanged and replace Lewsey and Tindall with Tait and Wilkinson.
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You know, i believe that if England lose, France lose by 30 and Italy beat Irealnd by 40 points (a highly improbable but not an altogether impossible permutation of events) then Italy would win the Six Nations trophy. I don't think that has happened, or even threatened to happen before. Could someone correct me if I am wrong. Thank you.
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I'm Irish but fair play to England. It was a great day, very entertaining rugby, definitely the pick of the weekends games. Rugby is just not the same game without a competitive English side, but...as with soccer, the fans get excited about one good performance. So give the guys a chance, there will be more disappointing results but team building is happening so you should all have patience. It makes for a great finale. You have given Ireland a chance to snatch the championship. England are too far behind on points and Wales are going to really go for it next week. So France or Ireland? Italy are getting better but I think we will beat them but not by more than 10 or 12 points. Scotland will be team to decide this years competion with Scotland have a lot of heart and are a proud rugby nation who won't lie down. Come on Scotland!! Do a favour for your Celtic brothers!!!
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What is it with this mindless adulation of Jonny Wilkinson? He's the David Beckham of rugby - pretty handy with a dead ball, but beyond that can't actually DO anything in open play.
You'd be much better of picking someone else...not only are other players better, but they also manage to last more than one match without getting hurt!
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Having seen the highlights of the match - unfortunately was out kayaking during the match and so unable to watch it - I was impressed with this new look side however Wales like France will penalise every mistake made - no doubt about it England made too many mistakes - take nothing away from the tries or indeed the excellent work put in by Flood and Geraghty at Fly Half but if England are to win the championship then they need to cut down on the errors and get in a few more tries. Ashton keep this side please - put JW on the bench if hes fit and give this team a chance to develop - if we can beat France then we can also beat Wales. However a word of warning Wales will be looking for their first win of the championship and nothing would make them happier than for it to come agaisnt England in Cardiff - that would go some way to make up for the poor peformance for a lot of fans - I live in Wales so believe me the feeling here is all we need is a win over England - please guys lets not have a repeat of 2005 - Wales taking the lead with a last minute penalty and winning the game. My bet though England to win with Wilkinson scoring first (I know I told Ashton to leave him out but realistically if hes fit Ashton is gonna play him) I would put money on that however I would not care to say how much they will win by.
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The French team that some people say did "not turn up" was not allowed to turn up by an excellent English display. Good work by B.A. keep the experiance/youth combination. Can't wait for next week in Cardiff. French ratings very generous and Catt deserved higher! Great leadership!
Bill
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Its not all about attack guys!
there are allot of fine points in the defence where england played superbly yesterday Tindall is our best impact tackler on the park dont forget that of a kick of he earned us 3 points by smashing the reciver then turning him over!
Tait is a great talent but would need a basher like tindall outside him play him at 12 he is one of the most creative players, ball in hand we have
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I always kept the faith and said we would win. I do agree that lewsey was not at his best but when did he last play 15? Corry was a revelation and show'd his class. Catt made mistakes but at least he got us trying and with that and amuch better forwards effort a deserved win. Stick with Flood to start he has better all round game control with the boot. Tait for Tindall
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Since when do the French not lose their cool when they are down?
Makes me wonder if it was really bad play or instructions from above (ie world cup tactics). Lose the grand slam secure in the knowledge that they should defeat scotland next week, still win the 6 nations but raise ?s as to their performance in NZ et al.
As to marks, well I would have to add 5 marks to David Skrela's total for being dark and handsome and having legs that just go on and on....
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I agree with a lot of the comments on this board. I think there was definite encouragement to be taken from the match but nothing to get too excited about. France were definitely off the boil. For me, Brian Ashton deserves as much credit as anyone. The guy clearly has ideas and isn't afraid to back himself and his selections. I thought Easter and Rees were superb and Corrie was also very good. A solid platform as someone has already commented. Strettle looks ambitious, lively and very confident on the ball, Flood and Geraghty only adding to the spark of youth that I feel ran through the team. Something we have really lacked for some time now. Of course there were errors, plenty, but that team had been together for hours only. Scrums and lineouts looked wobbly at times but that didn't surprise me at all given the circumstances. I would rest Jonny next week. He doesn't NEED to play, Geraghty and Flood both played well and Jonny's body is still not going to be 100%. Give them a chance and him a rest I'd say.
Scotland were great against a flat Irish side. I was really hoping they'd nick it at the end, I thought they deserved to. Silly penalties to give away though. The Irish need to be more consistent if they're to challenge the ABs. I really hope it comes together for them in the right games in the World Cup. Italy just keep growing, well done to them. Wales are a better team than this 6 nations has made them appear thus far. I don't feel any more confident about going to Cardiff next week as I did on Friday. If anything, this tournament has shown us how anyone can beat any other team on their day. It's completely unpredictable. I'm going to the match in Cardiff and to be honest, I think it will be a much better night out if they do win so either way, I'm happy!
My final comment is to all the people who have frequented these boards over the last few weeks taking great pleasure in denigrating my country and it's team. The ones claiming that England are a crap team of World Cup dwellers capable only of scraping victories due to the boot of a certain Jonny Wilkinson. The same ones who predicted a 20 point whitewash by the French on Saturday. HA! We may be the most unpopular team in the 6 nations, but we are certainly not the worst. We may have a long way to go but not as far as others. Pots and kettles my friends, pots and kettles.
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Was glad to see England win. They deserved it and played with a passion that has been missing for a long time. It has also thrown the championship wide open.
Great to see that their most creative back is an Irish man. Apart from his amazing run which created the try, his offload in the tackle to Worsely was sublime. A very exciting prospect, though I think England should consider playing him at 12 as from what I saw his use of the boot was suspect.
I can't believe Tindall is still playing international rugby. Defensively aggressive, he may be, but an outside centre needs to be creative to allow the pacey fellas out wide get the ball. With all England's possession, how many times did their three quarters get the ball? The crash ball has its uses, but not every time.
Anyway, I wouldn't get carried away. Wales will offer a different threat to the French and if the game opens up, it will be interesting.
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What do you do about the captaincy?
Matt Ling's line up doesn't have vickery, nor thomasedward's and a couple of others.
Do you drop him and leave Catt as captain?
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Check your facts Conor (Post 233), YOU might find it hard to swallow that Geraghty was born in Coventry and has lived in England all of his life,which makes him English, ever heard him speak? (here's a hint, it's not with your famous Irish brogue) Simon Easterby was born in Yorkshire, glass houses and stones my son?!
