posted Sep 28, 2007

And not losing I meant to say - Ive had a few you know.

But Gomarsall played well tonight, Sackey's tries were pretty good and I was impressed by Chuter and Sheridan.

Moody showed tonight why footie Premiership primadonnas like Michael Owen are like whinging sissies tho. Awesome from him.

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posted Sep 28, 2007

A 'win is a win' in the popular venacular. England grafted well but the soft tackling for the 1st Tongan try will be well noted by the Aussie squad. A well judged kick...a generous mistake in Tongan attack...'Ref in the way' + missed cons and penalties...a mixed bag for England, but getting better and the 66/1 offered a week ago looks like a good bet.

Well done England , but Tonga are deservedly proud of the achievement

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posted Sep 28, 2007

Win. England win. Lose. Tonga lose. England in the QF and Tonga go home. Well done Tonga and a good, if nervy performance in their last game. England were doing the basics better. Do the Aussies have anything to fear? Yes, losing to a sub-standard England side. It will be a good QF. Brian Ashton should get a gong for managing this lot - he must have had ten thousand heart attacks by now. Brian, you are a star. Lets hope your players do you proud in the next game.

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posted Sep 28, 2007

This was England's best the of this year.
But it was still a weak performance.

Three things stand out:

1-All English line out were uncontested
2-English pack had huge weight advantage, so scrums should have been all one way.
3-The two tries by Sackey would not occur usually playing a top tear team.

I think england will lift for australia, but i really can't see them winning.

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posted Sep 29, 2007

Did Andy Farrell really read the new Harry Potter book?

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posted Sep 29, 2007

I am by no means an England fan, wrong nationality for a start, while they did deserve to win the world cup all those years back now, those days are long gone and they just are no place near it now,a couple of reasonable results against sides who they should not fear do not make world champions, as SA showed them, i fear a drubbing against the wallabies. The news reporting ect do nothing to hide a very mediocre England. Oh and the same goes for the football as well.

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posted Sep 29, 2007

One swallow does not make a summer but I was quite impressed with the way England approached the game against Tonga. However, Tonga (like Samoa) are not a patient team going through phases and depriving the opposition of ball is not thier way. What England did was get good ball, scrum advantage, non contested lineouts,etc, against more "savy" teams such as Australia we have to be patient NOT give away penalties and retain ball (though that does not mean lingering at the base of rucks, speed from this crucial part of the game goes a long way to winning). We have a chance, but it goes without saying do the basics well, frustrate the opposition and take the chances when they come. Probably wont be pretty, but a win is a win.

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posted Sep 29, 2007

Good game against Tonga. England are improving.
Some of the good bits:
1.England forwards running at Tonga looking more mobile and faster recyled ball.
2. Great performance by Gomersal. Tidying up well and sniping at the Tongan set pieces.
3. Sackey continues to show improvement - great pace. Cueto also a good performance on the other wing
4. Good controling performance by Wilkinson. Great rugby brain we all know but he needs to keep it up for the entire game against Aus (a couple of sloppy moments agianst in Tongan game)
5. Nice tries from Farrell and Tait. It looks like England are improving the lines they run.
I imagine Robinson will be back for Aus, that will be positive. Interesting to see final choices. It is posible for England to beat Aus but Englands defence will really have to step up, good tactical play, a bit of luck and a massive performance needed from the forwards!!

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posted Sep 29, 2007

rob_oz if you want to denigrate the English performance against Tonga at least be accurate. The Tonga pack was heavier than the English pack-the commentators repeated this information at least twice.The lineouts were contested by both sides,more so by Tonga in the second half as they tried to chase the game.
The main worry is Berkley at 12 and Tait at 13-defensively very poor and Mortlock must be lickin his lips.There are many problems in the England team and I expect Australia to win-but it would be foolish of supporters from either side to predict the margin of victory/defeat.

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