The Official English Rugby Thread

[Kawazaki]

Every kicker does. I find it weird that it doesn't stick to him in the way it has for others who don't experience the phenomenon any more frequently than he does.

Yeah, Farrell never gets any hackneyed criticism that sticks.

Farrell has had to play virtually his whole England career with Youngs at 9. People forget this - 9 is where the trouble starts. With faster ruck ball who knows how much more favourable the anti-Farrell mob would be? He's always been a very good 10 in the highest level club games and finals for Saracens when playing with a scrumhalf who can pass well and quickly (De Koch, Wigglesworth, Spencer) - with far more wins then losses.

[Ovals]

Yes Faz has got no end of shit despite being a key player for us for years, and a core part of all of our successes, albeit he was crap last year. Meanwhile Ford who gets constantly hyped was terrible every time he came on this year, no way it would have passed without mention the other way around.

I think he walks back into the side when he's fit.

I must have missed the Ford Hype - I thought everyone wanted Smith at 10. And he has barely had an opportunity in this 6n, so it's a bit disingenous to say he's been terrible.

We'll just have to accept that Farrell will walk back into the side - largely because we haven't tried a genuine 12 since Farrell last played. Eddie has seen to it that there is no valid option now. I just hope that when he returns, we do something about the lack of pace in the back 3 - otherwise we'll have an even slower backline because Farrell isn't exactly fleet of foot. Still, he can't do much worse than Slade at 12, even if he just continues to either kick, or shovel the ball on.

We could still turn out a decent side even with Eddie in charge and some players coming back from injury';

Genge
LCD / George
SInkler
Itoje
Hill / Launchbury
Lawes / Curry
Curry/Willis
Dombrandt / Barbeary
Randall / Quirke (but it will be Youngs)
Smith
May (if he gets his edge back)
Farrell / Tuilagi (for 10 minutes)
Slade / Merchant
Watson / Radwan
Steward / Malins

Maybe one or two bolters like Odogwu could also come in

[JM2K6]

Every kicker does. I find it weird that it doesn't stick to him in the way it has for others who don't experience the phenomenon any more frequently than he does.

Yeah, Farrell never gets any hackneyed criticism that sticks.

Farrell has had to play virtually his whole England career with Youngs at 9. People forget this - 9 is where the trouble starts. With faster ruck ball who knows how much more favourable the anti-Farrell mob would be? He's always been a very good 10 in the highest level club games and finals for Saracens when playing with a scrumhalf who can pass well and quickly (De Koch, Wigglesworth, Spencer) - with far more wins then losses.

Ford had to play with the same 9 and his performances and win rate for England were vastly superior to Farrell as a fly half. The debate is about Farrell as a 12; there's no question he's a far weaker choice at 10.

[Kawazaki]

Every kicker does. I find it weird that it doesn't stick to him in the way it has for others who don't experience the phenomenon any more frequently than he does.

Yeah, Farrell never gets any hackneyed criticism that sticks.

Farrell has had to play virtually his whole England career with Youngs at 9. People forget this - 9 is where the trouble starts. With faster ruck ball who knows how much more favourable the anti-Farrell mob would be? He's always been a very good 10 in the highest level club games and finals for Saracens when playing with a scrumhalf who can pass well and quickly (De Koch, Wigglesworth, Spencer) - with far more wins then losses.

Ford had to play with the same 9 and his performances and win rate for England were vastly superior to Farrell as a fly half. The debate is about Farrell as a 12; there's no question he's a far weaker choice at 10.

I think we can safely include the 'vastly superior' comment in as part of that hackneyed criticism referenced earlier.

The point is he plays for England more as a 2nd 5/8th distributor/kicker than as a more traditional 12 so it's valid to look at his performances as a 1st 5/8th in matches that are often at or above test level for his club (finals etc). And he does very well when paired with a decent scrumhalf.

[Rhubarb & Custard]

The year before this we beat France playing some of the fastest rucks we've ever had, possibly anyone has ever had, and that was with Youngs. Which is to say it's not quite as easy as just saying Youngs is bad and/or slow, certainly he's not a brilliant passer, but he can mix the game up and he can play at pace. When he doesn't play fast it's often more about tactics or that the options blind/open aren't ready for the ball, that can leave the 9 looking at idiot, but it's not that the problems start at 9 (although sometimes he does do some weird/bad things)

Mostly he's a very good player who'd done a lot of good things for England, even if he's also played in a lot of selections and team tactical environments I don't much enjoy.

