Eng v Fra Match Thread

[Banquo]

Wales will have a better game plan, but I'm not seeing too many weaknesses there to target. England are looking good.

Midfield defence wasn't great. Biggar will be putting high balls up on Daly all day.

[Oakboy]

Good, efficient win sticking to the game plan. That game plan will not beat the Welsh in Cardiff, though, so Jones's next phase will be interesting.

Lots of niggles afound the fringes, especially Robson only getting 10 minutes with the game well won long before. Maybe, Jones is planning to start him against Italy.

I absolutely hate the next game not being for a fortnight.

[Buggaluggs]

England were impressive in their conversion rate. Especially in the first half. Pretty much every chance was converted into a try. Although France did an awful job adjusting (or not) to England's tactics.

[Mellsblue]

Wilko’s face when Woodward is talking......

Agreed on Biggar targeting Daly. That said, we thought the same about Murray and Sexton and we managed to nullify it.

Watching the Farrell try again. Why does he kick it away from May?

[Mellsblue]

I absolutely hate the next game not being for a fortnight.

This.

[p/d]

Curry & Wilson. The business

[p/d]

I absolutely hate the next game not being for a fortnight.

This.

Not this.

Out walking the Dales for 3 days next weekend. Perfect time for a break

[Banquo]

Curry & Wilson. The business

Yep, very effective, and Billy is doing a good job too; that's a very good pack, and I hope they stick w George. Itoje when back will make it even better; Kruis is back to excellence.

[Buggaluggs]

I boldly make these predictions for Wales - England
1 There will a controversial score/disasllowed score
2 There will be a major handbags incident

[Banquo]

I boldly make these predictions for Wales - England
1 There will a controversial score/disasllowed score
2 There will be a major handbags incident

Sinckler v......Biggar

[fivepointer]

44-8 is a great result and yet....

The last hour an hour was disjointed and dull. We did slip off a lot of tackles. We kicked really well most of the time but overdid it, ignoring clear chances to run against inferior numbers on occasions. Plus France were abject.

Thought Lawes and the 2 flankers were excellent up front. Half backs kicking was mostly shrewd and intelligent. May was terrific. Hopefully Mako's injury non too serious.

[Banquo]

The missed tackle count is too high, and backrow and midfield especially guilty. A low penalty count is encouraging- Itoje-less

[Banquo]

44-8 is a great result and yet....

The last hour an hour was disjointed and dull. We did slip off a lot of tackles. We kicked really well most of the time but overdid it, ignoring clear chances to run against inferior numbers on occasions. Plus France were abject.

Thought Lawes and the 2 flankers were excellent up front. Half backs kicking was mostly shrewd and intelligent. May was terrific. Hopefully Mako's injury non too serious.

Agreed, plus would put in a vote for George as well, very busy and skilful. Sinckler could do more tackling.

[p/d]

Curry & Wilson. The business

Yep, very effective, and Billy is doing a good job too; that's a very good pack, and I hope they stick w George. Itoje when back will make it even better; Kruis is back to excellence.

Yep. Billy looked right on it today. Far more commutes to the contact. And yes to the Sarries spine in the pack.

[p/d]

44-8 is a great result and yet....

The last hour an hour was disjointed and dull. We did slip off a lot of tackles. We kicked really well most of the time but overdid it, ignoring clear chances to run against inferior numbers on occasions. Plus France were abject.

Thought Lawes and the 2 flankers were excellent up front. Half backs kicking was mostly shrewd and intelligent. May was terrific. Hopefully Mako's injury non too serious.

5p, the bench has little to no impact. The Ford Farrell axis weakens us.

[Mellsblue]

Curry & Wilson. The business

Yep, very effective, and Billy is doing a good job too; that's a very good pack, and I hope they stick w George. Itoje when back will make it even better; Kruis is back to excellence.

Yep. Billy looked right on it today. Far more commutes to the contact. And yes to the Sarries spine in the pack.

and Curry not falling off the tackles as he was in SA. It’s all going far too smoothly......

