England Vs South Africa

[nosferatu]

Farrell at outhalf!

:lol2tn: :lol2tn: :lol2tn: :lol2tn:

[/b]

:roflrol:

There goes Plan A.
Plan B..? Anyone?

Interesting moment for a flyhalf debut.. at 32.. in a World Cup game.. against SA. Brilliant!

 

[Vossy]

Farrell at outhalf!

:lol2tn: :lol2tn: :lol2tn: :lol2tn:
[/b]

Oh my god we're screwed.

I was really hoping they'd call up a replacement. The fact they haven't suggests both Wilkinson and Barkley are short term lay-offs, but if even one of them ends up missing the pool matches BA needs his head read.

Come to think of it though, who could they call up and reasonably expect to perform in this type of game at such short notice?

 

[LFC4Life]

Hopefully his 4 match ban is changed to a 1 or 2 game ban which I think is far more appropriate. I'm sure all the England fans are happy about his suspension although it shouldn't make much difference - SA is gonna win by about 20 points!!!
GO Bokke!!!

 

[LFC4Life]

Even without Burger, the Boks are gonna win by about 20 points...

 

[Sorp111]

The bookies have SA about 6/1 on. I'm just hoping England give them some sort of game.

 

[LFC4Life]

FYI - down from 6/1 to 5/1. And the odds are gonna continue drop until SA wins the RWC!!! Even with the suspensions & injuries the Bokke are gonna lift biggest prize in World rugby for the 2nd time in Paris!

 

[SaintsFan_Webby]

We're going to get utterly tonked.

I've made sure my boots are clean though - injured or not, it seems that Brian Ashton is determined to give everyone a go at number 10 for England.

 

[Prestwick]

*Sees that Farrell has made it to fly half*

My god. Has it really come to this?

Look, I'm a Saracens fan and even I'm not going to touch this one. Why can't someone just sneak in Shane Geraghty and actually have some speed and urgency (and off loading) in the England attack?

 

[Bullitt]

Wouldn't matter while Perry keeps getting selected and farting about behind the wrong ruck constantly. Even Harry "flapping Arms" Ellis can deliver quicker ball then him.

 

[TontonFranck]

I'm just sorry to see England to loose every player every day... it's amazing... It would be nice to see this match with a complete England... But I think this match will look like a cat in a microwave... 5mn and pouf...

 

[getofmeland]

*Sees that Farrell has made it to fly half*

My god. Has it really come to this?

Look, I'm a Saracens fan and even I'm not going to touch this one. Why can't someone just sneak in Shane Geraghty and actually have some speed and urgency (and off loading) in the England attack? [/b]

Ok people CALM DOWN!!!

Farrell Was one of the best kickers ever to play league, so why can't he play Fly Half, if he can kick, which I know he can, he will do a good job, this could be good for Farrell and England... I also know for a fact Farrell has been training in that position...

I am gonna put some Faith in Farrell and say Good Luck Lad, the situation has been set, he can't do anything about it, the fans can't do anything about it... Lets get behind him in this Tough game... You never know it may actually pay off...

 

[Substitute]

I have to agree with the above post. Yes I'd rather Barkley or Wilko but I think Farrell might, without going too far, be a revelation.

Lets be honest, we aren't going to score many tries through our backs. Maybe with Barkley we might have scored if we got into their 22 and with Farrell there is no chance, but a boring defensive FH can't be too bad. He is apparently a good kicker out of hand which England need to get exactly right. There is the right-left balance with Catty as well.

Plus with the inevitable 'stick it up your jumper' gameplan we might as well have a physical presence if we don't have an attacking one. His battle with Butch James will be a site to see and he should hopefully silence SA's dynamic back-row.

MY only concern is the pace of Farrell, Catt and Noon. Not due to the weakening of our attack but because they won't have the pace to stop the ball moving to the SA wings. Sackey and Lewsey are going to need to be at their best, both in defence and the counter attack.

If England are to win they are going to have to keep it tight and outmuscle the SA's pack and counter attack well, which is I think why he picked Robinson at FB. If Lewsey can put some good hits on Haban I think this game could almost go well. Farrell's kicking shouldn't be a concern either.

 

[Prestwick]

<div class='quotemain'> *Sees that Farrell has made it to fly half*

My god. Has it really come to this?

Look, I'm a Saracens fan and even I'm not going to touch this one. Why can't someone just sneak in Shane Geraghty and actually have some speed and urgency (and off loading) in the England attack? [/b]

Ok people CALM DOWN!!!

