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Even if the kick chase had been good it would still have been a strange tactic. I think that once we got parity up front it was always going to be difficult for England as I think we've the best half backs in Europe. I agree with you though, I was expecting England to be much more aggressive and to give the ball a lot more air. That would have made it more difficult for us.

I think the idea was to force Ireland to play in their own half because England were confident in their defence. To be fair, there were few line breaks so you could argue their confidence was well placed, but England giving away penalties and not getting to the breakdown so getting turned over. At the end of the day, Ireland did pretty much everything right and England did almost everything wrong, at least for the first hour
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That game for me was won quite simply in the kicking. Ireland quickly sussed they were better under the high ball so consistently put up high kicks with an excellent chase, putting England on the back foot. This gave them the territory to put points on the board. England were better defensively and I can't remember too many Irish line breaks. However despite Irelands frailties defending aground the fringes where England made many yards, it was Englands errors. Lots of knock ons and running into isolated areas.

 

Ireland are the best team in Europe at the moment, hope the same is not true later this year. 

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What's most annoying is that we have the best 13 in the world in JJ and I cannot recall him running at the Irish backline. Sexton is the second best 10 in the world and his kicking was excellent but we should have anticipated that tactic pre game. But it was Wales from 2 yrs ago all over again. But of pressure away from Twickenham and they crack. Big luthor was terrible, the forwards were poor at the breakdown, but Ireland played to their strengths.

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I think the idea was to force Ireland to play in their own half because England were confident in their defence. To be fair, there were few line breaks so you could argue their confidence was well placed, but England giving away penalties and not getting to the breakdown so getting turned over. At the end of the day, Ireland did pretty much everything right and England did almost everything wrong, at least for the first hour

Even if that was the plan it was a crazy tactic. Kearney and Zebo can kick the ball miles, so if we'd changed tactics and tried to put the ball into the stands instead we'd more than likely have made got ground and got good territory most of the time. I think that if England had been more assertive at the breakdown they'd have got better ball and might have gotten some joy. Kicking the ball away to this Irish team isn't going to get you anywhere. As it was they only troubled us at the end, and we had to rejig a few things after the injuries, though I think there was a bit of complacency there too.

Four words for England- clear the ******* ruck.

Too much cheap turnover ball to the Irish, 61 errors by England(courtesy of Rbs stats) tells it own story.

Ireland were ok, no offence Michael, but England were terrible.

None taken. We were excellent for the first 60 minutes in that we executed our tactics perfectly. We gave England a lesson at the breakdown, and our half backs had the platform to show why they're the best in Europe, but as I said before, I'd like to see us play more rugby.

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Only watched bits and bobs here and there, and listening whilst cooking - England sounded like they were never really in the game, save for some excitement towards the end of the first half

 

Fair shout to Ireland, sounds like a superbly executed game plan

 

Watched the last 10 seconds of Scotland - Italy, gutting for the Sweaties

 

Watched most of France - Wales, can't help but looking at Wales now and thinking they are like England 4 or 5 years ago, so slow. All that talent out wide and it's 'shove it up your jumper' stuff, good win in Paris though, you can't knock that

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Even if that was the plan it was a crazy tactic. Kearney and Zebo can kick the ball miles, so if we'd changed tactics and tried to put the ball into the stands instead we'd more than likely have made got ground and got good territory most of the time. I think that if England had been more assertive at the breakdown they'd have got better ball and might have gotten some joy. Kicking the ball away to this Irish team isn't going to get you anywhere. As it was they only troubled us at the end, and we had to rejig a few things after the injuries, though I think there was a bit of complacency there too.

But that's mainly due to the execution. Goode and Youngs kicked poorly and without a 12 or 13 who can kick, our options were limited. Didn't stop them keeping doing it though. I do agree though that the breakdown was where England really lost it; the first man to the tackle was too late 75% of the time and so even when Ireland didn't steal the ball, they slowed it down. Incredibly frustrating performance from England, but credit where it's due, a very good performance from Ireland. They actually remind me a bit of England in 2003- very physical, very pragmatic with a 10 on top of his game and a bit of sparkle to go with the grunt in the back line

England now need to get the injured players back as quickly as possible and construct a game plan- any game plan! Corbs into the front row, Haskell needs to be disposed of, Morgan needs a new leg, I'd like to see both Lawes and Launchberry back (Attwood and Kruis have actually be pretty good, though I thought the former was poor on Sunday) try and develop Manu and JJ as a 12/13 partnership (though still no kicking) and hope to god that Mike Brown never gets injured again

So not too much to do then

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only hope now is Wales stun the Irish, England will beat France at (they always do) and Scotland have been a little dissapointing this year. Really those last 10 mins in France last year cost us a championship, not the Ireland match this year which we were never in, looks like a 4th 2nd place in a row!

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only hope now is Wales stun the Irish, England will beat France at (they always do) and Scotland have been a little dissapointing this year. Really those last 10 mins in France last year cost us a championship, not the Ireland match this year which we were never in, looks like a 4th 2nd place in a row!

