Quote:Pitbull
The replacements who came on for England gave away a kickable penalty (Matt Stevens); ran sideways, then threw a poor pass that ended with a penalty (Ben Youngs) and lost the ball in contact for the winning score (Courtney Lawes).
If Lee Dickson was not injured then the decision to replace him with Youngs was at best questionable because Youngs has not looked at his best – which is very good – for some time. You have to ask what Lancaster thought Youngs could do that Dickson had not or could not.
If, as I suspect, the change was pre-planned or simply followed current thinking, then it was the wrong call and this sort of ‘auto-swap’ needs rethinking.
Quote:Nookes
ONE REPLACEMENT who made his mark DESPITE all odds was Mike Brown! Flood's looping pass for replacement Brown to feed Strettle, who charged for the line only to be held up by two defenders! If I was Welsh would be so pleased Brown wasn't on for the full time!
Quote:As everyone has pointed out, giving him 2 minutes at the end of the game is not particularly fair.
Quote:Quinten Poulsen
Depends on the reason, surely?
Quote:1908
Selection and substitutions are a learning curve. SCW made some pretty strange ones during his early England tenure.
All coaches have their favourites and sometimes that blinds their reasoning.Lancaster seems to have a soft spot for his two northerners on the wing.Neither should be considered for the next game.In fact the whole back 3 needs to be changed.
Any good wing worth his salt would have scored the try Strettle missed in the dying seconds.Banahan has his critics,but he would have been far more effective than either Ashton or Strettle.
We can talk all night about the Strettle effort.But one thing is for sure.If Warburton had been England's 7 they would have won that game.Imagine a back row with Robshaw at 6 and Warburton at 7.
Back 3 for next game.
Perm four from Brown,May,Sharples and Banahan.
Quote:Quin Like Flint
I think criticising Brown or Flood is hopelessly presumptuous. Wales were "blitzing" with two defenders against four (Halfpenny was coming from the other side of the pitch and made up a huge amount of ground to eventually get across). Who knows what would have happened if Flood had done something else. Likewise the angles and speeds of the runners once Mike got hold of the ball cannot be properly judged from any video I have seen.
Quote:Sorry, he's an international coach...99% of people watching that game, if asked, would've kept Youngs off the field.
Quote:Heath Quinn
So a winger would rather receive the ball delayed?
Quote:Brown BottleQuote:Sorry, he's an international coach...99% of people watching that game, if asked, would've kept Youngs off the field.
Doesn't that rather suggest that there isn't really anything to being an international coach?
Quote:Heath Quinn
So a winger would rather receive the ball delayed?
Quote:Well, their jobs during the 80 minutes of play are fairly straightforward. It's all the other stuff outside that that makes them different to everyone else
Quote:Jammy Git
Well quite - the comment that started me off on this was the one that claimed Mike had "made his mark despite all odds" for that pass, so you can see why I thought that was being pretty myopic
Quote:Brown BottleQuote:Well, their jobs during the 80 minutes of play are fairly straightforward. It's all the other stuff outside that that makes them different to everyone else
Sure - but it's what he did in the 80 minutes that many, including BCM I think, are saying lost England the game.
Quote:Nicksb
I couldn't imagine George North not scoring from that distance though - regardless of the pass.