Farrell Was one of the best kickers ever to play league, so why can't he play Fly Half, if he can kick, which I know he can, he will do a good job, this could be good for Farrell and England... I also know for a fact Farrell has been training in that position...

I am gonna put some Faith in Farrell and say Good Luck Lad, the situation has been set, he can't do anything about it, the fans can't do anything about it... Lets get behind him in this Tough game... You never know it may actually pay off...

[/b][/quote]

Goddammit I want an Openside Flanker! *cries and throws toys out of pram*

 

[getofmeland]

<div class='quotemain'> <div class='quotemain'> *Sees that Farrell has made it to fly half*

My god. Has it really come to this?

Look, I'm a Saracens fan and even I'm not going to touch this one. Why can't someone just sneak in Shane Geraghty and actually have some speed and urgency (and off loading) in the England attack? [/b]

Ok people CALM DOWN!!!

Farrell Was one of the best kickers ever to play league, so why can't he play Fly Half, if he can kick, which I know he can, he will do a good job, this could be good for Farrell and England... I also know for a fact Farrell has been training in that position...

I am gonna put some Faith in Farrell and say Good Luck Lad, the situation has been set, he can't do anything about it, the fans can't do anything about it... Lets get behind him in this Tough game... You never know it may actually pay off...

[/b][/quote]

Goddammit I want an Openside Flanker! *cries and throws toys out of pram*
[/b][/quote]

*Throws Toys Back at Prestwick and pushes Pram down a steep hill*

In all seriousness, yes it is not the ideal situation, but Farrell was considered one of the Ball in Hand Kickers in League, also I did see a different side of Farrell at the end of the USA game which was good, very good... He actually ran and got somewhere with the ball...

The Games against South Africa, Samoa and Tonga will all be very Physical, which means we need to be able to play physical rugby, currently our Fly Halfs have been bullied and snapped in two, so if we play someone who is a more physical build at 10 maybe just maybe the backs might be able to dominate...

On a lighter note, I have seen what Brian Ashton can do with Backs who don't play in position, we will also probably going to see Robinson at Full Back, which is where he deserves to play and he will play well...

The major concern for England is Stopping Habana but I believe the back row in place will be able to do the job...

 

[Bullitt]

I asked Dan what he thought about this earlier, one line in the text message summed it up;

"Fly Half though? Not for me"

Ahem.

 

[getofmeland]

I asked Dan what he thought about this earlier, one line in the text message summed it up;

"Fly Half though? Not for me"

Ahem. [/b]

Well we will have to wait and see to be honest he can do no worse than where ever else the poor fella has played...

Or Lets Put Lawerence in Fly Half, cos of course he is known for his kicking...

 

[jcjunior]

Any possibility to england?

 

[Prestwick]

*Throws Toys Back at Prestwick and pushes Pram down a steep hill*

In all seriousness, yes it is not the ideal situation, but Farrell was considered one of the Ball in Hand Kickers in League, also I did see a different side of Farrell at the end of the USA game which was good, very good... He actually ran and got somewhere with the ball...

The Games against South Africa, Samoa and Tonga will all be very Physical, which means we need to be able to play physical rugby, currently our Fly Halfs have been bullied and snapped in two, so if we play someone who is a more physical build at 10 maybe just maybe the backs might be able to dominate...

On a lighter note, I have seen what Brian Ashton can do with Backs who don't play in position, we will also probably going to see Robinson at Full Back, which is where he deserves to play and he will play well...

The major concern for England is Stopping Habana but I believe the back row in place will be able to do the job...
[/b]

*Drives back up in his motorised pram and throws toys out again*

Basically if you give Farrell ball to run with, he is a powerful and intimidating (if slow) runner which is perfect for a flanker. Richie McCaw for example isn't exactly Lindford Christie when he runs but he has power and cuts a very imposing figure when he powers at a gap.

If Alan Gaffney had continued with moving him into the openside flanker slot he would have been superb. Sadly, he was pushed towards the backs and I simply don't think he has the speed or the reactions to hack it at that position. Obviously, his kicking is a plus and he does use that well occassionally when he plays for Saracens but we at Watford do rue the day when Andy Robinson said those fateful words "hey, why not make him a center?!"

 

[Ivar]

South africa by 6

 

[Rockstar]

Haha! South Africa are going to thump England on Friday..........

South Africa 35 England 15