Yoe, there is very little on the matter you can say to me, at least, which I have not said to myself and probably in more venomous tones to boot. Again, I know I'm not alone - I think I might be in the majority. You're largely right. England 2003 had a lot of ways to break a game and if one didn't work they would turn to another. England 2013 do not have that. We have a lot of resilience and discipline, we are largely difficult to put down, and if a side makes errors we will usually punish that. But that is not enough against top teams. Against top teams, you need ways of breaking a game, even if it is only to apply the pressure from which the 3 pointers come. I think we agree there.
England's game breaking ability right now is close to minimal. Basically, we have huge defence, and a huge amount of graft. Those are our game breaking abilities. The breakdown, big ball carriers, open field runners, the set piece, tactical kicking... not specialities. We have a squad packed full of 7/10 players and units, players who will hold it fast and make a positive contribution to a test match and work their balls off, and not so many players or units will who turn a tight game, or break a good defence, or simply put the fear of god into somebody. To go through it, unit by unit
Front Row - Cole and Corbs is about as good as it gets, for us and for most people. Together they're a strong scrummaging unit, very industrious around the field, and offer both carrying and breakdown work. Corbs is injury prone though, and Cole's progress has stalled slightly. Behind Corbs, the new scrummaging rules weren't made with Mako in mind; Marler could kick on a lot with them, but needs to prove his work rate. Wilson is theoretically good cover/competition but untested. Behind them are mainly kids, although I believe in Mullan. Not sure I believe in Youngs. Some great attributes, may never master the lineout. Don't like Hartley. Webber? My bet is on 7/10. Feel a lot rests on the young hookers - LCD , Haywood, Buchanan, Britton, Yeandle, Morris - any of them could be it. But that's time, just like time for Sinckler/Thomas. Not far off what we need at full strength, some distance as a 80 minute unit.
Second Row - Tons of everything but grunt and size. Attwood, the grunt messiah, is no Etzebeth or Retallick. Maybe someone like Matthews, Merrick or Stooke will get there; then again, maybe not. Athletic ball-playing locks we have in abundance mind. I think the second row might be a weak spot in the tight game for some time to come, good as they are elsewhere.
Back-row - Robshaw and Wood are the living totems of England's strengths and weaknesses. This is fine - good even - if offset by the right players, but there's a reason I love Croft so much. The Flowerpot Men at 8 might finally give us consistent balance in the back-row - I still like to have another carrier. Kvesic can offer it at 7, if he's good enough, Fraser could free up a 6 to go roaming, if he's good enough. Probably not too far off.
Half-backs - Here it gets messy. Youngs is flirting with form and fitness, Care refuses to take the chances offered, Dickson isn't good enough, Flood hasn't nailed down what he can do, Farrell needs to come out of his shell and create, and Burns needs to be less sloppy. On form there are some cracking combinations there, but form seems more fragile that glass elephant cages. Looking at the kids - any of Robson/Fowles/Braley/Townsend might be useful - Slade/Ford isn't quite the same prospects in bulk deal - but they're a couple of years off at best I think. Some players need to put their hands up here and offer consistency. At least on top form we have a very dangerous breaking scrum-half, whoever they may be. Could be some time before we get what we need here.
Centres - Tuilagi is the real deal but cannot do it alone - we won't win much without giving him opportunities and we won't win much if he doesn't distribute it more. He can. His back-up is unknown. 12... I fear Twelvetrees will be a 7/10. Barritt is that if we're generous, but his defence is key and difficult to replace. Eastmond is intriguing. The next generation ain't calling to me here.
Back-three - So much raw talent, so much stupidity in picking it. We could turn up with a World Class (on form) trio tomorrow, or the Saracens back three. They need to know what the team inside them looks like.
