By Kath
November 17 2014

Oh well I suppose it was to be expected the 'Media' are having a field day about England's performance.   Some of the headlines England's broken back line, England are a shambles and it goes on and on.

 

England 28 v 31 South Africa

QBE Autumn Internationals - 2nd Test

 

First of all maybe we should reflect for just a moment on the grander scheme of things Ebola, Terrorism, Middle East unrest and so on.  For goodness sake this was just a game of Rugby, yes we lost but hey, that is part of sport. 

For a start I think it was silly and arrogant of England management to say they were expecting three out of four wins for this series?  Why can't they just go with one game at a time?

The way the chap interviewing Stuart Lancaster went on after the match was just ridiculous and I quote "will we see wholesale changes next week Stuart"? ...........Utter Madness in my opinion!

Ok, yes the team gave away penalties, made errors of judgment and one player sent off but come on so did the South Africans.  This was a tough game and the better team won on the day.  No point in the media jumping up and down screaming for blood they do go overboard at times.
 

And then cut to the studio and you get Sir Clive Woodward saying " you have to stick with the team you have, this is it now".   I actually think Sir Clive is right, no point now starting with wholesale changes, we have the backbone of the team for a while now and we should stick with it. 

Mind you Sir Clive is having a lot to say about Lancaster at the moment, and I am not sure if a media attack on Lancaster is the way I want to remember Sir Clive Woodward, I think he is more dignified that that.

 

George Ford - Pictures paimages

I do agree Farrell should be rested and I fear there is a bit of petulance creeping into his game, don't like to see that at all in any player.   I would like to see Ford start next week and maybe Ben Morgan starting, other than that I would keep the same team.  

They definitely need to win against Samoa, just to regain their confidence.   A couple of weeks ago, I would have been quite confident of the winning the next match (and I still am really) but they must for their own sakes.

 

Englands Billy Vunipola during the QBE International at Twickenham

I watched the game over and both teams had a very similar style of play, the difference on the day was South Africa took the opportunities given and England wasted them and failed to focus at crucial times.  

England really only lost out by a drop goal score and if lady luck had shone on them it might have been different. 
 

The game as a whole was hard fought by both teams and I thought Steve Walsh actually did a good job, although he is not my preferred referee.

 

 England's Brad Barritt scores a try during the QBE International at Twickenham