England vs Wales is poetry in motion

@ Fionn Goodhue had pace to play on the wing at under 20 world cup. I think he has lost pace, like anyone. if u saw Ngatai in his prime , he was very quick for Chiefs - but then he kept on injuring legs and lost pace. same with Jone macilai of Crusaders - he was fat and slow in miter 10. same with NMS - it was clearly documented how slow he had become in a test match :D Leg injuries - very hard to hit the same pace - even for the great man Usain Bolt. on the other hand u have a look at the current blue eyed boy of Crusaders - Braydon Ennor. he was the 13 at under 20 word cup , but was running rings around teams in the miter 10 from 11.

Daly plays 15 for Wasps , when needed . but then they don't need him when WLR is here ( or when Beale was there) for the record - Watson plays 15 for bath far often than Daly does for Wasps - hence he is the backup. If im not mistaken , even Novell plays at 15 for Exeter - but again far too infrequently ( and he is always injured anyway ). as for speed - he is not as quick as May , but is as quick as Watson or Rocko. anyways there are no many times when a wing gets to chase a ball 50m in the open in a XVs rugger match. :) btw Irish Earle showed serios pace chasing down the Italy guy. from opposite wing no less - shades of a Barret chase :D

@ Taylor mam first of i thought u was "Taylorman" - have i not been paying attention all this time? or are u being PC ( like the Canadian Premier who killed "mankind" by asking it to bechanged to "peoplekind" so that it sounds more "inclusive"! DUH ) second - England will get more go forwards soon - when Michael Rhodes ( South Africa ) qualifies on residency and Brad Shields ( New Zealand) joins after super rugger. that is 2 very good 6s to go with the present 8s in Billy V and Nathan H . Then the 2 Sams - Underhill and Symmonds will cover 7. So it leaves the lives of Robshaw and Haskell in danger. I wonder what is the mix of positions for world cup?

Cuw, I don't think that DMac will ever be a better 10 than Mounga personally, as I really rate Mounga, but I guess only time will tell. Was the big 12 and smaller 13 preferred as they think that is the best centre combo, or were they just the best available players? Is Goodhue really that much slower already do you think? I thought he was very good in the finals even if he had lost pace. He and Crotty work super well as a centre combo at the Crusaders, and them bringing their combination to international level also could be invaluable. Especially since I think Barrett would work better with a safe-as-houses 12 like Crotty outside him as opposed to another "x-factor" player like SBW. I would have thought the best starting 15 for England would be somewhat along the lines of... 1. Vunipola 2. George 3. Cole 4. Launchbury 5. Itoje 6. I would have thought Armand... 7. Underhill 8. Vunipola 9. Youngs 10. Ford 11. May 12. Farrell 13. Joseph/Teo/Tuilagi 14. Watson 15. Daly I'm totally prepared to be totally wrong on this.

not forgetting it shows that there are some auzzy coaches who can muster a proper sledge - rather than using a series of 4 letter words :P too bad JJ or his head was rarely seen last night tho :D

@ Fionn more often than not NZ have gone with the big center - small center combo. Umanga and Mauger , Nonu and Conrad , SBW and Crotty .... even in the days gone by they had Bunce and Little ( tho smaller by today's standards). So there is a very good chance Laumape and SBW will be preferred at 12 . only different prospect is little Barret who is big in a different sense - as he is as tall as a blindside flanker ( or a 2nd rower in some countries ) i doubt Reiko will come into the centers just yet ( not by 2019 unless he loses pace like by a few yards) . If Goodhue can stay injury free , he may be the longterm 13. dont forget he did not play one full year and lost a yard of pace due to a leg injury. what i will wait to see is the DMAC experiment. if anything showed at least to Wales last night - is that a 15 shud play at 15 and a 10 shud play at 10. in fact the commentary were talking of it that Rhys plays 15 in club and Gareth plays 10. but the roles are reversed in test - showing versatility. also showed a differnt side of attack when GA came to 10 in the last 25. simple question is - can DMAC be a better 10 than Mounga , in one super season??

barring injuries and bans one shud look at what the England side will be like on paper. who are the first choice XV and then the bench? and at this time. I for one think Brown may find it hard to be a first choice - given the strength they will get from May Watson and Daly - very quick and comfortable under bombs. Hartley on the other hand will still be the captain - as long as he doesnot find a way to kill himself. Haskell and Robshaw - again Eddie likes their experience but then both are slower and less effective than fully fit Nathan Hughes . In the 2 Sams - Underhill and Symmonds he has very good 7s. and in centers there is the guile of Slade and the power of Tuilagi - maybe they will get a chance again. its not easy guess who England will put out , given the number of players Eddie as looked at. only a few like Hartley Ford Farrell Itoje and Watson look like guaranteed starters.

