England vs Barbarians

[Scrumhead]

A few decent performances there. Ewels and the two props were good as were Curry and Wilson when they came on.

Mixed bag for the backs, but I thought Ford was very good.

[Scrumhead]

Underhill seems to be comfortable enough moving about.

Tom Curry's interview really showed what a kid he is!

[fivepointer]

I'm really pleased with that, accepting that it was a long way from a flawless performance or a a particularly good game. I thought we might have got badly beaten given the quality in the Baabaas side, but after a tough opening quarter we got well on top. Pity we lost Loz and Underhill early on.
Hats off to the props and locks who really delivered. Ford was very good, May and Brown made solid contributions. Earle has got something but does seem very raw.
Curry and Wilson made their mark off the bench.
If everyone is fit to travel, then Eddie will be very happy with a morale boosting win and seeing a number of young, inexperienced players take a step up.

[bitts]

Who was the official MotM?

Mine was Ford. His kicking really needs to be improved, but he managed the game beautifully today and his defense was pretty good. Took control like an FH should.

[bitts]

I'm really pleased with that, accepting that it was a long way from a flawless performance or a a particularly good game. I thought we might have got badly beaten given the quality in the Baabaas side, but after a tough opening quarter we got well on top. Pity we lost Loz and Underhill early on.
Hats off to the props and locks who really delivered. Ford was very good, May and Brown made solid contributions. Earle has got something but does seem very raw.
Curry and Wilson made their mark off the bench.
If everyone is fit to travel, then Eddie will be very happy with a morale boosting win and seeing a number of young, inexperienced players take a step up.

Curry is outrageously good for an 18 year old. It's going.to be hard to hold them back if they keep playing like that.

Earle looks far too raw at the moment. I know Eddie wants a 6foot monster wing, but I'm not sure we have one.

[Digby]

I know Eddie wants a 6foot monster wing, but I'm not sure we have one.

He wants a Mortlock

[twitchy]

I'm really pleased with that, accepting that it was a long way from a flawless performance or a a particularly good game. I thought we might have got badly beaten given the quality in the Baabaas side, but after a tough opening quarter we got well on top. Pity we lost Loz and Underhill early on.
Hats off to the props and locks who really delivered. Ford was very good, May and Brown made solid contributions. Earle has got something but does seem very raw.
Curry and Wilson made their mark off the bench.
If everyone is fit to travel, then Eddie will be very happy with a morale boosting win and seeing a number of young, inexperienced players take a step up.

Curry is outrageously good for an 18 year old. It's going.to be hard to hold them back if they keep playing like that.

Earle looks far too raw at the moment. I know Eddie wants a 6foot monster wing, but I'm not sure we have one.

Is Cokanasiga definitely out of the tour? Some one said he just got a knock.

[Digby]

Cockanasiga suffered a minor hamstring strain it was said, maybe a minor tear. If true he should be available.

[I R Geech]

Who was the official MotM?

Mine was Ford. His kicking really needs to be improved, but he managed the game beautifully today and his defense was pretty good. Took control like an FH should.

Curry

[fivepointer]

Earle was a mixed bag tbh. Took his try nicely enough, has very obvious pace and did make a couple of very good covering tackles. Against that he bombed 2 tries and seemed a bit unsure on his defensive positioning at times. No harm in taking him along and having a good look at him with a view to knock off some rough edges. As I said he does have something.
I reckon the performance that will most please Eddie and the coaches will have been from Will Collier who was very assured in the set piece. If he starts in Argentina and comes through well, then that is a massive boost to our TH options. Eddie will also have been very pleased with JFR, who didnt look at all out of place. Maybe he's a better scrummager than i've previously given him credit for.

[Mr Mwenda]

Did Singleton do anything? I only saw bits and he seemed part of a poor lineout and a winning scrum...

[Puja]

Crowd have a sterling golf clap going.

Speaking as one of the crowd, the atmosphere is rubbish. The game is bitty, the ref is crap, the Barbarians (Nagusa aside) have been uninspiring and we're kicking for goal and for position and evading the spirit as best we can.

Hopefully the second half will catch fire.

Puja

Does Care look as much like Shaun Perry live as he does on the box?

