England squad for start of 6N’s

[Eugene Wrayburn]

Btw if any of you is feeling confident get some money on. Ireland are bizarrely massive favourites on the Betfair betting exchange. England are 3/1.

[Insouciant]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/47076985

I like that the BBC has rugby matches because then it's on free to air tv. If, however, they continue to push the 'Farrell is the Iceman/second-coming of Wilko/God' narrative it's not going to help me overlook the other shortcomings in their coverage (invertwat etc). I guess a lot of viewers are just 'watching the rugby' and don't spend too much time with the sport otherwise. They then need to be fed a simple narrative but it's irritating especially when it's Farrell as it feeds the idea that he's amazing and no one bothers to question it. At least question it. He's not a terrible player by any means, but the article's comparison is way off. In fact, judging by his no-arm tackles, continual remonstrating with the ref and moods that swing into petulence, he isn't the messiah... He's a very naughty boy.

[Mellsblue]

When you’re trying to tempt in the non-regular fans you need a famous face. Farrell is currently that and Wilko is the famous face. It is fecking annoying though.

[loudnconfident]

Btw if any of you is feeling confident get some money on. Ireland are bizarrely massive favourites on the Betfair betting exchange. England are 3/1.

Tempting, but too stressful. I had £10 on England to beat the ABs in the Autumn at 7/1 (also Betfair). Cue grinding of teeth...

[Mellsblue]

I always bet against my team. If you win, well, what’s a few quid, if you lose it’s free drinks to console yourself.

[Timbo]

Nervous, and not confident at all.

[Banquo]

Nervous, and not confident at all.

Me either, Ireland are a bloody good team. Our selection isn't far off, but the bit its off is pretty crucial imo; even then, Ireland are better organised and prepared on recent evidence. We shall see.

[Banquo]

well hello, great pass Faz, always been a fan

[Epaminondas Pules]

well hello, great pass Faz, always been a fan

I’ve got to go out now!! At least I saw us score!!

[Banquo]

I'm off in 30 mins. Discipline poor again I see

[Stom]

We're doing well, but Ben Youngs is just terrible at making decisions...

[Banquo]

We're doing well, but Ben Youngs is just terrible at making decisions...

Clearly isn;t being talked to, but yes

[Banquo]

daft to ship that on

[Eugene Wrayburn]

I always bet against my team. If you win, well, what’s a few quid, if you lose it’s free drinks to console yourself.

Me too. I'm off to spend my ill gotten gains on some posh (Irish) gin.

[Mellsblue]

I always bet against my team. If you win, well, what’s a few quid, if you lose it’s free drinks to console yourself.

Me too. I'm off to spend my ill gotten gains on some posh (Irish) gin.

Enjoy. Your boys will be back with something important to say before the championship is finished.

[Epaminondas Pules]

I always bet against my team. If you win, well, what’s a few quid, if you lose it’s free drinks to console yourself.

Me too. I'm off to spend my ill gotten gains on some posh (Irish) gin.

Enjoy. Your boys will be back with something important to say before the championship is finished.

I’m sure they’ll give Italy a run for their money

[Puja]

I always bet against my team. If you win, well, what’s a few quid, if you lose it’s free drinks to console yourself.

Me too. I'm off to spend my ill gotten gains on some posh (Irish) gin.

See, I always bet on my team; I can't not. Usually that makes me the bookies' best friend, but today my little bets on England winning at half-time, England winning, England winning by +5, and England winning with Jonny May scoring the first try (a very tasty 28/1 on the latter) earned me a princely £17 for my £4 outlay. Big money that I will no doubt give back to them later in the 6N.

Puja

[Banquo]

Me too. I'm off to spend my ill gotten gains on some posh (Irish) gin.

Enjoy. Your boys will be back with something important to say before the championship is finished.

I’m sure they’ll give Italy a run for their money

Italy looked terrible, didn't they?

[Puja]

Enjoy. Your boys will be back with something important to say before the championship is finished.

I’m sure they’ll give Italy a run for their money

Italy looked terrible, didn't they?

I thought they looked a distinct improvement actually. I think they'll worry Wales and France this year.

Puja

[Epaminondas Pules]

Enjoy. Your boys will be back with something important to say before the championship is finished.

I’m sure they’ll give Italy a run for their money

Italy looked terrible, didn't they?

They did look pretty ropey. Scotland played well mind, but Italy look a long way off the other teams.

[Digby]

Enjoy. Your boys will be back with something important to say before the championship is finished.

I’m sure they’ll give Italy a run for their money

Italy looked terrible, didn't they?

Sickness bug in the Italian camp this last week, not that I expect them to vastly improve on their record

[Banquo]

I’m sure they’ll give Italy a run for their money

Italy looked terrible, didn't they?

I thought they looked a distinct improvement actually. I think they'll worry Wales and France this year.

Puja

We were watching different games. I think they will get a couple of massacres- Scotland should have been 20 points up after 10 minutes- Italy's defence was all over the place, and they have at least half the team who shouldn't be playing intl rugby. Even if its an 'improvement' they were still terrible.

Sickness may explain some of it

[Banquo]

I’m sure they’ll give Italy a run for their money

Italy looked terrible, didn't they?

They did look pretty ropey. Scotland played well mind, but Italy look a long way off the other teams.

I thought Scotland were very patchy too.

[Oakboy]

Italy looked terrible, didn't they?

They did look pretty ropey. Scotland played well mind, but Italy look a long way off the other teams.

I thought Scotland were very patchy too.

After just the one round of games, the only non-patchy performance was ours. Compared with most of our wins under Jones, yesterday's performance stood out for a cracking start that was maintained over 80 minutes. Preparation was spot-on. I've hardly ever (if at all) said that about us since Jones took over.

It makes me wonder if Mitchell has made a big difference. I'm no expert on defence but was it fair to suggest that Tuilagi was well-coached? He has not looked that reliable defensively in any of the Leicester games that I have seen. Often, he can be a loose cannon, just as Farrell used to be at 12 before Mitchell's appointment.

[Banquo]

They did look pretty ropey. Scotland played well mind, but Italy look a long way off the other teams.

I thought Scotland were very patchy too.

After just the one round of games, the only non-patchy performance was ours. Compared with most of our wins under Jones, yesterday's performance stood out for a cracking start that was maintained over 80 minutes. Preparation was spot-on. I've hardly ever (if at all) said that about us since Jones took over.

It makes me wonder if Mitchell has made a big difference. I'm no expert on defence but was it fair to suggest that Tuilagi was well-coached? He has not looked that reliable defensively in any of the Leicester games that I have seen. Often, he can be a loose cannon, just as Farrell used to be at 12 before Mitchell's appointment.

Our discipline may cost us another day, as it has in the past, but it was a much better effort than for a while; we showed this intensity v NZ to be fair, but didn't keep it up, nor was game planned as well.
Defensive coach can be proud, and Manu (and Faz) were pretty controlled which I liked, and Manu tbh was exceptional given his lack of big games in the last years. Manu has also been playing at 13 for Tigers, which is very different, and especially in a struggling side. The key to defence is trust (and communication), and the England guys backed each other up yesterday which left him a clear role.