[Kawazaki]

The year before this we beat France playing some of the fastest rucks we've ever had, possibly anyone has ever had, and that was with Youngs. Which is to say it's not quite as easy as just saying Youngs is bad and/or slow, certainly he's not a brilliant passer, but he can mix the game up and he can play at pace. When he doesn't play fast it's often more about tactics or that the options blind/open aren't ready for the ball, that can leave the 9 looking at idiot, but it's not that the problems start at 9 (although sometimes he does do some weird/bad things)

Mostly he's a very good player who'd done a lot of good things for England, even if he's also played in a lot of selections and team tactical environments I don't much enjoy.

Youngs really hasn't been Tier 1 test level for a long time now. He was already in decline after the 2015 RWC let alone the one in 2019. Sure, he has occasional matches where he hits the levels required but those are the outliers, not the default. His defence is pish as well.

[JM2K6]

Yeah, Farrell never gets any hackneyed criticism that sticks.

Farrell has had to play virtually his whole England career with Youngs at 9. People forget this - 9 is where the trouble starts. With faster ruck ball who knows how much more favourable the anti-Farrell mob would be? He's always been a very good 10 in the highest level club games and finals for Saracens when playing with a scrumhalf who can pass well and quickly (De Koch, Wigglesworth, Spencer) - with far more wins then losses.

Ford had to play with the same 9 and his performances and win rate for England were vastly superior to Farrell as a fly half. The debate is about Farrell as a 12; there's no question he's a far weaker choice at 10.

I think we can safely include the 'vastly superior' comment in as part of that hackneyed criticism referenced earlier.

The point is he plays for England more as a 2nd 5/8th distributor/kicker than as a more traditional 12 so it's valid to look at his performances as a 1st 5/8th in matches that are often at or above test level for his club (finals etc). And he does very well when paired with a decent scrumhalf.

You can conclude what you like, but it's a fact that England have a vastly superior winning record with Ford at 10 and not Farrell. Farrell was not a good 10 for England. It's even fair to say it's probably where a chunk of the resentment towards him comes from - he never really rewarded the faith shown in him as a 10 and on those occasions when it came at the expense of a better fly half that rankled.

Whether he's the 12 England need moving forward will boil down to how well he can dovetail with Smith, what tactics England want to bother using, and whether he can continue to improve his somewhat rudimentary running game.

[Rhubarb & Custard]

The year before this we beat France playing some of the fastest rucks we've ever had, possibly anyone has ever had, and that was with Youngs. Which is to say it's not quite as easy as just saying Youngs is bad and/or slow, certainly he's not a brilliant passer, but he can mix the game up and he can play at pace. When he doesn't play fast it's often more about tactics or that the options blind/open aren't ready for the ball, that can leave the 9 looking at idiot, but it's not that the problems start at 9 (although sometimes he does do some weird/bad things)

Mostly he's a very good player who'd done a lot of good things for England, even if he's also played in a lot of selections and team tactical environments I don't much enjoy.

Youngs really hasn't been Tier 1 test level for a long time now. He was already in decline after the 2015 RWC let alone the one in 2019. Sure, he has occasional matches where he hits the levels required but those are the outliers, not the default. His defence is pish as well.

I think that's more than a tad harsh, but now with the emergence of Randall and Quirke, and maybe soon JVP he's not going to retain the lock he's had on the role, perhaps not even a fingernail grip. What he might still have been for much of that time is the best choice available to England.

[Paddington Bear]

The year before this we beat France playing some of the fastest rucks we've ever had, possibly anyone has ever had, and that was with Youngs. Which is to say it's not quite as easy as just saying Youngs is bad and/or slow, certainly he's not a brilliant passer, but he can mix the game up and he can play at pace. When he doesn't play fast it's often more about tactics or that the options blind/open aren't ready for the ball, that can leave the 9 looking at idiot, but it's not that the problems start at 9 (although sometimes he does do some weird/bad things)

Mostly he's a very good player who'd done a lot of good things for England, even if he's also played in a lot of selections and team tactical environments I don't much enjoy.

Youngs really hasn't been Tier 1 test level for a long time now. He was already in decline after the 2015 RWC let alone the one in 2019. Sure, he has occasional matches where he hits the levels required but those are the outliers, not the default. His defence is pish as well.

