[RWC2019][Semi-Final 1] England vs. New Zealand (26/10/2019)

[TRF_heineken]

Venue: International Stadium Yokohama
Time: 11:00 CAT (SA, GMT+2)​

 

[TommiG88]

NZ to win by a score. I just want England to have a good game and put everything into it.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

England - same team v Australia. Any injury worries? Wilson and Nowell? If Nowell is fit I think he covers 23 shirt better than JJ. Wilson in place of Ludlum if fit.

NZ - Read only Todd won't be available after taking bang to his shoulder.

Can't wait for this one. Biggest game for England since 2007 final. And haven't played the ABs in the World Cup since 1999. At least no Lomu (RIP big fella) this time.

 

[ForumWhore]

Not at all nervous about this game as I really can't see anything other than an ABs win. I may get nervous if we're still in it at 65 mins though.

 

[Nudger]

Hate the negativity
England are a better team now than the last time we played
Its gonna be close but England to win

 

[Scotty]

NZ are the favourites but no doubt we can win this, when ireland strung some phases together they were making ground but they just couldnt keep it up we have the power in our pack to make ground, we have the pace and skill in our backs trouble them. And Curry/Underhil have the skills to slow down their ball.

Vs Aus we let in 1 try and won with 1 third of the possession and the ABs put no more really than us on ireland than we did in the warm ups.

Im quietly confident this England sqaud has what it takes but as i said NZ are the favourites.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

This is a proper game all right.

But we're going to have to be smart. There's no team better at punishing mistakes than the ABs, you give them an inch and they'll take a mile. If that means we have to be a bit conservative to begin with so be it. And the penalty count must reduce.

It's not impossible but we'll need to be right on it. Selection will be interesting, Jones said Aus was horses for courses, well this a very different type of course.

 

[87Dreamer]

Semi Final score flattered England to b fait, couple tries on the counter, another from an intercept.
I've seen nothing from their attacking play this entire tournament that would trouble the AB's.
Barring a red card or a couple yellows, I think the AB's win comfortably.

 

[HERSH_606er]

I fear it will come down to a dodgy Ref/TMO call, lets hope they are watching the forward passes very closely as I feel the All Blacks get the rub of the green too often.

But so excited by this game, England have to nail every thing to stand a chance.

 

[donmcdazzle]

I fear it will come down to a dodgy Ref/TMO call, lets hope they are watching the forward passes very closely as I feel the All Blacks get the rub of the green too often.

But so excited by this game, England have to nail every thing to stand a chance.

Well that didn't take long....

In all seriousness I think this will be a very tough game for the ABs. They need to turn up with the same level of intensity as they did against Ireland up front. England are a great side at playing with a lead so important for us to not concede cheap points to begin with.

England have a pretty powerful and mobile pack. Tactically they're a smart side as well and they won't make many bad decisions. Attack wise I actually think people don't give England enough credit; the first May try was really well constructed, and the second May try was clinical (similar to the one Barrett got against Ireland). Showed nice game management as well to control the game and pressure Aus into dumb mistakes. They played the last 30mins perfectly.

I'd hope we pose a few more problems than Aus did, going to be super nervous heading into this one.

 

[Every Time Ref]

I think evenly-matched on paper. I worry about England between the ears though. I'm still waiting for that soft centre under pressure and I think this is the game.

Or maybe they've peaked perfectly, psychologically speaking. Fingers crossed.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I've been picking England all along, but defensively they were less than I expected against Oz and their pack didnt boss that fixture in the manner they should have (i.e. comprehensively). As I'd been warned, Daly didnt look great under pressure. However, I seem to be on my own in thinking the Wallabies actually played pretty well in that match. Excellent ball retention and genuine cutting edge. I think they would have posed any defence some questions in that first 50mins. Plus England are scoring from open play by having at least one centre who can pass the ball.

I also read little to nothing into the AB performance against Ireland just as I read nothing into Ireland's similarly trouble free win against Scotland. If your opponent doesn't turn up then you good luck evaluating how you played. Ireland undoubtably didnt turn up, conceded early soft tries and had zero self belief after the first 20mins because everyone knows they cannot chase games with Schmidts tactics. We all know the ABs are unparalleled in ball handling from 1-15, that is nothing new. But I really saw nothing in their performance to change my evaluation that they are one of the best teams here rather than clearly THE best team. I still have doubts about their ability to create tries if they run up against a decent defence on a good day.

