Cowan-Dickie was a bit lucky, that was a very sloppy late challenge after the try, no excuse.
Now that was a great solo try!
He owes us a third after he gifted France one!
Not a wonderful start to the 6 Nations, Scotland and England looked clueless trying to score against disciplined defences (except for miracle tries from May). France and Ireland won, but didn’t seem to have many more ideas than England and Scotland. Wales looked great, but against that Italy team it’s hard to judge.
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I think the whole bonus point system needs to be ditched - England supporters would have wanted a late try from that penalty but they elect to kick to secure a losing bonus point, pointless.
The bonus point system also means any team getting a grandslam get 3 bonus points to ensure they win the tournament.
A bonus point for demolishing a weaker team on the day does not seem very sportsmanlike.
Shocking performance by England. Looked like most were suffering from almighty hangovers.
Recently Eng Fr games have been won by the side most accurate in attack, making less errors, and being organised in defence whilst the opposition has done the opposite and looked tactically naive even if they had more possession.
The difference today was that France were the former team!
Jaded and vaguely clueless Eng especially first half. Tom Curry wasted at No 8, no real ball carrying menace elsewhere, Farrell had a real off day as well. Only bright spark was May. No idea how he sliced through for that second try.
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Impressed by France this afternoon, Eng looked clueless at times and not well prepared. Proper post Brexit blues after that performance.
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Just surfacing from the shock. What happened? Did I just fall asleep on the settee and dream that England were outgunned by a far more accomplished French team???
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Brexit hangover.
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Perhaps in the first half, but England’s scrum was mightily impressive in the second half and mercurial footwork from Jonny May was a pleasure to watch and I’m not English.
New French coaching team and an appetite from the French players clinched it I feel.
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The French were very worthy winners on Saturday and exhibited all the dangerous qualities of their running players (esp. at scrum half) when given the opportunity. OK, they had a piece of luck with the potential knock-on and were fortunate with some of the scrum out-turns but England had so many opportunities on their line that to come away with so little really begs questions as to the intelligence of the playmakers. A one score gap flattered England IMV.
I’m not convinced by EJ as a coach. The team selection was for bulk but without the Vunipolas the forwards’ running game was compromised and playing Curry at #8 didn’t make up for this, Lawes isn’t a strong runner with the ball akin to Billy or Nathan Hughes. Losing Manu also revealed how little attacking threat there is in the back line bar May, who makes Daly look anonymous - it was notable how often Joseph was given near hospital passes.
Aside from the staggering game against the AB’s at the RWC (not the best AB’s team of recent years), I cannot see any development on the England team - indeed, it could be argued things have gone in to reverse (admittedly part due to injuries). It all seemed to be a case of ‘playing by numbers’ and expecting the French team to fold-up - and this time, doubtless buoyed by Shaun Edwards’ voice ringing in their ears, they defeated such a basic England Plan A and there was no Plan B.
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The lack of a proper No 8 was surely a mistake. We never looked like winning the collisions. Farrell was poor - time to ditch him and get a proper 12 in the side.
I saw highlights of the France v England game and thought the French half-backs and their wing forward wearing 7 were fantastic. I like the speed they played at.
Congratulations to France. A great win.
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I suspect Lawes played to give more options in the line-outs. But the compromise for this, noting Underhill and Curry are now (rightly IMV) fixtures in the team, was stark, especially with the likes of Marler who, for all his scrummaging qualities, rarely makes meaningful yards with the ball.
To be fair Lawes did carry fairly well. I thought Ford had a good game - especially given the slow ball. Not sure why we didn’t try to up the tempo - ruck ball was so slow it gave France time to re-set every time. Youngs is surely past it - time to give Spencer or Robson a chance?
Agree re Youngs - something which some in the media have had on their radar for some time. When he came on to the scene, he nipped around the breakdown and made meaningful yards but nowadays his service, which has never been quick, has slowed down IMV.
Speed is a weapon in rugby but England seem to plod at times - kinda same experiment but expecting a different outcome. Nowadays, the better teams stand-off the tackle area and realign quickly.
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Totally. I missed that when I was praising the French earlier!
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He needed to do something to atone for his howler in the first half when he stopped for a knock-on that wasn’t to give France the decisive try.
Let’s not get too carried away. England had a good World Cup and also took Ireland to the cleaners in the build up playing some pretty good stuff. They may not chuck it all around the park but they had aggressive ball carrying in a pack with better ball skills than for a while and Curry and Underhill were magnificent. They created quick ball for the side and stole plenty too. England have a mobile and effective front row the match of anyone in the tournament I would say.
It might be good to see some new faces but there is plenty of youth and talent already on the park. They just did not really turn up, and when behind they showed that familiar England trait of recent years of not really working out a Plan B quickly enough.
I’d be surprised to see loads of changes this weekend for Scotland, and also surprised not to see some pretty fired up performances too. I do think it is time to move on at scrum-half for the long term though.
Equally interesting will be to see how France go against other teams.
Bruce
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