England A

[p/d]

Pepper should have a blast!!!

[fivepointer]

Pretty balanced sensible selection. A bit of experience among some very promising young players.

[Banquo]

Pepper should have a blast!!!

if its not too chilli..

[Which Tyler]

I can't escape the feeling I've already done this, but I'm flu-d up, so may or may not have been real

[Beasties]

I can't escape the feeling I've already done this, but I'm flu-d up, so may or may not have been real

Will it be available to watch on there after the event, do you know?

[Which Tyler]

It should be.
Which isn't quite the same as will be

[Mikey Brown]

Aaaaaand I’ve lost interest (again).

[Mikey Brown]

Okay twinkletoes Tuima was worth seeing.

[Mikey Brown]

I didn’t know Hodge was a goal kicker either.

[Banquo]

pointless exercise

[Mikey Brown]

pointless exercise

You’re not interested in whether Blamire can score rolling maul tries at this level too?

[Danno]

Weird that these kids can pass and catch and run and stuff

[Mikey Brown]

“Telepathic - they’ve been together all week” lol.

[fivepointer]

Disappointingly one sided. Portugal simply cannot compete physically.

That said, a few England players are looking very bright.

[Stom]

Disappointingly one sided. Portugal simply cannot compete physically.

That said, a few England players are looking very bright.

You mean Cadan 100x better than Daly Murley, right?

Or what about Alfie can actually carry the ball Barbeary?

Or Harry actually knows how to pass a rugby ball Randall?

You'd think this lot would beat the England team if England A got Itoje...

[Danno]

What the hell is this

[FKAS]

Weird that these kids can pass and catch and run and stuff

Promote Vesty into Wigglesworth's job for the next three weeks and see if it makes a difference.

[Mikey Brown]

Trying to see some positives. Englefield's pass is great. Had no idea who he was and someone made a Peter Stringer comparison. I can see that. Hartley looks handy and is doing more than just bosh. Murley can finish (duh). Pearson looks like his London Irish self pre-England caps. Not sure any of it really means anything though, sadly.

[Stom]

Trying to see some positives. Englefield's pass is great. Had no idea who he was and someone made a Peter Stringer comparison. I can see that. Hartley looks handy and is doing more than just bosh. Murley can finish (duh). Pearson looks like his London Irish self pre-England caps. Not sure any of it really means anything though, sadly.

Yeah, that Portugal team weren't very good...

I think I know that poor Max Ojomah isn't an international (yet?), but other than that?

[fivepointer]

Trying to see some positives. Englefield's pass is great. Had no idea who he was and someone made a Peter Stringer comparison. I can see that. Hartley looks handy and is doing more than just bosh. Murley can finish (duh). Pearson looks like his London Irish self pre-England caps. Not sure any of it really means anything though, sadly.

Yeah, that Portugal team weren't very good...

I think I know that poor Max Ojomah isn't an international (yet?), but other than that?

Thought Ojomoh stood out. Some of his distribution was top drawer.

Tuima, Pepper, Randall were good and Fisilau and Riley showed up well from the bench.

A good experience for all you'd hope despite the mismatch. Now lets get the A team properly set up with meaningful fixtures on a regular basis.

[Stom]

Trying to see some positives. Englefield's pass is great. Had no idea who he was and someone made a Peter Stringer comparison. I can see that. Hartley looks handy and is doing more than just bosh. Murley can finish (duh). Pearson looks like his London Irish self pre-England caps. Not sure any of it really means anything though, sadly.

Yeah, that Portugal team weren't very good...

I think I know that poor Max Ojomah isn't an international (yet?), but other than that?

Thought Ojomoh stood out. Some of his distribution was top drawer.

Tuima, Pepper, Randall were good and Fisilau and Riley showed up well from the bench.

A good experience for all you'd hope despite the mismatch. Now lets get the A team properly set up with meaningful fixtures on a regular basis.

I'll go with opinions of people who saw the whole thing. But I thought Ojomah was not taking the best options to score team tries, and that's a big no-no for internationals, I think. He seemed to go for the big play a couple of times while I was watching.

But on the other hand, when the opposition is that bad, you want to score and look good. Like Cadan should definitely be starting for England Murley.

[Puja]

Disappointingly one sided. Portugal simply cannot compete physically.

That said, a few England players are looking very bright.

You mean Cadan 100x better than Daly Murley, right?

Or what about Alfie can actually carry the ball Barbeary?

Or Harry actually knows how to pass a rugby ball Randall?

You'd think this lot would beat the England team if England A got Itoje...

Gods, I'm glad Zach Mercer didn't get to play against Portugal 2nds. He'd be rated for king of England by now if he had.

Puja

[p/d]

Disappointingly one sided. Portugal simply cannot compete physically.

That said, a few England players are looking very bright.

You mean Cadan 100x better than Daly Murley, right?

Or what about Alfie can actually carry the ball Barbeary?

Or Harry actually knows how to pass a rugby ball Randall?

You'd think this lot would beat the England team if England A got Itoje...

Gods, I'm glad Zach Mercer didn't get to play against Portugal 2nds. He'd be rated for king of England by now if he had.

Puja

Pah!!! He would have been told to go and work on his box kicks.

[Stom]

Disappointingly one sided. Portugal simply cannot compete physically.

That said, a few England players are looking very bright.

You mean Cadan 100x better than Daly Murley, right?

Or what about Alfie can actually carry the ball Barbeary?

Or Harry actually knows how to pass a rugby ball Randall?

You'd think this lot would beat the England team if England A got Itoje...

Gods, I'm glad Zach Mercer didn't get to play against Portugal 2nds. He'd be rated for king of England by now if he had.

Puja

It's somewhat tongue in cheek.

But we do really need to ditch the formulaic crap already, it's getting boring. Yes, that game was awful, but look at what Murley brings week in week out and compare that to Daly...

I've never really been a Spencer fan, and yesterday showed that again. Randall playing passes just made me think again...how did we get here?

[Mikey Brown]

I'm as big a Murley fan as you'll find but unless we plan/know how to use running threats, and have the confidence to give guys like Freeman and IFW the ball and a bit of freedom, but he's not going to fix this side if we continue as we are in the coaching room. Not that I wouldn't love to see him take Daly's place in the long-run.

I feel sorry for Daly in a way as he's worked so hard to become a better 13/15 than wing. He does offer some big assets still but just doesn't belong in any one role. He's learned a huge amount from Alex Goode, becoming so effective at playmaking/linking from 15 for Saracens in a team largely on the front foot, but he doesn't fit there for England. By the time he is finally put back in the position where he was world class in 2017 he just hasn't got that spark anymore. It seems to be a pattern with English selections.

Randall being markedly a class ahead of Randall doesn't make much sense if you look at the Premiership this season either. Let's not pretend Randall would have played with the same freedom if he'd been at Murrayfield yesterday. Is it even a coincidence Care has found his way back to the 9 shirt just as he's completely stopped being a threat as a runner?