I think that's more than a tad harsh, but now with the emergence of Randall and Quirke, and maybe soon JVP he's not going to retain the lock he's had on the role, perhaps not even a fingernail grip. What he might still have been for much of that time is the best choice available to England.

I think we can be too harsh on him, myself included. With all that said he hasn't been our best option for a while - Spencer was a cut above for a long time and overlooked. He was an option, did fine enough.

[Rhubarb & Custard]

Youngs really hasn't been Tier 1 test level for a long time now. He was already in decline after the 2015 RWC let alone the one in 2019. Sure, he has occasional matches where he hits the levels required but those are the outliers, not the default. His defence is pish as well.

I think that's more than a tad harsh, but now with the emergence of Randall and Quirke, and maybe soon JVP he's not going to retain the lock he's had on the role, perhaps not even a fingernail grip. What he might still have been for much of that time is the best choice available to England.

I think we can be too harsh on him, myself included. With all that said he hasn't been our best option for a while - Spencer was a cut above for a long time and overlooked. He was an option, did fine enough.

I'm not sure Spencer did ever look better than Youngs, and he did himself no favours sitting behind Wigglesworth for so long, and anyway that Spencer was looking good at a lower level was still being overlooked I don't find worrisome . Perhaps Youngs shouldn't have kept his spot but then none of Townsend, Maunder, Robson, Spencer ever pushed on, Care wasn't trusted and Heinz was picked to backup on the strength of being able to put a box kick really high. Not quite sure why Mitchell never got a chance, perhaps the thinking there was just to hang on and skip through to the likes of Randall and Quirke

[sockwithaticket]

Every kicker does. I find it weird that it doesn't stick to him in the way it has for others who don't experience the phenomenon any more frequently than he does.

Yeah, Farrell never gets any hackneyed criticism that sticks.

Farrell has had to play virtually his whole England career with Youngs at 9. People forget this - 9 is where the trouble starts. With faster ruck ball who knows how much more favourable the anti-Farrell mob would be? He's always been a very good 10 in the highest level club games and finals for Saracens when playing with a scrumhalf who can pass well and quickly (De Koch, Wigglesworth, Spencer) - with far more wins then losses.

I was commenting solely on kicking reputation and how his off days don't seem to have tarnished him as a flakey or unreliable kicker in the same way that they have someone like Ford.

[sockwithaticket]

I think that's more than a tad harsh, but now with the emergence of Randall and Quirke, and maybe soon JVP he's not going to retain the lock he's had on the role, perhaps not even a fingernail grip. What he might still have been for much of that time is the best choice available to England.

I think we can be too harsh on him, myself included. With all that said he hasn't been our best option for a while - Spencer was a cut above for a long time and overlooked. He was an option, did fine enough.

I'm not sure Spencer did ever look better than Youngs, and he did himself no favours sitting behind Wigglesworth for so long, and anyway that Spencer was looking good at a lower level was still being overlooked I don't find worrisome . Perhaps Youngs shouldn't have kept his spot but then none of Townsend, Maunder, Robson, Spencer ever pushed on, Care wasn't trusted and Heinz was picked to backup on the strength of being able to put a box kick really high. Not quite sure why Mitchell never got a chance, perhaps the thinking there was just to hang on and skip through to the likes of Randall and Quirke

Looking good at the lower level* is all you can go on until they actually get an opportunity to play at the higher level. Admittedly I can't be arsed to go back and count, but I'm pretty sure one of the only times Robson got more than 10 minutes on the pitch was as emergency fly half cover against Ireland. It's churlish to Spencer or Robson never kicked on when they never had the opportunities to show whether they could. Although the situation has improved recently, we still see shades of this issue in recent tests. With very few test matches until the World Cup and new options to get up to speed, why pull Randall around 50 minutes against Italy to give Youngs an extra half hour he really doesn't need? Impeding the development of alternate 9s seems to be a feature rather than a bug.

*Almost all of the main competitors look better than Youngs at a lower level and have done for some time, fwiw.

Not entirely clear why you've mentioned the Exeter duo, neither of them have ever really been in contention for England. Maunder has 1 cap for a total of 2 and half minutes of pitch time during a Lions summer.

Mitchell had a couple of ill-timed injuries around international periods, which is a shame as Eddie seemed genuinely interested in him. That's probably it for him now, though. The list of players whom Eddie's come back to having discarded them is extremely short.

