[2019 Six Nations] England vs France (10/02/2019)

[spartan32]

with our second team.

Hard to tell the difference

 

[Dai Yorkshire]

Hard to tell the difference

oh you'll know the difference in two weeks.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

OK, so France were as crap as FF has been saying.

Positive that we built a lead and didn't let them back into it.

Despite the returns from kicking I thought we kicked far too much in the second half. With the game well won we should have tried to be a bit more ambitious.

All our firepower was on from the start. The bench added little and we became very disjointed. Genge and big Joe in for Wales.

Daly took one decent catch but missed a couple of others. Still not the answer. Might be in for a long afternoon in Cardiff.

An unexpected margin of victory, but I feel a bit flat. The way the game panned out we really should have been looking to post 55 or 60.

Last week I'd have gone for May as MoM. Today I'd have gone for Lawes.

 

[Duck a l'Orange]

While it was a very nice kick today, would you really describe Ashton as a kicking threat?

Not a tactical kicker, but in terms of the clever grubbers and spotting space behind, I would. I don't watch him often to be fair, but I think it's an underrated part of his game.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

OK, so France were as crap as FF has been saying.

Positive that we built a lead and didn't let them back into it.

Despite the returns from kicking I thought we kicked far too much in the second half. With the game well won we should have tried to be a bit more ambitious.

All our firepower was on from the start. The bench added little and we became very disjointed. Genge and big Joe in for Wales.

Daly took one decent catch but missed a couple of others. Still not the answer. Might be in for a long afternoon in Cardiff.

An unexpected margin of victory, but I feel a bit flat. The way the game panned out we really should have been looking to post 55 or 60.

Last week I'd have gone for May as MoM. Today I'd have gone for Lawes.

100%. I think not taking opportunities like that to really attack and get our new midfield to gel will come back to bite us. Kicking is well and good but not every team is gonna have a winger at 15 and 2 centres on the wings.

 

[spartan32]

OK, so France were as crap as FF has been saying.

Positive that we built a lead and didn't let them back into it.

Despite the returns from kicking I thought we kicked far too much in the second half. With the game well won we should have tried to be a bit more ambitious.

All our firepower was on from the start. The bench added little and we became very disjointed. Genge and big Joe in for Wales.

Daly took one decent catch but missed a couple of others. Still not the answer. Might be in for a long afternoon in Cardiff.

An unexpected margin of victory, but I feel a bit flat. The way the game panned out we really should have been looking to post 55 or 60.

Last week I'd have gone for May as MoM. Today I'd have gone for Lawes.

You're not seriously going after Daly?! He ran some cracking attacking lines today, wasgreat with ball in hand, and didn't miss enough at the back to be counted as a bad day in the office. And quite frankly if he can handle the Irish, probably the best in the air team in world rugby, at home, then he can certainly handle
The Welsh. I think the difference was not having Nowell to add some extra power in deference. Ashton didn't add enough today to warrant further inclusion, and big Joe should get the bench spot.

Lawes was great today. May play Etoje out of his starting spot and he was defo a contender for MoM today but May deserved it for me.

 

[spartan32]

On the kicking thing. When you have the fastest winger in the NH it's too tempting not to use it. He's like a skeleton key that just automatically unlocks a defence. Just wait for them to come flat and set him going.

But I know what you're saying. Would have been good to get a decent off load game going and use the winning margin we had to move the ball about a bit.

 

[ThebigARena]

Bookies make England 4/7 favourites in Cardiff .

On the balance of play I think those odds are quite conservative

6/4 on Wales might take a bite at that. Need to step up considerably though, but I'm confident the players will respond at home.

I'm calling a close match roll on 2 weeks time

 

[McTallshort]

Feel a bit flat to be honest.

Yes 44 point on the French is great but this is a seriously bad French team. It felt like an Italy match, game was over after 40 minutes and the last 10 minutes just a disjointed mess because no one has anything really to play for and all the subs were on.

