England vs South Africa - Rugby
Discussion
Didnt see any threads for this already, so thought Id start one and see what peoples thoughts are about the 3 match test in SA.
I am really excited to see if England can continue their 6 Nations form and keep improving and growing as a group. I think they have strong selections of in form players and a generally young team who want to be on the attack.
From SA'a perspective, well, the selection is very odd in places, with their best talent being left out of some important positions for no apparent reason (other than the fact they have an Afrikaner coach from the Bulls, who then hired Bulls coaching staff, and decided that most of the Bulls team should be selected, even guys who are usually on the bench. Come back Peter De Villiers, at least your interviews were funny).
I believe Englands best chance is the first test, the SA players are towards the end of a very tough Super 15, with only 6 days to recover, gel, and learn to play with the guy next to them, so they should be vunerable all over the field. England just need to keep the penalty count low. Win the first test and they carry that momentum and belief into the next one, and they could turn this into a winning tour.
If they let the Boks close down the ball and play Bulls style snorefest rugby of "pick up ball, bash head into opposition, fall over, repeat, hope to eventually get near the try line, if not, Morne Steyn will kick it", then the Boks could slow down the game and turn it into a long grind from which they will hope for penalties and Steyn's accuracy for a win.
I expect a very close game on Saturday, England looking to get the bacll wide and use the backline to make ground, Boks looking to slow the game down and rely on Morne's boot and forwards with boulders between their ears. I am going to say England win the first test, but will wait to see how that game looks before deciding whether the Boks will get stronger and stronger as the tour goes on.
I am really excited to see if England can continue their 6 Nations form and keep improving and growing as a group. I think they have strong selections of in form players and a generally young team who want to be on the attack.
From SA'a perspective, well, the selection is very odd in places, with their best talent being left out of some important positions for no apparent reason (other than the fact they have an Afrikaner coach from the Bulls, who then hired Bulls coaching staff, and decided that most of the Bulls team should be selected, even guys who are usually on the bench. Come back Peter De Villiers, at least your interviews were funny).
I believe Englands best chance is the first test, the SA players are towards the end of a very tough Super 15, with only 6 days to recover, gel, and learn to play with the guy next to them, so they should be vunerable all over the field. England just need to keep the penalty count low. Win the first test and they carry that momentum and belief into the next one, and they could turn this into a winning tour.
If they let the Boks close down the ball and play Bulls style snorefest rugby of "pick up ball, bash head into opposition, fall over, repeat, hope to eventually get near the try line, if not, Morne Steyn will kick it", then the Boks could slow down the game and turn it into a long grind from which they will hope for penalties and Steyn's accuracy for a win.
I expect a very close game on Saturday, England looking to get the bacll wide and use the backline to make ground, Boks looking to slow the game down and rely on Morne's boot and forwards with boulders between their ears. I am going to say England win the first test, but will wait to see how that game looks before deciding whether the Boks will get stronger and stronger as the tour goes on.
English rugby like Bok rugby is in a transition state at the moment. We have the makings of a good Pack, but it needs a cpl of seasons to resolve itself and harden. We havent got a clue what backline to play.
9: we dont know
10: we dont know
12: we dont know
13: we dont know
15: we dont know. Lancaster is discussing wanting Foden on the wing these days so he can have Mike Brown at 15
Wings...well Ashton has one place. The other? We dont know.
9: we dont know
10: we dont know
12: we dont know
13: we dont know
15: we dont know. Lancaster is discussing wanting Foden on the wing these days so he can have Mike Brown at 15
Wings...well Ashton has one place. The other? We dont know.
England team:
Mike Brown, Chris Ashton, Manu Tuilagi, Brad Barritt, Ben Foden, Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs; Joe Marler, Dylan Hartley, Dan Cole, Geoff Parling, Mouritz Botha, Tom Johnson, Chris Robshaw (c), Ben Morgan
Replacements: Lee Mears, Paul Doran Jones, Tom Palmer, Phil Dowson, Lee Dickson, Toby Flood, Jonathan Joseph
Mike Brown, Chris Ashton, Manu Tuilagi, Brad Barritt, Ben Foden, Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs; Joe Marler, Dylan Hartley, Dan Cole, Geoff Parling, Mouritz Botha, Tom Johnson, Chris Robshaw (c), Ben Morgan
Replacements: Lee Mears, Paul Doran Jones, Tom Palmer, Phil Dowson, Lee Dickson, Toby Flood, Jonathan Joseph
Looking forward to seeing Marler and Cole upfront, not entirely convinced by Hartley, but I guess he has experience of test matches going for him.
Overall some great talent there, dont like Foden on the wing though, start him at FB and bring Brown on later if necessary, Lancaster is splitting up his best atacking pair in Foden and Ashton by putting them opposite sides of the field, they know eachothers plays so well they just work together.
Farrell at 10 is a good choice, overall a very good selection with only a few things Id like to see changed.
Overall some great talent there, dont like Foden on the wing though, start him at FB and bring Brown on later if necessary, Lancaster is splitting up his best atacking pair in Foden and Ashton by putting them opposite sides of the field, they know eachothers plays so well they just work together.
Farrell at 10 is a good choice, overall a very good selection with only a few things Id like to see changed.
What i'm finding quite refreshing is actually picking players on form or that will do what the coach wants them to do.
Injuries will always be a big part of the game so just need to work around that when it comes up. I like the way they actually seem to have a long-term vision in place and as long as they keep making improvements it could turn into a very good team.
Injuries will always be a big part of the game so just need to work around that when it comes up. I like the way they actually seem to have a long-term vision in place and as long as they keep making improvements it could turn into a very good team.
Will be very interesting...think they've got the first test in Durban which is unusually hospitable of SA. Off to altitude after that......
Croft will be hugely missed, especially in the lineout...he does so much damage as front jumper on opposition ball.
As others have said the team is still very much in flux with maybe only six or seven of this looking like they might own their shirt in the long term.
I read someone they were thinking of playing Tuilagi on the wing ?!
Croft will be hugely missed, especially in the lineout...he does so much damage as front jumper on opposition ball.
As others have said the team is still very much in flux with maybe only six or seven of this looking like they might own their shirt in the long term.
I read someone they were thinking of playing Tuilagi on the wing ?!
tSA deserved the win but what a horrible style of rugby. Box kicks and up and unders all game long. I think England did a lot better than expected at the breakdown but are still playing like the new team they are and not sure what the game plan is going forward.
I would like to see flood at 10 and Farrell at centre and try and get more out of Tuilagi.
I would like to see flood at 10 and Farrell at centre and try and get more out of Tuilagi.
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