Timbo wrote: ↑Sat Oct 22, 2022 5:53 pm
I enjoyed that game. Good, hard nosed, Autumnal rugby.
Thought most of the England lads/prospects looked sharp and this sort of game will be a decent tune up for the bigger games to come. Best I’ve seen Nowell play for a while, he’s clearly benefiting from a run of games (despite his critics).
He’s always done damage at club level. But still at best an ordinary intl wing, because of what the critics of which I am one say. He does lack pace and does not pass when he should.
Vunipolas went pretty well, Itoje was good. Thought Malins poor without the ball- no commitment in kick chase and fairly weak in the tackle after making good decisions. Simmonds S got his hands dirty which was good to see, and Slade did his usual bits and pieces job.
Timbo wrote: ↑Sat Oct 22, 2022 5:53 pm
I enjoyed that game. Good, hard nosed, Autumnal rugby.
Thought most of the England lads/prospects looked sharp and this sort of game will be a decent tune up for the bigger games to come. Best I’ve seen Nowell play for a while, he’s clearly benefiting from a run of games (despite his critics).
He’s always done damage at club level. But still at best an ordinary intl wing, because of what the critics of which I am one say. He does lack pace and does not pass when he should.
Vunipolas went pretty well, Itoje was good. Thought Malins poor without the ball- no commitment in kick chase and fairly weak in the tackle after making good decisions. Simmonds S got his hands dirty which was good to see, and Slade did his usual bits and pieces job.
At his best I think he’s a good international wing. He has strengths and weaknesses like everyone. I don’t think he was at his best in Oz or for most of last season. He dropped weight last year and I think it effected his snap and power into contact. As I said, today was the best I’ve seen him in a while. Looked sharp and physical.
I like Nowell a lot. His work in and around the contact area is very good, the way he can get go forward in the most unpromising situations is miraculous at times, his ability to ride a tackle or step out of one is terrific. I accept he's no flier but i do wish he'd offload more as thats something he could and really should be doing.
The odd thing is I never really see criticism of other wingers that they should be offloading more, but Nowell has a different set of criteria because he’s just not able to get outside of defenders or take the open goal when it’s presented to him.
It’s great that he’s good in the contact area, and he’ll seemingly do one miraculous thing a game, but he’s just frustrating to watch for England and a consistent injury worry.
Timbo wrote: ↑Sat Oct 22, 2022 5:53 pm
I enjoyed that game. Good, hard nosed, Autumnal rugby.
Thought most of the England lads/prospects looked sharp and this sort of game will be a decent tune up for the bigger games to come. Best I’ve seen Nowell play for a while, he’s clearly benefiting from a run of games (despite his critics).
He’s always done damage at club level. But still at best an ordinary intl wing, because of what the critics of which I am one say. He does lack pace and does not pass when he should.
Vunipolas went pretty well, Itoje was good. Thought Malins poor without the ball- no commitment in kick chase and fairly weak in the tackle after making good decisions. Simmonds S got his hands dirty which was good to see, and Slade did his usual bits and pieces job.
At his best I think he’s a good international wing. He has strengths and weaknesses like everyone. I don’t think he was at his best in Oz or for most of last season. He dropped weight last year and I think it effected his snap and power into contact. As I said, today was the best I’ve seen him in a while. Looked sharp and physical.
As you say, strengths and weaknesses. As I said, always looked good at club level, always quite sharp, always physical. At intl level, for me, not a big threat, not a great defender and his distribution is poor. We will have to disagree on his intl pedigree, tho well aware that intl coaches pick him.
Last edited by Banquo on Sat Oct 22, 2022 7:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mikey Brown wrote: ↑Sat Oct 22, 2022 7:20 pm
The odd thing is I never really see criticism of other wingers that they should be offloading more, but Nowell has a different set of criteria because he’s just not able to get outside of defenders or take the open goal when it’s presented to him.
It’s great that he’s good in the contact area, and he’ll seemingly do one miraculous thing a game, but he’s just frustrating to watch for England and a consistent injury worry.
It also maybe because they don’t die with the ball as often. And in fairness he works harder than most to get his hands on it.
Despite all the pros and cons of Nowell's game discussed above, one thing still stands out - he's slow for an international wing. He is prone to be skinned by a real flier, but is unlikely to skin anyone himself.
We all see things differently. For example, past comments on here imply that Slade is not quick yet he beat Daly in that 1st half chase. Others criticise his defence yet he stopped Itoje in a straight head-on impact 3 yards from the line.
As for Nowell, I think he can provide balance in the back three, depending on who the other two are. IMO, he does not do that if Steward is at FB. I'd still pick Daly on one wing with Steward at FB, in which case I'd not want Nowell or Coka to complete the set.
Oakboy wrote: ↑Sun Oct 23, 2022 8:55 am
We all see things differently. For example, past comments on here imply that Slade is not quick yet he beat Daly in that 1st half chase. Others criticise his defence yet he stopped Itoje in a straight head-on impact 3 yards from the line.
As for Nowell, I think he can provide balance in the back three, depending on who the other two are. IMO, he does not do that if Steward is at FB. I'd still pick Daly on one wing with Steward at FB, in which case I'd not want Nowell or Coka to complete the set.
Daly vs Slade: Daly is turning and seems to hesitate as, I think, he expects the blind side winger to be stationed at fullback. Once he realised he needs to get there he’s clearly quicker than Slade. Not that Slade is slow but I don’t think he’s an OC who is quick enough to slide out one.
Agreed on a not having two slowish wingers with Steward at 15. If Manu is also playing I’d only pick pace on the wing, if we had any. Given what Jones has at his disposal I’d say Marchant is a must pick just to get some pace in the line.
The thought of
Smith
Coka
Farrell
Tuilagi
Nowell
Steward
depresses me.
Probably around where Daly is? Really good acceleration. Got run down by JVP a few weeks back, which was surprising, but he’d been running all game and JVP had just come on.
I know I’m biased but to me he’s been the form English winger for the best part of two years now. Very physical and hard to put down but also skilful and fast enough to burn people on the outside. I just don’t see how Nowell or Cokanasiga can be picked ahead of him on form.
Then again I don’t expect to see Daly picked on the wing, it feels like that time has passed, but that would be the pair I’d go with.
Add on the injury-prone guys: Tuilagi, Billy V, Coka, Nowell etc.; to those not fully returned from injury: Watson, Slade, Lawes, Underhill etc. Then look at the current crop: Arundel, George, LCD, May, Farrell etc. It's starting to look like it's full revision time with our selection guesses.
