spartan32
Bench Player
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2015
- Messages
- 526
England have tried to the consistency route for many years, seemingly in a pointless attempt to regain the past glory of the 2003 squad and team. But rugby has moved on, and so should we. Creating an environment where the team are used to chaos and change, where they can thrive in it, adapt and overcome, both tactically and mentally, is what will make them great.Isn't that all the more reason for playing Curry and Underhill? You can't be blind to the opposition, but surely our emphasis should be playing to our strengths and let the opposition worry about us?
I read the Barnes article. All sounded dandy. In theory. Back to the real world, obviously there will always be an element of horses for courses, but fundamentally too much chopping and changing when the pressure's on won't be a good thing. Potentially trashing continuity, of which we have little enough, at precisely the point when it needs building feels odd. What we really need are carefully selected match day 23s that give us options and are smart enough to adapt tactics on the hoof. Whether we have the collective leadership and the rugby smarts to change horses mid match remains a big question mark.
In addition, not settling on a clear and set team puts opposition at a distinct disadvantage. They can't plan to counter England if they have no idea what England are going to show up.
I also don't agree with this "we just need to think of our game" mentality. Surely the way to approach any conflict is to look at your strengths and weaknesses, and the enemies, and deploy the best assets at your disposal to overcome them? England currently have a great spread of players with differing skill sets that can shape a game in very different ways. Arguably much more so than other teams out there. Take Wales for example. They are strong, and clearly skilled, but you know what you're going to get and so can plan for it. I think in the AAs Jones put out two very different teams to Test which set up worked better to overcome the Welsh game. I think the second test was quintessential Wales and will be what we will se from them for the WC, and everyone knows it. Where as no one knows what you will see for England, and that would have to be to our advantage.
As for the back 3 issue. Daly is the starting 15. Let's just all get over it. And he's always going to start in big games. So the only question that remains is which wings will he get paired with? Can't see McConnochie featuring in more than the two openers which are little more than warm ups, after which he will be a reserve. I expect Watson and a for Nowell to start and Big Joe as impact.