Hardly fair to blame 3/4s as England midfield has 2-3 forwards in it at most breakdowns. Presumably the idea is for them to truck it up and tie defenders in, then go wide. All that actually happens is it slows the move down and we have to kick it away.
Marlerâs pointy head.
Apart from that there was little to cheer. Even opened a half of Croft 2005 port to help me through to the end of the match.
Love the ambition shown by Portugal and Fiji across the weekend games. Can Fiji make it to last 8? Would be a rich reward for their endeavour in both games.
2 Likes
If Wales beat the Wallabies (and win Group C), then thereâs a good chance Fifi (as r/up) will play England in the QF, so they could be on for a SF berth 
2 Likes
Based on yesterday Fiji wouldnât have much difficulty beating England. Englandâs best hope is Wobblies stepping up and beating WalesâŚ
Re your comment above, I donât mind Englandâs 3/4âs not having a plan in open play, such that booting the ball away is a safety first behaviour, but their execution from set-pieces is so consistently awry one can only believe they have different play sheets and/or train against static dummies. IIRC Japan almost scooted away with 2 interceptions yesterday, so poor was the flat alignment of our 3/4âs.
Itâs truly baffling and in stark contrast to Ireland, who appear to have multiple set-piece moves and set-ups.
If you watched the warmup games nothing should really suprise you about England so far, or the progress that Fiji have made.
This is a limited side, coached to play a limited game. I think I can name almost an entire team from this squad who are past their best and should retire after this tournament. Borthwick has brought in a few new faces but hasnât changed the dire tactical approach of the EJ years. A reboot will be needed. With less âbootâ.
It must gall a few sides on the other side of the draw that England might just trudge into the semi final.
Bruce
1 Like
They look over-coached to me. Many of the same players look much better playing for their Prem sides. Borthwickâs Leicester title winning side played a percentage based limited game with minimal flair and his England side appear to be trying to play the same way. Doesnât work against international level oppositionâŚ
Uruguay v Italy â a messy game but full of endeavour from both teams (being shown on ITV4).
1 Like
Whatever they gave Italy at half time is working well. Meanwhile Uruguay has lost the plot with errors this second half.
France v Namibia â at some stage today, World Rugby and the officials obviously changed the laws around the forward pass. I suppose weâre back to the âbackwards out of the handsâ nonsense?!
On ITV4.
2 Likes
But no one really complains when a Tier 1 team does it against a minnow. Though the minnow is usually judged more harshly.
Fast forward to a semi or even the final and then listen to the angstâŚâŚ
1 Like
Was thinking the same. And if you want to see an example of the difference between France and (say) England, the passage of play around 60 mins is testament to the commitment and pace in the French team, in recovering from an interception and then running 75m to score at the other end. Crazy stuff.
Well the French certainly didnât take their foot off the pedal. I know the opposition wasnât great but the French made them look like a schoolboy team. Very impressive.
That was top tier 1 against tier 3 (at best). What was great to see was that it wasnât done with just power, much was down to pace & handling (and more than a sprinkling of forward passes). This said, inviting some of the lesser teams to play the primary nations doesnât seem sensible to me. Theyâre just fodder â and it may have come at a heavy cost to France if Dupont cannot play again in this tournament.
Yes and no if you donât allow the lesser teams to participate it imo isnât good for the game.
1 Like
Sounds like bad news on Dupont though. I presume they will win their pool and play whoever loses between Ireland South Africa this weekend. They will be severly disadvanted without him unless he makes a miraculous recovery.
The other half of the draw looks like it hinges on the outcome of Wales v Australia. England look like they will win their pool so play whoever second and that will take a while to unravel given Fiji losing to Wales and beating Australia. At least there is interest in most games. And can England keep 15 on the pitch for 80 minutes?
1 Like
Eddie just dropped the young fella from the fly half position for the Wales game
He wasnât ready for the high level of rugby just yet anyway so he was thrown to the wolves , I feel so bad for him , a real stuff up from sir Eddie
Wobbilies might pull a rabbit out of the hat this game , if not Eddie is the clown
Canât see us getting out of the group.
Well the biggest laugh will be if Italy beat the ABs 
ABs and Aus on same plane back down
Under
Now thatâd be funny.