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As an Irish man i'm delighted that England got the victory yesterday. Keeps our championship hope very much alive. If Scotland play like they did on Saturday then they will give France a very close game in Paris. Dan Parks was superb kicking from hand. I think Ireland will overcome Italy and Wales will be so fired up to avoid the wooden spoon whitewash that they will beat England in Cardiff.
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The ratings are a bit of fun, and we all have our own ideas on that. I disagree with a lot of them but not by much more than "a bit harsh" or "a bit generous".
What I took from Ireland v England and England v France (only seen on TV admitedly)is: (a) that your backs and half backs will always look aweful if your pack doesn't get them enough decent ball; and (b) that different styles of refereeing can effect who wins up front.
That is not to excuse the English forwards at Croke Park or the French pack at Twickenham. The laws of Rugby Union are too complicated to expect consistency of approach by different referees. Both Jutge and Kaplan were clear and consistent, and so there is no excuse for professional players not to have adapted to what was required.
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I'm very suprised that Nick Easter isn't getting more praisem, I thought he had a great game. Wonderfully powerful with the ball in hand and a definate fixture in the England side for the next few years. Can't argue with Rees getting MOTM but I imagine Strettle's probably a bit miffed. I bit of forward bias being shown by Brian Moore?
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Re ratings - Strettle and Rees were the standout players - rating of Chabal was too high!
Re comment 39 - let's not get too high, two words, Dan Carter.
Re next week, well it's nice to have a choice. In front of mind has to be minor tweaks, I'd go for
9 Ellis
10 Flood
11 Strettle
12 Wilkinson - Catt stood in well but he was always a stand in.
13 Tindall/Tait
14 Robinson
15 Lewsey - He cannot play that bad again and still has a great tackle.
Have deliberated on 13 as Tindall was OK but would be nervous about a Newcastle thee quarter line - look where they are in the league..
Geraghty on the bench..
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France lost because they stayed up late Saturday night celebrating the victory and the grand slam.
and England won because the forwards turned up and played English rugby, Corry, dare I say it played better in the second row than I've ever seen him do before.
Strettle is a genius, his play gave the other players a benchmark to play up to, and so they all upped their game, his mark for me is a straight 10!
Ellis had another good match, 8 for him, Flood was top notch, so 8, and Geraghty was marvellous, again 8, bring him on when the opposition are knackered and watch him go, brilliant.
I disagree with the Tindall criticisms, he's a big lad with speed, I like him.
We might not win the World Cup this year, but until the moment another team holds up the Webb-Ellis cup we are still the official World champions - and don't forget it.
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well said Mickydoo #230
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Great game by the forwards.
The score flattered France but the back line was two slow in distributing the ball otherwise the margin would have been far greater.
Catt has no ball handling skills and against better opposition you cannot bank on his once a match break of the line through poor defence.
The plaudits must goto Flood and Strettle, easily the best players in that backline. Pity they only saw the ball late on in moves due to poor distribution through the line.
I am afraid Flood must be on the bench as must catt next week. England need the distribution of Farrel and the boot of wilkinson. Behind a pack performing like that on friday we will see a huge difference.
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Geraghty was the spark that ignited the English team to victory......he and Strettle have that same magical pace to their game that unnerves the opposition.
Geraghty should be in for next game !
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As an Irishman, I must say that Sunday afternoon's game came as a breath of fresh air! Few will argue that it was vintage England - no question there - but it was great to see young guys such as Strettle and Geraghty running straight at the French defense without any caution.
It was also great to see Corry put in a good performance at second row; he leaves absolutely everything on the pitch when he plays and always represents his country well, both on and off the field. He deserves his place in the pack.
There's no need for the "one-up-manship" which is so often prevalent in these blogs. Some get carried away with their home nation's success, which can't be helped. Sunday was good for NH rugby, just as Italy's last two wins have been.
So let's leave the handbags to Chris Paterson...
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My view is that the problem with scores in rugby is that it ignores so much of what is not actually near the ball that contributes so much to how the opposition plays you.
I think that several people are ignoring Catt's leadership in their scores, remember people want and need to be led, he stepped up, look no further than Michael Vaughan if you want confirmation of what impact captaincy does.
Again, old cliche, you can only play what is in front of you, England did that against France and not against Ireland, if you play golf (or any other individual sport) and have played competitively you'll understand the self belief first immortalised by Arthur Ash in the Inner Game. Such believe breeds confidence in you, builds confidence in the team, again look at golf and the Ryder Cup.
Brian Moore for a peerage. Not always right, but has the guts to say so when he isn't. The truth about a good shoeing in most cases is the person is in there doing something illegal in the first place that the ref cannot see and I would have called that old fashioned rucking out not stamping.
Cheers all
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Come on guys!!
For the first time in my life I was actually supporting England (it felt very very strange) But obviously I had an alterior motive....that of Ireland being in a position to win the Championship. But you cannot seriously suggest that that was a good performance by England??? They were astonishingly bad. I cannot even now fathom hoe England actually won the game (glad and all as I am that they did), but you will never see a more ineffective French team again.
Ian B (post number 1)...were you watching the same game?? The amount of basic mistakes made all over the pitch was astonishing. If England bring that level of performance to the World Cup..they'll be wiped out. Sorry, but its the truth.
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I would possibly start wilko at 12 but not at 10. Flood was awsome and it gives wilko a) some protection and b) more of an angle to kick. Also takes some pressure of Flood.
Lets not get carried away though. Some of our play was shocking so please no world cup chat yet but certainly a good step in the right direction.
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As a person who supports neither France nor England, I feel that France should have won it but they didn't play well enough to win it and as for England...did they deserve to win it? Did the score reflect the match? I don't think they deserved it either! A draw? The press are all saying its the "resurgent English" why? They have hardly pulled out a performance worthy of becoming 6 Nations Champions let alone World Champions! They have not strung a decent performance together this championship.
I am really starting to get frustrated by the commentating at the England matches. Brian Moore is hardly the greatest commentator. As a commentator, he should be neutral! He came out with "I don't care he's French" after Eddie Butler had said "there is French player injured." That is not professional! You would never have heard those words being uttered by Bill McLaren! Can't we get a better commentator? Please! Its ok to be a fan of your own country's team but when you are a commentator not just being broadcast in England, it is offensive to some people! Last year when Scotland beat England the commentary dried-up, he was biased against anything that Scotland did or was awarded by the ref! Why should we need to suffer this?
Please may I have a statement from a 大象传媒 official, to explain why Brian Moore is used as a commentator when he so pro-England and anti-everyone else, it is a form of rascism. Thank you!
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Well thankyou England for doing us Irish a huge favour by beating France. I thought the 1st half was woeful but England's 2nd performance was fantastic & you fully deserved the win. Wales will cut you to ribbons next week though, enjoy!!
