Rugby - 6 Nations, Heineken Cup, You Can't Beat A Northern Hemisphere Winter!

[Havak]

Beat me too Finbar, it really does.

No rhyme or reason at all that I can see.

[Havak]

All Blacks coach Graham Henry said: "It doesn't get much bigger than England at Twickenham.

"It will be another fantastic challenge and we are focussed on preparing well and looking forward to playing a determined England side."

I must admit the man does have a good sense of humour. "Determined" is about the only superlative that could have been used here.

[Andydog]

Yes some very odd selections for England. No specialist 15, no specialist 12, Bananaman on the wing? Tim Payne? (From what I've seen of him he's a great club player, gives his all, but international level? hmmm). Borthwick still being selected? Piff.

This English team has no pace, no guile, and seems to be a damage limitation team picked in desperation. Having said that, I expect England will step up against NZ. Their back row looks somewhat competent and it's always good to see Shawsie on the pitch. Maybe they'll get a couple of penalties and a drop goal.

The Cartel have named a solid AB team with an obvious eye on France next week.

[finbar]

J**** has been picking damage-limitation teams for 12 months, short-term conservative solutions to long-term problems, with the ridiculous and screamingly predictable irony that not a single problem has been solved. Simon Shaw is plugging a gap. He's 107 years old, he will do his usual muscular, tradesman's job. To what end? At what point will the future - Lawes, say - be given his chance to practise and learn his craft? Ditto Cueto at full back. Obviously J**** sees only one possible England full back - Armitage - and he's waiting for him to recover.

George Smith gets a crack against the Haggis Munchers. Last week's MOTM, David Pocock, not even on the bench, gets a week off. Rather shows what Robbie Deans thinks of the relative threats of the Haggis Munchers -v- next week's Taffys.

[Havak]

Quite.

I'll probably watch the Celtic game on terrestrial TV instead and just drop in monday with some random "ABs cheated to score their 200 points" stuff to delight me old mucker Andydog.

Mind you lock looks like one position where we aren't outclassed. Blind side would have been if Crofty hadn't been dropped. I mean what side in the wordl is dumb enough to drop Croft for Worseley? Other than England. His inclusion - a strong tackler with nought else to his game - suggest nothing but defence tomorrow. And you cannot just defend againt SH sides! Sure you might tire out Celtic sides doing that and expose them late on - or at least previous and better quality England sides might have done - but not against tri-nations opposition.

[finbar]

The Kiwi locks, as relatively average as they are, outclass Borthwick at least.

I can just see Carter turning England around time after time, letting England run it back, try to turn them over, and so on. It's what the ABs are doing a lot of these days.

[finbar]

Hot off the press:

As the pressure builds on Johnson this afternoon, it falls also on the shoulders of Rob Andrew, the RFU’s director of elite rugby, who appointed him. Andrew terminated the reigns of Andy Robinson and Brian Ashton before beating a path to Johnson’s door.

Andrew insisted yesterday that his man was here to stay. “Johnno is here to take this team through to the World Cup,” he said. “That is what we appointed him for and that hasn’t changed.

“Martin Johnson is one of the most astute rugby guys you could find in the world. His leadership and man-management skills are impeccable. He will excel, there’s no question about that; he’s excelling already.”

[LDiCesare]

I was sick most of yesterday (spent 20 hours in bed). It must really have been a bad disease: In a fit of delirium, I thought I read that Scottland bet Australia?
France vs. Samoa was, well, entertaining, but Samoans are really one level under. I don't understand how they managed to threaten the Welsh. They only managed to be dangerous when they started using their mass in pick-and-go's at the end of the game, but their replacement was too slow to give them many opportunities, and their lineout is aweful.

[finbar]

You might have been delirious but you heard right. Somehow, despite dominating every aspect of the game - possession and territory around 80% for much of the match - and getting across the try line around four times for only one actual try, the Wallabies contrived to lose. Scotland had only one thing going for them. Defence. They are being hailed for it. Overlooking the fact that their line was crossed around four times. The TMO ruled against a couple, and Quade Cooper butchered a rolled gold 100% certain try with a completely unnecessary floating cut-out pass that went forward when he had players free just outside him. Add all that to a Matt Giteau kicking nightmare, missing a handful of easy penalties and the conversion that he would normally kick in his sleep, and Scotland somehow won. Well, more accurately, the Wallabies lost. Scotland never came close to threatening the Wallaby line. They were too busy defending for their lives. The real problem for the Wallabies will now be morale and confidence as they prepare for the much more threatening Taffys.

France -v- Samoa was very entertaining in a 7s kind of way. I could watch the wonderful Vicent Clerc play all day. And that child who played on the opposite wing looks like he has potential, too. Also good to see Jauzion back in harness. Good player.

J**** is taking comfort from England's performance. Che sorpresa. A couple of minutes aside, that was one of the most lacklustre AB performances I've seen for a long time and England didn't ever look like making inroads, let alone winning. Surely the most telling moment was Wilko attempting a drop goal with England on attack perhaps 15m from the AB line. Utterly bizarre.

