General rugby thread

[anonymous-user]

We had better play better in the next matches, because we’ve just used up several matches worth of luck in that one.

[iwantagta]

Ian Lancs said:

"Enough of a wrap" - really?

Immediate reaction from me was - definite penalty. In slo-mo from behind the arms did try to grip. It wasnt high. Seen worse.

Having said that - in Pretoria it would have been a definite penalty if the same thing had happened.

[LivingTheDream]

Tense game and SA made plenty of mistakes which kept us in the game.

That allowed us some momentum and we improved - Moon and Mercer were great!!

That tackle at the end spoilt it for me though - it was a shoulder and no tackle, clearly!! Farrell slightly over the edge again!

[Ian Lancs]

iwantagta said:

Immediate reaction from me was - definite penalty. In slo-mo from behind the arms did try to grip. It wasnt high. Seen worse.

Agree it wasn't high, but even with slo-mo thats not a wrap. But then im not a ref/tmo

[Robbo66]

Ian Lancs said:

Agree it wasn't high, but even with slo-mo thats not a wrap. But then im not a ref/tmo

Thought England’s tacking good second half, why SA didn’t drop goal beggars belief. Hugely talented side, but hugely naive. Definite shoulder, penalty at end, Farrel knew it.

The worst sky interviewer woman I’ve ever seen.

[Joey Ramone]

You're allowed to put your shoulder into the tackle, for God's sake. You just can't use it instead of your arms. The Ref and his assistants looked at it and both agreed it was fine. It looked worse than it was because the saffer bounced off Farrell.

[Uncle John]

Joey Ramone said:

You're allowed to put your shoulder into the tackle, for God's sake. You just can't use it instead of your arms. The Ref and his assistants looked at it and both agreed it was fine. It looked worse than it was because the saffer bounced off Farrell.

Agreed, he tried to wrap his arms, contact was amplified with the speed, no foul, he’ll feel that in the morning.

[768]

Wasn't the most convincing performance. Another win next week is asking a lot of this side, the ability is there I'm not sure where they've lost the edge. Maybe it's just the small margins.

Does EJ know who he wants at 10? Was he just giving Ford a light week?

[Kermit power]

768 said:

Wasn't the most convincing performance. Another win next week is asking a lot of this side, the ability is there I'm not sure where they've lost the edge. Maybe it's just the small margins.

Does EJ know who he wants at 10? Was he just giving Ford a light week?

I think more a case that with Tuilagi and Te'o both on the way back, there's maybe less need for Farrell at inside centre?

I reckon Farrell would be on the team sheet ahead of Ford any day.

[irocfan]

Japan/NZ, tries

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9Y_X_6Coqs

[Robbo66]

Uncle John said:

Agreed, he tried to wrap his arms, contact was amplified with the speed, no foul, he’ll feel that in the morning.

Disagree. He looked like he tried to wrap his arm, but it just pops up due to the impact of him smacking the opponent with the shoulder charge. His reaction and face immediately after the incident spoke volumes, he knew as the majority did, that he’d simply charged with his shoulder.

[The Mad Monk]

Robbo66 said:

Uncle John said:

Agreed, he tried to wrap his arms, contact was amplified with the speed, no foul, he’ll feel that in the morning.

Disagree. He looked like he tried to wrap his arm, but it just pops up due to the impact of him smacking the opponent with the shoulder charge. His reaction and face immediately after the incident spoke volumes, he knew as the majority did, that he’d simply charged with his shoulder.

So the referee, TMO and assistant referees all professionally qualified and independent all got it wrong?

[DocJock]

On first view, at full speed, it looked like a shoulder charge.

Slo-mo did show some attempt to wrap (in my much lower-grade referee) opinion.

In a match, at the level I reffed with no video, I'd probably have (wrongly) penalised him.

[DocJock]

Anyway, Wales v Scotland.

Impressive defence from Wales,they pushed the limits of the offside line brilliantly to get a great line speed. I actually thought Adam Hastings did well considering that.

Dan Lydiate back to his best, North looking sharp, Tipuric showing just how good Sam Warburton was to keep him out. and my favourite Hamish Watson showing again that size isn't everything.

Good match with a well deserved Welsh win.