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Irish fan with 3 Things to say.
1> Well done England, better performance. If France didn't play great, thats irrelevant, you can only play whats in fron of you. I think the biggest + is that David Strettle, Geraghty & Flood look like they have a positive future ahead!
2> I'm a sports fan of all sorts. Wish certain people would stop complaining about soccer goons, yes there are some silly features when u see diving & rediculous wages but its not a sissy sport. I play both sports by the way (full back RFU & Midfield soccer) soccer is played in every country and will always be a great game. I could say things about Rugby being inferioir in some ways but I lower myself to that mentality.
3> Irish Rugby needs a Roy Keane attitude. Wish some one could take his no nonsence approach to the Irish team. I think EOS is a good coach but wish he would frighten his players and actively increase pressure on players so that not 1 of them will be guaranteed a place in the squad for the WC. Looks like Brian Ashton might be able to consider this based on some of the debuts made yesterday!!!
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So England are world beaters again - only a matter of course for the World Cup later this year. I dont think so.!! Good to see Brian Ashtons good work bear fruit - still lots of work to do.!!
Why do some fans see fit to berate and belittle the Irish Team.? It comprises some seriously classy players and play with a heart and committment that is wonderful to experience - win, lose or draw!!! Some ill informed pundits say that Ireland will not win the world cup - most Irish agree that the competition will comprise of New Zealand (a la Tiger Woods) and the rest, its no contest. Eddie O`Sullivan has NEVER made outlandish
claims nor has he been dismissive of other teams. The record of the Irish team has been hard earned and well deserved. Some of the grudging comments about some excellent Irish performances are always anticipated. Who remembers Uttleys comment made many years ago that"the Irish would want brain transplants to play open rugby" - another ill informed and spurios comment from a forward.!!!!! Discuss.
As an aside , we are delighted that we can bask in the display of young Geraghty- another Irish talent.
Give credit wher credit is due.!!!!!
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I've been a big fan of Josh Lewsey's over the years but I do fear that his time is up. His kicking was too often pointless and misguided and although he has good defensive qualities, he won't be able to stack up to the skills of the lively youngsters, particularly if Ashton's running game is the style of England's future. Tindall seems to have improved this year - he's fearless and has even made some breaks - and come on, you can't keep Jonny out, particularly if you want to benefit from the penalties!
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I think Corry has been underrated. He was magnificent all game, and in my opinion was the reason why Chabal had little influence. All in all a better team effort but lets not get to excited, look what happened after the Scotland game. Nice to hear Twickenham in good voice, Swing Low didn't sound like a funeral march for once!
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I've been a big fan of Josh Lewsey's over the years but I do fear that his time is up. His kicking was too often pointless and misguided and although he has good defensive qualities, he won't be able to stack up to the skills of the lively youngsters, particularly if Ashton's running game is the style of England's future. Tindall seems to have improved this year - he's fearless and has even made some breaks - and come on, you can't keep Jonny out, particularly if you want to benefit from the penalties!
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Hello Chaps, hangover now under control so here goes. We were supposed to be thumped because (as the Irish say) we don't learn our history and our recent history is that we are crap --- Hmmm
Sadly none of the "local" teams are AB eaters but i was pleased to see an England side stepping up to the plate for once and having a go. Start the same 15 next week with the old guard on the bench as backup.
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Funny how the world champions cannot accept that English rugby is in the doldrums. Frankly the french should be ashamed of themselves. However hopefully this is the start of Englands resurgance, it's not good preparation for the world cup to be beating bad teams by 30 points. It seems both France and Ireland barely bothered to turn up over the weekend, but the forced changes for England and the experienced heads made a difference. It wasn't a great match though in all honesty. I think the standard this year has been pretty poor except for Ireland v England when one team played pure and flowing rugby. It's a 6N of errors. ... Forget it Italy won't win it. France won't loose again, they are embarrassed big time. Depending on which Ireland turn up, it's there for the taking... as for the WC? It's possible the Irish could be in the Final, but betting a 100 quid they won't beat the all blacks is a pretty safe bet. Why don't you go make a real bet. The current England side should not bother to turn up either, they need a lot of work between now and then. As for Geraghty, he played under 16s for Ireland...Obviously figured there was too much competition for a place on the team and choose the lesser footballing nation to play for.
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Really entertaining game, although that probably proves I am not French. But why do 大象传媒 use Butler & Moore? Unbelievably awful commentary. Yesterday's 'only french' comment was a low point, but their on-air bickering in previous internationals should have had them sacked long ago. What do they think they are adding to the on-screen events?
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#263 If only all Irish rugby supporters were as gracious as your coach. I can appreciate that Ireland do have a successful side at the moment. They have been built in a similar way to Englands 2003 side, over time developing through winning and losing together.
The Engalnd 2003 team were called arrogant, up themselves etc by all other fans, because they beleived in themselves and went out to do the business. Ireland have the same self belief and save for a couple of stupid comments by ROG about English rugby have the same demeanour about them. All the other fans are therefore on their back.
The one thing missing is the hatred reserved only for English rugby, by every other rugby nation.
Good luck Ireland this is your last chance before the team get too old.
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As an Irish fan, let me first of all say I have no hesitation in saying well done to England on beating France yesterday. The truth of the matter is, however, that France didn't particularly turn up yesterday and it required some individual brilliance from Shane Geraghty (one to watch) to finally open a meaningful lead. Geraghty, Flood before him and The continually impressive Strettle provide hope for the future but the way England play continues to be one dimensional and predictable as typified by Mike Tindall's style of play.To counter this Ashton should be brave now in his selections and give these young talents the game time they need.
Yesterdays result really opens up the championship with three teams going in to the final weekend with a chance of claiming the championship, realistically though only Ireland & France can win it and although it pains me to say it The French have the advantage at home.
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1) Josh Lewsey - time is up. I was at the game yesterday and I saw Catt calling and waving Josh to come in towards the centre. Josh just ignored Catt.
2) JW - he has no right to be in the side. If you think that both the 10鈥檚 yesterday are too young, can you remember how old JW was in 99 RWC
3) I cannot wait to see the 'master of disaster (Lewis Moody) and Tom 'nutter' Rees working with either Easter or DW Smith - exciting times.
4) Jason Robinson - didn't they call him Billy Wizz - I am afraid (NO DISRISPECT) we are starting to see less Wizz these day.
5) What about Andy Farrell now? (Let him play club rugby and be a squad member 鈥 what he brings to union is better for the training ground now than the paddock.)
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I have to agree with Richard about the poor standard of commentary at English games against Scotland and France. The commentators unsuppressed glee at the Scotland game and the comments about "Not caring... He French" mean neither of these guys deserve to sit in Bill McLaren's seat.
