The Official English Rugby Thread

[Kawazaki]

Malins looks like Cullen the way he runs. An English fullback that sees space and runs into it - it'll never catch on.

[JM2K6]

Glad he's playing well. We need him to be impossible for Eddie to ignore.

Brown had another brilliant game too ;)

[ASMO]

Malins looks like Cullen the way he runs. An English fullback that sees space and runs into it - it'll never catch on.

I guarantee Eddie wont go near him with talent like that

[ASMO]

An England backline of Harry Randall, Marcus Smith, Piers O'Conor, Jack Nowell, Jonny May, Anthony Watson and Max Malins would be something to enjoy.

[JM2K6]

Malins looks like Cullen the way he runs. An English fullback that sees space and runs into it - it'll never catch on.

I guarantee Eddie wont go near him with talent like that

Eddie literally selected him to start at fullback for the Ireland game, before he broke

[Hal Jordan]

I am inclined to give Malins the benefit of every doubt for the reason that we bear something significant in common (no, he's not a twat).

[Oxbow]

An England backline of Harry Randall, Marcus Smith, Piers O'Conor, Jack Nowell, Jonny May, Anthony Watson and Max Malins would be something to enjoy.

Pah, half of those are already yesterday's men, Mitchell, Sleightholme and Freeman is where it's at.

Is Nowell playing at centre there?

[JM2K6]

An England backline of Harry Randall, Marcus Smith, Piers O'Conor, Jack Nowell, Jonny May, Anthony Watson and Max Malins would be something to enjoy.

Pah, half of those are already yesterday's men, Mitchell, Sleightholme and Freeman is where it's at.

Is Nowell playing at centre there?

Surely that team needs odogwu at 13.

[sockwithaticket]

Bath v Tigers is surprisingly open so far, a few, shall we say, over-enthusiastic offloads from Bath making life difficult for them.

[sockwithaticket]

Cracking finish from Muir after some decent phases strung together by those inside him.

[sockwithaticket]

40 seconds to play and Spencer puts Bath a point ahead after a tough conversion.

[Madness]

40 seconds to play and Spencer puts Bath a point ahead after a tough conversion.

Spencer put himself under pressure when he pinged the pass out wide for the try when he could have waited for the forwards to pick and go over close to the posts especially with a penalty advantage.

[SaintK]

Carryu on! No surprise here then?

Eddie Jones has been backed to continue as England head coach following a review into the team's disappointing fifth-place finish in the Six Nations.
Jones' position had been under scrutiny since defeats by Ireland, Wales and Scotland in the same tournament for the first time in 45 years.
"The debrief was a valuable process, we all learned a lot," Jones said.
"Most importantly, we have identified actions to enable the team to move forward positively towards 2023."
The panel reviewing England's performance consisted of "RFU board members, executives and independent experts", while past and present players - as well as the coaches - also gave their feedback.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/56819737

[ASMO]

Complete wankwash, management speak for we are not going to change anything except a few tweaks around the edge, it was more a list of excuses...covid this covid that blah blah blah..

[sockwithaticket]

Even if they think he's done wrong, paying him out and finding a replacement at this point in the RWC cycle is a pita unless his position is truly deemed untenable. At the moment the first two years of his reign fluffing the overall win percentage and delivering 3 6N Nations titles (only one of which had a different number of tournament wins to Lancaster) are enough for defenders to fall back on and say he should carry on.

Other news: Sale have re-signed Tuilagi for a year + option for another apparently. Little bit surprised to be honest, suggests he might still have England aspirations whereas he'd probably be better served heading to Japan for an easier toll on the body and a bigger payday. If I were Sale I'd have him on pay as you play like Tigers did with Tom Croft towards the end of his career.

[JM2K6]

I don't think it's far to say the first two years fluffled the win percentage. Even if you take them out, he's at about 70% - better than everyone since Woodward. 66% in 2018-19, 80% in 2019-20, 55% so far in 2020-21.

There's little doubt in my mind that the RFU looked at the world cup run much harder than they looked at a covid-disrupted 6N. Irritating to fans, but there you go. I was never expecting the report to publicly criticise selection decisions and tactics, even though they went badly and obviously wrong.

[Hal Jordan]

Complete wankwash, management speak for we are not going to change anything except a few tweaks around the edge, it was more a list of excuses...covid this covid that blah blah blah..

Almost as searching as the inquiry into Cameron. Lessons will be learned, I'm sure.

[Raggs]

I don't think it's far to say the first two years fluffled the win percentage. Even if you take them out, he's at about 70% - better than everyone since Woodward. 66% in 2018-19, 80% in 2019-20, 55% so far in 2020-21.

There's little doubt in my mind that the RFU looked at the world cup run much harder than they looked at a covid-disrupted 6N. Irritating to fans, but there you go. I was never expecting the report to publicly criticise selection decisions and tactics, even though they went badly and obviously wrong.

There's also the fact that we won the Amazon Made Up Cup just a few months earlier.

[Ymx]

Sounds like they couldn’t find anyone agreeable and better to replace him with.

Foster might be available later this year.

Anyone? Anyone??

[Margin__Walker]

Sounds like they couldn’t find anyone agreeable and better to replace him with.

