I fantasise about strapping Ben Youngs to a chair ...

[CunningPunter]

... and showing him clips of the Japanese scrum-half wasting time and getting rucked off the ball, while shooting electric shocks through his backside.

{Youngs' backside, that is.]

[Timbo]

Yeah, their SH is good, but the real key is that that the Japanese pods and structures are in position faster than anybody else in this tournament. Even the likes of NZ have to occasionally slow things down during phase play to sort out what they’re doing next. Not Japan.

[Epaminondas Pules]

Are you going to strap the forwards down to show them how to clear the call, how to present, how to get into position to receive?

It is very easy to blame the 9, but it’s a lot like blaming the hooker for every lost lineout. As much as it frustrates me it’s jot just the scrum half, by quite a distance.

[Which Tyler]

Are you going to strap the forwards down to show them how to clear the call, how to present, how to get into position to receive?

It is very easy to blame the 9, but it’s a lot like blaming the hooker for every lost lineout. As much as it frustrates me it’s jot just the scrum half, by quite a distance.

No, but Youngs is still terrible once the ball is available

[Epaminondas Pules]

Are you going to strap the forwards down to show them how to clear the call, how to present, how to get into position to receive?

It is very easy to blame the 9, but it’s a lot like blaming the hooker for every lost lineout. As much as it frustrates me it’s jot just the scrum half, by quite a distance.

No, but Youngs is still terrible once the ball is available

His passing annoys me most, especially right to left over
any distance, but he’s not terrible at all. He is if you’re lazy and just seek to blame a single player for a what is a multi player issue, but hey ho. Multiple SHs have looked rank average with england. I’m sure it is the scrum half.

[Tigersman]

What annoys me the most was Young’s never used to be like that.
He was never the most accurate passer but he used to never slow down the game at least.

And he does still have his moments of brilliance.

IMO ever since Farrell replaces Flood he changed his game style.
I miss the move where Youngs would get a fast ball out to Flood on the blindside Loop around him get the ball back, make about 10 meters and pop it to the winger.
Stuff like that.

Also miss his long distance runs

[Epaminondas Pules]

I’m sat with John Fletcher at the moment and just asked him about Youngs. He remarked about the difference between England and NZ when it comes to giving the SH what they need in order to pull defences apart. Their latch, clear beyond the ball, presentation and work to get into position and coming on to the ball at pace is all superior to England. Four simple but massively important aspects. As a SH you want all of those aspects working in tandem, which we sadly don’t seem to be able to achieve consistently, which is why we see this stop start attacking structure.

Hard to argue with that frankly.

[Stom]

Are you going to strap the forwards down to show them how to clear the call, how to present, how to get into position to receive?

It is very easy to blame the 9, but it’s a lot like blaming the hooker for every lost lineout. As much as it frustrates me it’s jot just the scrum half, by quite a distance.

No, but Youngs is still terrible once the ball is available

His passing annoys me most, especially right to left over
any distance, but he’s not terrible at all. He is if you’re lazy and just seek to blame a single player for a what is a multi player issue, but hey ho. Multiple SHs have looked rank average with england. I’m sure it is the scrum half.

He’s often very slow to arrive to rucks, which is very Ann.

[fivepointer]

Part of the SH art is to do something with ball that isnt ideal. No SH works off perfect ball all the time. You have to adapt.
The recurring flaws in Youngs game is all about his dithering around when the ball is available and his oft sloppy service. If that were balanced by searing breaks and incessant sniping to keep defences on their toes you might overlook his less than glittering distribution. Fact is, his days as a breaking SH seem long gone.

[Gloskarlos]

No, for me there’s little any more to mitigate his shoite. Even with perfect front foot ball he delays, causes forwards on crash ball runs to stop, slow or change lines, box kicks when there will clearly be no chasers and delays so much gets counter rucked off the ball. Agree he used to be better, but regardless of what platform his forwards are giving him he is shunt these days. It annoys me that he scores the odd sniping try here and there which supports any justification of his selection.

[Digby]

I’m sat with John Fletcher at the moment and just asked him about Youngs. He remarked about the difference between England and NZ when it comes to giving the SH what they need in order to pull defences apart. Their latch, clear beyond the ball, presentation and work to get into position and coming on to the ball at pace is all superior to England. Four simple but massively important aspects. As a SH you want all of those aspects working in tandem, which we sadly don’t seem to be able to achieve consistently, which is why we see this stop start attacking structure.