[Oxbow]

Maybe a little bias, but Mitchell is a better scrum half than Randall. He's also in great form, look at the stats this season for tries, clean breaks, defenders beaten, he's pretty much the only scrum half that gets on the lists. Quirke and Mitchell would be my choices going forward, but we all know the fetid corpse of Youngs would still get picked by Eddie for the World Cup.

[Paddington Bear]

Quirke I think is the best of the lot, Randall did fine and there was a step change in the speed of ball. Don't think it's a coincidence that Wales were giving away penalties like mad in the first half of that game.

Youngs' best skill is his kicking, which can be aimless at times, and we always play with at least two kickers in the backline. Injuries pending I wouldn't take Youngs to Australia at all, the more caps Randall and Quirke have the better.

[SaintK]

Maybe a little bias, but Mitchell is a better scrum half than Randall. He's also in great form, look at the stats this season for tries, clean breaks, defenders beaten, he's pretty much the only scrum half that gets on the lists. Quirke and Mitchell would be my choices going forward, but we all know the fetid corpse of Youngs would still get picked by Eddie for the World Cup.

Agree entirely. Mitchell has been outstanding this season. He and Quirke would be an excellent pair of scrum halves in an England match day squad

[sockwithaticket]

If we're airing club bias, I still don't get why Robson wasn't given an opportunity to start in the Summer and was then dropped.

[Hal Jordan]

Anyway, I see stalwart Englishman Heinz is buggering off back to New Zealand.

[Kawazaki]

It's a pity that whoever is managing these England development pathways isn't identifying players who can develop into players for positions where England are shite. A 15/16 year old Jack Nowell or Cadan Murley might have been encouraged to develop as scrumhalves instead of wingers or perhaps the young Alfie Barbeary was encouraged to stay at 12 instead of being told by a moron that he should go into the front-row, that sort of thing.

Are you reading this Conor O'Shea?

[ASMO]

Maybe a little bias, but Mitchell is a better scrum half than Randall. He's also in great form, look at the stats this season for tries, clean breaks, defenders beaten, he's pretty much the only scrum half that gets on the lists. Quirke and Mitchell would be my choices going forward, but we all know the fetid corpse of Youngs would still get picked by Eddie for the World Cup.

I think that stats are meaningless, how does that compare to the number of games he has played vs how many the others have? Mitchell from the games i have seen has been good, but not that good, and i certainly would not put him above Randall and Quirke.

[Oxbow]

The stats were more of an indication of the kind of form he's in rather than a direct comparison with other scrum halves. Quirke is a great player, but I've seen nothing to convince me that Randall is better than Mitchell.

[Kawazaki]

The stats were more of an indication of the kind of form he's in rather than a direct comparison with other scrum halves. Quirke is a great player, but I've seen nothing to convince me that Randall is better than Mitchell.

Ability and form have very little to do with the Eddie Jones selection formula*.






* nobody knows what it is.

[sockwithaticket]

"Looking for test match animals, maaaaaate".

[Rhubarb & Custard]

Form is reasonably down on the list, if you have to pick an EPS and then pick from that you can't start really pick on form period and anyway given how test rugby works you need much more stability. Nor does he fail to pick on ability, more he has some very specific requirements (ones we should concede outright he could well be right about given he's going to know far more) that oftentimes many of us don't much like

[Raggs]

Gloucester Worcester cancelled due to covid.

[Kawazaki]

Form is reasonably down on the list, if you have to pick an EPS and then pick from that you can't start really pick on form period and anyway given how test rugby works you need much more stability. Nor does he fail to pick on ability, more he has some very specific requirements (ones we should concede outright he could well be right about given he's going to know far more) that oftentimes many of us don't much like

Players who blow smoke up Eddie's arse to the press tend to keep their place in the England team. I'm sure this is just a coincidence though.

[Madness]

If we're airing club bias, I still don't get why Robson wasn't given an opportunity to start in the Summer and was then dropped.

Robson did seem to be a bit nervous in first few caps under Eddie but rather than let him settle him with a start vs someone like Italy Eddie fucked him off, "not a test match animaaaaalll maaaaaaate" though obviously if you have over 100 caps you can make as many mistakes as you want.

Youngs does appear to be a great guy in camp and can hit real heights normally against Australia but since the world cup he has very rarely hit his top performance and when he's bad it cripples England.

[Brazil]

Maybe a little bias, but Mitchell is a better scrum half than Randall. He's also in great form, look at the stats this season for tries, clean breaks, defenders beaten, he's pretty much the only scrum half that gets on the lists. Quirke and Mitchell would be my choices going forward, but we all know the fetid corpse of Youngs would still get picked by Eddie for the World Cup.