Before the quarters I would have England by 10-13, but depending on selection I'll probably narrow that down to within one score given my concerns about England's defence.

Happily, I think this will be a very entertaining fixture that fans of both sides can be proud of. It is very nice to see teams in the knockout phase attempt to score tries through open play, that's something I'll cheer every time as a neutral.

 

[Grizwald]

Still hard to judge where both sides are accurately from the QF's. Ireland and Aus not being the best yard stick.

England can win but will have to play smart low error rugby. In their previous meeting if not for a nano meter offside call England would have won and are a better team now than they were then. They really took it to NZ that day and NZ weathered the early onslaught.

Hansen taking the time to allow Barrett at FB and Mouanga at 10 was a master stroke IMO loosing the weakest part of Barrett's game (kicking from the tee) and not much else. If it's the same backs as in the Ireland game one debatable weakness is the lack of experience should they be tested and things go south. The running threat from 12/13 is different than the Aus game so I think there's a case to bring Ford back in ar 10.

 

[HERSH_606er]

Daly has been shocking, lets hope he has a turn around in fortunes and performs on Saturday or Eddie makes a call about him.

 

[TRF_heineken]

I honestly don't know who will have the better preparation for this match. For NZ it has been smooth coasting after their first match of the tournament, and they've just brushed aside everyone in front of them.

This will be their first battle against a team that is in a very similar position, where their toughest match in the pool was called off, so neither team really had the best of opposition to prepare for a semi-final. The showings in the QF's might flatter them a bit, but then again they did play against teams that already lost a match in the pool stages...

 

[MarkyH]

More excited than nervous for this one. I believe England have enough and can win, we've got so many combos and options and 'points of difference' in our team. I think we're on an upwards curve. England are quite exciting nowadays

However, New Zealand are rightly number 1 and are just excellent. There is no shame in losing to them as long as we can give them a game. That's why I'm not nervous, and why England shouldn't be. We're the underdogs but we can win

Bring it on, just a week of work to get through first

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Semi Final score flattered England to b fait, couple tries on the counter, another from an intercept.
I've seen nothing from their attacking play this entire tournament that would trouble the AB's.
Barring a red card or a couple yellows, I think the AB's win comfortably.

It was a quarter final and not a semi. England could only beat what was in front of them. This is of course a different game and I can't see England winning if they only have 36% possession. Especially as it looks like the ABs v Ireland have now switched to a more possession based game plan after spending the last 4 years winning games by letting the opposition have the ball and relying on scoring off of turnover ball. Still they have this this up their sleeve if they want.

Excited to see exactly where this England side are at the moment. My gut feeling is that it may still be too soon for them to win such a massive game. No side yet they have faced will put them under the pressure the ABs will do and then there is the occasion that it is a semi of a World Cup. But England do have the players who have played in the big Heineken cup matches and finals/Lions tests. But do they have the skills to execute at pace without making errors for the ABs to exploit? That for me is a key question that we have to answer this Saturday if we are to prevail.

 

[MarkyH]

Daly has been shocking, lets hope he has a turn around in fortunes and performs on Saturday or Eddie makes a call about him.

one knock on aside, and being out paced by an Olympic quality sprinter while on the turn doesn't make him 'having a shocker' His game isn't as a traditional 15, we almost play with 3 centres with Daly playing, gives us so much space. You'll see him in the build up to all our tries, and attacks especially of first phase ball.

Yes, Brown, Watson and numerous others are better full backs, that's not my argument, but we don't play like that. Daly is a much better contributor to England's game plan that any of those would bring. Can I just add, Watson in tight spaces in the 5 meter channel was fantastic on Saturday.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Really looking forward to this

I think a close game but NZ ultimately winning by about 10-12

Our discipline will need to be better than ever, and our mental fortitude will need to level up too.
Hopefully we can rise to the occasion

The get out of jail free card for this game is that hey, if we lose at least it's to the All Blacks - they're considerable favourites in every game, so it's to be expected

 

[HERSH_606er]

Did Daly win any high balls?

FB bread and butter imo.