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[2022 Six Nations] England vs Ireland (12/03/22)

What's the general consensus on the two packs? My feeling is that Ireland have advantage in both weight and experience, but how big a gulf is it. Be interested to know what people's thoughts were.
 
Yeah fair play. I'm one of those who has that thing that's impossible for one of us to spell. The endless irony
Its like being short sighted and asked to pick out a pair of glasses you like from specsavers
 
What's the general consensus on the two packs? My feeling is that Ireland have advantage in both weight and experience, but how big a gulf is it. Be interested to know what people's thoughts were.
I think the Irish edge it. Their set piece will be fine and they're probably a bit more dynamic and cuter (not in a physical sense….). Van der Flier is one player I've changed my opinion on.

Experience wise we could field a front 5 all with 50 caps plus. Marler, George, Sinckler, Itoje and Launch. Lawes has 90+, Curry, if fit is closing in on 40. Man of the moment Ewels must be heading towards 30.

Then there's a bit of a drop off in experience. Simmonds and Stuart are both in double figures and Dombrandt's got a handful, but Barbeary, Blamire, Chessum and Heyes are all pretty green. Who knows which 13 or 14 will end up on duty.

Big fear is if George goes down early.
 
Ireland should be favorites despite having a few injury enforced disruptions. England don't tend to get a hiding at home so expect they'll stutter to a defeat. Jones thinks his rugby intellect is beyond reproach buy just fed up of it now. Shoehorning players in out of position, forwards seem to be lacking on physicality as a unit and the backs are a shambles if Curry is fit I wouldn't be surprised to see him at 8 again.....
 
I don't mind a 6:2 bench in principle if it is used for it's intended role (Forwards put in a lot of work and then you cycle the lot to keep a very high workrate and play an attritional game). Jones has the ******* annoying habit of selecting 6 forwards and then not using 2 or 3 of them, with the others being used right at the end of the game where they don't have time to have a major impact. It's his usual ******** of selecting a team and players for one set of tactics but then getting them to actually play a completely different set.

I don't think we have the muscle or discipline to try to get into an arm wrestle with Ireland. Our biggest issue is, as soon as a half-break is made, none of our players put in the effort to close the gap. The players can see a player get isolated but make no effort whatsoever to cover the inside so the last defender can feel more confident in committing to a tackle. Cuthberts breaks in particular highlighted this laziness and it's been standard of our defence for a while now, we keep hanging the last defender out to dry.

It's the same on a break, so few players make an effort to support it. It's like the whole team is thinking in terms of ruck resets and nothing else. That or their fitness levels are atrocious.
 
The absolute lack of selection talk is weird from us. Have to fit three form wings into two and the order of Kilcoyne and Healy are probably the only decisions to be made.

I'm adamant that we should have Coombes on the bench instead of POM for away games (we need to do something different away from home, 2/7 under Farrell only beating Italy and Scotland) but it won't happen. Getting nervous, flashbacks of 2019 when we were too settled and England were ready to take advantage. I don't think England have the quality they did then is what keeps me as having us as narrow favourites.
 
Simmonds starting at 8 is a concern considering how badly he was shown up vs Leinster for Exeter
That's what the article said.

I think Dombrandt has missed a bit of training but hasn't actually been ill from COVID. I look at these things a bit black and white - players are either fit enough to play international rugby or they're not. If he is, then I'd start him as our best 8. If it transpires he's only got 30 minutes in the tank surely it's better for him to exit stage left while team mates still have fairly fresh legs rather than having him as a sub struggling in the final quarter at precisely the time he should be having an impact and possibly being exposed. Barbeary could be included as extra contingency but that brings all kind of other questions.

At the risk of stating the blinking obvious, back problems aren't great for props.
 
Sinckler out isn't prob the worse thing england are desperate for a 3rd TH so we might find out if Heyes is ready for this level or not yet. (Granted he's only 22).
 
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