6N 2018
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Yeah Daly is in form and a class act, however he has played the vast majority of his rugby at 13 and then on the wing. Like Joseph, he has some wheels and a lovely outside break but he's far from a natural distributor, nor is he used to defending in the 12 channel, so I'd not have him there.. The backs had a reasonable amount of ball v the French, but not much good, quick, front foot ball.
I agree with @MajorRage that the real problem lies at forward and in particular an unbalanced and slow back row. Fucking around too much with the backs is like using a sticking plaster for cancer.
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So what are the changes to the pack which can be made?
Who's fit and good enough?
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@mikethesnow just going on the weekend, shoving Robshaw to 6, Haskell on at 7 would be a fine start.
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Absolutely, Robshaw back to 6. The guy has a fantastic engine on him and gets through a shed-load of the unsung work. He is one of the first names on the team sheet, so play him in his best position. Haskell is an option at 7, as is Armand or Simmonds for that matter. I reckon Armand is better suited to 8 than Simmonds and Simmonds better suited to 7 but that's not the way Baxter plays them at Exeter (and who's to argue)? Simmonds is bloody quick off the mark but then Armand is no slouch either
Itoje and Launchbury in the engine room and then a long discussion about the front row. Sinckler or Cole? Hartley, George or Cowan-Dickie at 2?
Vunipola stays at loosehead for me and I might just go with Sinckler on the tight. Eddie likely to go with Hartley if fit at hooker methinks and I can see the merit in that - we need some form of leadership there.
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@catogrande said in 6N 2018:
@mikethesnow said in 6N 2018:
Time for Eddie to admit that his selections have been off / players not playing to their ability.
Farrell to 10
Daly and Joseph in midfieldFord has not been influencing games like he should, so I can understand the call for Farrell to move in one and TBH I wouldn't be averse to that nowadays. I wouldn't have that midfield though, Daly and Joseph are too much alike. I'd be OK with either Slade or Teo at 12 and then either of the other two at 13. Just which one would likely be dictated by the available wings. With Nowell out and Watson probably at 15 then it would be Daly on the wing.
I wouldn't bother deciding a backline based on a wing selection. May as well put a spare loose forward on the wing to make tackles all day as any attacking ability goes unused.
Driving around the M25 today and there are big signs advising drivers of the game at Twickenham this weekend and to 'expect delays'. At first glance I thought it said 'expect defeat'
I see the Frogs have gone back to their cannibalistic days though with Itoje complaining of a bite during a maul.
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@catogrande said in 6N 2018:
@mikethesnow said in 6N 2018:
Time for Eddie to admit that his selections have been off / players not playing to their ability.
Farrell to 10
Daly and Joseph in midfieldFord has not been influencing games like he should, so I can understand the call for Farrell to move in one and TBH I wouldn't be averse to that nowadays. I wouldn't have that midfield though, Daly and Joseph are too much alike. I'd be OK with either Slade or Teo at 12 and then either of the other two at 13. Just which one would likely be dictated by the available wings. With Nowell out and Watson probably at 15 then it would be Daly on the wing.
I wouldn't bother deciding a backline based on a wing selection. May as well put a spare loose forward on the wing to make tackles all day as any attacking ability goes unused. Now you know that wasn't what I was saying. If we had Daly and Joseph in the centres then not much chance of the ball going wide.
Driving around the M25 today and there are big signs advising drivers of the game at Twickenham this weekend and to 'expect delays'. At first glance I thought it said 'expect defeat'
BastardI see the Frogs have gone back to their cannibalistic days though with Itoje complaining of a bite during a maul. Hadn't heard that. Be interesting see to see if was after Marler came on. He's not averse to "different" motivational tactics.
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@catogrande check out today's times. They have a shot of the maul with Itoje apparently calling out from the middle of it to Peyper that he was being bitten. At the next stop in play he talked to Peyper and pointed out the culprit. Then there is a mark on his arm that looks like, well, a mark on his arm.
No citing made, supposedly due to lack of evidence but, as with Russians and ex-spy assassination attempts, Les Blues and biting are good friends. -
I'm still to see evidence of Itoje being better than just 'very good'. IMO he hasn't reached 'great' and if he is to be rated as 'world class' then he needs to play at BBBR or Whitelock level. He certainly doesn't push either of them out of a world selection and would even have to fight past others.
