The Official English Rugby Thread

[geordie_6]

For how much longer is Mako going to be allowed to trundle off the bench and stink up the place before he gets put out to pasture?

[Hal Jordan]

For how much longer is Mako going to be allowed to trundle off the bench and stink up the place before he gets put out to pasture?

He is done at Test level.

[SaintK]

For how much longer is Mako going to be allowed to trundle off the bench and stink up the place before he gets put out to pasture?

He is done at Test level.

Yep. It's almost embarrassing.
That was just the match to give Rapava-Ruskin a go

[fishfoodie]

For how much longer is Mako going to be allowed to trundle off the bench and stink up the place before he gets put out to pasture?

He is done at Test level.

Yep. It's almost embarrassing.
That was just the match to give Rapava-Ruskin a go

It's bizarre. The rest of us can see he's a shadow of the player he was before his last serious injury; why can't the Eddiot see it ?

[Raggs]

His scrummaging was never great, but he offered so much around the field, with good carries and lovely hands (and an impressive workrate). Now he really doesn't...

[Paddington Bear]

Saints very quick out of the blocks in Barnet

[Oxbow]

Saints also beasting Sarries scrum.

[Paddington Bear]

Ben Earl is an obscenely good player and it is criminal he isn’t with the England squad

[Oxbow]

Couple of stupid moments from Sarries just cost them a 10 point swing.

[Paddington Bear]

Thought chalking off the try was harsh but Goode’s late tackle was just a cheap shot

[sockwithaticket]

Once Smith beds into this Northampton attack they could really be something special.

[sockwithaticket]

Things you like to see: Dingwall on a hat trick.

[Oxbow]

I suspect the Scots would just love a Smith Hutchinson Dingwall midfield.

[sockwithaticket]

I suspect the Scots would just love a Smith Hutchinson Dingwall midfield.

I hope that doesn't happen and that Dingwall hangs on for a change of England regime.

[Oxbow]

I suspect the Scots would just love a Smith Hutchinson Dingwall midfield.

I hope that doesn't happen and that Dingwall hangs on for a change of England regime.

Definitely agree.

[Paddington Bear]

I smell a comeback…

[sockwithaticket]

The last little while has been frenetic. Saints scrambling just well enough to stave off collapse.

[Oxbow]

Looks like we're going to throw this away.

[Paddington Bear]

Not that it matters materially for this game but how is that not a red card?

[sockwithaticket]

Not that it matters materially for this game but how is that not a red card?

Ref used late change of direction as the mitigation.

I was expecting him to break out the old 'not a dominant tackle, low level of danger/force' that so many of them have been using over the last several months to bottle decisions.

[Paddington Bear]

YES!

[geordie_6]

I suspect the Scots would just love a Smith Hutchinson Dingwall midfield.

I hope that doesn't happen and that Dingwall hangs on for a change of England regime.

And hopefully Smith.

[Oxbow]

If you'd have said beforehand that Saints would come away with two bonus points I would have been reasonably happy, but that gets a big FUCK! from me. Ben Earl and the two yellows killed us.

[Paddington Bear]

Hell of a game of rugby. Ben Earl - hard to put into words how good his performance was there. If Eddie had any sense he’d let him have a couple of beers tonight and get him reporting to Pennyhill first thing tomorrow ready to start on Saturday.

[Kawazaki]

Great game earlier. Almost felt that Saracens won that game twice.

Incredible to get 43/45 points and quite a statement by Sarries. Love or hate them and I know most of you hate them, it ain't money and property deals that make them win rugby matches. Never has been.

[SaintK]

YES!

Nooooooo!!!!
Fantastic response by Sarries

[Lobby]

So Marchant is not good enough for the England training squad but good enough to start for the Barbarians against All Blacks
Will be interesting to see how Mercer goes as well
Barbarians (vs All Blacks XV, Sunday)
15. Leyds; 14. Thomas, 13. Marchant, 12. Ngati, 11. Bridge; 10. Hastoy, 9. Kerr-Barlow; 1. Marler, 2. Chat, 3. Ryan, 4. Picquette, 5. Tagitagivalu, 6. Lauret, 7. Whitelock (capt), 8. Mercer. Reps: 16. Bosch, 17. Gomes Sa, 18. Henri Colombe, 19. Sazy, 20. Wainwright, 21. Webb, 22. West, 23. Rhule.