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Palmer and Catt should be given a much higher rating. Catt's running lines were the best we have seen from an England centre for a long time.
On the other hand, Ellis????? he should be much lower. Passing was appalling at times and is not quick enough from the base of the scrum. Surely we must have some more English scrum halves about in the Premiership or 1st Division better than this. He is not up to standard. Someone else on this board said it, he is more like a flanker.
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There has to be an element of France looking so poor because England didn't allow them to play the game on their terms.
England weren't amazing, but at least give them that.
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We should start wilko at 10 for wales, use geraghty as impact player at about 60 mins. Wilko will get points on the board, and geraghty will scare the welsh back row. drop tindall for tait, and faz at inside. I reckon him and tait would work perfectly. stretts deserves his place for Wales, and for a long time! The boy is fantastic. Keep lewsey, you cant say "drop him" after one poor game. he has the experience which will support stretts and tait and the like.
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Yesterday england put france on the back foot and kept them there. The boys looked and played with no fear of losing well done BA and catty in equal measure in my opinion.
Can we play like that against Wales next week we will see
I see no reason to change the pack even if Vickory is fit
but in the backs I suggest we need to look further a head to the WC (Not that i think we will win it aleast 12 months to soon) our two fly halves from yesterday are so inexperienced at this level its fightening ( great potential no question but!!) an away match for either is much needed especially in the rarefied atmosphere of somewhere like the millenium add to that a browding Welsh team. Cool heads required alround and an england pack performance as good as yesterday
My suggestion is put JW at full back just for this game so whoever starts at 10 has the confidence of Catt & Wilko (As back up kicker)in the same side.
But my overriding view is give either or preferably both a chance in a game that matters at international level prior to a WC
What do other people think???
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Great win for england at the weekend and delighted to see it (even though im Irish) but its quite ridiculous to say that they could be contenders for the RWC. Look at the facts, France were appalling on sat, Catt is over the hill, I've seen more creative JCB's than tindall or farrell, jonnys a human jigsaw (He's in bits) and the pack could fall apart at any minute if you ask me.
On the plus side Strettle looks like a fine player and Geraghty could slso be the business.
Fact of the matter is that NZ are going to ride all and sundry at the world cup....and there's really nothing anyone can do about it.
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Re post 253 'Paulandall'.
'You would be wary about playing a Newcastle three-quarter line - look where they are in the league'.
You clearly do not know what you are talking about. Newcastle's back line is the best in the premiership. The reason they are 'where they are in the league' is due to the problems in the pack, particularly the front five. Just like England, where poor performances of the team stem mainly from the inability of the pack to gain quality ball. The massively improved showing by England's forwards was the major factor in their victory.
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Team of the 6 nations anyone?
15. Dempsey
14. Clerc
13. BOD
12. Darcy
11. Strettle
10. O Gara
9. Mignoni.
8. Parisse
7. Wallace
6. Easterby.
5. POC
4. Bortolami
3,2,1 - Any mix of Italians or french you like
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In response to post#260:
Please!
Yes Ireland beat England, Yes it was a big defeat but if Ireland had played against England like they played against Scotland they'd have lost. It's just typical isn't it, Ireland win against England because they're hungry as hell, and then take the foot off the gas for the other teams.
If Ireland play in the world cup like they did on saturday they'll be hard pushed to get past Namibia let alone Argentina and France.
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I have seen the future...it is Geraghty at 10 and Flood at 12...but not just yet, eh.
I give the forwards a collective 8 and the backs a collective 6. England should've scored more tries with their dominance of ball and territory but some of their backplay was rank!
Tindall and Lewsey were both very clumsy and Ellis's service was (at times!) both ponderous and erratic.
Let's give the pack another go against Wales. Wilko back at 10, Tait at 13. Geraghty adn Flood on the bench. I'd like to see Chris Jones there too.
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for crying out loud will people just accept that geraghty is playing for england because he wants to and feels he is english. nothing wrong with that.also although there were some mistakes made yesterday england were great and thoroughly deserved their win. i for one wish them well. the irish were outraged when ppl said ireland only beat england bcause england were poor. we beat england because we were better. simple as that. likewise england beat france because they were better. some comments made here by some irish (and some scots) have argued otherwise. be gracious and praise the well earned win. the better team won.so stop trying to downplay the importance of that victory. also to some of the english comments, irish fans are for the most part gracious. i certainly feel that england always go up for the ocassion. so please recognise that irish fans are much more gracious than certain other countries when it comes to acknowledging situations such as the match yesterday.give the irish credit and at least we don't boo other teams even when they're playing better than us.
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Hers a thought chaps maybe Brian Ashton the head coach actually knows what he's doing? Maybe the fact that he's given more than half his life to the study of rugby and coached to the highest level actually entitles him to pick the team that he thinks will perform best? Maybe he knows a little bit more about ruby than some of the armchair generals who post on here? Maybe the fact that Mike Catt did have a poor first half and and indifferent second half actually has nothing much to do with it in the wider view of englands performance as a whole?
Maybe the erstwhile experts can just let the coach get on with his job pick the players he thinks will do the best job and support the team instead of putting them down all the time?
This performance was a step up from the croke park nightmare in so many ways but not a reason to get carried away. England have a long way to go in terms of basic skills to even be considered as a contender for the world cup. I believe that they will qualify but that they will then lose in qf's.
The player ratings are pretty much spot on none of the players played that well that they deserved 9's a solid 8 for Strettle,Rees, Easter and Flood and a good hardworking 7 for both Corry and Palmer. Lewsey was poor but who else would you play at 15? JR best position for England is on the wing (much to small for an international full back, and probably the best finisher in the game)
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Palmer - "anonymous".
This is poor journalism; as with other blogs highlighting the danger of giving too much space to pundits with too little knowledge or sense.
Rob Hodgetts - pls try harder next time.
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Are Ireland still the world beaters they were last week, after scraping past a Scotland team that played pretty poorly themselves?
Do France have a chance of Lifting the RWC after being beaten by a 5 day old England team?
Are Italy still looked down upon by any but the terminally (rugby)stupid, after deservedly beating Scotland and Wales?
Who will cart off the most competitve 6N in my memory?
Can the ABs do it against a hemisphere of nations that can still dog it out even when it's not pretty and the possession is poor?
