Forum Rugby Club

quote:

Originally posted by JWM:
I too was looking forward to seeing Cipriani, nice change from Balshaw, who has not acquitted himself well.

Me too. Balshaw is not good enough in my opinion. Hopefully Cipriani will learn his lesson. I think Lewsey deserves to come back, personally.

Mark

I was hoping for a change from Ballock Brain Balshaw, but I guess we are going to give the Sweaties a chance.....

So, nobody coming to HQ for the match against ireland?

David

quote:

Originally posted by David Sutton:
So, nobody coming to HQ for the match against ireland?

No, David, I was offered tickets but had to turn them down because my missus was working. Then I found a babysitter but the tickets had gone so I was going to the forum get-together tomorrow, then the babysitter cried off!

Looks like I'm watching it on the tv instead.

Mark

Perhaps my memory is short, but Scotland v England so far is possibly the worst game of rugby I have ever seen!

Mark

Congratulations to Scotland - you deserved to win that, but that really was one of the most inept displays I have ever seen from an England team and there have been a few over the years.

Brian Ashton is really demonstrating how to make a sow's ear out of a silk purse. He has more talent at his disposal than any England coach before him, in my opinion, and his teams are turning in displays which are absolutely woeful.

It seems they are ok against superior teams that demonstrate some attacking ambition, where they can mount a rearguard action with a rousing 'backs to the wall' performance from their 'hard as nails' forwards. But match them against a lesser team where they are challenged with taking the game on and they just lose it. They have no invention, no spark and are absolutely devoid of intelligence. It's a real shame as they have some really exciting backs and back row forwards who could really take a game on given the opportunity.

All they wanted to do today was kick the ball away and, although Scotland were no different, their kicking game was a magnitude better.

Wilkinson needs to be dropped if he plays like that and Geraghty or Cipriani given the chance to build to the World Cup.

I don't mind England losing so much if they play well but I do mind when they play like that and lose. Ashton is just not doing it for me.

Mark

Thanks for the report Mark,

I missed the game as I was sleeping before my night shift...........or by the sounds of it I didn't miss anything. I'll steer clear of the sports sections of the Sunday papers tomorrow then.
I think you have hit the nail on the head with your comments, I feel much the same.

Mark

I agree Mark, it was a truly dreadful game. They should be ashamed of themselves!

JWM sat through the first half, (I'd recorded the match and we managed to avoid seeing the final score) then very wisely went home.

And to think I was really looking forward to it...

quote:

Originally posted by tonym:

And to think I was really looking forward to it...

Hi Tony,

Apologies if what I said to you had indicated what was to come. Five minutes watching in the shop was enough for me.

My plan had been the same as yours, to watch later. But then I thought who am I kidding? I'll be surrounded by flat screens in a Hi Fi dealer.

Well done Scotland, although I'm not sure even this win will make up for another season of serious under-achievement. Haddon can feel grateful that Ashton is worse.

Steve

How on earth did that England team manage to beat France? That fluke hasn't quite ruined the end of the championship, but....

Still it was pretty fun to listen to the commentary, I think even Eddie Butler was getting pissed off with the has-been Wilkinson!

Can France still win the championship? I guess when they beat Wales that should be automatic.

Dreadful game. Well done Scotland. It is not churlish to describe them as a desperately limited side but they did what they needed to do.

England appeared utterly lethargic from the start and devoid of leadership. They took to the field with no apparent game plan, and when things go wrong seem unable to change tack. Vickery fails to convince as captian, all the more when he is removed from the field each game with 1/3rd of the time remaining.

Have to look at Ashton now. He seems to be unable to rouse a performance from a squad which clearly has talent. The rumour is that he 'lost' the squad in France during the RWC. Hardly looks like they are in the palm of his hand now.

I hope he gives some young bloods a game against Ireland.

I can think of six or seven that I'd cull for good. Take the last 10 England games. Remove the Australia and France ones from the RWC and can you honestly see any progress? Even those two were grafted around defensive performances. Are we really unable to play positively?

I don't mind if we are crap but honest and committed.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve S1:

quote:

Originally posted by tonym:

And to think I was really looking forward to it...

Hi Tony,

Apologies if what I said to you had indicated what was to come. Five minutes watching in the shop was enough for me.

My plan had been the same as yours, to watch later. But then I thought who am I kidding? I'll be surrounded by flat screens in a Hi Fi dealer.

Don't worry Steve, you didn't spoil things! Unfortunately just as JWM & I were leaving we found ourselves standing within inches of a bloody great big TV showing the match.

Our eyes were irresistibly drawn to the screen...

The match wasn't quite over so I harboured a faint hope that the last ten minutes or so would be worth watching. Or at least we might win. It's very hard being married to a scot!

quote:

Originally posted by tonym:
It's very hard being married to a scot!

I know! My missus is half Scottish and half Welsh as well so this Six Nations has been doubly painful!

I managed to miss the game......the biggest game of the tournament for scotland and our only win so far, and I miss it. Doesn't sound like I missed much though as far as a good game goes.

