Rugby - The Game They Play In Heaven II

[kittenOFchaos]

Well, no top-flight rugby this coming weekend - LV Cup nonsense

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Indeed. I don't know why they bother.

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Wales, France, Ireland.

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Two out of two. Wales playing their same old limited boshing game, Italy lifting enormously after some dire performances in the autumn. Injuries forced Brunel's hand in the backs selection, four of the young Italian backs had 7 caps between them. An early costly error by Esposito aside, they acquitted themselves very well. Michele Campagnaro looks like a nice young prospect at 13. Why Wales can't or won't use their only real threat, North, coming off the wing more is a mystery.

England's first half hour was rubbish and it cost them. The French looked strangely out of puff in the second half. England had enough possession to do the job but absolutely no cutting edge. 36 is out of his depth and Farrell Jnr really only a plodder.

[kittenOFchaos]

Farrell Jnr really only a plodder.

Thought Farrell had a decent game overall...he did try running it and played the corners well at time.

36 for all his faults was very involved in the game as was Nowell. Not got time to really go into things, but I thought the English scrum was particularly abysmal, particularly with Mako and Youngs.

Ross Ford

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Farrell did try running it. Good for him. Plodding though. His problem is that he has next to no natural instinct. It's by numbers. 36, I suspect, is always going to be one of those big rough diamonds whose lack of honed skills and finesse will find him out at the highest level.

Tigers fell over the line last night. Against Worcester! A loss wouldn't have done Cockers' future much good.

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Cripes, what a day of rugby. Hard to know who is feeling worse today, Wales or Scotland supporters. At least Wales troubled the scoreboard, however briefly. For what that's worth. Ireland did a very thorough tactical job on them and, as we know, Wales have no Plan B. Still. I don't think Fatland knows what one is. Phillips surely must have had his day. Nasty piece of work he is. I feel sorry for Scotland supporters. What have they done to deserve Scott Johnson? He's succeeded in taking the team backwards.

Ireland's pack and forwards will take them a decent distance. They're thin in the backs mainly due to injury. Zebo is close to a return and his sort of threat could make Ireland dangerous indeed. Joe Schmidt seems to be doing a nice job. England were never tested, we didn't learn much more about them.

[kittenOFchaos]

England were never tested, we didn't learn much more about them.

It was the worst Scottish performance in a Calcutta Cup fixture that I've ever witnessed.

We've probably been beaten by more, but in this game we never troubled England, didn't threaten the try line and came to the game without a functioning lineout. Ross Ford gets alot of stick (and rightfully so) but his replacement managed to be worse! Furthermore at no point did we appear to be chasing the game, just getting it over and done with.

The coach made a big call dropping Brown and Gray...well, that didn't work, not in the least. I wonder why they were really dropped. The sooner Vern Cotter comes to town, the better.

As for England...Mike Brown is top drawer and I can't wait till Billy Vunipola is fully grown

Weapon of the weekend? The rolling maul...England and particularly Ireland used it effectively and Scotland and Wales had no answer.

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Brown and Gray were scapegoats, paying the price for Johnson's own incompetence. Johnson is p*ss and wind, talks the talk but his results over his coaching career tell the story. Much more failure than success. The mystery is why the SRU were sucked in. Your biggest problem is that Cotter will be head coach under Johnson as DoR.

[kittenOFchaos]

Brown and Gray were scapegoats

Brown was treated disgracefully. He did absolutely nothing that would deserve being dropped so far he even missed the bench. I notice that Richie Gray has been recalled to the squad...but Brown remains in the wilderness. Something smells.

In other news, Cusiter is coming to Sale to join Nathan Hines: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/26239898

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I hear that both Brown and Denton are on the outer due to issues with the coach. It has also been reported that there is widespread trouble brewing in the camp over SJ's methods.

[kittenOFchaos]

France, Ireland and Italy FTW?

Sale are playing Worcester again...good for our win:loss ratio, but surely there are other teams we can play.

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Cripes, France were dire. Why PSA persists with Doussain is a mystery. They were a rabble, with only the back three ever looking dangerous, and only then in one-out efforts. Wales were made to look better than they are even if their forwards were strong and their defence rock-solid. Webb was an improvement on Phillips but Priestland offers very little. I expect Fatland will take the win as validation of the bosh game. Pfffft.

[kittenOFchaos]

France, Ireland and Italy FTW?

Nope, nope and nope

Pleased that Scotland won and that Richie Gray played so well, but many of the same old problems were in evidence as attack after attack didn't go anywhere. What saved us was that our scrum improved as the game progressed and our lineout work was back to what I'd expect from Scotland.

Was watching England Vs Ireland on record late last night and fell asleep...

Did well with my Super 15 predictions however (didn't understand why people were backing the Blues over the Highlanders and by so much), but Harlequins losing by 5 to Gloucester cost me ultimately. Bah! Abit of a costly weekend!

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England -v- Ireland was excellent. Game of the weekend. Mike Brown was outstanding. In fact, there were two high quality full backs on display. Ireland had their chances but couldn't capitalise. England are heading in the right direction. A better 10 and coach and they could be very very good.

Scotland did enough at the right times. Italy seemed to run out of puff, with ambition exceeding fitness in the second half. Too many unforced errors. You can have Tommaso Allan back. Strikes me as a pretty pedestrian 10. Every time Orquera has replaced him the Italian tempo has lifted. He would have made a big difference coming on earlier.

Actually listened to a lot of Tigers -v- Irish yesterday on the wireless. A wet, cold Sunday with nothing bettr to do obviously. Tigers are struggling at the moment.