Italy vs England - Sunday 3pm

[Mellsblue]

What a finish from Jamie ‘Underwood’ George.

[Mellsblue]

Genge is having a nightmare.

stuart not much better

Yep. It’s like the good ol’ days when props were props and it was for other people to catch and pass.

[Banquo]

great pass from Genge and nice out wide before.

Some nice stuff some attention to detail needed.

[Which Tyler]

Oh shit - they're going to interview Lord Bald again aren't they?

Might take the dogs out for a walk

[Galfon]

Dombrandt & Randall making good claim to start again next week.

[Oakboy]

Why is Randall not playing his normal zip it out game? He's kicking too often and not very well.

[Mr Mwenda]

Why is Randall not playing his normal zip it out game? He's kicking too often and not very well.

He's not being helped by the mess that is England rucks.

[Stom]

So...some good and bad.

The props have not been great.
Curry has been excellent and everywhere, imo.
Dombrandt has been busy and effective, except for a carry or two that didn't make much/any ground.
Smith has grown into the game.
Randall's passing is a big upgrade on Youngs. And while it's great he kicks less, those kicks are awful.
Backline more balanced.
Malins poor, imo.

I think this is better, and while I think some parts of what Italy have done is poor, I don't think they've actually been poor, just made to look it at times. We're bullying them, which is good for us, but also doesn't challenge the players too much...need to improve concentration levels, as we tend to turn off.

[Shiny]

Why is Randall not playing his normal zip it out game? He's kicking too often and not very well.

Because he has had it coached out of him by Jones. He wants a younger Ben Youngs.

[Banquo]

Why is Randall not playing his normal zip it out game? He's kicking too often and not very well.

He's not being helped by the mess that is England rucks.

quite, think the pack lack a bit of zip

[FKAS]

Genge is having a nightmare.

stuart not much better

Genge is being run very flat into a lot of Italian forwards pretty much every carry. Italy are getting sucked in every time but instead of going out the back we just smash Genge in again. Genge's pass for the second George try was very nice.

Stuart just doesn't look up to it at this level. He's still young so could develop more but how many caps now and struggling Vs Italy doesn't bode well.

[Stom]

Dombrandt & Randall making good claim to start again next week.

Dombrandt, yes, Randall no. He doesn't look good enough, imo. His passing is crisper, but the rest of his game isn't up to snuff. Would like to see Quirke, if possible.

[Oakboy]

Why is Randall not playing his normal zip it out game? He's kicking too often and not very well.

He's not being helped by the mess that is England rucks.

True. Apart from Itoje and Curry the main feature of the forwards is inaccuracy.

[FKAS]

Why is Randall not playing his normal zip it out game? He's kicking too often and not very well.

He's not being helped by the mess that is England rucks.

quite, think the pack lack a bit of zip

Playing international rugby isn't like playing Prem rugby and it's definitely not like playing Bristol's brand of helter skelter rugby. It's one of the reasons why I don't particularly rate Randall his kicking game doesn't really stack up at Prem level and international level is a big step up. That being said the kick to contest that led to the third try was much better, the one out on the full earlier in the half absolutely horrific.

[Puja]

Seems finickerty to me - or am I just displaying why I'm (well, was) a back?

agreed and ditto

Was that for the disallowed try? If so, then the TMO got it absolutely spot on. The whole ethos of rugby is a competition for a ball and what England did stopped is an offence that prevented that. The opposition can only hit the jumper when he's hit the floor, so putting two people in to form a maul before he's done so is blocking them from having any chance of contesting for the ball (and is also offside, cause the ball carrier is then being driven into teammates).

It's something which isn't called enough (although it's rarely as blatant as we demonstrated there), so I'm very happy that it was called. Be happier still if it's called for the rest of the match as well!

Puja

[Mr Mwenda]

So...some good and bad.

