I had a sense that he'd done that quite a few times but seeing them all written down like that it's really quite unimpressive.fivepointer wrote:we had more of this nonsense on Sunday with Singleton and Marchant coming on in the 78th minute. Its insulting. If you dont want to play someone, then dont put them on.Beasties wrote:I agree with this. He has wasted a huge amount of caps on players he really shouldn't have. Whether they are/were good enough is arguable but where would the harm ahve been in giving possibles 20 mins or so rather than 5 mins at the end of games which is what he did such a lot of the time. Wtf are you gonna learn giving someone new 5 mins?Mellsblue wrote: I think you’d a few of those for transition and leadership purposes. Hartley, Robshaw and Brown standout; though, you could argue they could’ve been phased out earlier - I’ve come to the conclusion the winning run was a curse rather than a blessing.
I don't suppose anyone will ever understand what Eddie's been thinking, so much of what he's done selectionwise (never mind what he's said) has been utterly baffling. He's given cap after cap after cap to players in poor form then dropped them completely when they started playing well. Hughes had been gash for two years and got many caps, then just as he was starting to play well for Wasps again he was ejected forever.
But then you have the other side of the coin where he's picked Ludlam from seemingly nowhere and the lad had a great game on his debut. It'd be interesting to wonder whether Shields would have been in instead if he hadn't got injured........
Jones has done this to Isiekwe and Maunder while on tour, and given Robson and Spencer just enough time to require their kit to go into the wash. Tommy Taylor had 4 minutes to win his only cap. Devoto had 5 minutes. Armand did manage to get off the bench for a few minutes in both his games. Poor Jonny Hill had the indignity of seeing Shields come in at lock ahead of him in SA.
It's one thing to use that short window at the end of a game to get those first-cap nerves out of the way if you're then able/planning to give them more exposure, but you don't get the sense that's what was happening with most of them. Imagine how many more Ludlams we may have seen if given the chance.
