Don't want to say 'i told you so' but we've been asking for them from the start of the 6 natations. Trouble is that we (Saints) will suffer as a result. Don't mind though as I really want to see England push on and give the world cup a real go. Ireland in decline, Wales not sure, Scotland deserved more, Italy - Italy, France nearly choked again... but didn't!

Well played Foden and Ashton - what a difference two guys who want to run rather than kick can make.

Agreed and apparently so did Johnson, who made special mention of them both at the end in his post match interview.

Just shows you what two players with an attacking mindset can do to a side.

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Formerly Super 14.

Ashton blew a try but generally played well. Foden was great.

France only play well when there is little to lose if they lose (if you understand what I mean). Ireland played like plonkers because they had a lot to lose. Scotland have an excellent back row and reasonable half back and back three. Deserved better results
Wales played well against Italy, I hear.

They were great, as was Tindall... anyone know why he was replaced with a mediocre Tait?

The whole team stepped up admirably but Foden made and took his chances excellently.

Is this something England can actually build on this time?

Quote:

Rinkadink
They were great, as was Tindall... anyone know why he was replaced with a mediocre Tait?

The Tindall decision was a baffling one and when he went off, England lost there go forward momentum a bit, because we had know one to set a platform.

Tindall apparently said to the pitch side interviewer that he wasn’t injured and didn’t want to come off.

Strange one.

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Formerly Super 14.

Playing Devil's Advocate for a second, when the best Austin Healey can come up with to explain Tindall's "excellence", is not giving away a penalty, and making a yard-and-a-half over the gainline, has something been missed?

That was easily the best handling display I've seen from Tinds in a very long time. But When Tait was on, he got over the gainline just as effectively on the two or three occasions he got the ball.

As for Foden and Ashton. Hallelujah! Their support brought the best out of Cueto, too. And the extra pace that we played with today, thanks to the back three, and Flood, was great to see.

I'm feeling pretty good about today, broadly speaking. So I'll hold off for at least a few hours on how inept we were from 1 to 8.

The backline was the spark in this game and showed alot more balance with Foden, Ashton, Cueto, Tindall/Tait Care and Flood, than we had in the whole championship.

Flood played particularly well and played flat on the gain line, which gave the attackers a platform to make line breaks.

Try to keep this backline together and we will be a much better side when it comes to the summer tours, autumn internationals and finally the world cup.

But i agree with Ed Budge, we were a bit suspect from 1 to 8, the pack needs a bit of an injection and change to spice things up a bit.

But good performance by England, 100% improvement.

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Formerly Super 14.

Dare I say Dowson?? One eyed Saint as I am, Lawes too??

For me Dowson would have been in my team from day one in this championship.

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Formerly Super 14.

Morrissey, you'll get no arguments from me. I hate to dredge up a tired point, but did we play without a number 5 shirt today? The kit man must have made a foul-up somewhere.

Dowson would be a welcome addition, and a good scrum half... or at least Care playing like he did for the first 10 minutes before turning into a crab.

Can not understand why Lawes was released, would have thought this would have been an ideal chance to give him some experience.

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New players.... hooray!

Ben Youngs at 9, he's a cocky, pushy, arrogant so and so. Perfect scrum half!!!!

well well well, two victories and a draw and you all moan, but bring on a defeat and you are all happy. Doesn't that strike you as odd?

Quote:

Mally
Can not understand why Lawes was released, would have thought this would have been an ideal chance to give him some experience.

I couldn't quite grasp that one either, would have been the perfect game for him, Deacon and Palmer/Shaw didn't do much in the 80 minutes and that’s probably being a bit kind.

Care played better today and made some of his 'trademark' breaks but i still don’t see him as an international scrum half.

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Formerly Super 14.

Quote:

Mally
Can not understand why Lawes was released

Do you understand why Moody was dropped one week then brought back the next as captain no less?!

What about the failure to include Foden & Ashton from the start?!

We almost have an endless list of things we don't understand when it comes to England rugby.

Quote:

Bristol Welsh
well well well, two victories and a draw and you all moan, but bring on a defeat and you are all happy. Doesn't that strike you as odd?

The comments are about this game in particular and the improvement shown by England, not about the whole championship.

I don't think any of us are so blinkered to say that England have had a good championship but a couple of simple selections, that admittedly should have been made earlier, spiced up England’s game and have given us something to build on.

Know one is saying that all is rosy but today’s game was an improvement.

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Formerly Super 14.

Rinkadink - there are many things I don't understand about England rugby... too many to list!

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New players.... hooray!

Quote:

Bristol Welsh
well well well, two victories and a draw and you all moan, but bring on a defeat and you are all happy. Doesn't that strike you as odd?

This from the person who was quite happy with the side after the Autumn Internationals.

Thought Palmer did ok. Considering the lack of pace and altheticism in the pack, they did ok. We looked dangerrous in spite of the pack though.

Ashton totally panicked when his chance came, but I hope we stick with him. He is far better than Monye. Cueto and Foden were outstanding.

S Barnes has some points on the subject

Among considerable praise for the youngsters was this gem:

There is no escaping the fact that the absence of the “calming” presence of Steve Borthwick helped England’s attack. The forwards ran with urgency, rarely ambling aimlessly into the way of the backs and their passing game.

(my bolding)

clutch,
Ashton's first chance came when he put Foden away for the try - how often have we seen England take contact rather than work with the space?

I hope England look after Foden and Ashton rather than coach them to death. Jim Mallinder has nurtured a young talent who didn't look out of place on the world stage.

I saw Ashton at Thomond Park in January and he looked a little overawed by it all but such is the speed that he is learning at at, he looked confident yesterday.

The best is yet to come this season... and Ashy gets his chance for revenge at Thomond Park in April and I can't wait.

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ClaireJ
Saints vs Aironi...

RedHatPhoto - photos of men with funny shaped balls - come and have a look...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 21/03/2010 06:59 by ClaireJ.

Best back 3 performance from England for god knows how long.Whilst Ashton and Foden have got the plaudits as the new kids on the block I thought Cueto had his best game in a an England shirt in a long time-always looked to run the ball back,didn't get turned over and 1 classic line break.If we stick with these 3 until RWC then things could be looking up-all we need now is a dynamic pack-time to give Kennedy,Lawes,Robshaw,Armitage(S) a good run out on the summer tour down under.

Did anyone miss not having Borthwick on the pitch-says it all really.

Cueto played well because he wasn't so worried about the other two of the back three stuffing up. This let him play his own game and not have to be tidying up.

I've rated Foden for a while and Ashton will improve with more appearances in the top ranks.

And Shark, did you see what Stuart Barnes said about Borthwick?

In all fairness to Ashton,

1. The lad had to step straight into a starting shirt with no time from the bench.
2. Showed what he is capable of once he has calmed down a bit.
3. Is very young so has a long career ahead of him.

Yes he may have chipped a little early but if he had made it what would people be saying today?

Despite the loss I think that that was the most convincing game I have seen England play in a long time. Now to just get the likes of Kennedy, Lawes, Dowson, Youngs etc into the squad and get rid of most of the old guard and this looks like a team that can start competing for a World Cup win.

Unfortunately I am still of the opinion that the current coaching team are not up to the task and changes need to be made there but contrary to most I think that MJ should be given a little longer with a new coaching team to see what difference that would make.

Well done England, played well and were unlucky to lose.