 

Don't think it would be a shock if we lose in Cardiff. We have a half decent record there but Wales played well on Saturday, as poor as France are, winning in Paris is no mean feat and they'll fancy it. If we lost Sexton or Murray our goose would be cooked. France haven't a hope of beating you.

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Just seen that Big Jim is back in the Scotland starting line up

Shall we have a sweep stake for what minute he goes for a 10 minute break?

I'll go for 22

I reckon he'll make the second half. It worries me slightly that he's playing- I could see his 'style' getting under the skin of some of the English

More concerning still is that ******* Haskell still starts despite Wood being fit. Haskell is a great athlete but his deficiencies were well exposed by Ireland IMO. I also thought Kruis has had a better tournament than Attwood (though both have done ok) so he's a bit unlucky too

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Just seen that Big Jim is back in the Scotland starting line up

 

Shall we have a sweep stake for what minute he goes for a 10 minute break?

 

I'll go for 22

 

I quite like Big Jim. With that in mind I'm going for 48.

 

 

I reckon he'll make the second half. It worries me slightly that he's playing- I could see his 'style' getting under the skin of some of the English

More concerning still is that ******* Haskell still starts despite Wood being fit. Haskell is a great athlete but his deficiencies were well exposed by Ireland IMO. I also thought Kruis has had a better tournament than Attwood (though both have done ok) so he's a bit unlucky too

 

You can't drop Haskell, he's a brand...

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I reckon he'll make the second half. It worries me slightly that he's playing- I could see his 'style' getting under the skin of some of the English

More concerning still is that ******* Haskell still starts despite Wood being fit. Haskell is a great athlete but his deficiencies were well exposed by Ireland IMO. I also thought Kruis has had a better tournament than Attwood (though both have done ok) so he's a bit unlucky too

 

His 'style' will definitely get under the skin of our players. He'll target Hartley from the off I suspect. I've been impressed with Kruis as well, would agree he's unlucky

 

I quite like Big Jim. With that in mind I'm going for 48.

 

 

 

You can't drop Haskell, he's a brand...

 

Don't get me wrong, Michael, I like Big Jim too. Had a chat with him in Cheltenham one night, he's a cracking guy - but he's a walking yellow card

I'm 6'2, I felt like a midget next to him, he is mahoosive. Got a lot of stick from pissed up blokes that night, was just after it had come out he'd signed for Montpellier, so some of the locals were giving him grief for leaving Glos. Must take a lot for a bloke like him not to slap the odd ****. Completely different on the pitch, it seems!

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His 'style' will definitely get under the skin of our players. He'll target Hartley from the off I suspect. I've been impressed with Kruis as well, would agree he's unlucky

 

 

Don't get me wrong, Michael, I like Big Jim too. Had a chat with him in Cheltenham one night, he's a cracking guy - but he's a walking yellow card

I'm 6'2, I felt like a midget next to him, he is mahoosive. Got a lot of stick from pissed up blokes that night, was just after it had come out he'd signed for Montpellier, so some of the locals were giving him grief for leaving Glos. Must take a lot for a bloke like him not to slap the odd ****. Completely different on the pitch, it seems!

 

I haven't had the pleasure Woodsy, I meant as a player but I can't disagree with what you say. In fairness you could say the same of Hartley. If he had half a brain he could make an idiot. In all seriousness he'd probably be the best hooker in Europe if he had any kind of self-control.

 

Since I tipped England to win last time I'm going for Wales tomorrow! :P Have a feeling Italy might cause France problems and I can't see Scotland troubling England much. My predictions have been utter shite so far though so what do I know...

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Still got Ireland down as favourites with just 4 points in it is it enough points? I think if England had scored even 1 more try they'd have been big favourites. The pressure would really have been on Ireland to go out in search of 40 odd points against Scotand, atm they could win by 10-15 and be in a good position, the French are never push overs.

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If England had out another 15-20 points on Scotland (which they should have done), I think they'd have gone into next week as favourites. The only things going for us now are that we 're at home and we play last, so we'll know exactly what we need to do. Hopefully it'll be flakey, shit France that turn up

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**** it all anyway...

You lot are still massive favourites for the title though. Can't imagine you'd butcher even half the chances we did against Scotland. I reckon we'll beat France but only by 10 points or so, meaning a 20 point victory would give you the title. Wales are too far behind. At least England will know what they have to do when they take to the field. All set up for a great Saturday
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You lot are still massive favourites for the title though. Can't imagine you'd butcher even half the chances we did against Scotland. I reckon we'll beat France but only by 10 points or so, meaning a 20 point victory would give you the title. Wales are too far behind. At least England will know what they have to do when they take to the field. All set up for a great Saturday

 

Everyone only remembers Grand Slam winning teams. I'm disappointed but after ten consecutive wins the lads were allowed a bad day. Would have loved Paulie to go out with a Grand Slam but realistically this team isn't good enough, yet. Agree that we're favourites given the fixtures but the Scots won't be a pushover.

 

Big disappointment (entertainment-wise) of the weekend was Italy - France. I had a good feeling Italy would win that one but both teams were absolute muck.

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