Lewsey, again, showed spirit and adventure, doing his best to restrict Carter, and sometimes succeeding. Cueto was solid but lacks pace. And that was about it. Against, relatively speaking, a pretty average ABs' outfit without a single quality lock or a quality #8, Dan Carter not at the top of his form, and with a hole on one wing - it's beyond me why they leave out Cory Jane - it was an England opportunity. The problem is that the ABs (a) field so much more skill, meaning that if they find their rhythm even for a couple of minutes they can be devastating; and (b) believe in themselves.

[kittenOFchaos]

Lewsey, again, showed spirit and adventure, doing his best to restrict Carter,

I felt disappointed about Lewsey's play, just didn't get into the game enough for my liking.

[finbar]

Well, he can't be everywhere at once. Half a dozen more players with his spirit and adventure - okay, madness, too - and England would look like an enterprising team instead of an army of constipated robots.

[Havak]

You mean Lewis Moody I think Finbar? Josh being retired.

Hell it could have been worse - the ABs might actually have turned up.

When Crofty made his break there wasn't a back within 50m of him when he got tackled - shocking stuff!

The only areas of the game we edged was the back rows I think - as a unit ours were better in my view. McCaw - whilst still an assett - didn't hit his own high standards. Hardly noticed the other two.

And even Carter had an off day. As did Wilko.

I felt sorry for Joe Worseley - but it helped England I think. The fastest loose forward combination we have had since Easter first featured?

Australia caught an old English disease - all the possession, all the territory and no points to show for it. But then Murrayfield in November in the wind and rain - some of those boys will never have experienced anything it. I've never before or since been so cold at a rugby game as I was at Murrayfield.

*edit* I wouldn't want Martyn Thomas endorsing me incidentally - not a man that I have any time (or the slightest ounce of respect) for.

And just in case AD thinks I'm being ungracious even a misfiring AB side were the better team on the day and fully deserved the win.

As for the six nations - France are red hot favourites and I suspect England will be runners up (sorry Wales and Ireland but you flatter to deceive right now) - papering the cracks until next autumn once again. Bu which time Lawes and Geraghty will have made a couple of appearances from the bench and ben youngs will have been in the 32 but never the 22. Such is England these days - if you are young forget it.

I mean we will be unbeatable when the lumbering Easter and Tindall get back in.

And Foden will never figure now after telling the BBC he was 'livid' to be overlooked. Martin will see that as disloyalty I suspect.

[finbar]

Josh instead of Lewis? What was I thinking? Well, I know what I was thinking. Someone close to the game - in the form of Josh - finally dumped publicly on the England Troglodytes! Heavens, even Ben Foden has even said he's "livid" about being left out. There go his chances from now on.

I thought the AB back row won out at the breakdown, though England's slackness, the support play in particular, was a helping hand. Reid has never convinced me he's a Test #8. The other AB weakness I forgot to mention is the half back. Might be the best of the available bunch - better, certainly, than Leonard - but he's really not crash hot.

The Australian rugby media is hysterically tearing the Wallabies to shreds. Calling them pathetic losers, a laughing stock and not good enough, amongst other things. The same journos who were dancing on their beer cans after the England match and even after the Ireland game. I don't think Murrayfield was the problem. The problem, evident against both England and Ireland, was the inability to turn possession and territory into points, and the blame, I think, rests squarely on the plainly obvious tactic to kick away so much possession even when in attacking positions. Giteau acknowledged the tactic during the week before the match. Whomever is pushing that tactic is largely to blame, because, apart from denying scoring opportunities, it's not a tactic that comes naturally to them.

We cross-posted on Foden's honesty.

[Havak]

We did indeed.

With the exception of McCaw's role in the try I felt the ABs loosies lost out in the loose - give me a bone here?

The AB half back shares many of the same impulse control problems as Care - not unusual for a scrummy but he did push it a bit at times on saturday.

Oh and I accidentally caught the silver ferns silly dance after twickers had emptied - no ten metre exclusion zone for the ladies it seems, they clearly don't need protecting the way the AB blokes do whilst doing their ballet training?

[finbar]

We did indeed.

With the exception of McCaw's role in the try I felt the ABs loosies lost out in the loose - give me a bone here?

Nuh. And who was turning England over so often at the breakdown? I actually felt sorry for Simon Shaw after a while. Trying his hardest, no support, penalty for holding on.

Furthermore, which of the England back row could have managed McCaw's superb hands in that try? You can't nominate Croft - he certainly could manage it - because J**** doesn't pick him anyway.

Oh and I accidentally caught the silver ferns silly dance after twickers had emptied - no ten metre exclusion zone for the ladies it seems, they clearly don't need protecting the way the AB blokes do whilst doing their ballet training?

Who are the silver ferns and what did they do?