Going through that... yeah, I feel sure in my answer. I didn't name many special players, too few units seem close to where we want them. We don't need an entirely world class team, j'nuh, and we can always fluke it, but most World Cup winners have 5 world class players in the team, that's the generally agreed benchmark. If we want a real shot, that's what we want. And... maybe I'm being overly harsh, but I see a real problem with power in the pack, and the 9-10-12 axis is just a gigantic tangle. And so far, the quality to overcome these things aren't there.
England's game breaking ability right now is close to minimal. Basically, we have huge defence, and a huge amount of graft. Those are our game breaking abilities. The breakdown, big ball carriers, open field runners, the set piece, tactical kicking... not specialities. We have a squad packed full of 7/10 players and units, players who will hold it fast and make a positive contribution to a test match and work their balls off, and not so many players or units will who turn a tight game, or break a good defence, or simply put the fear of god into somebody. To go through it, unit by unit
Front Row - Cole and Corbs is about as good as it gets, for us and for most people. Together they're a strong scrummaging unit, very industrious around the field, and offer both carrying and breakdown work. Corbs is injury prone though, and Cole's progress has stalled slightly. Behind Corbs, the new scrummaging rules weren't made with Mako in mind; Marler could kick on a lot with them, but needs to prove his work rate. Wilson is theoretically good cover/competition but untested. Behind them are mainly kids, although I believe in Mullan. Not sure I believe in Youngs. Some great attributes, may never master the lineout. Don't like Hartley. Webber? My bet is on 7/10. Feel a lot rests on the young hookers - LCD , Haywood, Buchanan, Britton, Yeandle, Morris - any of them could be it. But that's time, just like time for Sinckler/Thomas. Not far off what we need at full strength, some distance as a 80 minute unit.
Second Row - Tons of everything but grunt and size. Attwood, the grunt messiah, is no Etzebeth or Retallick. Maybe someone like Matthews, Merrick or Stooke will get there; then again, maybe not. Athletic ball-playing locks we have in abundance mind. I think the second row might be a weak spot in the tight game for some time to come, good as they are elsewhere.
Back-row - Robshaw and Wood are the living totems of England's strengths and weaknesses. This is fine - good even - if offset by the right players, but there's a reason I love Croft so much. The Flowerpot Men at 8 might finally give us consistent balance in the back-row - I still like to have another carrier. Kvesic can offer it at 7, if he's good enough, Fraser could free up a 6 to go roaming, if he's good enough. Probably not too far off.
Half-backs - Here it gets messy. Youngs is flirting with form and fitness, Care refuses to take the chances offered, Dickson isn't good enough, Flood hasn't nailed down what he can do, Farrell needs to come out of his shell and create, and Burns needs to be less sloppy. On form there are some cracking combinations there, but form seems more fragile that glass elephant cages. Looking at the kids - any of Robson/Fowles/Braley/Townsend might be useful - Slade/Ford isn't quite the same prospects in bulk deal - but they're a couple of years off at best I think. Some players need to put their hands up here and offer consistency. At least on top form we have a very dangerous breaking scrum-half, whoever they may be. Could be some time before we get what we need here.
Centres - Tuilagi is the real deal but cannot do it alone - we won't win much without giving him opportunities and we won't win much if he doesn't distribute it more. He can. His back-up is unknown. 12... I fear Twelvetrees will be a 7/10. Barritt is that if we're generous, but his defence is key and difficult to replace. Eastmond is intriguing. The next generation ain't calling to me here.
Back-three - So much raw talent, so much stupidity in picking it. We could turn up with a World Class (on form) trio tomorrow, or the Saracens back three. They need to know what the team inside them looks like.
Going through that... yeah, I feel sure in my answer. I didn't name many special players, too few units seem close to where we want them. We don't need an entirely world class team, j'nuh, and we can always fluke it, but most World Cup winners have 5 world class players in the team, that's the generally agreed benchmark. If we want a real shot, that's what we want. And... maybe I'm being overly harsh, but I see a real problem with power in the pack, and the 9-10-12 axis is just a gigantic tangle. And so far, the quality to overcome these things aren't there.