[snake_oil]

DocJock said:

Anyway, Wales v Scotland.

I'm becoming slightly (only slightly) less apprehensive seeing Anscombe in a red shirt. Great to see Foxy back, textbook step and score from him. He has an uncanny ability to beat a man.

As for the game, a good result with a couple of clinical tries, however not nearly enough possession for my liking. Felt like we spent most of the time defending, and looking quite good at it too.

[Robbo66]

The Mad Monk said:

So the referee, TMO and assistant referees all professionally qualified and independent all got it wrong?

No, could have gone either way, and he’s very lucky ...and he knew it.

[irocfan]

Robbo66 said:

The Mad Monk said:

So the referee, TMO and assistant referees all professionally qualified and independent all got it wrong?

No, could have gone either way, and he’s very lucky ...and he knew it.

I must admit I thought that the tackle was 'marginal' (at best!) but at the end of the day the officials decided it wasn't and that was that.

As for the match... yes it was exciting but had the Saffas not made a number of school-boy errors they MAY have been out of sight. I suspect that if we play a1st half like that against the AB's we're going to get hammered and although the 2nd half was markedly better (not hard) it's still not good enough.

Positives:
- Defence was ok (I know it seems a strange thing to say given how well we repulsed them, but Damien DA seemed to be able to go through us at will).
- There didn't seem to be a drop-off in fitness
- We competed at the turn-over
- We didn't give up
- The 2nd half was an improvement (it couldn't have been worse!)
- Curry

Negatives:
- Defence was only ok
- That 1st half was dreadful
- Silly penalties (no Marler, Hask or Cole to blame this time)
- I don't think that Daly (as talented as he is) is a world-class 15 (yet?), pop him in at 13
- Teo, not ready for this match, and it showed


as an aside reading the comments on Rugby365 is hilarious!

[JonChalk]

irocfan said:

Positives:
- Defence was ok (I know it seems a strange thing to say given how well we repulsed them, but Damien DA seemed to be able to go through us at will).
- There didn't seem to be a drop-off in fitness
- We competed at the turn-over
- We didn't give up
- The 2nd half was an improvement (it couldn't have been worse!)
- Curry

Negatives:
- Defence was only ok
- That 1st half was dreadful
- Silly penalties (no Marler, Hask or Cole to blame this time)
- I don't think that Daly (as talented as he is) is a world-class 15 (yet?), pop him in at 13
- Teo, not ready for this match, and it showed

Would add:
Positives:
Some attacks in the second half showed promise, well-thought and gained metres.

Negatives:
Even with Mike Brown out of the side, promising attacks broke down due to players not passing when appropriate - seemed much more interested in trying physical line breaks and taking the ball to ground. Itoje for one and at least one more who could have passed to May for more total metres gained (if not really going to be a try).

[CardinalFang]

mr pg said:

So you'd rather we not use one of the best finishers of recent years not be used? Proven try scorer at the highest levels. Would seem a waste to me, but as a Sarries season ticket holder what would I know?

Yup - sorry an all that but a message needs to be sent, that the kind of showbiz self aggrandisement (dipping, swan dives, stupid bloody hand gestures) is for football. Ok, I'm staggeringly old but back when all this was fields, an awkward manly handshake was sufficient.

Joking aside, It makes me cringe. No problem if someone wants to thank their god - a long established tradition in the South Seas etc. Fully recognise Ashtons finishing talent, but I'd rather do without the "afters", in the same way I'd rather watch England lose with flair and Stuart Barnes than win with Rob Andrew.

CF

[Kermit power]

JonChalk said:

Would add:
Positives:
Some attacks in the second half showed promise, well-thought and gained metres.

Negatives:
Even with Mike Brown out of the side, promising attacks broke down due to players not passing when appropriate - seemed much more interested in trying physical line breaks and taking the ball to ground. Itoje for one and at least one more who could have passed to May for more total metres gained (if not really going to be a try).

I'll say it again. Brown passes much more often for Quins than he does for England. Is that down to the higher intensity of test rugby, or is he actually being coached that way? He still doesn't offload for Quins at every opportunity, but the difference between there and England is stark enough to really stand out like a sort thumb.