Mercer and Marchant both scored tries and the Barbars won. Mercer was particularly impressive.

[inactionman]

apols if already answered, but anyone know if there's a re-run of the baabaas game on any of the usual streaming services?

Hoping to have a gander tonight, and cry over Zach Mercer and what could have been.

[Lobby]

apols if already answered, but anyone know if there's a re-run of the baabaas game on any of the usual streaming services?

Hoping to have a gander tonight, and cry over Zach Mercer and what could have been.

It’s being repeated on Viaplay Xtra tomorrow afternoon at 4.00 if you have access to that.

[JM2K6]

So Marchant is not good enough for the England training squad but good enough to start for the Barbarians against All Blacks
Will be interesting to see how Mercer goes as well
Barbarians (vs All Blacks XV, Sunday)
15. Leyds; 14. Thomas, 13. Marchant, 12. Ngati, 11. Bridge; 10. Hastoy, 9. Kerr-Barlow; 1. Marler, 2. Chat, 3. Ryan, 4. Picquette, 5. Tagitagivalu, 6. Lauret, 7. Whitelock (capt), 8. Mercer. Reps: 16. Bosch, 17. Gomes Sa, 18. Henri Colombe, 19. Sazy, 20. Wainwright, 21. Webb, 22. West, 23. Rhule.

Mercer and Marchant both scored tries and the Barbars won. Mercer was particularly impressive.

This was nice

[inactionman]

apols if already answered, but anyone know if there's a re-run of the baabaas game on any of the usual streaming services?

Hoping to have a gander tonight, and cry over Zach Mercer and what could have been.

It’s being repeated on Viaplay Xtra tomorrow afternoon at 4.00 if you have access to that.

ta mate - I don't have access unfortunately, although I'm sure there will be some highlights clips up somewhere or other.

[JM2K6]

Earl's form is superb and his biggest problem is that he would absolutely tear it up if England were given the chance to play the sort of rugby that he (and Smith, JVP, etc etc) are best at. That isn't going to happen so more leaden-footed bashers are the order of the day. It's a real shame, he's worked hard to improve his game and it absolutely should be rewarded.

Anyway. England: Porter missed his first two tackles and got stripped in contact as his first 3 involvements and I was raging. He then did okay and his 2nd try was good pace. He did nothing to suggest he's better than an honest pro but he was at least a positive this time round.

I will admit I was a) fucking knackered and b) slightly bored and distracted so didn't watch the game too closely at times. It felt like we did a physical number on Japan which is great but we all know that has limited application elsewhere. Despite all the points we scored I feel like ours was the least impressive of the NH performances this weekend.

It just felt like one of the many wins over smaller teams we had from 2004-2015. The physicality was there and some highlights from our more gifted players, but there was no real challenge to us and we never looked like we were playing with serious intensity or cohesion. We could play like that against any of the top 5 teams and get a kicking.

[Lobby]

apols if already answered, but anyone know if there's a re-run of the baabaas game on any of the usual streaming services?

Hoping to have a gander tonight, and cry over Zach Mercer and what could have been.

It’s being repeated on Viaplay Xtra tomorrow afternoon at 4.00 if you have access to that.

ta mate - I don't have access unfortunately, although I'm sure there will be some highlights clips up somewhere or other.

NZ rugby has posted some highlights on Youtube, so you should be able to find them relatively easily.

[sockwithaticket]

Earl's form is superb and his biggest problem is that he would absolutely tear it up if England were given the chance to play the sort of rugby that he (and Smith, JVP, etc etc) are best at. That isn't going to happen so more leaden-footed bashers are the order of the day. It's a real shame, he's worked hard to improve his game and it absolutely should be rewarded.

Anyway. England: Porter missed his first two tackles and got stripped in contact as his first 3 involvements and I was raging. He then did okay and his 2nd try was good pace. He did nothing to suggest he's better than an honest pro but he was at least a positive this time round.

I will admit I was a) fucking knackered and b) slightly bored and distracted so didn't watch the game too closely at times. It felt like we did a physical number on Japan which is great but we all know that has limited application elsewhere. Despite all the points we scored I feel like ours was the least impressive of the NH performances this weekend.

It just felt like one of the many wins over smaller teams we had from 2004-2015. The physicality was there and some highlights from our more gifted players, but there was no real challenge to us and we never looked like we were playing with serious intensity or cohesion. We could play like that against any of the top 5 teams and get a kicking.

