The rugby

[BrumJim]

Listened to most of the game and it sounded like a cracker. I arrived at my daughter’s hotel just as they were having what seemed to be the final play and England were holding on for the win. I was a bit surprised to then get in the car about 10 minutes later to hear them talking about France winning the championship. Such a shame Pillock appeared to cost them the game, such a lovely and likeable young man.

Strange game. Like both coaches focused entirely on how to score against the other side, but no time at all on stopping them scoring. Recently there has been concerns that too much effort is spent on defence. England clearly had no plan against Bielle-Biarrey, who was out-Jonah Lomu-ing the big man himself in terms of ripping apart defences. Although he only had one weapon (pace) rather than Lomu's additional weapons of bulk and side-step.

Even stranger, as France clearly had a warning last week that their defence was weak. Unless they thought that England wouldn't have the imagination and penetration that the Scotland side had.

 

[matticus]

Didn't really work in the end though, did it?
I'd rather he put his efforts into proving himself in the game.

Of course it did. You saw all the handbags, right? Unless you think Ramos kicked better due to being riled up, cos that's a well-known way to kick better ...

 

[Dogtrousers]

I sense the ghost of Brian Moore and his 15 Eric Cantonas floating around this thread.

 

[Pross]

Strange game. Like both coaches focused entirely on how to score against the other side, but no time at all on stopping them scoring. Recently there has been concerns that too much effort is spent on defence. England clearly had no plan against Bielle-Biarrey, who was out-Jonah Lomu-ing the big man himself in terms of ripping apart defences. Although he only had one weapon (pace) rather than Lomu's additional weapons of bulk and side-step.

Even stranger, as France clearly had a warning last week that their defence was weak. Unless they thought that England wouldn't have the imagination and penetration that the Scotland side had.

I think teams may have decided that the way to deal with France is to tempt them out of the Shaun Edwards discipline and into a flamboyant battle of egos. It feels like that’s their natural instinct and they want to show they can do the loose running game better than their opponents.