NZ v England round 1

[Cameo]

Interesting game. England are definitely back as a properly dangerous team, rather than a shit one who can get themselves up for the odd big game. However, their rush D definitely seems more beatable than some. It's fun to watch but watching you can see the holes it creates. Watching South Africa, you keep waiting for them to appear amd they rarely do.

Next week will be very interesting. I think it was clear that NZ hadn't played for 9 months and then only had a week and a half together under a new coach. Even just the lost lineouts probably cost them a few points, or at least some control.

[fivepointer]

Thought we lost our ambition in the last quarter. Got very tight and kicked too much. Subs in 2nd half offered little.

Big effort all round but feeling is we got into a winning position and didnt push on.

[Puja]

If Marcus kicked some easy goals we'd have won that

The one that he missed led directly to our try, so it's not that simple.

Ben Spencer is awful. Has never met a bit of possession that he doesn't want to slow down and aimlessly box-kick away. That's what cost us the match today.

Puja

Agreed but Fin Smith looked like he had forgotten that passing is allowed as well.

Really? I don't recall there being an opportunity where a good pass was on and he chose to kick - thought he did quite well in that last attack where we actually went for it. I'm visiting family, so I was a bit distracted though. I'll keep an eye out in the m-b-m.

Puja

[FKAS]

If Marcus kicked some easy goals we'd have won that

The one that he missed led directly to our try, so it's not that simple.

Ben Spencer is awful. Has never met a bit of possession that he doesn't want to slow down and aimlessly box-kick away. That's what cost us the match today.

Puja

Makes you long for the days of Ben Youngs again...

The decision to leave JvP at home is slightly mystifying. Hopefully he's back in for the AIs and he'd have offered us a lot more than Spencer did today. Hopefully we go Randall as bench option in the second test. Not really sure he's a test level player either but it does give us the option to chase the game.

[Mikey Brown]

The most annoying thing about this morning is that the country bumpkin Kiwi is the best dressed bloke in the studio.

Is that you, P/D?

[Mellsblue]

Thought we lost our ambition in the last quarter. Got very tight and kicked too much. Subs in 2nd half offered little.

Big effort all round but feeling is we got into a winning position and didnt push on.

Seconded. The first couple of sentences particularly. Not sure how much of that was us and how much was them.

[Epaminondas Pules]

Decent effort that, but we dropped off like nobody’s business as the game wore on. The bench were not great at all. Spencer will get the brunt and rightly so. He only really works as an options with a dominating fly half outside him. See the difference in how he’s played since Russel arrived and the change in him after leaving Sarries up until last season.

[FKAS]

Thought we lost our ambition in the last quarter. Got very tight and kicked too much. Subs in 2nd half offered little.

Big effort all round but feeling is we got into a winning position and didnt push on.

I thought the front row subs were fine. Coles and Curry were disappointing. Fin Smith brought us a nice tactical kicking dimension that looked like it might wrestle some control back. Had he not been hamstrung by having Ben Spencer flapping at the back of the breakdown like an angry pigeon maybe it would have.

[Mellsblue]

The most annoying thing about this morning is that the country bumpkin Kiwi is the best dressed bloke in the studio.

Is that you, P/D?

Someone has to carry the torch for the old lush.

[Mikey Brown]

The one that he missed led directly to our try, so it's not that simple.

Ben Spencer is awful. Has never met a bit of possession that he doesn't want to slow down and aimlessly box-kick away. That's what cost us the match today.

Puja

Agreed but Fin Smith looked like he had forgotten that passing is allowed as well.

Really? I don't recall there being an opportunity where a good pass was on and he chose to kick - thought he did quite well in that last attack where we actually went for it. I'm visiting family, so I was a bit distracted though. I'll keep an eye out in the m-b-m.

Puja

I think that first half will be a great rewatch. Hard to put a finger on what went wrong in the second. Beyond individual errors and some confusion around the ruck they looked a bit knackered. All our best chasers seemed wiped by the time Spencer came on to send them after more box kicks.

I would have liked to see Sleightholme sooner and maybe Freeman to 13.

Still, a great position to be disappointed with a 1 point loss away to NZ featuring a couple of young guys and debutants.

Anyone actually see what happened to Marler?

[Mellsblue]

Who ran the little dummy line in front of Smith for IFW’s try?

[Puja]

Who ran the little dummy line in front of Smith for IFW’s try?

