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[2020 Six Nations] England vs Ireland (23/02/20)

Eddie emboldened by this mentalness will now be looking at picking 5 locks to start with 8 locks on the bench.....
So plan A for Wales should be to pick a XV of players under 5ft 5 and aim to get our heads taken off at every contact. Simples :cool:.
 
Just no though. Farrell was acting the absolute bollix and CJ was perfectly safe in what he did. Should he just stand there like?

I'd agree, but CJ started hitting Farrell while he was still in the ruck, or at least almost instantaneously after he'd left. Different matter if someone's holding you in and you want to get away, but he looked down, saw someone holding him and started smacking.

England were under his skin. if you start getting annoyed every time someone binds to you rugby isn't the game for you.
 
Satisfying performance from Englands point of view bar the penalty count.
BOD has just summed Ireland up if you beat them up , in the front then there for the taking hard to disagree with that analysis.
LCD pushing George, Genge as well got to be close to a start.
If anything as others have said should have won by more.
Guess we will be licking our lips at Welsh front row.
No doubt Eddie will surprise us all and select an 8 against the Welsh and no locks on bench.
 
I think Stander was just actually striking Farrell's arm really. Probably looked far worse than it actually was.
 
Stander had been involved in afters with Itoje, came back for more and was then striking Farrell. Maybe not a single incident would be worthy of anything but he was repeatedly involved in off the ball stuff and barely got a talking to.

Second half Ireland gave away about 2 penalties, England in the region of 7-8. Once England pulled ahead, we were being penalised left right and centre for everything and Ireland escaped punishment for all but the most blatant.
 
Just no though. Farrell was acting the absolute bollix and CJ was perfectly safe in what he did. Should he just stand there like?
In order to be squeaky clean I would say so, I mean you can pretty much apply the logic of 'is he supposed to just ignore it' to every incident that is direct retaliation, if this is club rugby I have less of a problem with it however I when it's F2A and casual viewers are watching I find it bad publicity, As we are all aware periodically do gooders attempt to prevent the sport at schools due to it being dangerous etc, this just helps fuel that fire.
 
BOD has just summed Ireland up if you beat them up , in the front then there for the taking hard to disagree with that analysis.
This. England beat Ireland up in last years 6 Nations and pre-World Cup. New Zealand beat Ireland up during the World Cup. Ireland's attempt to fix it has been to replace Rory Best with his backup at Ulster, Rob Herring. The backrow needs to be overhauled. That's not hindsight, it's something I've been saying for a long time.

Take nothing away from England, they thoroughly deserved their victory and strangled Ireland in the first half. They can be disappointed not to have come away with a bonus point victory.
 
The worry is who is there to come in. Cooney I think has shown he is a bit off today. Yes I still think he should start. Backrow. Doris for POM. Kilcoyne for Healy, Kelleher for Herring and Henderson back in but what else
Porter for Furlong as well I'd say, Leinster have been rotating them all season, he should start again Italy.
 
To summarise England mauled Irelands pack.
I'm still not convinced by ford/farrel. I'd pick farrel, manu, slade
Curry is wasted at 8...seems like he is playing at 75%
Underhill is a six... A class one at that
Scrum half is a weak point
Daly had his best game for 2 year
Now to Ireland. They need to find some ball carriers and quick. Any big saffers available?
Cooney must start over murray
I'm a big sexton fan... But has age caught up with him?
Never rated toner. At this level your only attribute can't just be height. I don't see he does anything else well?
I wouldn't be surprised to see citations for Ryan ( cleared 2 or 3 rucks shoulder first with no wrap)and stander for the obvious
 
Don't follow enough Irish club rugby, Ireland need a new half back combo, and back row. Surely Leinster have 6 or 7 players in the back row to choose from?
 
Love Josh but he wasn't at the races today.

Connors could be worth a look against Italy, wouldn't throw him in in a bigger game though for a while.
 
Andy Farrell's interview shows promise. Doesn't make any attempt to make excuses, admits the scoreline flattered us, praises the bench but doesn't try to turn this into something it's not.

Looked like a man who recognised the problems and was planning to fix them, instead of the denial we saw from the camp last season.
 
Don't follow enough Irish club rugby, Ireland need a new half back combo, and back row. Surely Leinster have 6 or 7 players in the back row to choose from?
Doris is ready and showed it today. Beyond that there are a few who will make a big impact at this level but aren't there yet. Definitely not a problem position in the long term but issues at the moment.
 

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