I actually spent a good ten minutes trying to work out what Paul Hodgson was doing warming up with England before realising that it was Care.

Puja

[Puja]

Did Singleton do anything? I only saw bits and he seemed part of a poor lineout and a winning scrum...

Nothing good. Poor sod was overpromoted beyond his measure today. He was never particularly good in the lineout for the U20s and he was disastrous today.

Puja

[fivepointer]

Did Singleton do anything? I only saw bits and he seemed part of a poor lineout and a winning scrum...

Little of note. I cannot recall him carrying the ball or doing much around the breakdown. He overthrew at least 3 line outs.

He's young so has time to develop but he's plainly a long way down the pecking order.

[Mellsblue]

Yep. If it wasn't for the lineout you'd have thought Hartley was playing. He was that average. Still, there's the consolation that if he doesn't improve he'll be England captain one day.

[Scrumhead]

Singleton was on a bit of a hiding to nothing. He's clearly a very long way off of being a test player, but as Puja says, he was 'overpromoted beyond his measure' which isn't his fault.

The injuries for Underhill and Lozowski are concerning given how much our resources are being stretched - particularly if Ben Curry is out too.

Losing all three of them would be a significant blow and would limit Eddie's opportunity to experiment in the back row just when losing Haskell and probably Wood was looking like a positive.

We have good players we can call-up, but I hope it's not players like Harrison and Williams. I'd much prefer Guy Thompson for example.

[twitchy]

I've thought this for a while but can we put beaumont out of the picture for england. He is a big guy but makes none of it count against decent opposition. So many better options.

[p/d]

Singleton was on a bit of a hiding to nothing. He's clearly a very long way off of being a test player, but as Puja says, he was 'overpromoted beyond his measure' which isn't his fault.

The injuries for Underhill and Lozowski are concerning given how much our resources are being stretched - particularly if Ben Curry is out too.

Losing all three of them would be a significant blow and would limit Eddie's opportunity to experiment in the back row just when losing Haskell and probably Wood was looking like a positive.

We have good players we can call-up, but I hope it's not players like Harrison and Williams. I'd much prefer Guy Thompson for example.

Sam Simmonds. Looks every bit a guy who will take to test rugby. The new Tom Rees

Spiffy and me know this to be true

[Puja]

Singleton was on a bit of a hiding to nothing. He's clearly a very long way off of being a test player, but as Puja says, he was 'overpromoted beyond his measure' which isn't his fault.

The injuries for Underhill and Lozowski are concerning given how much our resources are being stretched - particularly if Ben Curry is out too.

Losing all three of them would be a significant blow and would limit Eddie's opportunity to experiment in the back row just when losing Haskell and probably Wood was looking like a positive.

We have good players we can call-up, but I hope it's not players like Harrison and Williams. I'd much prefer Guy Thompson for example.

Sam Simmonds. Looks every bit a guy who will take to test rugby. The new Tom Rees

Spiffy and me know this to be true

You'd have to think he'd be on the radar of late.

Puja

[Mikey Brown]

Is 7 his best position?

[Puja]

Is 7 his best position?

Oh good god Mikey, what have you done? There's going to be a new jngf backrow thread any second now that you've summoned him with the magic words!

Puja

[p/d]

Jones:
"Jack Singleton has barely played and I thought his performance was outstanding.”

[p/d]

Is 7 his best position?

Oh good god Mikey, what have you done? There's going to be a new jngf backrow thread any second now that you've summoned him with the magic words!

Puja

Looks every bit a 7. Built for jackeling, great strength and bloody quick.

[Digby]

Jones:
"Jack Singleton has barely played and I thought his performance was outstanding.”

If he views people barely playing as being outstanding it would go more than a small way to explaining Hartley's ongoing selection

[Scrumhead]

I've thought this for a while but can we put beaumont out of the picture for england. He is a big guy but makes none of it count against decent opposition. So many better options.

Hmm ... I'm fairly ambivalent on Beaumont. He looked considerably better in the 15/16 season as a wide-running poor man's Kieran Read.

I've got a lot of time for Simmonds but I'm not sure we can afford another rookie in the back row for this tour. If Underhill is out, perhaps but if not, I'd be more inclined to go with Wilson or another experienced player like Armand or Thompson.