Proud of the Pacific Islanders in this England Team. Shout out to all Pacific Islanders Team and our Pacific Island boys who are representing other countries as well.
England Rugby may have had it’s own Opening Ceremony episodes ago when the red caps were presented in the locker room. Host country of the next Rugby World Cup? Vietnam or Iraq, countries the U.S. recently went to war against. Reasons why Treviso was selected for training, it was England Rugby’s rejection of their understanding that Iraq is intellecutally appropriate and selecting in reverse. Respectful numbers? 46 because of an athletic accomplishment of mine. 11:46, the way my social environment times and I’ve already discussed outside of RU-vid comments.
I love Farrell as a player but he just doesn’t seem or come across like a captain.. not enough bass in his voice for a start.. watch o Connell pre game stuff that’s what you want.
England need a scrum half and a fly half who offer an attacking threat ball in hand. Unfortunately, they have Young’s and Faz instead. Neither worries defenders or threatens to make a line break. They just shovel ball on. Which would be fine if they weren’t both terrible passers. Youngs’ Kicking game is abhorrent too.
George Ford is England's fly half - what are your thoughts on him? I feel that Willi Heinz brings a faster tempo when he comes on as a replacement for Youngs - and will be interested to see how he does from the start against USA.
Hi Tom. George Ford is a more sympathetic passer and a better reader of the game than Faz. Faz is rather robotic in comparison to Ford and I think Ford is the more natural rugby player. No other top teams would consider having someone as uncreative as Faz at 10. Plus Faz is a yellow/red card liability in defence as he likes to employ no-arm tackles. That said, Ford can mentally crumble when the pressure is on. In truth, The 9-10-12 axis has been a problem for England for 10 plus years. Care and Youngs are woeful. Shameful poach Heinz who is remembered by Southern Hemisphere fans as a rather ordinary super rugby player is ahead of both home grown options because he can at least put pace on the ball and rapidly fire out passes from the base of the ruck. Compare that to Youngs’ often glacially slow service which allows plenty of time for defences to set. When Youngs has closed down attacking options due to his ponderous service, he box kicks straight to the opposition back 3. This sets up the opposition to attack, running against a disorganised England defence which is rapidly trying to shift into an organised pattern. Young’s also often does a two step shuffle before passing, rather than immediately pass the ball away from the ruck. This gives defences time to scrag him. At 9 Dan Robson was unlucky with injuries and Ben Spencer just unlucky not to be taken. At 10, I have heard on the grapevine (so take with a pinch of salt) that Cipriani and Faz don’t get on. Allegedly They won’t play in the same team (or Eddie won’t allow them to due to the personality mix). So Cipriani will only join the squad if Faz is injured. For the same reason if Ford gets injured, Marcus Smith will be called up instead of Cips.
Typically Youngs kicks too far from support players and just gifts possession away. Faz also loves gifting away possession via rugby league style kicks when an attack is on. I’ve even seen him do so on turnover ball and when there are overlaps, which is maddening! Unless he is having a really ‘good’ day, Young’s finds it hard to pass accurately, which is a core skill of a scrum half. See how many balls from him go too high/low/behind the player.
Nowt more English than a triumphant defeat in the face of overwhelming odds, though. From Balaclava to Belgium, Gallipoli to Greece, the English have long been accustomed to finding cold comfort in gallant defeat. Even if they do lose, if they make the final, it’ll be glorious.