Furbank, I believe. Terrific pass from Mitchell to pick out that Smith was the right option and fizz it out to him.

Puja

[FKAS]

Agreed but Fin Smith looked like he had forgotten that passing is allowed as well.

Really? I don't recall there being an opportunity where a good pass was on and he chose to kick - thought he did quite well in that last attack where we actually went for it. I'm visiting family, so I was a bit distracted though. I'll keep an eye out in the m-b-m.

Puja

I think that first half will be a great rewatch. Hard to put a finger on what went wrong in the second. Beyond individual errors and some confusion around the ruck they looked a bit knackered. All our best chasers seemed wiped by the time Spencer came on to send them after more box kicks.

I would have liked to see Sleightholme sooner and maybe Freeman to 13.

Still, a great position to be disappointed with a 1 point loss away to NZ featuring a couple of young guys and debutants.

Anyone actually see what happened to Marler?

Slade does a lot of pretty selfless stuff in defence. He was brilliant on that side of the ball. Perhaps in training Freeman isn't showing the same ability to shut down the opposition attack and hence we aren't really going to that option in game.

The injury to Marler is a concern. Baxter just about kept it together at scrum time but he was struggling (as you'd expect a 22 year old on debut to do so against those Kiwi monsters). Adding Rodd to the party isn't going to help much.

[FKAS]

Who ran the little dummy line in front of Smith for IFW’s try?

Furbank, I believe. Terrific pass from Mitchell to pick out that Smith was the right option and fizz it out to him.

Puja

Yeah, I was shouting at the screen for them to go wide and hoping like most routines close to the line they wouldn't just bludgeon away. Good call by the half backs and neatly executed.

[Stom]

Who ran the little dummy line in front of Smith for IFW’s try?

Furbank, I believe. Terrific pass from Mitchell to pick out that Smith was the right option and fizz it out to him.

Puja

Mitchell was excellent. Probably our best player by some distance.

[p/d]

Who ran the little dummy line in front of Smith for IFW’s try?

Furbank, I believe. Terrific pass from Mitchell to pick out that Smith was the right option and fizz it out to him.

Puja

Mitchell was excellent. Probably our best player by some distance.

This.

Spencer is a proper painful watch by comparison

[Oakboy]

Thought we lost our ambition in the last quarter. Got very tight and kicked too much. Subs in 2nd half offered little.

Big effort all round but feeling is we got into a winning position and didnt push on.

Spot on - good summation as usual. I'd like to hear SB's post-match conclusion on each of the replacements: their selection in the 23, the tactical decisions to use them and the effects on the match. Leaving Baxter's injury-induced arrival aside, did any of the replacements add anything?

Even Dan, who I advocated, made things worse. I'd apologise but it's just another in a long list of misjudgements (as I am sure some will enjoy pointing out).

If SB were to pick the same XV but change the entire bench I'd not argue.

[Mellsblue]

Thought we lost our ambition in the last quarter. Got very tight and kicked too much. Subs in 2nd half offered little.

Big effort all round but feeling is we got into a winning position and didnt push on.

Spot on - good summation as usual. I'd like to hear SB's post-match conclusion on each of the replacements: their selection in the 23, the tactical decisions to use them and the effects on the match. Leaving Baxter's injury-induced arrival aside, did any of the replacements add anything?

Even Dan, who I advocated, made things worse. I'd apologise but it's just another in a long list of misjudgements (as I am sure some will enjoy pointing out).

If SB were to pick the same XV but change the entire bench I'd not argue.

Who’s on your bench?

[Mikey Brown]

Really? I don't recall there being an opportunity where a good pass was on and he chose to kick - thought he did quite well in that last attack where we actually went for it. I'm visiting family, so I was a bit distracted though. I'll keep an eye out in the m-b-m.

Puja

I think that first half will be a great rewatch. Hard to put a finger on what went wrong in the second. Beyond individual errors and some confusion around the ruck they looked a bit knackered. All our best chasers seemed wiped by the time Spencer came on to send them after more box kicks.

I would have liked to see Sleightholme sooner and maybe Freeman to 13.

Still, a great position to be disappointed with a 1 point loss away to NZ featuring a couple of young guys and debutants.

Anyone actually see what happened to Marler?

Slade does a lot of pretty selfless stuff in defence. He was brilliant on that side of the ball. Perhaps in training Freeman isn't showing the same ability to shut down the opposition attack and hence we aren't really going to that option in game.