The props have not been great.
Curry has been excellent and everywhere, imo.
Dombrandt has been busy and effective, except for a carry or two that didn't make much/any ground.
Smith has grown into the game.
Randall's passing is a big upgrade on Youngs. And while it's great he kicks less, those kicks are awful.
Backline more balanced.
Malins poor, imo.

I think this is better, and while I think some parts of what Italy have done is poor, I don't think they've actually been poor, just made to look it at times. We're bullying them, which is good for us, but also doesn't challenge the players too much...need to improve concentration levels, as we tend to turn off.

Perhaps a little harsh on Malins. He makes key interventions in each of the running breaks (which is why George is on his wing to score).

Any thoughts on itoje at flanker?

[Banquo]

So...some good and bad.

The props have not been great.
Curry has been excellent and everywhere, imo.
Dombrandt has been busy and effective, except for a carry or two that didn't make much/any ground.
Smith has grown into the game.
Randall's passing is a big upgrade on Youngs. And while it's great he kicks less, those kicks are awful.
Backline more balanced.
Malins poor, imo.

I think this is better, and while I think some parts of what Italy have done is poor, I don't think they've actually been poor, just made to look it at times. We're bullying them, which is good for us, but also doesn't challenge the players too much...need to improve concentration levels, as we tend to turn off.

Malins more poor stuff than good. Smith using all the time hes getting on the ball well.

Pack need to sharpen up and keep foot on throat- also not sure they know what backs calls are.

[Which Tyler]

Oh shit - they're going to interview Lord Bald again aren't they?

Might take the dogs out for a walk

How's my timing?

[Puja]

Genge is having a nightmare.

stuart not much better

Genge is being run very flat into a lot of Italian forwards pretty much every carry. Italy are getting sucked in every time but instead of going out the back we just smash Genge in again. Genge's pass for the second George try was very nice.

Stuart just doesn't look up to it at this level. He's still young so could develop more but how many caps now and struggling Vs Italy doesn't bode well.

Who else would you be giving those caps to though? Cole's hardly a forward step and Heyes is very firmly behind him at club level.

Puja

[Banquo]

He's not being helped by the mess that is England rucks.

quite, think the pack lack a bit of zip

Playing international rugby isn't like playing Prem rugby and it's definitely not like playing Bristol's brand of helter skelter rugby. It's one of the reasons why I don't particularly rate Randall his kicking game doesn't really stack up at Prem level and international level is a big step up. That being said the kick to contest that led to the third try was much better, the one out on the full earlier in the half absolutely horrific.

well yes. Every intl side box kicks.

Stuart off

[Danno]

Isiekwe did look like he was bundled into that position. Not excusing the offence, just not sure it was down to him

[Puja]

Any thoughts on itoje at flanker?

He's looked pretty good, although I'm not sure he might not look better in his actual position. Isiekwe's carried well, which is nice.

Puja

[francoisfou]

Bof! I fell asleep after ten minutes!

[Banquo]

Seems finickerty to me - or am I just displaying why I'm (well, was) a back?

agreed and ditto

Was that for the disallowed try? If so, then the TMO got it absolutely spot on. The whole ethos of rugby is a competition for a ball and what England did stopped is an offence that prevented that. The opposition can only hit the jumper when he's hit the floor, so putting two people in to form a maul before he's done so is blocking them from having any chance of contesting for the ball (and is also offside, cause the ball carrier is then being driven into teammates).

It's something which isn't called enough (although it's rarely as blatant as we demonstrated there), so I'm very happy that it was called. Be happier still if it's called for the rest of the match as well!

Puja

yes .....ya pedant

[Banquo]

Genge is having a nightmare.

stuart not much better

Genge is being run very flat into a lot of Italian forwards pretty much every carry. Italy are getting sucked in every time but instead of going out the back we just smash Genge in again. Genge's pass for the second George try was very nice.

Stuart just doesn't look up to it at this level. He's still young so could develop more but how many caps now and struggling Vs Italy doesn't bode well.

Genge just needs to calm down.