Foster might be available later this year.

Anyone? Anyone??

Foster's the chosen one. You can't fight destiny.

[Margin__Walker]

Looks like Faz got a bit lucky at the weekend. Again

[Paddington Bear]

Watching Champ games has been eye opening for how little the ref on the spot actually looks for this sort of thing

[SaintK]

Watching Champ games has been eye opening for how little the ref on the spot actually looks for this sort of thing

Can’t understand why there was no citing. The match was live streamed so there must be a tape to review?
From the angle it looked a definite red!

[Margin__Walker]

Watching Champ games has been eye opening for how little the ref on the spot actually looks for this sort of thing

It's a shame there aren't crowds in. Probably the only good thing about watching LI in the Championship was going to some different places to watch a game. Donny for example was a great place to catch a game in the sunshine. Really nice setup.

The lack of cameras took some getting used to. Most of our games other than a couple Sky televised had no TMO, which felt weird given that pretty much every pro game you watch has one usually. More for try decisions than anything.

There was definitely more leeway for foul play on the field, but they at least did have post match citings after tapes were reviewed, which is why I was slightly surprised he got away with that. Guess they thought it would have been a yellow max if it was looked at.

[sockwithaticket]

But Farrell and his various coaches assured us that he (more than a decade into a pro career) was working on his tackle technique, surely that wasn't just bollocks for the press?

[Paddington Bear]

Watching Champ games has been eye opening for how little the ref on the spot actually looks for this sort of thing

It's a shame there aren't crowds in. Probably the only good thing about watching LI in the Championship was going to some different places to watch a game. Donny for example was a great place to catch a game in the sunshine. Really nice setup.

The lack of cameras took some getting used to. Most of our games other than a couple Sky televised had no TMO, which felt weird given that pretty much every pro game you watch has one usually. More for try decisions than anything.

There was definitely more leeway for foul play on the field, but they at least did have post match citings after tapes were reviewed, which is why I was slightly surprised he got away with that. Guess they thought it would have been a yellow max if it was looked at.

Was at the Jersey game where they beat LI in the last minute having previously scored from their own dead ball line, got into the bar just in time to see Faz shoulder charge England to the victory over SA.
The Championship is great entertainment and I went to more live games in it than Prem even as a Sarries fan [insert ‘you’ll watch a lot more’ joke here]. Shame it isn’t a little more popular as it’s viability as a genuine feeder is limited.

[Margin__Walker]

Never got to Jersey, but I definitely remember that try. Unreal effort.

Going round the grounds, it's clear just how much it lacks viability as a self sufficient pro league. The crowds are tiny and the interest just isn't there. It's light years away from something like the French second tier.

[Saint]

Jersey is worth the effort even if you're just going to support no side. Dirt cheap seafood and beer, great experience at the ground, and the post-match is down at the Boat House usually has players from both teams, the ref group, and the fans just mingling. Highly recommended

[ASMO]

Bristol v Exeter, has to be advantage Exeter with Bristols injury list

[sockwithaticket]

Sheedy out certainly does them no favours. Pack seems pretty close to first choice as far as I can tell (only Heenan wouldn't be there).

[ASMO]

Wow that was some try by Bristol

[sockwithaticket]

FInished well by your favourite player. Poor from Exeter not to cover him. O'Flaherty might not have stopped him, but he was paused long enough for more than enough cover to be in position.

[sockwithaticket]

Shame Hill got isolated, that was really nice.

[ASMO]

Malins is just so good, he has everything

[sockwithaticket]

That was a corker.

[sockwithaticket]

Feels like Bristol have a bit of a mountain to climb now. Momentum is massively against them and they've been clinging on defensively.

[Madness]

Very effective by Exeter but with Bristol missing some significant players they had to put a marker down. Add Thacker, Hughes, Earl, Randall, Sheedy, Semi and Naulago and it should be a good rematch in the likely Prem final.

[Kawazaki]

Be honest, the Premiership is much better with Saracens beating Exeter in it.

[Saint]

Now the pointless top of the table clash is dealt with, we can all focus on the real match of the weekend - the East Midlands derby.. 3pm tomorrow.

I'm not going to post the teams, because I don't want to spoil the surprise for you all

[JM2K6]

Very effective by Exeter but with Bristol missing some significant players they had to put a marker down. Add Thacker, Hughes, Earl, Randall, Sheedy, Semi and Naulago and it should be a good rematch in the likely Prem final.

Yup, missing far too many players who make the team tick. Their replacements are quite a step down in most cases - Uren isn't Randall, that lump of a 12 is no Radradra, Heenan isn't a patch on Hughes or Earl, Adeolokun is nowhere near Naulago's threat. Malins is a much reduced player at 10 too - he's brilliant with some space and when he's able to inject himself out wide. Having Sheedy there will be a big boost.

Amused by the commentators talking about Sinckler's passing from the base being because of playing with John Afoa. Like he wasn't doing that for Quins. Or that he wasn't a fullback in his schoolboy days

Exeter still don't have a decent 9 and it cracked me up when they went out of their way to talk up Townsend for an excellent kick. Just quietly ignore all the times he fucked up eh?