Comments on: Autumn Internationals 2014: England team to play South Africa

By: stu

stu — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 18:44:38 +0000

Totally agree with dazza. England need more going forward so if they fail against SA I think SL might have some explaining to do

By: Dazza

Dazza — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 09:27:34 +0000

I think a few of us are in agreement here, that we need a 6 who does more than tackle and defend. Wood is a good carrier of the ball and relatively quick for a big guy. But he’s not getting in the right positions to do this. It could be down to instruction? Maybe they don’t want him taking the ball up? If so, then they need to give Billy V someone else who can. Attwood is someone else who carries well, so get him into positions where he can take the ball up in attack.
At the moment the difference between England and the SH teams is that we rely on one player (Billy V) to do 90% of the forward carrying. The SH teams will have 3 or 4 forwards all tasked with carrying as much as possible. I want to see Lawes and Attwood getting involved more around this area, as they’re both big guys who are difficult to tackle.

By: Dr Boo

Dr Boo — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 17:02:29 +0000

i knew Haskell would not make the squad. Simply brought in as injury cover and was never going to make the 23.

I don’t look forward to seeing Woods vs Coetzee. Wish we had Haskell, heck even Dave Ewer would have been a better choice to allow Robshaw to do what he wants.

By: Ronnie

Ronnie — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 16:25:04 +0000

Spot on

There is no more time for building the wins have to come and come quickly, for this team to be counted as contenders.

This is a good England team but we have still yet to see the test match animals take it to the next level and find a way to win a match in the heat of battle. I struggle to see the cutting edge in this team. We still seam to talking about what guys have the potential to do rather than what they do do.

The lack of England players int he Lions team that won in Aus was telling, of those that featured several are injured.

AS for the weekend: I like Watson I would have had him in anyway, however we seem to be very lightweight. I is going to be easy to mark Billy as there are few players who will carry the ball past the gainline.

By: Don P

Don P — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 15:49:15 +0000

Will
Have heard this before, but is losing by less is real progress? I mean you mention SA, who beat the ABs recently, but they themselves have lost to, e.g., Scotland in recent yrs. To put too much stock in 5 ‘close’ loses v NZ doesn’t seem to have convinced too many rugger pundits of late. Again, SCW; ‘It’s all about winning’1 England need 2 start this now.!

By: Don P

Don P — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 15:41:44 +0000

How about giving Matt Mullan a go @ prop (& no, I’m not on commission)? I’d also start Haskell. Confident, exp, can play 6 or 7. If not now, when? Dazza mentioned 10. Danny Cipriani & 11. David Strettle. I’d say the former is a MUST, as Farrell reps a sleeping policeman for England. Basically he’s a kicker & a tackler. Playing 4 Saracens & v the SH is a diff story altogether. More is re’qed @ fly1/2. Always liked Strettle as he seemed to play with no fear & punched above his weight in ‘D’ I thought; & esp even from his early days @ Quins. Pity Wade’s not in either, altho he may suffer from ball starvation like Roko. Players like him (& Tom Varndell; is he so inferior to the other wings?) HAVE to have quick ball, otherwise forget it. Anyway, IMO England have go to go out & play as though they’re 10 pts down with 10 to play, otherwise… but who knows? Crunch time for both sides’ cred for sure. Ouch! Go you good things, go!

By: stu

stu — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 15:30:03 +0000

I hope this isn’t SL being loyal to a fault…

With the lack of carrying being an issue last week, i thought Haskell might have been an option given an injury to Wood or not. Similarly Brown continued to show he may not be the best choice at the moment but is now the time to change..?.

I would have swapped Vunipola for Wood and put Morgan to 8 and Haskell on the bench. I don’t think 1 lineup is right for every match and England should adjust the starting 15 for the team they face. I think its common sense some players are better suited to different opposition than others and if we have a balanced squad then we should be able to interchange shouldn’t we?

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 14:22:42 +0000

Thanks Comrade

By: Benjit

Benjit — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 13:32:43 +0000

Sadly SL seems to be so robotic in his subs that I can’t see it happening. He’s not tried it yet in the last 12 months.

By: K.Marx

K.Marx — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 13:28:50 +0000

Yet another ex-public schoolboy capped by England…

By: Dazza

Dazza — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 13:08:14 +0000

I was torn between which one should play 6 or 8. I know Ewers has been playing 6 a lot recently because of Waldrom. Haskell has been playing mostly at 7 for Wasps lately, but would be happy to see him anywhere across the back row.
I put Strettle in because I think he is the most on form winger at the moment. I can see why SL wouldn’t pick him, but I think he’s in the best form of his life. At the moment he seems to be finishing every opportunity given to him, and you can’t ask anymore from your winger than that. Also struggling to think of any other wingers comfortable on the left that are in the same form as him?

By: Dazza

Dazza — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 12:33:01 +0000

I like your idea of bringing Morgan on and moving Billy to 6. Will carry just as well from 6, and knows how to defend there. Wonder if SL has thought of this option? Hopefully Wood will have a better game this weekend.