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Rugby Union
International Test Matches
[2020 Autumn Nations Cup] England vs Ireland (21/11/20)
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<blockquote data-quote="Ragey Erasmus" data-source="post: 1010590" data-attributes="member: 56232"><p>Which makes it particularly baffling as you'd think Jones would be saying he wants leaders to step up yet the senior players all seem to be shirking making decisions on pitch as much as possible. Farrell blindly kicks and doesn't read the game, just follows the plan the the letter. Youngs the other day simply watching the maul get itself into a position where it was going to be turned over rather than taking it upon himself to get the ball out and try to salvage it when it was perfectly within his ability to do so. Itoje is the only "senior" who seems to also be leading, admittedly in a more limited role. I think the lack of leadership must rest with Jones, it seems he doesn't tolerate the team moving away from the plan which makes it impossible for a leader to take the game by the scruff of the neck if the plan is failing.</p><p></p><p>England's defence is pretty solid but the overly defensive mindset only works so long, eventually good sides will start to break you down and if you have no answer to it, you just sit there absorbing pressure waiting for mistakes. Ireland didn't put us under too much pressure and played into our hands but teams that are able to offload or get round the outside of us can absolutely shred our defence and then we go into headless chicken mode. We need to be the ones able to put the pressure on the opposition while we are the ones with the ball.</p><p></p><p>Having said that, a solid defence is the foundation of any successful international team. I can't think of the last international team that went on a prolonged period of success that couldn't defend whereas plenty of teams have had prolonged success even with a quite blunt attack.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ragey Erasmus, post: 1010590, member: 56232"] Which makes it particularly baffling as you'd think Jones would be saying he wants leaders to step up yet the senior players all seem to be shirking making decisions on pitch as much as possible. Farrell blindly kicks and doesn't read the game, just follows the plan the the letter. Youngs the other day simply watching the maul get itself into a position where it was going to be turned over rather than taking it upon himself to get the ball out and try to salvage it when it was perfectly within his ability to do so. Itoje is the only "senior" who seems to also be leading, admittedly in a more limited role. I think the lack of leadership must rest with Jones, it seems he doesn't tolerate the team moving away from the plan which makes it impossible for a leader to take the game by the scruff of the neck if the plan is failing. England's defence is pretty solid but the overly defensive mindset only works so long, eventually good sides will start to break you down and if you have no answer to it, you just sit there absorbing pressure waiting for mistakes. Ireland didn't put us under too much pressure and played into our hands but teams that are able to offload or get round the outside of us can absolutely shred our defence and then we go into headless chicken mode. We need to be the ones able to put the pressure on the opposition while we are the ones with the ball. Having said that, a solid defence is the foundation of any successful international team. I can't think of the last international team that went on a prolonged period of success that couldn't defend whereas plenty of teams have had prolonged success even with a quite blunt attack. [/QUOTE]
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International Test Matches
[2020 Autumn Nations Cup] England vs Ireland (21/11/20)
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