Jakedood
Bench Player
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2015
- Messages
- 891
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I actually don't mind players being man enough to say "lets go for the win", it wasn't a clear cut 3 points, Farrell was kicking well, but this is the wrong side of the pitch for him and it was not easy at all. Miss it, and wales tap the ball off inside 22, and rumble out the game. There were a couple of issues... Gatland said they were expecting England to go to the front, which shows a lack of imagination under pressure, simple options taken, and predictability is killer at this level. Second, Rob Webber has not been in form at all. His lineouts vs Fiji were at times being collected around the genital area when the guys jumped, and only won because Fiji didn't contest. He doesn't strike me as having the nerve or basic skills to counteract the pressure to then undertake a throw to the tail of the lineout, at which point England would not have been so easily bundled into touch, and had they done so, the Welsh were evidently expecting a throw to the front, so big advantage England. That's also down to a little bit of luck mind. Even if the maul hadn't worked, I'd have been confident of finding some way to get the ball to Brown, May or Watson and saying "Beat a man boys, and the glory is yours", especially with two scrum halves and two out halves defending, I'd have really fancied England in that situation. Unfortunately, not meant to be, but we can't say "we don't want you to be aggressive and attacking minded" and then say "take the safe option, even though it was not a nailed on kick by any stretch of the imagination, and it irks me people here saying "take the points" as if it were a gimme. It wasn't, and needs to stop being presented as such.
Another highly irritating area is in the build up, Woodward et al were saying how phenomenal Gatland was at saying "focus on me, focus on my coaching but dont pressure the boys", and then Lancaster has gone and done this. Now I'm not instantly going to jump ship and say sack him. It was poor selection in terms of Goode on the bench, Nowell or Slade were better impact players who also covered more positions, and could have made the difference, but the starting changes were tactical and fitted a gameplan he had laid out to beat Wales and he stuck to a gameplan. It didnt work, and he'll learn from that. It'll be interesting to see what happens for the next match selection wise, as I would love to see Ford-Burgess/Farrell-Joseph, but can't see this happening. It's attacking but it'll get some excitement for the fans, lets outscore the Aussies and really set the English fans alike... I think Barritt has let himself down in the first couple of games, not just this one against Wales, and didnt take full part in the training camps either. But I dont want to go all gung ho and be taken to the sword by playing Naively, however Joseph i hear is the defensive leader for Bath? So if this is true, he could take over these roles, if Slade plays, i think Barritt is a must from there because we need someone to organise the backline.
However Australia haven't yet clicked as a team either, and they haven't lived up to the World No 2 ***le so far in this tournament. I do believe we have a good chance against them, if we have George on the bench, and potentially would start Mako, who looks to be a much improved scrummager these days, is this true? If we come out with passion and determination, these traits blank out the pressure, being in the zone will alleviate it all and help them play their natural games with focus, so if Lancaster gets them geared up correctly, not too intense but just steely determination, then watch out Aussies
Another highly irritating area is in the build up, Woodward et al were saying how phenomenal Gatland was at saying "focus on me, focus on my coaching but dont pressure the boys", and then Lancaster has gone and done this. Now I'm not instantly going to jump ship and say sack him. It was poor selection in terms of Goode on the bench, Nowell or Slade were better impact players who also covered more positions, and could have made the difference, but the starting changes were tactical and fitted a gameplan he had laid out to beat Wales and he stuck to a gameplan. It didnt work, and he'll learn from that. It'll be interesting to see what happens for the next match selection wise, as I would love to see Ford-Burgess/Farrell-Joseph, but can't see this happening. It's attacking but it'll get some excitement for the fans, lets outscore the Aussies and really set the English fans alike... I think Barritt has let himself down in the first couple of games, not just this one against Wales, and didnt take full part in the training camps either. But I dont want to go all gung ho and be taken to the sword by playing Naively, however Joseph i hear is the defensive leader for Bath? So if this is true, he could take over these roles, if Slade plays, i think Barritt is a must from there because we need someone to organise the backline.
However Australia haven't yet clicked as a team either, and they haven't lived up to the World No 2 ***le so far in this tournament. I do believe we have a good chance against them, if we have George on the bench, and potentially would start Mako, who looks to be a much improved scrummager these days, is this true? If we come out with passion and determination, these traits blank out the pressure, being in the zone will alleviate it all and help them play their natural games with focus, so if Lancaster gets them geared up correctly, not too intense but just steely determination, then watch out Aussies
