Team for France

[Banquo]

I know diggers is now a massive fan too....so maybe, just maybe......

I'd agree on wanting to start Robson, Ford, May, Tuilagi, JJ, Watson and Daly. The thing I'd wonder more about given that lineup isn't Youngs and Farrell, it's how do I get Cockanasiga into the side

Given that Watson is unlikely to be fit, just have to hope Daly can surprise us by becoming a competent 15. Even then I think he'd still be better at 11.

[Which Tyler]

I know diggers is now a massive fan too....so maybe, just maybe......

I'd agree on wanting to start Robson, Ford, May, Tuilagi, JJ, Watson and Daly. The thing I'd wonder more about given that lineup isn't Youngs and Farrell, it's how do I get Cockanasiga into the side

Given that Watson is unlikely to be fit, just have to hope Daly can surprise us by becoming a competent 15. Even then I think he'd still be better at 11.

Is it worth pointing out (again) that the "Watson can't play FB, even his club don't trust him there" thing is actually untrue?

[Banquo]

I'd agree on wanting to start Robson, Ford, May, Tuilagi, JJ, Watson and Daly. The thing I'd wonder more about given that lineup isn't Youngs and Farrell, it's how do I get Cockanasiga into the side

Given that Watson is unlikely to be fit, just have to hope Daly can surprise us by becoming a competent 15. Even then I think he'd still be better at 11.

Is it worth pointing out (again) that the "Watson can't play FB, even his club don't trust him there" thing is actually untrue?

Fill your boots

[Digby]

Daly is on his way to being my favourite fullback since Balshaw, legend

[Banquo]

Daly is on his way to being my favourite fullback since Balshaw, legend

Balshaw pre injury looked like he was going to be really good. He was a defensive rock- yeah I know- in a game v France at twickers. Sadly, injury did for his confidence, along with Henry.

[Oakboy]

I don't usually rate Greenwood but this article is OK;

A
rugby match nowadays lasts roughly 100 minutes. During that time, according to England’s head coach, Eddie Jones, a team will only play about 35 minutes of actual rugby.
That means for two-thirds of their time on the field the players are standing around, waiting for the game to restart. How you handle these “off” moments can decide whether you win or lose, and it is an area that Jones has been actively working on.
The challenge for any coach is how to ensure your players can flick that switch in their heads that allows them to refocus quickly and maintain the intensity needed at the top level. It is one of the hardest skills for a player to learn, and the key is not allowing good or bad events on the pitch to affect your clarity of execution.
It comes down to what I call ‘BOOM' moments - otherwise known as how to get the ‘Best Out Of Me’. What Henry Slade needs to play well will be very different to what gets Mako Vunipola and Tom Curry going, and it starts way before you step out on the pitch.
In international rugby each player knows their own “niggle” zone and will have learnt how to reach theirs without distracting someone from their own natural rhythm. If you like laughing and joking then you gravitate to like-minded souls in the dressing room and on the pitch. If you like your head under a towel and prefer to focus on your internal discourse then sit in a place where others are of a similar ilk. Don’t change the mood of the “smilers”. In my day, it was simple: keep Iain Balshaw away from Martin Johnson, keep Mike Tindall away from Phil Vickery, keep me away from Jonny Wilkinson!

We were characters who prepared in very different ways but we all had absolute trust and respect. If you are in your perfect bubble you get the details right, and when you head out on the pitch the same jigsaw puzzle of contributions continue.
You saw that perfectly in those dead moments in Dublin as the emphasis on leadership and control shone through very differently depending on the type of characters involved. Within this England setup you can see that Maro Itoje and Kyle Sinckler lead the hollering, celebrating big tackles and important moments. They goaded the Irish players, with Peter O’Mahony reacting furiously to provocation from Sinckler and Johnny Sexton having a couple of run-ins with Itoje.

Will Greenwood and Jonny Wilkinson were best off kept apart while preparing to play Credit: Russell Cheyne
That fires those two players up, but leadership emerges in other ways during that quiet time. The players who stood out to me in that respect last weekend were Owen Farrell, with the quality of his decisions, and George Kruis, with his command of the lineout. They are able to bring clarity to the chaos and make the crunch calls. It is not a case of others abdicating responsibility but if the footsoldiers trust those in charge then they simply go to work focused on their own tasks.

The quick lineout at the start of the match, which set the tone in the opening minute, wasn’t an accident. That was coaching staff and players in perfect harmony, after weeks of preparation and analysis. Not knowing what your first options are in a match is criminal and inevitably leads to a loss of tempo. But if your leaders immediately enact a plan then other individuals can remain calm and head into the muscle memory zone knowing this is what they trained for.
If that trust is there then when the ball is dead the rest of the team can focus purely on recovery, rehydration, breathing and communicating with the players you work with most on the park. You will often see backrowers stood together identifying opportunities for jackling, the front row trying to find a weak seam in the opposition scrum and the back three monitoring anything they may have seen from the opposition that means their back-field cover needs to be tweaked. The list is a never ending one as there is always something to be looked at.

[francoisfou]

Sunday morning and I’ve got a feeling in my bones that this afternoon’s match is going to be too close for comfort! George Ford, however, will come on for the last 15 mins and save the day!

[Oakboy]

If we get in front early I can't see France staying in the game. A start like we had against Ireland should do it. Let's face it, after last week, anything less than a four score lead will keep France nervous and I'd be amazed if that happened.

[Digby]

If we keep the ball moving France will implode owing to fitness levels or lack thereof, the one concern is we're particularly good at navel gazing rather than keeping the ball moving, perhaps a slight second concern that Bastareaud is very able to slow an absurd amount of ball

[Oakboy]

If we keep the ball moving France will implode owing to fitness levels or lack thereof, the one concern is we're particularly good at navel gazing rather than keeping the ball moving, perhaps a slight second concern that Bastareaud is very able to slow an absurd amount of ball

Maybe, for this match, Jones will put a rocket up Youngs's rear?

[Mikey Brown]

And what’s been stopping him doing that for the last 2 years?

[Oakboy]

And what’s been stopping him doing that for the last 2 years?

Oh, nothing, but I was thinking of Jones's press statement about keeping the game fast-moving and suggesting that the ball was in the referee's court. Maybe, just maybe, specific instructions to his SH would have been laid down to put pressure on Nigel by being super-swift at every opportunity?

I admit to a dose of wishful-thinking!!

[Raggs]

Youngs to be sat on by Basteraud after 10 minutes, Robson to come on and play at speed.

[Digby]

I fear both of them will kick too much. We don't look good playing at pace, but we need to learn, and if there's one side it's easier to learn against than anyone else when it comes to pace it's France