I do think he is not getting the chance to fulfil his potential though under the three lock selection policy. It always looks like none of them really know what they should be doing instead of having clear roles. -
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@catogrande said in 6N 2018:
His form since the Lions has not been up there and I'd guess that is for a mixture of reasons.
See I thought he was rubbish in the Lions, having watched almost nothing but highlights prior, I was expecting this colossus and was left thinking he was all hype and no substance.
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TBF Itoje is well good enough to be in the team and it is the press that talk him up as he makes good copy.
Visually he is a target for photographers and looks all beach muscle with great contrast of skin and jersey. They want to write about him a lot.
But yeah, overhyped. -
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@taniwharugby said in 6N 2018:
It’s a good story. I know and have met McLaughlin a few times through a couple of people and he’s a smart cookie. Likewise Heaslip in spotting the potential.
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@pot-hale the analysis side has been about for a while I believe, but its using the information better is the key, and the tone of the article is that England isn't and hasn't been...I know when I was living in England in the early 2000's they were talking about player burnout in the English comps then, seems little has changed.
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@taniwharugby said in 6N 2018:
@pot-hale the analysis side has been about for a while I believe, but its using the information better is the key, and the tone of the article is that England isn't and hasn't been...I know when I was living in England in the early 2000's they were talking about player burnout in the English comps then, seems little has changed.
You’re right about it being around for a while. What puzzles me is that it seems as if Irish playing time management has only been “discovered” this season in the UK. In reality, the 15 central contract ‘A’ players have been robustly managed since early 2000s and the wider squad players too at club level. The max limit is 25 games or 2000 minutes and in the pyramid system, the league gets least time. It’s the inverse in England.
When the European Cup wars were going on in 2012/13, the Premiership organizing body was trailing stories about how Irish provinces were resting and rotating player for the Heineken Cup and competing in the PRO12 without relegation was too easy. So they thought that by changing relegation rules and reducing comp size that the Irish players would have to play more often and be as equally played out/tireder as their Premiership equivalents. Despite plenty of evidence that R&R was due to IRFU playing guidelines, they went ahead. Irish players are still operating to the same playing time limits.
There’s a lot more talk about developing some kind of central contract system mixed in with ringfencing the league and removing relegation to change the Premiership dynamic. There was a recent announcement from the English Players Rep Association that they’d managed to get the longer season idea post 2020 binned. They’re now going to start later in September and finish in second or third week of June and hopefully create rest breaks for players.
We’ll wait and see.
This is a good article on Kitman with more detail on the info it tracks.
Kitman Labs breaking into US sports market after excelling in Irish rugby
We spoke to Stephen Smith, one of the company’s co-founders, about their growth in the States.
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Little story just breaking in UK newspapers
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... and a bit more of the wheels falling off:
*England head coach Eddie Jones has "apologised unreservedly" for offensive comments he made about Wales and Ireland.
At a sponsors' talk in July 2017, the Australian described Wales as a "shit little place" and spoke about how disappointed he was by a recent defeat by the "scummy Irish".
Jones, 58, said he was "very sorry for any offence caused" and added: "No excuses. I shouldn't have said what I did."
A spokesperson for English rugby union's governing body said the remarks were "inappropriate" and the RFU would apologise to its counterparts in Ireland and Wales.
England's next match is against Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday.
Referring to their 13-9 defeat by the same opponents in the 2017 Six Nations, Jones said: **"We've played 23 Tests, we've only lost one Test to the scummy Irish.
"I am still dirty about that game. We'll get that back, we'll get that back don't worry. We've got them next year at home, we'll get them back."**
The video of Jones' talk was uploaded to YouTube by Fuso - the Japanese parent company of England sponsors Mitsubishi - in July last year but has only now gained wider public attention.
Earlier in the talk, Jones discussed Japan Under-20s losing to their Welsh counterparts 125-0 shortly after he took over as Brave Blossoms head coach in 2012.
"Who knows Wales? Are there any Welsh people here? So it's this little shit place that has got three million people. Three million!" he said.*
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What’s funny about the clip in the scummy Irish reference is he’s talking to the guy who’s seated - a former SAS commander, Mike Lynch, who is Irish.
But that detail may not get reported as much...
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I think the funniest part of the speech is his coaching brilliance in selecting 13 "7/10" type players and 2 brilliant but inconsistent ones.
Hey Eddie, when your 7/10 guys don't play at their max levels you get a majority of 5 or 6 out of 10 performances in your team.
