The coming week for Stuart Lancaster and Co.

[Aboottarren]

Burgess and Cipriani to start, or else England are down the toilet.

Well Jonesy they played Bugess and they ended up further down the toilet

 

[Shaggy]

Lancaster needed to make SF I felt pretty 6N to keep his job he's going to lucky to make it out of the group stages. Needs Fiji to beat Wales or beat Aus now.

Overall though he made controversial decision leading up to this game and by putting his cards on the table like that he deserves to be resound criticised for that. If he'd lost with simple decision to select Slade for Joseph he wouldn't be quite under the fire he I now.

Neither of which are beyond the realms of possibility; Wales are down on man power, and have a four day turn around, and Fiji know they can beat them, having done it before. The Wallabies can be a bit hit and miss at times (I think they lack consistency when it comes to good performances), and England still have home ground advantage etc.

 

[Aboottarren]

Burgess and Cipriani to start, or else England are down the toilet.

Well Jonesy they played Burgess and they ended up further down the toilet

 

[Tony Manx]

Well Jonesy they played Burgess and they ended up further down the toilet

Round the u-bend!!

 

[rob39]

Sorry if it sounds rude, but this delusion is often seen in English sport, more expected when the quality just isn't there IMO.

Totally agree, but with the money being thrown around in the sport you can't blame people expecting more from the national team. Australia are looking very strong and if they don't get their act together then were out. I do expect a lot of sole searching in the coming week and England will be at the party next week. Its a funny old game and I would not be suprised at all if England win next week

 

[TheSaffycen]

Totally agree, but with the money being thrown around in the sport you can't blame people expecting more from the national team. Australia are looking very strong and if they don't get their act together then were out. I do expect a lot of sole searching in the coming week and England will be at the party next week. Its a funny old game and I would not be suprised at all if England win next week

Now is not the time to go bloody fishing !

 

[The Jones Boy]

Well Jonesy they played Burgess and they ended up further down the toilet

England were winning when Burgess was dragged. The guy was taking two defenders at a time.
They sub him and bring on a guy who weighs as much as his lower torso.
George North was moved to centre next to Jamie Roberts and Gatland took full advantage that Burgess wasn't there anymore to stop them. Farrell's a good tackler but he's not a monster like Burgess and he's not gonna stop Roberts or North easily on his own.
George isn't going to stop anyone.
The advantage of having Cips to come on at centre is that he can turn defence into attack like lightning fast... and he's in form.

 

[The Jones Boy]

Regarding Lancaster...
England need a fighter not a Bomber.

 

[Willodell100]

England were winning when Burgess was dragged. The guy was taking two defenders at a time.
They sub him and bring on a guy who weighs as much as his lower torso.
George North was moved to centre next to Jamie Roberts and Gatland took full advantage that Burgess wasn't there anymore to stop them. Farrell's a good tackler but he's not a monster like Burgess and he's not gonna stop Roberts or North easily on his own.
George isn't going to stop anyone.
The advantage of having Cips to come on at centre is that he can turn defence into attack like lightning fast... and he's in form.

Hey I'm a big fan of Cipriani too but he simply doesn't play centre.

Yes I would have had him in the squad but not that clear cut.

 

[Zed]

Hey I'm a big fan of Cipriani too but he simply doesn't play centre.

Yes I would have had him in the squad but not that clear cut.

He's one of the few 10s out there that I reckon could play centre. If you can play 10 and 15 and have pace you should be able to play in the centres. I say should, because I've seen a lot of 10s and 15s moved to centre that have ended up as failed experiments. And he also lacks bulk, but then so does Gits. I'd take pace over bulk any day.

 

[Mattybuck]

Cips a good 10 but Ford better now... Cips to 12 not good as he is weak defensively. Love Cips but he is not the answer to his problem.

 

[PacDuran]

Well Jonesy they played Burgess and they ended up further down the toilet

Playing two big bash it up centres is usually a recipe for a turgid performance. And if you want to win like that you need to take your kicks..... The more I think about the game the more I think that England did everything in their power to lose that match. Wales did just enough to win and England did more than enough to lose. They should have been out of sight, they should have had Wales down to 14 men at least from scrum penalties. Such a crazy game, that's why we watch rugby I suppose.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Who would be the top contenders if Lancaster and Co. resigns or gets fired??