The injury to Marler is a concern. Baxter just about kept it together at scrum time but he was struggling (as you'd expect a 22 year old on debut to do so against those Kiwi monsters). Adding Rodd to the party isn't going to help much.

I couldn’t suss out if it was Slade or the wings or the general strategy, but it was quite disjointed. There were many moments we put great pressure on in midfield but they were one decent pass from rounding our defence entirely.

I know that’s kind of the nature of this blitz but either it’s better next week or they will exploit it far more. I guess we’re only half way through Jones’s “14 games” or whatever.

Lawrence offers some great individual moments but still not sold on him at 12 or as a fully rounded international centre.

[FKAS]

I think that first half will be a great rewatch. Hard to put a finger on what went wrong in the second. Beyond individual errors and some confusion around the ruck they looked a bit knackered. All our best chasers seemed wiped by the time Spencer came on to send them after more box kicks.

I would have liked to see Sleightholme sooner and maybe Freeman to 13.

Still, a great position to be disappointed with a 1 point loss away to NZ featuring a couple of young guys and debutants.

Anyone actually see what happened to Marler?

Slade does a lot of pretty selfless stuff in defence. He was brilliant on that side of the ball. Perhaps in training Freeman isn't showing the same ability to shut down the opposition attack and hence we aren't really going to that option in game.

The injury to Marler is a concern. Baxter just about kept it together at scrum time but he was struggling (as you'd expect a 22 year old on debut to do so against those Kiwi monsters). Adding Rodd to the party isn't going to help much.

I couldn’t suss out if it was Slade or the wings or the general strategy, but it was quite disjointed. There were many moments we put great pressure on in midfield but they were one decent pass from rounding our defence entirely.

I know that’s kind of the nature of this blitz but either it’s better next week or they will exploit it far more. I guess we’re only half way through Jones’s “14 games” or whatever.

Lawrence offers some great individual moments but still not sold on him at 12 or as a fully rounded international centre.

I believe the general idea of the blitz is to be up so aggressively that you catch them behind the gainline. If they go around the outside of the blitz then they have to go so far backwards to do so that the inside defence can scramble across to cover. It does have risk but the precision required to regularly get the ball through the hands including a big pass over to the winger outside is tough at this level when the defence is shooting up into your face.

The dual fullback pendulum system we operate to cover the backfield was out of place a couple of times in the first half but seemed to fix those issues at half time and was great in the second half.

[Oakboy]

Thought we lost our ambition in the last quarter. Got very tight and kicked too much. Subs in 2nd half offered little.

Big effort all round but feeling is we got into a winning position and didnt push on.

Spot on - good summation as usual. I'd like to hear SB's post-match conclusion on each of the replacements: their selection in the 23, the tactical decisions to use them and the effects on the match. Leaving Baxter's injury-induced arrival aside, did any of the replacements add anything?

Even Dan, who I advocated, made things worse. I'd apologise but it's just another in a long list of misjudgements (as I am sure some will enjoy pointing out).

If SB were to pick the same XV but change the entire bench I'd not argue.

Who’s on your bench?

In practical terms, post-inquest, probably only changed by Randall for Spencer but it was a weakness today.

[FKAS]

Thought we lost our ambition in the last quarter. Got very tight and kicked too much. Subs in 2nd half offered little.

Big effort all round but feeling is we got into a winning position and didnt push on.

Spot on - good summation as usual. I'd like to hear SB's post-match conclusion on each of the replacements: their selection in the 23, the tactical decisions to use them and the effects on the match. Leaving Baxter's injury-induced arrival aside, did any of the replacements add anything?

Even Dan, who I advocated, made things worse. I'd apologise but it's just another in a long list of misjudgements (as I am sure some will enjoy pointing out).

If SB were to pick the same XV but change the entire bench I'd not argue.

Who’s on your bench?

Issues are, who else is there?

