Players who should never put on an England shirt again

[eldanielfire]

Maybe he's changed all that and Farrell's horror-show at 10 at the weekend - after putting Ford back in at 10 as soon as he was fit during the autumn tournament that we won - has convinced Eddie that Farrell "is his 10". I'd be surprised, but stranger things have happened.

https://www.planetrugby.com/england-hea ... nst-italy/

Again, we'll see if he continues to line up at 10. Eddie is a stubborn old bastard who hates doing anything the media and general opinion think is a good idea.

But based on what he says, is obsessed with anything which any non-Rugby coach does.

[JM2K6]

Maybe he's changed all that and Farrell's horror-show at 10 at the weekend - after putting Ford back in at 10 as soon as he was fit during the autumn tournament that we won - has convinced Eddie that Farrell "is his 10". I'd be surprised, but stranger things have happened.

https://www.planetrugby.com/england-hea ... nst-italy/

Again, we'll see if he continues to line up at 10. Eddie is a stubborn old bastard who hates doing anything the media and general opinion think is a good idea.

"Eddie's 10" is back at 12 again.

And, unsurprisingly, the only people to carry the can for the performance are the youngsters or fringe players. Wilson, Genge, Stuart, Lawrence. Lawes at 6, Mako and Sinckler come in for some additional "we've not played for ages" starters, Ford at 10. Youngs, Billy, Daly et al continue.

The one change I do like is LCD starting over George.

[dpedin]

https://www.planetrugby.com/england-hea ... nst-italy/

Again, we'll see if he continues to line up at 10. Eddie is a stubborn old bastard who hates doing anything the media and general opinion think is a good idea.

"Eddie's 10" is back at 12 again.

And, unsurprisingly, the only people to carry the can for the performance are the youngsters or fringe players. Wilson, Genge, Stuart, Lawrence. Lawes at 6, Mako and Sinckler come in for some additional "we've not played for ages" starters, Ford at 10. Youngs, Billy, Daly et al continue.

The one change I do like is LCD starting over George.

England should win by 50 but they miss the chance to make some real changes and bring in a younger guy at 10 and/or 12. Everyone knows what Farrell can and can't do by now and the Italian midfield has more holes in it that a Tetley teabag. I would have started Simmons at 10 and had Ford at 12 outside him and played a more expansive game. Opportunity missed!

[JM2K6]

Sorry, what? That's mad. Please never suggest playing specialist fly-half George Ford at 12 ever again. Thanks v much xx

[Jimmy Smallsteps]

I'd be pretty nervous if I was an English player right now, especially if I was a forward.

Which one of them will be red carded against the untouchable Welsh on the 28th?

[ASMO]

Wales wont need a red card to beat England, they will do it fairly easily with something to spare.

[GogLais]

I'd be pretty nervous if I was an English player right now, especially if I was a forward.

Which one of them will be red carded against the untouchable Welsh on the 28th?

Our opponents are touching us, just in the wrong way.

[Ovals]

Wales wont need a red card to beat England, they will do it fairly easily with something to spare.

Hard to say - bit of a cripple fight tbh. Might be our best chance of of another win in this 6N because I can't see us beating France or Ireland.

[Hal Jordan]

I'd be pretty nervous if I was an English player right now, especially if I was a forward.

Which one of them will be red carded against the untouchable Welsh on the 28th?

Our opponents are touching us, just in the wrong way.

Show us on the doll where the Irish and Scottish men touched you...

[Uncle fester]

Oof, talk about damning with faint praise. Most academy fly halves have more spark than Farrell, saying he showed more isn't doing Russell much of a service!

In most respects Farrell was dependable, he delivered what we've come to expect from him playing 10 for England: an abundance of kicking, whether it's a good option or not, suspect defence and an inability to change the play when required.

Point taken! I can't believe Engerrland persist with him when they have such talent at 10 elsewhere! The likes of Ford, Simmons and Smith are strike me as more talented 10s who could step up and ignite the English backs. I think Eddie was more concerned about nullifying Russell than he was about his own team. When I saw Farrell at 10 it was obvious they were going to play a kicking game and try and close down Russell, all that did was create more room for Redpath and our back 3.

Absolutely kicking gave you more room, broken field is the undoing of many a defence and continual creation of it was a baffling strategy. Then when you didn't choose to run it Hogg put in some wonderful tactical kicks to pin us back, hitting grass a lot.

Ford will kick plenty when told to do so by Eddie, but it's usually a lot more effective and he's also capable of doing something different. There were a few glimpses during the autumn game against Wales of what Ford could do with this back line and it looked wonderful (or possibly just good, but we're so deprived of seeing players in England jersey's make ground ball in hand that even simply passing down the line feels revelatory...).

This is from the guy who does Exeter's match live tweets. He's generally quite a mild-mannered fellow, so the tone of this is noteworthy. He also sums up nicely the frustration many of us have watching the dour kickfest plan even when it's 'working' (securing a win).

It's international rugby. Players have to get their hands dirty at least some of the time.