English rugby is back on track :) \0/

[Jaden]

Finally, after the agony of the last three years coupled with the return of Jonny W, Mike T and Billy Whizz England rugby has taken a step forward with its new head coach...

Good stuff from debutants Andy (the man of steel) Farrell and Olly Morgan, a superior performance from harry Ellis (at last) all made up to a good start for English rugby....

I know I was very relieved to see todays performance, there is a long way to go before we show the kind of form that will turn NZ over in the world cup but the six nations will be the litmus paper for the world cup - even though its a tournament in its own right...

go on Enger......land !

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[AirGuitar]

Deffinately a much higher level of rugby then they've played for a few years! Based on the past few years i thought it would be a close game, with England just getting the victory, i didnt expect them to score quite as much as they did!

Looking forward to Wales v Ireland tomorrow .

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by AirGuitar

Deffinately a much higher level of rugby then they've played for a few years! Based on the past few years i thought it would be a close game, with England just getting the victory, i didnt expect them to score quite as much as they did!

Looking forward to Wales v Ireland tomorrow .

Yep, the beers are already in the fridge for that game...

I reckon thats gonna be a VERY close game, all the pundits are calling it for Ireland to win the tournament but Wales have been playing good rugby since the last world cup and I wouldnt put anything past them.

I was really hoping that Italy would turn France over yesterday, it would have put the icing on the rugby weekend for me, Italy are due a big win, they gave England trouble last year and I think that a "giant killing" game is due for them.
Ireland have a very mature team of players, especially in the half backs so Wales will have their work cut out - ive not seen the team sheet yet but I reckon its gonna be close..

good luck Taffy

[AirGuitar]

Originally Posted by whatisshredding

Yep, the beers are already in the fridge for that game...

I reckon thats gonna be a VERY close game, all the pundits are calling it for Ireland to win the tournament but Wales have been playing good rugby since the last world cup and I wouldnt put anything past them.

I was really hoping that Italy would turn France over yesterday, it would have put the icing on the rugby weekend for me, Italy are due a big win, they gave England trouble last year and I think that a "giant killing" game is due for them.
Ireland have a very mature team of players, especially in the half backs so Wales will have their work cut out - ive not seen the team sheet yet but I reckon its gonna be close..

good luck Taffy

cheers.

As much as I'd love to beat Ireland, i think Ireland will get the win. Wales played some great rugby in the autumn, but as the NZ game showed, they make silly mistakes which really let them down, and if Ireland can make the most of those then they'll plough over us.

*Hopefully* they'll tighten the defence up a bit, if they can do that then we might pull though .

[rivera213]

Well i'm not getting my hopes up yet.

It's only scotland who are probably the worst team in the 6 nations along with Italy.

IF & it's a big IF, we beat France & Ireland then it may be turning, but we are still a long way off of New Zealand.

[AirGuitar]

My prediction was correct about the welsh game. Good overall play, but silly mistakes let us down and almost always lead to the Irish scoring.

Even though we were down 9-12 at half time i really thought we could do it, but the amount of errors in the second half was ridiculous. We could have really done with someone faster on the wing too, as the pace just wasnt there. Shane Williams was very much missed! We really needed someone with his pace to break though and get a try!

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by AirGuitar

My prediction was correct about the welsh game. Good overall play, but silly mistakes let us down and almost always lead to the Irish scoring.

Even though we were down 9-12 at half time i really thought we could do it, but the amount of errors in the second half was ridiculous. We could have really done with someone faster on the wing too, as the pace just wasnt there. Shane Williams was very much missed! We really needed someone with his pace to break though and get a try!

100% correct - wingers lacked pace and agression - chris chekaj (cant spell it) started to come good at the end - at about the same time that Hook lost the plot.... - that charge down... !!!
the other winger (luscome???) cant remember! I think, got confused between "running with the ball" and "get tackled with the ball" preferably in isolation....
Shane williiams aint no beefcake but the boy has a light speed sidestep... thats what was needed on Sunday !

the Peel/S. Jones combo is normally pretty good but Jones was not firing on all cylinders... Peel was good though.

The main problem was getting beaten up front, the Welsh forwards were getting slaughtered in a lot of the set piece, scrum and maul - Ireland were much, MUCH, more aggressive at the breakdon too, they wanted to win the ball and turn it over at every ruck - very much like NZ....

Wales are still playing well and missing key players - the Irish are on top of their game at the moment and will be hard to beat.