Racing vs Quins

[Mellsblue]

Some good, some bad, some ugly. Struggled on a couple of high balls, kicked one ball straight out and was bumped by Lamb Bhuna out wide. Otherwise, he was fairly solid including one turnover in the red zone. Didn’t get much of a chance with ball in hand but Racing’s back three didn’t see much ball and their backs as whole were second best 11 - 15, imo.
Tldr, he wouldn’t trouble the selectors come Jan based on that performance, even if available.

[Puja]

how did 'enri go ?

Fine without anything too spectacular either way. Very good under the high ball, very solid in defence, decent boot, but only really got the ball in his hands with menace on one occasion where he beat a couple of Quins tacklers in a tight space. Didn't really get too much of a chance to run.

Puja

[Mikey Brown]

He got a good return hit on Lamb at least. He also got monstered by Smith, who is turning in to a real Jerry Collins/Elliot Daly.

[fivepointer]

Fabulous effort from Quins. A real team performance with everyone - bench included - making a positive contribution.

[Mellsblue]

He got a good return hit on Lamb at least. He also got monstered by Smith, who is turning in to a real Jerry Collins/Elliot Daly.

I’d forgotten about both of those. Smiths hit was a classic example of targeting the ball and letting physics do the rest.
Ultimately, he looked liked a youngster with little 1stXV experience but a bucket load of talent …

[Spiffy]

He got a good return hit on Lamb at least. He also got monstered by Smith, who is turning in to a real Jerry Collins/Elliot Daly.

Smith has developed into a hard nut little tackler who looks as good a defensive 10 as anyone (including the dodgy-technique Farrell), helped by his pace, that often allows him to track down opponents. This part of his game should probably be beyond debate by now.
Given the absence of Faz, and Ford's iffy form, Sanctimonious Bollocks should just give him a run of games at 10 in the 6N, and no more FB nonsense.

[Stom]

He got a good return hit on Lamb at least. He also got monstered by Smith, who is turning in to a real Jerry Collins/Elliot Daly.

Smith has developed into a hard nut little tackler who looks as good a defensive 10 as anyone (including the dodgy-technique Farrell), helped by his pace, that often allows him to track down opponents. This part of his game should probably be beyond debate by now.
Given the absence of Faz, and Ford's iffy form, Sanctimonious Bollocks should just give him a run of games at 10 in the 6N, and no more FB nonsense.

Smith is a great cover tackler, but when someone is running straight at him, he can often fall off. Still needs to work on that.

[Which Tyler]

I haven't seen this match, but if he's managing games fully and properly, actually manipulating defences rather than "just" exploiting mistakes, then he's nswering my questions about him.
I don't need my FH to be a defensive lynch-pin, so long as they don't shirk the duty.

Back it up a few times, and he'll earn an England shirt by rights.

TBH, on current form, he's got the shirt by default as F&F take themselves out of contention.

[Spiffy]

He got a good return hit on Lamb at least. He also got monstered by Smith, who is turning in to a real Jerry Collins/Elliot Daly.

Smith has developed into a hard nut little tackler who looks as good a defensive 10 as anyone (including the dodgy-technique Farrell), helped by his pace, that often allows him to track down opponents. This part of his game should probably be beyond debate by now.
Given the absence of Faz, and Ford's iffy form, Sanctimonious Bollocks should just give him a run of games at 10 in the 6N, and no more FB nonsense.

Smith is a great cover tackler, but when someone is running straight at him, he can often fall off. Still needs to work on that.

Fair enough. But I think his tackling is pretty good. Every other player in the England squad has plenty to work on too, so Smith is no different in this respect. The selection of international players usually reflects what they bring to the team overall, a balance between their strong and weak points. I would say that Smith's tackling is not a particularly weak point, he is just as likely (or more so) to nail his man as Ford or Farrell. But I do think he brings an attacking dimension that would result in more tries for England, at a time when they are not good at scoring tries. I am not sure that increasing the try count is a major aim of the coach, but it should be.

[morepork]

Smith has developed into a hard nut little tackler who looks as good a defensive 10 as anyone (including the dodgy-technique Farrell), helped by his pace, that often allows him to track down opponents. This part of his game should probably be beyond debate by now.
Given the absence of Faz, and Ford's iffy form, Sanctimonious Bollocks should just give him a run of games at 10 in the 6N, and no more FB nonsense.

Smith is a great cover tackler, but when someone is running straight at him, he can often fall off. Still needs to work on that.

Fair enough. But I think his tackling is pretty good. Every other player in the England squad has plenty to work on too, so Smith is no different in this respect. The selection of international players usually reflects what they bring to the team overall, a balance between their strong and weak points. I would say that Smith's tackling is not a particularly weak point, he is just as likely (or more so) to nail his man as Ford or Farrell. But I do think he brings an attacking dimension that would result in more tries for England, at a time when they are not good at scoring tries. I am not sure that increasing the try count is a major aim of the coach, but it should be.

Yeah, no shit.

[Mellsblue]

https://x.com/optajonny/status/17356895 ... MV3j-SK8yQ