[Mellsblue]

I absolutely hate the next game not being for a fortnight.

This.

Not this.

Out walking the Dales for 3 days next weekend. Perfect time for a break

You could’ve tied in watching the match at Wharfedale or North Ribblesdale. That’s close to the perfect weekend, if you’re of the age at which you take walking holidays.

[Banquo]

Yep, very effective, and Billy is doing a good job too; that's a very good pack, and I hope they stick w George. Itoje when back will make it even better; Kruis is back to excellence.

Yep. Billy looked right on it today. Far more commutes to the contact. And yes to the Sarries spine in the pack.

and Curry not falling off the tackles as he was in SA. It’s all going far too smoothly......

actually, Curry and Wilson missed a lot of tackles, not a biggy, but something to watch for.

[fivepointer]

They did. 3 and 5 respectively. They did make a a lot, though - 19 and 18
Overall we missed well over 20 tackles. Our covering was very good but there were some alarming poor misses.

[Banquo]

Fazlar missed 4 as well. But he played well.

[Oakboy]

Yep. Billy looked right on it today. Far more commutes to the contact. And yes to the Sarries spine in the pack.

and Curry not falling off the tackles as he was in SA. It’s all going far too smoothly......

actually, Curry and Wilson missed a lot of tackles, not a biggy, but something to watch for.

Do you feel that 'missed tackles' need more in-depth study these days? I'm just often seeing such a fast game that an attempted tackle is sometimes an effective delaying factor leading to a stopping hit. With such good ground coverage by the whole XV, wildish tackles (statistically recorded as 'missed') are not the mistakes that they used to be.

[Epaminondas Pules]

Wales will have a better game plan, but I'm not seeing too many weaknesses there to target. England are looking good.

Midfield defence wasn't great. Biggar will be putting high balls up on Daly all day.

Isn’t that what everyone said about Ireland?

[Banquo]

Wales will have a better game plan, but I'm not seeing too many weaknesses there to target. England are looking good.

Midfield defence wasn't great. Biggar will be putting high balls up on Daly all day.

Isn’t that what everyone said about Ireland?

and they did, and he didn't get in the same post code, as per today. We were so dominant elsewhere it didn't matter in the end. Though Ireland don't tend to kick that much apart from Murray's exits.
Biggar is also a master at chasing his own kicks.
Does he convince you under the high ball? I'd definitely target him, and the restart.

[fivepointer]

and Curry not falling off the tackles as he was in SA. It’s all going far too smoothly......

actually, Curry and Wilson missed a lot of tackles, not a biggy, but something to watch for.

Do you feel that 'missed tackles' need more in-depth study these days? I'm just often seeing such a fast game that an attempted tackle is sometimes an effective delaying factor leading to a stopping hit. With such good ground coverage by the whole XV, wildish tackles (statistically recorded as 'missed') are not the mistakes that they used to be.

Yes, i think they do.
We made 148 out of 179 attempts (83%); France made 94 out of 110 (85%)
Some of the other stats make interesting reading too -
Meters made E 425 F 591
Possession E 47% F 53%
Clean breaks E 9 F 12
Defenders beaten E 16 F 31

Looking at those you might be surprised that the score ended 44-8 but stats are only telling us part of the story.

[Banquo]

and Curry not falling off the tackles as he was in SA. It’s all going far too smoothly......

actually, Curry and Wilson missed a lot of tackles, not a biggy, but something to watch for.

Do you feel that 'missed tackles' need more in-depth study these days? I'm just often seeing such a fast game that an attempted tackle is sometimes an effective delaying factor leading to a stopping hit. With such good ground coverage by the whole XV, wildish tackles (statistically recorded as 'missed') are not the mistakes that they used to be.

Its a good point, but France did make a lot of metres today; some of the missed tackles may be a missed 'double team' as it were, as we are very aggressive. But look at the French metres made as a key indicator.