I'm beginning to think that I'm a jinx....every game I've watched this tourney we've lost. Oh well.

Bruce, you're right we are limited and have the smallest squad (from a talent point of view and in numbers if pro players too) but Hadden has done a remarkable job. If we could develop some young backs with pace then we would start to progress. We have some but not enough....and we are also inuriy prone or so it seems.

England are a complete quandry....how can the country with the most pro players in the world be so pedestrian and lacklustre. And the talent seems to be there as well. In my view Ashton has always been the wrong coach. He has continued to play the old England nee boring way when the game has moved on. He needs to go and they should bring in a young coach. Or a Newzealander.

Just watching the Super 14.....now thats rugby!!!

Ryan

Hold on to your hats.....we're coming!

quote:

Originally posted by ryan_d:
...Or a New Zealander...

Quite. Southern Hemisphere, anyway. That's where the dynamic drive is at the moment (though I like Livremont's style with the French, but not their inconsistency).

How sad to see the Calcutta cup living down to my expectations ,that was right up there with the boring drivel served up in the eighties on the annual snorefest called Wales v Ireland.
Chillkram you asked back earlier in the season about the malign influence of Alfie ,i think you can see how the dismantling of cliques and the things i hoped of your beloved Wasps coaching team have been brought to fruition way quicker than i had hoped and although i think Wales are still a way short of the finished article there is clearly direction and self belief evident for all to see.
I believe the Welsh team have yet to completely click and when they do somebody is going to get a spanking anyway back to cliques i think in the way Lee Byrne,Gavin Henson ,Gethin Jenkins and Ian Gough have stepped up to the mark this season showing everyone the potential all of them have had for years but being made scapegoat one too many times may have inhibited these players but under a coaching team that has no truck with reputations ,club loyalties or any other bullshit has transformed a team of no confidence with little trust in each other and i think no respect for the previous coach whatsoever into a team that will be able to compete with the very best and believe that it can beat these teams and not just put up a brave show.
I really hope England can sort out the in fighting and i think it's only a matter of time before Jake White takes over the reigns and puts out the strong team that the pool of players they have to choose from merits.
One more thing i have to say Danny Cipriani if your mates are the kind of mates who expect you to drop their tickets off at a club in the early hours of the morning then they are no mates ,i would get up at dawn and walk to your house if you were getting me a ticket for the match,enough said.

So Wilko is the only one who gets dropped! I'm all for giving Cipriani a chance but what about a few other fresh face?

quote:

Originally posted by fentontfox:
you can see how the dismantling of cliques and the things i hoped of your beloved Wasps coaching team have been brought to fruition way quicker than i had hoped

I agree, fentonfox.

quote:

I'm all for giving Cipriani a chance but what about a few other fresh face?

Definitely, Bruce.......Gatland and Edwards for England!

Well done to the Azzurri.

Now, how dull will England be today?

Well not as dull as they have been. That was better. The frustrating thing is that the performances have been hugely inconsistent in this championship. The players are perfroming for themselves, not Ashton I think, as given away by Noon in his post-match interview.

There were good performances today from Noon, Cipriani, Easter, Croft and Borthwick I thought. It was a more disciplined performance with fewer (although not completely eliminated) dull penalties given away. The kicking from hand was much better - mainly due to Cipriani - and they actually used their backs properly this time and look what happened, they scored tries!

Not so good; I thought the scrum was not up to scratch with a couple lost against the head and Ireland getting a wheel on a couple of times. The lineout was also erratic with 2 penalties given away on their own throw which is just amateur, although Croft jumped well. There was also a little unintelligent play in front of the posts as in previous games which made me think "here we go again!".

Ireland were poor so I'm not sure how this performance really ranks, although so were Scotland last week. Part of me was hoping England would get a thrashing so that Ashton would have to go. Looks like he will be staying for a while yet.

Mark

Congratulations to Wales on a well-deserved Grand Slam. No doubt our Welsh friends on here are otherwise engaged at the moment, but I'm sure they'll have something to say when they aren't so busy!

Enjoy!

Regards

Mark

Another win for Wasps today and another 4 points closer to the play offs with games in hand. It's time for those above to be very very worried!

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by Chillkram:
Another win for Wasps today and another 4 points closer to the play offs with games in hand. It's time for those above to be very very worried!

Mark

I went to the game too as an honorary London Irish supporter. Neither team played that great but it's always sad to lose when you score more tries than the opposition!

Jay

quote:

Originally posted by Chillkram:
Another win for Wasps today and another 4 points closer to the play offs with games in hand. It's time for those above to be very very worried!

Mark

Mark,

Tigers twice in 2 weeks! - I have managed to get a couple of tickets for the game on 29th! Certainly believe WASP's have the talent to get into top 4 - should be a really great end to the season - We of course are aiming for home advantage

quote:

Originally posted by Jay:
it's always sad to lose when you score more tries than the opposition!

Ahem, If you have the front to call that second half effort a try! How that was not a scrum to Wasps for a knock on I will never know....advantage, pah!!!