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While i realise this blog is supposedly based on the player ratings from yesterdays game it seems to have resulted into a debate as to the starting line up for next weeks game against Wales. I find it strange that there is a "general" lack of support for Johnny Wilkinson for starting(if fit). Guscott didnt even want him in the 22!!! For a player of such quality i find it very suprising. Ok he is not at his 'best' in terms of match fitness and didnt have the greatest of games against Ireland but one of the major factors for that was the way the Irish pack blew away Englands, meaning he (and the rest of the backs) were always on the back foot, so anybody will struggle to play attacking and expansive rugby in such conditions. And while i think that both Flood and Geraghty both played well against France i just cannot see either of them starting ahead of JW at this time. BA will have to make a tough decision, but perhaps one option is to play JW at number 12 with Flood or Geraghty at 10 if he really wants to use one of them. I personally cant see JW not being in the team and is way ahead in terms of all around skills. He is a guaranteed scorer with the boot, solid in defense and has good distribution from hand. It will be interesting to see who is chosen, especially since it seems Tindall will be out injured. I would like to see Tait utilised more by England but i do worry that against some of the big runners such as Nonu, Mortlock or Mauger, he is a bit lightweight (compared to a Noon or Tindall).
Any comments or thoughts??
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J Lewsey-6
D Strettle-9
M Tindall-7
M Catt-8
J Robinson-7
T Flood-7.5
H Ellis-8
N Easter-7
T Rees-9
J Worsley-7
T Palmer-8.5
M Corry-8.5
J White-7
G Chuter-6.5
T Payne-7
For the next game england should bring in Tait for Tindall. Wilkinson with Catt on the bench. Flood to start at flyhalf with geraghty coming on later. Even though Josh Lewsey had a bad game i think brian ashton should keep him in the team for he is such a class player. Strettle played brilliantly in both the france and ireland game.
Team vs. Wales
15- J Lewsey
14- D Strettle
13- M Tait
12- J Wilkinson
11- J Robinson
10- T Flood
9- H Ellis
8- N Easter
7- T Rees
6- J Worsley
5- T Palmer
4- M Corry
3- J White
2- G Chuter
1- T Payne
Subs:
S Geraghty
M Catt
S Perry
M Lund
S Borthwick
P Vickery
L Mears
What we do need is a decent hooker for george chuter isnt great but lee mears is even worse
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Well done England and let's get real - we played above average against a below-par French side. One match does not make us World Cup contenders. Let's not forget the three years of disaster that have preceded this. Biggest marks go to the forwards who established the platform. Rees, Easter and Corry excellent in the loose. White and co. did the business in the tight.
Gerraty looked exciting but the lad's played 20 minutes of test Rugby - let's calm down a bit. Catt made a reasonable lynch-pin and it's his specialist position. Tindall simply doesn't have the footablling and handling skills or pace to be part of this team. England need to be quicker, more aggressive and tidier at the breakdown and Ellis' service was far too slow - he just stands and looks at it. Perry isn't as good a player but his service is more accurate and he gets the threequarters moving forward much quicker.
So next week - same pack, Ellis, Wilkinson (Gerraty on Bench), Robinson, Catt, Tait, Strettle, Lewsey.
1. Beating Wales is the most important Goal pre RWC. We're highly unlikely to win the Championship.
2. Beating Wales will be hard - let's win ugly if we need to.
3. Key focus should be on speed of loose ball. Let's give the Hair Bears a good run around and see how good they look then.
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No.262 Richard...a form of racism??? You say you neither support England or France...by your unbelieveably short sighted comments youclearly also don't know a thing about rugby. How the hell can you say England did'nt deserve to win. Not a flawless display by any means, far too many silly penalties as usual without which they would of won by 20pts plus!
The sooner you realise BM commentates with his tongue wegded firmly in his cheek the more you'll enjoy this game and maybe even come to have any kind of understanding of it!! Don't hurt ya self falling of that high horse!
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I can't get to grips with this poor word.
England were "poor" against Italy
England were "poor" against Ireland
France were "poor" against England
Ireland were "poor" against everyone except England.
How about this?
The Italian forwards played well by stifling English possession.
The Irish passion and commitment blew England off the park.
The English pack tore into the French preventing them obtaining any quality possession.
I wont go on but should we not be seeing some half full glasses rather than half empty just at the moment.
Even the ABs will look ordinary if they are prevented from playing their preferred game and from what I have seen of this 6 nations, even Italy and Scotland both have the capability of doing it if that becomes their main focus.
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I thought the comment by Geraghty after the match was rather telling. He said he'd thought about kicking it but in his mind he could hear the coach telling him not to give possession away.
There seemed to be several times in the match prior to this when this dictum was not followed.Indeed England seems to have specialised in recent years in meaningless kicks, giving the ball to the opposition.
A fly half for whom running and handling skills are preeeminent, only resorting to kicking when a tactical advantage can be gained would seem essential for the future.
Of course the backs outside him also need to have complementary skills!
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A deserved win and confirms what I said after the Ireland game - Ireland's pack will never play that well as a collective 8 again and made England look worse than they really are.
Ellis improves every game and shows the benefit of giving someone a run and not chopping and changing (Farrell,Palmer and Payne need to be given the same treatment now). Strettle and Rees awesome - note to Andy Robinson about the back row "See what happens when you actually pick players in their positions".
My main concerns are with the 大象传媒. Brian Moore is embarrassing, questioning the referee when you were playing was your speciality Brian, you should have grown out of it by now. Eddie Butler should only be allowed to do matches that do not feature England or Wales, he bias is as unprofessional as it is unashamed (Anne Robinson was villified for feelings like this towards the Welsh). Why all that wasted time in the studio debating who plays at 10 next week ? Surely we should have been championing the performances of Rees and Strettle. Anyway the question is a no brainer - Wilkinson plays if fit. As much as I am encouraged by Flood and Geraghty, flashes of brilliance do not mean you have the experience to run a game. Wilko and Farrell play, Englands problems are outside them. Tindall and Lewsey have to go - Tait and Cueto in. Robinson to full-back only because of a lack of suitable alternative.
I am not going to start a talk about world cup defences but progress is being made. Add James Simpson-Daniel, James Forrester, Dylan Hartley and Mike Brown to this squad and a quarter-final date is booked.
Note to Wales. Arrogance gets what arrogance deserves. Italy are genuinely now at your level (and Scotand). If you had kicked and got a draw you would not have deserved it anyway.
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yes ireland are still capable of beating anyone. one quiet game still a victory. not vintage ireland but it says a lot in defending a one point lead. scotland were good. too may scottish offsides that were let go in my view but a win is a win. reminded me a bit of the england italy game. still reckon martin corry should get a big apology from the media for the dipicable way he's been treated by them. he was fantastic. i really like him. also strettle is an absolute gem! england are very lucky to have such options in the fly half position. i'd still start jonny though. he almays merits a starting role. although he was slaughtered by the media after the ireland game, his kicking is still sublime and with the right support he can turn any game! also really like harry ellis, his tenacity reminds me of peter stringer! matthew tait should start against wales.