Agree entirely. Mitchell has been outstanding this season. He and Quirke would be an excellent pair of scrum halves in an England match day squad

I think Mitchell and Quirke are the options in the future, and I'd get them as much experience as possible very soon as they both seem like players that learn from high pressure performances. All that said, Randall hasn't put a foot wrong for me and deserves the starting berth. It's a Gommers-Dawson-Bracken scenario, which is no bad thing, except you've also got van poortfliet in the mix, who I rate highly as well.

None of which matters, because the tenth best passer in the premiership will continue to accrue caps until the heat death of the universe.

[sockwithaticket]

Bill Sweeney's empty rhetoric vomited out to try and stymie the justified reaction to the RFU's weekend statement.

The Rugby Football Union chief executive, Bill Sweeney, has insisted Eddie Jones is not “bulletproof” and belatedly admitted England’s Six Nations performance was not acceptable. Jones has been backed to continue in the role for now but Sweeney insisted his position would be kept under constant review.

Sweeney went on to concede that the union was wrong not to acknowledge in its statement the day after England lost to France that another campaign with two wins and three defeats was disappointing and that supporters had a right to feel aggrieved.

Sweeney also revealed he has had a conversation with Jones, spelling out that another substandard campaign was “not acceptable”. He said: “No one is bulletproof. No one is indispensable. I’m not indispensable. Anyone can go at any particular time but that happens when there is a loss of confidence.

“People stay in their role because there is a belief that you are still heading in the right direction, even when, sometimes, the results might not back that up. You make a call, you make a judgment; are we heading in the right direction? Of course he’s not bulletproof. He knows that himself. We haven’t performed well in the last two Six Nations. To have a conversation with him saying ‘that’s not acceptable’ – of course that happens.”

On Sunday the RFU released a statement claiming that “solid progress” had been made despite a campaign with just eight tries scored and wins over only Italy and Wales. The statement acknowledged no disappointment nor did it include an apology to supporters but on Thursday Sweeney said: “The feelings were genuine, really disappointed, massively frustrated. Should we have said that more up front? Yes, probably, recognising fans’ disappointment as well, so I think that’s a fair comment.

“We weren’t lying. When we made that statement, we were being honest. ‘Solid progress’ – I can understand how that might confuse after two wins last year and two wins this year. But progress is not just about matches won. It’s also about hitting certain objectives along the way.

“Eddie has said it himself, that he hasn’t done a good job. He said that in one interview. If you go back we won three championships with him since he’s been here. You only remember the most recent performances and the ones that hurt at the moment are the last two years. But do we think that he is the coach that is capable of winning us the Six Nations next year? Absolutely correct.”

Sweeney insisted there was no cut-off point when it would be too close to the World Cup to ditch Jones but went on to explain why he was adamant he was still the right man for the job. “We review and evaluate things as we go along. It’s not a case of saying: ‘Let’s wait six months then review it and see how we’re going,’” he said. “We’ll continue to review all the way through, we will have those conservations and as long as we’re moving in the right direction, we’re happy.

“[Jones] felt that the spirit in the side needed to improve and we needed to break down some of the club relationships and forge one England identity. We’ve seen that come on leaps and bounds. Another big one is leadership on the field of play. The other one is decision-making – maturity and composure in critical moments. We think we’re not there yet. That’s one thing that didn’t go well. [But] he’s got the absolute belief and commitment of the players. Given all of that, we believe he’s the right guy to take us through. We’ll continue to review as we go through.”

Insincere waffle really.

[assfly]

Gloucester Worcester cancelled due to covid.

Surely at this point they should have a wider squad and academy system they can draw from?

I wonder if there was relegation this season they'd make more of an effort.

[Kawazaki]

Bill Sweeney's empty rhetoric vomited out to try and stymie the justified reaction to the RFU's weekend statement.

The Rugby Football Union chief executive, Bill Sweeney, has insisted Eddie Jones is not “bulletproof” and belatedly admitted England’s Six Nations performance was not acceptable. Jones has been backed to continue in the role for now but Sweeney insisted his position would be kept under constant review.

Sweeney went on to concede that the union was wrong not to acknowledge in its statement the day after England lost to France that another campaign with two wins and three defeats was disappointing and that supporters had a right to feel aggrieved.