Dan - is Oghre an improvement? Nope. His main issue appeared to be trying to hard.
Baxter - a couple of rough scrums, he's probably learnt a lot. I doubt Rodd would have faired better.
Cole - came on and was solid but unspectacular as per usual. Are we going to tap in Heyes? I doubt it.
Coles - was very poor but the other option is Isiekwe so we're a bit stuck for options with Chessum injured. Could we gamble on Roots to cover lock in an emergency?
Curry - very underwhelming. Was always a gamble taking him. Possibly one of the areas we could make a change but we aren't overflowing with better options. Dombrant really going to make things better? Might offer more carrying impact but he's not known for his physicality in defence.
Spencer - Randall offers a lot more speed and passing accuracy. Tackling and kicking not international standard so we're trading some issues for different ones.
F Smith - did good don't change.
Sleightholme - did he even get on? He's probably the best impact option but our wings work so well in the system we have it's hard to warrant changing them.

[Oakboy]

Spot on - good summation as usual. I'd like to hear SB's post-match conclusion on each of the replacements: their selection in the 23, the tactical decisions to use them and the effects on the match. Leaving Baxter's injury-induced arrival aside, did any of the replacements add anything?

Even Dan, who I advocated, made things worse. I'd apologise but it's just another in a long list of misjudgements (as I am sure some will enjoy pointing out).

If SB were to pick the same XV but change the entire bench I'd not argue.

Who’s on your bench?

Issues are, who else is there?

Dan - is Oghre an improvement? Nope. His main issue appeared to be trying to hard.
Baxter - a couple of rough scrums, he's probably learnt a lot. I doubt Rodd would have faired better.
Cole - came on and was solid but unspectacular as per usual. Are we going to tap in Heyes? I doubt it.
Coles - was very poor but the other option is Isiekwe so we're a bit stuck for options with Chessum injured. Could we gamble on Roots to cover lock in an emergency?
Curry - very underwhelming. Was always a gamble taking him. Possibly one of the areas we could make a change but we aren't overflowing with better options. Dombrant really going to make things better? Might offer more carrying impact but he's not known for his physicality in defence.
Spencer - Randall offers a lot more speed and passing accuracy. Tackling and kicking not international standard so we're trading some issues for different ones.
F Smith - did good don't change.
Sleightholme - did he even get on? He's probably the best impact option but our wings work so well in the system we have it's hard to warrant changing them.

You've made the effort to look at the options in detail. I took a quick look at the squad and gave up.

Was CCS injured? Odd decision to replace him with Curry and then bring on Coles for Underhill later if CCS fit. I thought CCS stood up well to NZ at the breakdown which we came 2nd at largely. Roots might have been more effective than Curry.

[FKAS]

Who’s on your bench?

Issues are, who else is there?

Dan - is Oghre an improvement? Nope. His main issue appeared to be trying to hard.
Baxter - a couple of rough scrums, he's probably learnt a lot. I doubt Rodd would have faired better.
Cole - came on and was solid but unspectacular as per usual. Are we going to tap in Heyes? I doubt it.
Coles - was very poor but the other option is Isiekwe so we're a bit stuck for options with Chessum injured. Could we gamble on Roots to cover lock in an emergency?
Curry - very underwhelming. Was always a gamble taking him. Possibly one of the areas we could make a change but we aren't overflowing with better options. Dombrant really going to make things better? Might offer more carrying impact but he's not known for his physicality in defence.
Spencer - Randall offers a lot more speed and passing accuracy. Tackling and kicking not international standard so we're trading some issues for different ones.
F Smith - did good don't change.
Sleightholme - did he even get on? He's probably the best impact option but our wings work so well in the system we have it's hard to warrant changing them.

You've made the effort to look at the options in detail. I took a quick look at the squad and gave up.

Was CCS injured? Odd decision to replace him with Curry and then bring on Coles for Underhill later if CCS fit. I thought CCS stood up well to NZ at the breakdown which we came 2nd at largely. Roots might have been more effective than Curry.

Yeah agreed. I was thinking I must be forgetting somebody in the squad that could have made some difference but, yeah not really.

CCS was good. I presume fatigue was playing a part and Silky Baldpatch wanted to try and keep as many players fresh as possible.

[fivepointer]

On the subs. I thought they were made too early.

CCS seemed to be going well and the front rowers hardly looked spent. Mitchell was going well and could have stayed on a bit longer. I would have kept M Smith on and the late inclusion of Sleightholme did nothing but give him a cap.

Cole made the scrum worse. Dan buzzed around to little effect. Spencer just gummed up our attack. F Smith was OK and Curry didnt look at all sharp, which was to be expected.

I dont think we'll see many changes next week. In the main we put in a very commendable effort but in games like these small margins make a difference and we largely lost the key moments in the last 30 minutes.