I think outside centre is usually the bigger issue for a team. If they can settle on an outside centre then I think they have a number of guys who can step into 12 and do well if Crotty become injured (SBW, Laumape, maybe Barrett if necessary). I even think 12. ALB, 13. Goodhue would work at a pinch. I like how versatile ALB is.

Crotty too injury-prone, so it is hard to build around him. ALB is mysteriously not rated as a starter by the AB's selectors anymore.

I was probably wrong about ED's speed. He is fast and he is very much a complete "footballer".I understand your point and agree with you. None of the locks are great at number six. Better to use those three in the second row and rotate a little, and let the specialists compete for the number six jersey.

Still think that 12. Crotty with 13. ALB or Goodhue will be the midfield that will solve a lot of the All Blacks' "problems".

Farrell and Ford have been good friends since Kindergarten and have played together in all English youth teams (combined with thousands of hours backyard/street-rugby). I guess it is the closest England has to the Barrett-brothers, whom we are yet to what they really can bring to the table together at Test-level. Jordie at 12 might be the magic tonic? With Rieko at 13. But as you say, the English backline needs to gel a lot more, but at least they have the talent now to potentially do something special.

I'd thought I'd seen him move like lightning? I could be very wrong but I would have thought he would be faster than Ben Smith, Israel Folau, Dagg, Halfpenny and Kearney. Smith and Folau aren't the fastest players on earth (although not slow by any means), but they're still the two best back three players in the world, in my opinion. Daly can pass, kick well, seems pretty good under the high ball and in defence. And... I THOUGHT he was pretty fast, but I could be wrong? I think you're right about Itoje, Launchbury and Lawes being the first choice locks. They're all three such good players that I feel like Eddie is wedded to getting them all into the 15, but is that better than having a more dynamic and traditional back row?

Yes they are but if they don’t have more variation to start with a good side can shut them down easier. The Ford Farrell combo could develop into something quite special, it worked in Oz and Farrell seems to be getting stronger in terms of variation with every outing. They just can’t make the mistake of initiating all the big plays from the two, and need to involve the outsides more develop guys like Te’o, Watson and Joseph more. That didn’t happen this test bar the two tries. Anyway, it’ll be a watch this space thing for Hansen and co because when Billy V comes back they’re going to take a lot of stopping.

Elliot Daly is a bit cursed due to his versatility. Do you reckon he is fast enough to play FB? I am also not convinced about Watson as a fullback either. He sure has speed but what else does he bring? The change I can see pretty soon is that Kruis get dropped and Launch, Lawes, and Maro, take care of the second row.

I had thought looking at Elliot Daly at various points that he would make a good fullback. I'm not convinced by Watson at fullback. I think England's back row and fullback are the main cause for concern/worry. South Africa and the All Blacks continue to be the only sides who I think have no weaknesses in their forward pack. Weird to say about the Boks right now too. As for whether Itoje or Launchbury are better, I don't want to get into it. What I will say is that I think Itoje and Launchbury are the best locking combination for England and, at their best, can compete with Brodie and Whitelock and Etzebeth and du Toit as the best locking combination in the world.

Have anyone ever seen Mike Brown pass the ball or set up a try? Maybe he did it once against Argentina last year (have a vague memory of that). Leigh Halfpenny comes through as a wizard if we compare him with Brown.

Swede re his numbers the third Lions test wasn’t great either. Low numbers there and with five missed tackles easily the worst defender on the day, and could have cost them the series. Very true. He also bombed the Lions two best try-opportunities with two really poor passes (and one of them almost gave the AB's a try, Jonathan Davies saved Farrell's bacon with the best defensive play of the series). In a way he’s similar to Barrett in that respect, have a bad one by wasting all the best ball through bad decisions or mistakes and the team suffers. Agree again. Neither of them is magicians with soft hands. That’s where the Ford/ Farrell show can fall down, close them down and the jobs half done. Are not all teams busted if their halves-combo is shut down?

Hello Fionn I wrote that I don't like half-backs being captains. They are already "leaders", no need to add extra pressure on them. Scrumhalf's are very vocal during the games and refs might be a bit tired hearing more than they do already. Flyhalf's (if they are the goal-kicker) are separated from the team when they kick for goal, and that minute is a perfect time to talk with the team. Agree that Ford-Farrel showed masterclass kicking yesterday. If the Wallabies had a kicking game like that, things would look very different. And yes, Launchbury's assist was pure class. Right now I probably rate him a tad above Itoje (who is far from top form).

From memory Was that the last inside to May? Yes very good. I thought Farrell’s ove4 the top created the try but the last was the finisher. Brown MoM? Can’t believe that. Someone needs to pokes his eye when he starts laughing into the oppositions face after the fact. What a headcase. No wonder he wasn’t wanted for the Lions. You don’t award MOMs for that.