Hard to argue with that frankly.

That's a more positive approach we tend to avoid on purpose. We're better than when John Wells was assigning resources to the ruck, but we don't seem to want to play as NZ do, just as we didn't want to pick a player like Steff when he'd look to run behind the opposition line, we tend to want to operate all on our side in case things go wrong

[Digby]

If I was going to take a pop at Youngs given he's not going to suddenly nail 99% of his passes it'd probably we around how we work the tactics to attack down the shortside. As some notes above that's hardly just down to Youngs, but he's surely a big input to our tactics when we play so much (sometimes just kick so much) off 9

[p/d]

I was sat next to a chap - lets call him Dave - who, fuelled from a long afternoon of alcoholic beverages, put forward a good case that Ben Youngs is actually not a very good scrum half (not quite the terminology used). I left feeling most enlightened.

[Timbo]

If I was going to take a pop at Youngs given he's not going to suddenly nail 99% of his passes it'd probably we around how we work the tactics to attack down the shortside. As some notes above that's hardly just down to Youngs, but he's surely a big input to our tactics when we play so much (sometimes just kick so much) off 9

How do you mean? We don’t attack short side enough, or too much?

[Digby]

If I was going to take a pop at Youngs given he's not going to suddenly nail 99% of his passes it'd probably we around how we work the tactics to attack down the shortside. As some notes above that's hardly just down to Youngs, but he's surely a big input to our tactics when we play so much (sometimes just kick so much) off 9

How do you mean? We don’t attack short side enough, or too much?

More we do not do it well. Which given we've got Ford, Farrell and Daly and a number of carrying options is frankly weird. Why rush to take on a blitz when you don't need to? In fairness there is we really are very keen to kick, and that's going to be starting with Eddie, but we do overlook working blind to give us a better option coming back to the open side

About the best we get working down the blindside is kick, contest and recover ball, kick again. Now that's fine, you can get very good outcomes from just that, but we surely have other options

[p/d]

If the article in the DT is to believed - quoting Ben Youngs - then we are about to unleash the mother of all attacking moves on Aus.

I'm all agog

[Oakboy]

If the article in the DT is to believed - quoting Ben Youngs - then we are about to unleash the mother of all attacking moves on Aus.

I'm all agog

DT?
Ben Youngs?
Attacking moves?

I'll join you in agog!

[Renniks]

If the article in the DT is to believed - quoting Ben Youngs - then we are about to unleash the mother of all attacking moves on Aus.

I'm all agog

It's Billy V and Tuilagi running at weak shoulders, isn't it…

[Mellsblue]

If the article in the DT is to believed - quoting Ben Youngs - then we are about to unleash the mother of all attacking moves on Aus.

I'm all agog

It's Billy V and Tuilagi running at weak shoulders, isn't it…

It’s the one where Youngs passes slightly in front of the first receiver’s midriff rather than at his ankles or face. If you look closely they’ve practised it a couple of times in matches over the last few years.

[Which Tyler]

If the article in the DT is to believed - quoting Ben Youngs - then we are about to unleash the mother of all attacking moves on Aus.

I'm all agog

Box Kick down the middle of the field instead of down the tramlines?

[p/d]

If the article in the DT is to believed - quoting Ben Youngs - then we are about to unleash the mother of all attacking moves on Aus.

I'm all agog

Box Kick down the middle of the field instead of down the tramlines?

It's where the sensible money is..... though stand in a long line and wait for the Genia long flat pass might have merit

[twitchy]

This thread could have gone a number of ways after reading the title.

[Which Tyler]

This thread could have gone a number of ways after reading the title.

We were all thinking it

[Which Tyler]

This thread could have gone a number of ways after reading the title.

Please gods, no-one was thinking it

[Beasties]

If the article in the DT is to believed - quoting Ben Youngs - then we are about to unleash the mother of all attacking moves on Aus.

I'm all agog

It's Billy V and Tuilagi running at weak shoulders, isn't it…

Are we actually gonna involve Tuilagi in the game this time? Could be a cracking idea.