Sweeney also revealed he has had a conversation with Jones, spelling out that another substandard campaign was “not acceptable”. He said: “No one is bulletproof. No one is indispensable. I’m not indispensable. Anyone can go at any particular time but that happens when there is a loss of confidence.

“People stay in their role because there is a belief that you are still heading in the right direction, even when, sometimes, the results might not back that up. You make a call, you make a judgment; are we heading in the right direction? Of course he’s not bulletproof. He knows that himself. We haven’t performed well in the last two Six Nations. To have a conversation with him saying ‘that’s not acceptable’ – of course that happens.”

On Sunday the RFU released a statement claiming that “solid progress” had been made despite a campaign with just eight tries scored and wins over only Italy and Wales. The statement acknowledged no disappointment nor did it include an apology to supporters but on Thursday Sweeney said: “The feelings were genuine, really disappointed, massively frustrated. Should we have said that more up front? Yes, probably, recognising fans’ disappointment as well, so I think that’s a fair comment.

“We weren’t lying. When we made that statement, we were being honest. ‘Solid progress’ – I can understand how that might confuse after two wins last year and two wins this year. But progress is not just about matches won. It’s also about hitting certain objectives along the way.

“Eddie has said it himself, that he hasn’t done a good job. He said that in one interview. If you go back we won three championships with him since he’s been here. You only remember the most recent performances and the ones that hurt at the moment are the last two years. But do we think that he is the coach that is capable of winning us the Six Nations next year? Absolutely correct.”

Sweeney insisted there was no cut-off point when it would be too close to the World Cup to ditch Jones but went on to explain why he was adamant he was still the right man for the job. “We review and evaluate things as we go along. It’s not a case of saying: ‘Let’s wait six months then review it and see how we’re going,’” he said. “We’ll continue to review all the way through, we will have those conservations and as long as we’re moving in the right direction, we’re happy.

“[Jones] felt that the spirit in the side needed to improve and we needed to break down some of the club relationships and forge one England identity. We’ve seen that come on leaps and bounds. Another big one is leadership on the field of play. The other one is decision-making – maturity and composure in critical moments. We think we’re not there yet. That’s one thing that didn’t go well. [But] he’s got the absolute belief and commitment of the players. Given all of that, we believe he’s the right guy to take us through. We’ll continue to review as we go through.”

Insincere waffle really.

Sounds like Jones is building a narrative. By the time England reach the RWC, he'll have people feeling sorry for him that he has one arm and one leg tied behind his back by those nasty premiership clubs and he never really stood a chance anyway. Then he'll write another book about it and blame everyone else anyway.

[Raggs]

Gloucester Worcester cancelled due to covid.

Surely at this point they should have a wider squad and academy system they can draw from?

I wonder if there was relegation this season they'd make more of an effort.

I believe it's props. There's only so much you can do at that point.

[Rhubarb & Custard]

So a choice between abandon the fixture or have uncontested scrums?

[Rhubarb & Custard]

Randall hasn't put a foot wrong for me and deserves the starting berth.

I'm perfectly content if Randall has the starting role, but he's put many feet in the wrong place this 6N with the Ireland game being especially bad

[Crash669]

Randall hasn't put a foot wrong for me and deserves the starting berth.

I'm perfectly content if Randall has the starting role, but he's put many feet in the wrong place this 6N with the Ireland game being especially bad

Given the absolute bollocks you post, slagging off Randall proves he's been playing well.

[Rhubarb & Custard]

Randall hasn't put a foot wrong for me and deserves the starting berth.

I'm perfectly content if Randall has the starting role, but he's put many feet in the wrong place this 6N with the Ireland game being especially bad

Given the absolute bollocks you post, slagging off Randall proves he's been playing well.

Well it might incline one to a certain line of thought more than proves anything, but there would remain the problem of how he actually played in that Ireland game. Though again I'd back him for selection next game up, without doubt he brings a lot of positives in himself and how he can shape what the team do

[Paddington Bear]

He got knocked over 2 metres from our line by a guy who’s twice the size. Big deal.
He’s had a perfectly decent start to his international career

[Paddington Bear]

Spurs stadium looks lovely, would have been there with a negative test. Gah

[Paddington Bear]

Malins gets the ball in a scoring position for the first time in two months and finishes effectively

[Kawazaki]

Dallaglio describes Earl and Malins as 'ex-Bristol boys'

Dickhead.

[Paddington Bear]

Good jibe from Flats to Lol about Wasps on uncontested scrums, enjoyed that