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What is it with the professional pundits? Guscott et al has lost it. A walk over try for Flood and he's the completed article. A nice broken field run by Geraghty on a fresh pair of legs against some tiring ones and he is acclaimed as the answer to England's world cup! I don't buy the Jonny will save us line either but I think the pundits are serving up sensationalist nonsense. The game was anyone's at 19-18 and one great break doesn't chnage that. England-France was a patchy game at best with the odd dazzling moment illuminating the gloom of skill levels most often replicated during under-11 games against a French team that (again) chose not to turn up. We would have been eaten alive by any Southern Hemisphere side.
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hear hear post #293
well said!
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re: 295
With tindall out (injury) Tait might just start!
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Wait , hold on
Is an irish fan actually talking about other teams getting away with Offside.
Most of the irish team dont know what onside is and when thers a ruck they should be standing BEHIND the ruck, not behind the ball but the refs are not picking the up so there gettin away with it
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why not play Wilko at 13? Tinds is out for the welsh game and, although Tait would be again very unlucky, It solves the problem on how to accomodate either Geraghty or Flood AND Wilkinson...
As for a great number of you... We have beaten the French for the first time since the World Cup, and we decided to start running with the ball and played exciting rugby. Why can't you be happy for a young and exciting side? There's Rees and Palmer, and Strettle, Ellis AND the two fly halves... it bodes well for the World Cup and maybe were not as dead as they thought we would be.
More exciting rugby please!!
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With Tindall not available for the game against Wales, can anyone explain how it is that Gloucester (2nd in the table with a game in hand) will have not a single player in the England squad?
And Gloucester have more Englishmen in their starting line ups then any other Premiership side
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A little french view:
After two poor defeats against the All blacks in November which revealed a huge gap.
After a lucky victory against Ireland.
After a g.......reat performance from the england side. Even if it's quite unfair to use rocket (strettle)!! on the pitch.
Please let us postpone the World cup!!!!
because if we play like that in a groupe stage with argentina and Ireland if we get the chance to go through, i predict a huge defeat against a south top team.
I am afraid to admit that, but i think that the cock is simmering!!.
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Wales will at least turn up and offer a sterner test than the 6 Nations champions of 2007, the very very ordinary French.
Yet the forward pack should be re-selected enmass. The more mobile pack works well and players like Chris Jones and Moody would provide good reserves to it. They should get more game time as a unit.
The backline moved the ball better when it was not cluttered by someone who is both slow on their feet and yet who also delays the wider pass. Well it would, wouldn't it. Farrell is a loose forward who needs games there at club level asap.
As to selections, Allen and Tait is the best medium term mid-field option (the new Carling/Guscott combo). But is Ashton bold enough to do this now?
If Wilkinson is fit, he should start.
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no 295. ireland's pack are fantastic and have played better than against england. remember the australia game? it's a bit rich to criticise the irish pack after one quiet game and just after england have played well for the first time in ages. most of the irish have praised the english team after yesterday's performance. ireland didn't play as well as they could have but the pack was able to win a messy game and that is the sign of a good team. i take criticism of the irish team fairly but to attack the pack after one game which have performed wonderfully for most of the last 4 years is unfair.
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Lewsey was never a 7, couldn't stay on his feet going forward and seemed indecisive. However, I don't believe a player of his class will have 2 bad games in a row and he should stay at FB - he is world class at his best.
JW has to be part of England's WC and, therefore, if fit to play must start next week - Geraghty to come on when JW gets injured or a chang is needed.
Catt didn't have the greatest gme but he looked nearly in tears after the anthem at the start - obviously a big moment for him. He must take some credit for bolstering the team performance and deserves a shout for next week. It's not youth or experience that will turn things around but a balance of the two coupled with stability in selection.
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Here's my take on the English backs:
9. Ellis
10. Wilkinson (if fit)
11. Strettle
12. Flood
13. Tait
14. Cueto
15. Robinson
On the bench I would have Richards, Geraghty and Catt. And Catt would start at 12 if Wilko was not fit with Flood moving into 10. The few times that Wilko, Flood and Tait have played at 10, 12 and 13 for the Falcons together, they have ripped teams apart and with a team like Wales upcoming we need the pace of Tait both in defence and attack>
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Can i just say something about BRian Moore.What a class man! Whatever people say, hes biased, HES AN ENGLISHMAN SUPPORTING ENGLAND, im sure if any of you listened to the french commentators or any other country for that matter, they'd be biased. I say he's a great commentator giving detailed analysis of thr rucks etc.
JONNY- He is the BECKHAM of rugby, needs to be dropped from the England team to have time to regain full fitness and to understand hes not automatically picked because he's Jonny Wilkinson, as much as i like him and respect his skill.BA is the man to take that plunge.
I think Brian Ashton should keep the same team as Yesterday, bring on Geraghty 50/60 mins in to add the different style / Spark that England may need by then.
Strettle has got to be the find of the 6 nations, he has proven that he is no one trick pony and look forward to seeing him kick ass in the future.
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I'm not going to comment on the individual player ratings - everyone's entitled to their views on those and what's the difference between a 7 and an 8 anyway?
Yes, it was far from perfect;yes we've a long way to go; yes, we musn't get carried away; yes, we'll be lucky to get to the QF's of the RWC, but what I know is this;
1. It's the first time I've enjoyed, rather than endured, watching my beloved England for 3 1/2 years!
2. It's the most passion I've seen from an England team for those same 3 1/2 years.
3. It's the most flair and open running I've seen from a English backline in 3 1/2 years.
4. It's the first signs of a back row worthy of playing in the boots of Dallaglio,Back & Hill. And there's competition there too with Ward-Smith when fit.
5. It's the first signs that we have a choice emerging for the No 10 shirt.
6. Catt is not the answer. This is not a comment on his performance. He played better than farrell to date and the backs had chances to run. I'm a hooker, so I can't claim to know if that was down to his performance or poor French defence giving them too much room. What I do know is that a 35 year old will not be around in 2012 and we have to be developing players that far ahead, at least.
7. Individual players made mistakes, took wrong options etc. This is a team with 11 changes from the last game who have trained together for less than a week - give them a break.
8. Brian Moore is a hooker of the old school and a major weapon in his armoury on the pitch was getting up people's noses and putting them off their game - just as he appears to have done with a number of people on this blog.