I was the same and re-watched it last night to better form some impressions. Definitely not a notable performance despite the scoreline. Our structure went to shit when a bunch of our most experienced players came off the bench. While not a huge surprise, it is a concern.

In addition to outmuscling Japan not really helping with future games neither will the success of our kicking. Quite a few kicks led to tries, but the poor positioning of Japan's back three, particularly Matsushima (who hasn't played much recently) won't be replicated by many other top teams. Reminds me of the first half against France in 2017 a little where Huget being hopeless at positioning from 15 gifted a lot of points, but as soon as he sorted it out we stopped scoring.

[sockwithaticket]

apols if already answered, but anyone know if there's a re-run of the baabaas game on any of the usual streaming services?

Hoping to have a gander tonight, and cry over Zach Mercer and what could have been.

Found the full match on youtube.

[inactionman]

apols if already answered, but anyone know if there's a re-run of the baabaas game on any of the usual streaming services?

Hoping to have a gander tonight, and cry over Zach Mercer and what could have been.

Found the full match on youtube.

merci beaucoup

[sockwithaticket]

Wider squad re-named as per, Radwan in for Malins (injury) and Will Stuart in for Pearson (tactical).

[Margin__Walker]

If you're not going to bring Earl in, it's a shame to ditch Pearson. Came on at HT at the weekend and was awesome in a wasteful performance at Sandy park. Started and finished a nice try here. Good to see Radwan in. Hopefully he gets a shot, although I wont hold my breath.

[JM2K6]

Pearson is a monster, a Saffa backrower in disguise frankly. Surprised Eddie isn't all over that shit.

Earl's form is superb and his biggest problem is that he would absolutely tear it up if England were given the chance to play the sort of rugby that he (and Smith, JVP, etc etc) are best at. That isn't going to happen so more leaden-footed bashers are the order of the day. It's a real shame, he's worked hard to improve his game and it absolutely should be rewarded.

Anyway. England: Porter missed his first two tackles and got stripped in contact as his first 3 involvements and I was raging. He then did okay and his 2nd try was good pace. He did nothing to suggest he's better than an honest pro but he was at least a positive this time round.

I will admit I was a) fucking knackered and b) slightly bored and distracted so didn't watch the game too closely at times. It felt like we did a physical number on Japan which is great but we all know that has limited application elsewhere. Despite all the points we scored I feel like ours was the least impressive of the NH performances this weekend.

It just felt like one of the many wins over smaller teams we had from 2004-2015. The physicality was there and some highlights from our more gifted players, but there was no real challenge to us and we never looked like we were playing with serious intensity or cohesion. We could play like that against any of the top 5 teams and get a kicking.

I was the same and re-watched it last night to better form some impressions. Definitely not a notable performance despite the scoreline. Our structure went to shit when a bunch of our most experienced players came off the bench. While not a huge surprise, it is a concern.

In addition to outmuscling Japan not really helping with future games neither will the success of our kicking. Quite a few kicks led to tries, but the poor positioning of Japan's back three, particularly Matsushima (who hasn't played much recently) won't be replicated by many other top teams. Reminds me of the first half against France in 2017 a little where Huget being hopeless at positioning from 15 gifted a lot of points, but as soon as he sorted it out we stopped scoring.

I don't understand how Smith's cross kicks have gotten worse since he started playing for England. He used to be pretty good at them! Now they're almost all shit! Okay so we scored from one we sent wide to Steward on halfway but fucking hell even that one was bad execution that paid off.

Talking of Smith, one of the PR regulars posted this on the Quins board:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union ... t-working/

Both of those examples are from what you could describe as one of Smith’s more reserved games for Harlequins in terms of attacking flair, and yet he still made a telling impression. Gleeson notably praised Smith's "maturity" regarding how he controlled the game using those subtle kicks to negate Sale's defence. "Maybe 12 months ago he wouldn’t have had that in his locker," Gleeson added.

Ah yes. The little chips over the defence. Famously not something Smith was doing for the last 4 years, to the extent where a few years back people suggested he stop doing it so much.

Gleeson is amazing.

[SaintK]

Barbeary has signed for Bath, still a few weeks from full fitness
Umaga has signed a 2 year contract at Benetton