The Wales game with be a cracker but France need to either start taking the international game seriously or **** off and let someone else in.

 

[Aristodemus]

Wilson seems to have gone under the radar a bit but I think he has been immense for us these two opening games.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Wilson seems to have gone under the radar a bit but I think he has been immense for us these two opening games.

Other than May he's been our best player.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

@Bruce_ma_goose reckon Italy could take this lot? They can go hard cuz there guaranteed to beat the French the week after.

Dunno, I'm trying hard to keep my feet on the ground in these days of champagne rugby and predicting the outcome of such a fixture is a fool's errand (I still cant believe I never saw our defeat at the hands of the ABs in November coming). England might face a real backlash from an Italian side reeling from a shock defeat. A wounded animal akin to those Polish cattle, slipping in their own faeces. So sick and incapable that it isn't even fit for the abbatoir and all trace of its tainted existence must be hunted down across the length and breadth of the continent and incinerated lest anyone be exposed to it and rendered physically sick.

But I digress. Home advantage will be key, but I'll wait until I see the weather forecast and team selection before even attempting to make a call on this one.

Thanks for asking

 

[McTallshort]

Other than May he's been our best player.

Lawes?

 

[Tayga]

Getting to grips with it slowly but surely-
Looking forward to the Crunch !! I am going to with a score of 30-16 to England but not sure if we will get a BP win

100%. I think not taking opportunities like that to really attack and get our new midfield to gel will come back to bite us. Kicking is well and good but not every team is gonna have a winger at 15 and 2 centres on the wings.

 

[Tayga]

Agree with Toby.
The french played 2 centres on the wing and Huget who is a wing at FB - our tactical kicking behind the back 3 was masterful and France had no ability to cover the backfield properly.
I am shocked at how poor France were and thought that they would be really up for this game. They looked a beaten side after 5 minutes . I am not overly enthused about some aspects of our performance but on the plus side I thought our physical edge told on the French - i think the Wales game is a grand slam décider but we have reasons to be confident - Wales won't fancy playing us

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Lawes?

Maybe if he'd started the Ireland game but I'd say Wilson's done more.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

At the risk of having egg on my face in 2 weeks, Wales have not really shown anything to be particularly afraid of. They scraped past France and didn't manage the BP against Italy. They have so far just played the 2 arguably weakest sides in the tournament and looked unconvincing in both. England played probably the strongest side in the tournament and looked on top and in control for vast swathes of the game.

Also the last time the Welsh and Irish talked about their game being the grand slam decider and England being dismissed was when England last won the grand slam...

 

[Reiser99]

Nah, stick Cuthbert there



Grandslam is 5 bonus points, I think, so it's impossible to come 2nd with one.

Finally got home. Just to be clear, a grand slam is worth 3 points as the most a team who loses 1 game can get is 22 and so if a team wins all 5 games without a BP they automatically finish with 23 points.

Great game, Yes England were sloppier in the second half, but that's a natural consequence of the first half. Apart from Hughes this is a strong squad that EJ can keep building on.

 

[Every Time Ref]

Feel a bit flat to be honest.

Yes 44 point on the French is great but this is a seriously bad French team. It felt like an Italy match, game was over after 40 minutes and the last 10 minutes just a disjointed mess because no one has anything really to play for and all the subs were on.

The Wales game with be a cracker but France need to either start taking the international game seriously or **** off and let someone else in.

I hereby start the "Drop France, bring in Georgia" bandwagon

Great game, Yes England were sloppier in the second half, but that's a natural consequence of the first half. Apart from Hughes this is a strong squad that EJ can keep building on.

Savage!

I mean, accurate.

But savage!

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Also the last time the Welsh and Irish talked about their game being the grand slam decider and England being dismissed was when England last won the grand slam...

It was probably an incorrect narrative then too!

We knew we were on for a **** 6n in 2016!