The referee continually let the French back row get away with getting on the wrong side in the rucks and slowing down the English ball. (as any half decent back row will try to do - see any Richie McCall performance for the masterclass). Eventually, as the ref was doing nothing about it, the English forwards soterd out themselves. In this day and age of political correctness and health & safety nonsense, they got penalised for it. Not so long ago, it was legal to ruck players out in this situation (not stamp on them, you note, but ruck them out of the way.) Nowadays, the same logic that thinks that allowing a ref who knows diddly squat about scrummaging to make the front rows "touch" before contact makes the scrum safer has also done away with rucking players out from the wrong side.
Yes, Brian Moore is biased towards England. Just as Eddie Butler is biased towards Wales - and don't even get me started on Jonathan Davies - did you see his face when he had to concede that England had actually played quite well - looked like a bulldog chewing a wasp...
So yes, he's biased but he does actually know what he's talking about, especially at the scrums and breakdowns and he is quite amusing in a ladish, Jeremy Clarkson kind of way. So, what the hell. I doubt we'll see another Bill McLaren and it gives me somone else to shout at pointlessly through the TV.
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What a shame all that can be managed are negative comments. I am not sure the same match was watched - Skrela did not in fact return to the pitch after half time due to his ankle injury. At least have the courtesy to watch the match more closely or the rest of your comments can not be taken seriously.
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what about playing geragthy at outside centre??? He had a brilliant run and and has good pace.
9. Ellis
10. Wilkinson
11. Lewsey
12. Catt
13. Geragthy
14. Strettle
15. Robinson
Definitly put Flood on the bench as well as Tait and Tindall.
Lets hope England thrash Wales and claim the title
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I have to admit I thought when I saw Corry at second row I thought BA was just trying to find a place to keep him in the team. That may still be the case. But I thought he was excellent, done a lot of the grafting and unselfish to his credit. As I did not expect this as his pre-match comments suggested he was still going to play still like a back rower. A word of caution though he may have caught France on the hop, a good international side will have him more closely watched in the line-out in the future.
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Re The Tindall vs Tait debate.
Looks like we will be able to see the difference on Saturday now, what odds on Henson getting a call.
My personal feeling is that Tait is a winger not a centre and needs more space in which to work effectively.
Tindall is in no way the best player in his position going forward but is an awesome tackler and but for him, we could have lost yesterday.
What of some of our other centres Simpson-Daniel, Barkley, Smith, Abbott.
Re JW - it pains me to say it, but Englands win could have been more comfortable if we had a higher % kicker. The French (I will be happy to stand corrected here)benefitted from a 100% success rate and I think we need to exopect that Hook/Jones will enjoy similar success on Saturday.
Decisions decisions, I'm glad they pay someone else to make them.
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If your open side flanker is really prominent - as Tom Rees was on Sunday then your on to a winner.
It means you've got some go forward but also that you have a good player there.
He's a specialist openside of the George Smith build which is a real advantage when you're trying to keep on your feet over the ball.
He was the best player on the park IMO
and that's the first time you can say that of an England No 7 since Pat Sanderson against NZ in 2005.
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no 184 you're incredulous and not in a good way! ireland are not chokers. one good result for england and you think you know it all. 2nd rate team?it's funny that we're a 2nd rate team that have beaten england 4 times in 4 years and won the triple crown 3 times in 4 years. i can't believe the amount of criticism and obnoxious comments after one quiet game that we still won. we are very disappointed with the french game and to a degree the scotland game but seriously not even to consider ourselves a 2nd rate team. my god. what a joke. i'm all for constructive criticism but not rude comments such as yours adam. it reeks of jealousy. at least we can play badly and still win the triple crown. i didnt jump on the slagging england off bandwagon after the ireland game and i thought they would still beat france even tho the team was 2nd rate against ireland. you need a large dose of humblw pie before you start making ridiculous comments like that. ireland probably won't win the world. we know that. but at least we arent in denial about that and we'll give it a pretty good shot!
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Congratulations John Bull!
As a foreigner and french supporter, I have to admit that England did really play better than France, whose team was at times almost pathetic.
Quite surprisingly, England won with some kind of "french flair" vs an overestimed and, at least this time, very poorly talented France.
I am deeply deceived by some players such as Yachvili,Betsen, Bonnaire and Chabal, whatever "good" reasons Mr. "I am so smart" Laporte will be able to find; but I am glad to see that England managed to play, and sometimes succeeded, in the most enthusiastic way for ages.
See you in France in september,
JM Anfossi
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last week on a blog i suggested Wilko at 12 and was lambasted for it. Well now the rest of you have seen the potential!
However, unusually for me I would urge caution. I have seen some horrors on this blog with Tait on the wing and the like. Josh Lewesy did n't have a great game but - Catt was lucky by his own admission could n't give the tryscoring pass to Lewesy as (fundamental skill error) he had the ball tucked under his arm. Fortunatly Flood was in support as the next runner and crossed anyway but if Flood had n't scored or Lewesy had I think the ratings would change.
My Backline next week - remember don't take the Leek muchers for granted.
15 Lewesy - solid as a rock.
14 Strettle - electiric
13 Tait - he has pace to worry them
12 Catt - enforced change outside
11 Robinson - Still very dangerous
10 Wilko - Cardiff points 1st game 2005 - anyone remember?
9 Ellis
I was impressed by both Flood and Geheraty - but one game does not make you but it is good to know the back up is there. wales will be baying for blood trying to avoid a whitewash and I think we need Jonny to drive the nails into their coffin. Plus I feel more secure in Jonny's defence.
Just one final note - did I see someone put a bak line up of
9 Ellis
10 Flood
11 Tait
12 Wilko
13 Strettle
14 Cueto
15 Robinson
Playing players in their positions now are we!
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Brian Moore's French-baiting may be tongue in cheek but it still comes across as boorish and unprofessional. Butler's snide manner, particularly when England play is grating as well, but not as grating as his constant errors in identifying players. The alternatives - Cotter and Mullins are pretty callow and Mullins in particular is given to crass platitudes. Why can't the magisterial Ian Robertson be persuaded to move from radio? He is by far the best rugby commentator in the post-McLaren age.
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I would like to add my 10/- worth to the comments on Eddie Butler and Brian Moore. They must be the worst commentators out there, biased is an understatement. Moore should be told to get on his bike after some of the things he said on Saturday and Butler is just an old bore. Come on 大象传媒 get your act together and get people worthy of your excellent sports broadcasting.
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Im English and obviously happy. But let's not get carried away lads. A much better display but if the same team put in the same display back at Croker then the Irish would still have won. Personally POC, BOD & Horgan would be in my world team. Oh and one other IMO the best no8 in the world, Leamy. Leamy is a very underated player. No english in my world team though. Says it all really.
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Well done England.