Would England keep on with appointing British nationality coaches or would they succumb and do like all the other nations in the UK and get someone from Australasia??

What are the chances of getting Gatland? He has had a stint with Ireland and Wales, he might as well go for the Triple Crown himself...

 

[tsof]

If they go down the English route, you'd have to assume that Baxter (Exeter) or Ford (Bath) would be the forerunners. Mallinder too perhaps, but Saints haven't really cracked on as many expected them too.

Is Graham Henry still in semi-retirement as Argentina's #2?

 

[ncurd]

Playing two big bash it up centres is usually a recipe for a turgid performance. And if you want to win like that you need to take your kicks..... The more I think about the game the more I think that England did everything in their power to lose that match. Wales did just enough to win and England did more than enough to lose. They should have been out of sight, they should have had Wales down to 14 men at least from scrum penalties. Such a crazy game, that's why we watch rugby I suppose.

I agree except for the scrummaging Marler should of seen yellow and been pinged for what he was doing. I'm still not sure how he got away with that angle.

As for England coach I don't think anyone wants to see the fit of rage I'll have if Gatland gets appointed. For me I like the idea of Mike Ford (Bath) or Rob Baxter (Exeter Chiefs) both of who get their teams to play a great brand of rugby whilst having an eye for top honours. I suspect we'll go for someone a bit more steady however.

 

[Maverick1987]

Sorry if it sounds rude, but this delusion is often seen in English sport, more expected when the quality just isn't there IMO.

If agree with you 4 years ago but with 2 JWC wins and 2 runners up in the last 4 years I believe things are changing . We need a kiwi coach to make sure these young guys get an opportunity .

 

[TommiG88]

Cips a good 10 but Ford better now... Cips to 12 not good as he is weak defensively. Love Cips but he is not the answer to his problem.

I disagree, I think Cipriani is at the peak of his career and is a tad better all round game. Cipriani plays in a team where his pack were on the back foot a lot the past couple of seasons, but still shines out. I think in a better team, he would be great to watch, and he rarely disappoints when he comes on for England.

Ford is the future no 10 along with Slade, but they're both young at the moment so there is no rush. I would have prefered Cipriani this world cup with Farrell on the bench, but it was obvious Cipriani was never going to get the chance under Lancaster.

 

[TRF_heineken]

If agree with you 4 years ago but with 2 JWC wins and 2 runners up in the last 4 years I believe things are changing . We need a kiwi coach to make sure these young guys get an opportunity .

But that makes no sense to me. Those teams that won the JWRC didn't have a New Zealand coach. Why not promote the coach who was in charge of the Junior team. He has a good relationship with most of the players already, the players know the brand the coach wants to play, and it produces winning rugby.

South Africa did that with Jake White, and look what it did for us, it gave us our second RWC trophy.

I seriously don't get why the NH is so "We need a NZ coach"-mentality. A coach is just one part of the puzzle, but I don't know why it all of a sudden always has to a NZ coach. How many NZ coaches are there currently involved at the World Cup? Not all of them are having success...

 

[lynam1104]

But that makes no sense to me. Those teams that won the JWRC didn't have a New Zealand coach. Why not promote the coach who was in charge of the Junior team. He has a good relationship with most of the players already, the players know the brand the coach wants to play, and it produces winning rugby.

Thats where Lancaster came from if i'm not mistaken, hasn't exactly gone to plan. Baxter is probably England's best bet if it all goes ***s up.

 

[Jakedood]

That's a good point, who is the English Under 20's coach? Because clearly he's done a good job so far. The only issue is do you say "stick with what your good at, because you're doing a great job" and simply look at why this coach is so effective? It'd be intriguing to see what England could be like with a creative coach who values the "you score 5 tries, we'll score 6" approach, though I would also say pragmatism is required to some degree. Still it's an interesting thought... I tend to ramble occasionally!

What would Mike Ford for instance bring if he were to become the head coach? Or this guy Baxter? What are their skillsets and competences as coaches?