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Scotland v England

If he's too **** to start, what impact exactly are the coaches expecting Balshaw to have from the bench? Give us Sinbad damnit!

At least it's a start I suppose.
 
Especially when there's already fullback cover in Tait.

At any rate Balshaw isn't the only member of the back three to have not performed - it would quite nice to have the option of bringing Sinbad on if Vainkolo goes missing again, as I'd except him to go looking for the ball more...
 
Good to see Croft getting more experience as from what ive seen he is gonna be a big player for England over the next 10 years. Scotland have been very poor this season but if one thing can make them raise their game to a different level its the sight of the white (ish nowadays) jersey of England.I pick England to win by 5-10 points. The dropping of Sinbad is just daft and shows what a useless old man we have in charge of our England team. Only now are we getting near the England team that the fans have been calling for ,because of Ashtons stubborn attitude towards new players the grand slam is out of our reach.
 
Finally good to see some solid selections and thank god someone other than Balshaw is there at full back. Croft earned his start as did Lipman.

As for Vainikolo, I think people are deeply split between whether he is going AWOL or if its the backs refusing to bring the volcano in from the wings. He did start to come in more and more towards the end of the game against France so i think he is gradually learning more and more.
 
I wouldnt be convinced by Flood and Noon in the centres but other then that, its good to see new faces coming through.
 
Vainikolo needs time to develop into a top international wing and I feel hes well on his way to doing just that. Considering he is new to union at the top level he does all of the basics well and his workrate which has been slated by some is improving all of the time. If used wisely he is a massive weapon for England and if he continues to improve a Lions place should be a formality.
 
I wouldnt be convinced by Flood and Noon in the centres but other then that, its good to see new faces coming through. [/b]



Noon and Flood have been ok so far. Noon is needed for strength and stability. I don't think he is world class, but with a relatively inexperienced backline i think we need an anchor in the centres. I'm not sure it's the best combination possible, but now would be the wrong time to change it.
 
As a Soviet Checkist would say: beware succumbing to unrealistic expectationalist illusionalism, An!

Selecting the squad is half the battle and unlike what some on this forum may say, you could select the dream england xv but they've actually got to go out there and win it..and they ain't won it yet.

And NEVER spurn a load of skin flint alcoholic sweaties.....
 
Stick another 20 on England's score and you might have something
[/b]

rash, I think it's going to be a lot closer than that. The Scots always up their game against the English, and it was a similar situation in 2000 (I think, regenerated English team, lacklustre Scottish team resulted in an English denial at a Grand Slam).

Good to see Cipriani in the starting line up. I think SInbad would have been better on the Wing other than Vainikolo. It's all well saying that he needs time to transform into a quality winger, but he's 32- and thinking of the long run, is he going to be around for the World Cup?

Balsh on the bench is a mistake but Ashton's lover seems to have struck a chord. The closest he should be to the England 22 is in the stands at the 22metre line.
 
Looking at the selection a bit more now, the Scotland bench is completely baffling. A fresh front row without Moray Low, a blindside flanker covering lock and Dan Parks covering all the back positions except scrum half.

I can see the last 60 minutes will be party time for England (more so than the first 60).
 
Looking at the selection a bit more now, the Scotland bench is completely baffling. A fresh front row without Moray Low, a blindside flanker covering lock and Dan Parks covering all the back positions except scrum half.

I can see the last 60 minutes will be party time for England (more so than the first 60). [/b]



please, please, please, please,please, please, please, please tell me we dont have to endure 120 minutes on saturday!!!!!!!!
 
<div class='quotemain'> Looking at the selection a bit more now, the Scotland bench is completely baffling. A fresh front row without Moray Low, a blindside flanker covering lock and Dan Parks covering all the back positions except scrum half.

I can see the last 60 minutes will be party time for England (more so than the first 60). [/b]



please, please, please, please,please, please, please, please tell me we dont have to endure 120 minutes on saturday!!!!!!!!
[/b][/quote]

What d'you mean by that..? That England timewaste?
 
<div class='quotemain'> Looking at the selection a bit more now, the Scotland bench is completely baffling. A fresh front row without Moray Low, a blindside flanker covering lock and Dan Parks covering all the back positions except scrum half.

I can see the last 60 minutes will be party time for England (more so than the first 60). [/b]



please, please, please, please,please, please, please, please tell me we dont have to endure 120 minutes on saturday!!!!!!!!
[/b][/quote]

Haha, whoops. I meant the last 20 minutes will be party time.
 
Vainikolo is 28, not 32, he'll be 31 at the next world cup if my maths is working.

Glad Mears got the nod over Regan, quicker more dynamic player and I'd hope we don't need to wind the Scots up :)

Cipriani at fullback... hmmm... it's not where he wants to play his Rugby, I'd much rather see a genuine fullback starting there, a guy who will play there for several years and be there at the next World Cup.

I think England will come out on top, by 10-ish points but its not the massacre we need to be in the running for the ***le, because I can't see us beating Ireland at Twickenham by a great deal - another margin similar to this one at most. I can see us winning our two remaining fixtures and Wales losing at least one of theirs but we'll lose on points difference to either France or Wales.

Also, I'd have gone all out attack since we need a big points tally... Sinbad rather than Sackey.

And Noon will be fine, he'll perform 6.5/10 - tackle everything he needs to but be distinctly unthreatening in attack.

And simply from his first half performance at the weekend Vainikolo (I didn't see the second half of Quins v Glos) needs to start again, he needs the time on the field to learn at the top level more than any other winger we have.
 
Hogg is a much better player than Barclay. More experience, captain of Edinburgh for whom he's put in some impressive displays this season and he gets through a ton of work in defence and attack. I would have stuck with Barclay ahead of Taylor though, given this is first international game since the RWC.

I'm glad to see Strokers getting a start. He was our best player in Dublin by a mile and he's been in fine form for Gloucester this year.

I still think Cairns should have been in the team, even if only from the bench. He's also put in some good performances for the 'a' team, scored a superb try on Friday night and he can play at centre, wing or full back so a utility player as well. Still, his time will surely come.

I'd like to hope we can pull off of a massive shock similar to that in 2000 but I just don't think we can achieve it. 1 try in 6 games is not good enough, and England will be smart enough to not give away penalties anywhere in their half so we can't just keep relying on Paterson's boot to win us games.

I'll go into this game hoping, but not expecting.
 
at last balshaw is dropped, if only to the bench. poor sinbad thou. hopefully england will play with some excitment...we will c
 
With a bit of luck Balshite will get as close to catching the coach to the game as he has to any high balls so far this 6Nations and miss it altogether!

Cipriani at 15 is ok but I still think Lewsey should be FB if Ashton hasn't confidence in Tait.

I think Scotland will think they can win this game and will target England's perceived weaknesses. England will have to play better than they did against France (who were woefully naive) to beat Scotland I reckon. Winning ball upfront won't be enough... they are gonna have to actually use it on Saturday.

England by 10!
 
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