For me, the backs selection for Wales should be -
15 Robinson (more options)
14 Cueto (fresh legs)
13 Wilko (a points machine if fit)
12 Catt (creativity at last)
11 Strettle (on fire and hungry)
10 Geraghty (seriously talented)
9 Ellis ( Top England player so far)
The forwards as they were for the France game. Someone please tell me- when did lewsey last score a try for England? OK in defense but I feel he is overrated especially in attack
.
England should expect Wales to come out firing- but if England's forwards do the business again, it is the wooden spoon for the Dragons.
One more thing, I have to say that lewis Moody is not in the same league, talent wise as Tom Rees or Joe Worsley- they just have better allround skills. Moody just runs around like a headless chicken and gives away loads of penalties . T Rees is the future, as is N Easter (cannot wait to see Dan Ward-Smith on the scene!) forget Moody and lets move on!
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Number 303
It was not meant as a criticism. Ireland beat England and deservedley so. The press concentrated on England being poor and not Ireland being good. What I was saying is that England were not as poor as people made out. Just with France yesterday, England against Italy and Ireland Saturday - you can only play aswell as you are allowed to by opposition who perform better on the day. If Ireland win the title they deserve it. No. 272 has got it spot on - it is tough when you are favourites and everyone wants to have a pop at you. As English & Irish we should just delight in Wales getting their comeuppance. At least when England or Ireland are accused of arrogance we have the players to back it up!
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I do not understand some peoples comments about Lewsey. On Saturday - he threw one bad pass and opted to run to support than back his and Strettles pace; but saying that he should be dropped?! He has been the most effective player consistantly since the world cup for England and is still on form. He tackled well, made good breaks and support runs all game - he worked as hard as ever. As for people saying that he should get his act together at Wasps first - do you actually watch any of their games and see that Lewsey has been on form this season?
Lets just congratulate the new boys and the team for a great running game and hope they can improve on this.
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I think that Corry was outstanding, and should be looked at as a potential long term answer in the second row. You don't need to worry about his jumping either - he is used often by Leicester in the middle of the line and is very effective. Let's not forget some of the best form of his life came on the 2001 Lions Tour when he was playing 2nd row.
I also think that when Moody is fit he should start - he is a bit more dynamic than Worsley and would suit Englands game plan better.
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Well, there we have it, England deserved the win as they outplayed France. France were unable to score tries in the first half when they really had solid opportunities. If only....
This confirms that there is not much beteen England, France and Ireland. And this is what worries me come the world cup. None of these teams seem to have to constance, determination and/or umpf to make a world champion. Before the 6NS, Ireland was the best in Europe, etc. etc. and lost to France in Ireland with a not so impressive showing (and their game against Scotland was poor). Then England trashed Scotland and voila Johny is back, England is back, then they get destroyed in Ireland. In the meantime, France wins three in a row, talks of Grand Slams, bla bla...hey lose to England with a rather poor showing.
Whate I am afraid of is that in the NH we can huff and puff about whose team is better...but in the end we need to be more than worried that none of the three above will make it to the finals of the coming RWC. Unless of a miracle?
PS FRance really cannot play when they are labelled "favourites". I hope they do not reach this status for any of the important games before or during the RWC! Then maybe ;-).
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could you please tell me the name of the french rugby capatian. thnx.
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I think Toby Flood and Shane Geraghty deserve a place on the English Squad. Johnny Wilknson is good and all but these two men were brillant yesterday but Brian Ashton will of course pick Johnny as Johnny is Johnny i dont think thats fair.
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To 326 (Cookson):
Traditionally Fabien Pelous but he was injured fot the 6N. For the 6N it is Raphael Ibanez (plays for Wasps).
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Re #146 Carter's not fit to clean Jonny's boots, until Carter wins the big one and overhauls Wilkinson points tally he shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence. O'Gara is the Phil Mickelson of rugby plays a great game at times but can never match Woods throughout a season, much like O'Gara will never overhaul Jonny. I'd point to RoG's performance down in NZ in the summer when Luke McAllister ran straight over him, now Wilkinson however is to RU what Andrew Johns is to RL.
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O'Gara better than Wilkinson !! Very Funny. Wilkinson was the best fly half, without injury should have gone on to be the greatest ever !! That said a fit Wilko and Carter are the two best in the world !
Bit unfair on Lewsey not playing in the same position. If Jonny is fit then he will go to 12 or 13 with Catt, Tindall being out has made Ashtons decision easy !!
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O'Gara better than Wilkinson !! Very Funny. Wilkinson was the best fly half, without injury should have gone on to be the greatest ever !! That said a fit Wilko and Carter are the two best in the world !
Bit unfair on Lewsey not playing in the same position. If Jonny is fit then he will go to 12 or 13 with Catt, Tindall being out has made Ashtons decision easy !!
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Palmer deserves better than that.
Also I would have given Skrela 8 or 9. He had a great first half and after his replacement France didn't look like the same backline.
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o gara is better than wilkinson.not by much but he is. no 331 jonny was the best fly half in the world, was being the operative word. dan why can't the english just accept it! however i'm a massive fan of jonny and it was great having him in the english team at croke park! dan carter is the best fly half but despite the scotland game ronan is still second best fly half! at least until geraghty gets into the england set up permanently. why rog consistently gets slagged ill never know. highly unfair considering he kept us in the game against france, was superb against england and kicked all our points agaisnt scotland. also heineken cup final last year, he was amazing. england deserved their win against france but i've seen some pretty petty comments about the irish set up which is ridiculous. constructive critiscism is fine. i'd the first to admit ireland weren't great at the weekend but to make silly comments like wilko is better than o gara when jonny hasnt been playing well or regularly in ages is not constructive.
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Gutted.
Had 拢10 at 33-1 for England to beat France and Dave Strettle to score the first try!
Not that gutted really!!
Alez Les Blancs!!!
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Out of interest all the French papers scored things slightly differently - notably
Catt - 7/10 highest english player (alongside Rees). Ellis one of the lowest scores along with Strettle!!
Betson - 7/10 best French with Skrela
My ratings had Catt the lowest - what was he doing - oh yeah kicking the ball away as usual. I couldn't believe the Telegraph yesterday saying that Catt tipped the ball onto Tindall for the try! At least Andy Farrell would have been tall enough to catch it.
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Well done England. Decent performance to win the game.
I don't know how any of the French players can get a 7. They were dreadful. French pack punched well below their weight & the backs looked like they were waiting for someone else to do their job for them. Poorest performance from the French so far.
Don't say they were made to look poor by fabulous English play because it's just not true. Even the English players admit they've got alot of work to do still.
Just typical of the French. Sometimes they turn up for games & sometimes they look as if they can't be bothered.
By the way, play Geraghty at 10. He looks like a spark that could ignite the English backs.
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