posted Nov 29, 2008

I recall certain NH supporters telling All black suppoerters to get over a certain ref's call sometime in 2007. Trying to have it both ways?

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posted Nov 29, 2008

"SCW was lucky to have a good group of players.

His record with the Lions shows his lack of vision as a coach - relying on injured players and over the hill players with no clear game plan.

SIR clive - My arse!"

Please. What short memories you have. Most of the time his teams did to most other teams precisely what the ABs did to England today. They played disciplined rugby, ground down the opposition, forced them into silly mistakes (which were punished on the scoreboard) and - often as not - ran away with the game in the last 20 minutes. He wasn't "lucky". He worked well with what he had (which was good quality) and managed to do it in a framework that was hostile to his goals. Now, supposedly, our coaches have free rein to manage the team and can't get the basics sorted.

And as for the Lions tour; he had one go at it and failed. Wake me up when its over. Managing that team is a different task and one that - sentimental attachment aside - is becoming less of a plum job.

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posted Nov 29, 2008

This is how I saw the England v ABs game.

To beat the ABs you need to pressure them, disrupt them, burst their brittle self-belief: when you do that, they make mistakes.
England did that today in the first 30 minutes. The mistakes were starting to come.
The ref then systematically took away from England all of that momentum by whistling them off the park. None of Haskell, Mears or Flood deserved yellow. The ABS loitered around every single ruck (watch the replay).
Everybody then forgets about the appalling standard of the ref, and England, completely exhausted after playing with 14 men for most of the game, let in 20 points in the last 15 minutes and are roasted by the critics.
To say that England were "outclassed" just does not reflect the game that I saw.
ABs the better team at this stage. No doubt about that: but this England team is only small margins away from being a very good team.
One last point.
It is seriously stupid for the England forwards coach to state before the game that his only virtue was to cheat; the England forwards then get whistled off the park. Time for Wells to go, definitely.

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posted Nov 29, 2008

oh so he wasn't lucky with England but was unlucky with the Lions!

Funny - most of the players credit Johnson with the win not SCW!

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posted Nov 29, 2008

Hotspur - you're a funny old bloke. Can you really say that "the game I saw" with true credibility? Both sides had their chances - England were simply outclassed and outplayed after an initial burst of 10 mins of energy. Look, England need to keep the discipline in order. They didn't and haven't against all quality opposition. Today, yet again, England got absolutely thumped by All Blacks. IT WAS NOT THE REF - ALWAYS BLAMING THE REF IS making you look like the fool that are you beginning to look like.

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posted Nov 29, 2008

ABs the better team at this stage. No doubt about that: but this England team is only small margins away from being a very good team (BY HOTSPUR; ibid).

Huh???? be serious please, this statement has no credibility - I admire your passion, but please it is just so darn crass a statement.

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posted Nov 29, 2008

The statement wasn't mine originally, it was made by Martin Johnson; I am simply repeating it, because I agree with it.
Having weighed the delicate balance between MJ's credibility and yours, I've decided to stick with MJ.

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posted Nov 29, 2008

good to see the gobbie aussies beaten.
life is sweet.
weakest side in SH.

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posted Nov 30, 2008

Well, the Gobbie Aussies - what an intelligent comback that is , beat the dosey English easily - as did everyone else , , but we lost to a better Welsh side - perhaps the best Welsh side I have seen in a long while . If you;re English, find alternative entertainment for the 6N

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posted Nov 30, 2008

OK. What a tournament that was. In my opinion, the end of terms grades will look like this:

Wales: Performance B+, Potential A, Results B

Ireland:Performance C-, Potential B, Results C-

Scots: Performance C-, Potential B-, Results C-

England: Performance D, Potential B, Results E

No doubt Wales performed and got the result at the end that they deserved and should have bot over the Boks. Ireland and Scotland should have done better, showed flashes of brilliance and will be smiling at the way England played with the 6N a little over 9 weeks away. England played truly badly, showed little interest or guile, rarely threated the try line and showed flashes of almost near disbelief with ball in hand and decision making. Borthwick needs to significantly improve his standards, attitude and professionalism to avoid expulsion next term.

Here's to a great 6N. My prediction:

Wales 1st
Ireland 2nd
France 3rd or 4th
Scotland 4th or 3rd
England 5th or 6th
Italy 6th or 5th.

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