Next up.....France

[Danno]

Let's really not

[francoisfou]

France: Dulin; Thomas, Vakatawa, Fickou, Penaud; Jalibert, Dupont; Baille, Marchand, Haouas; Taofifenua, Willemse; Cretin, Ollivon (capt), Alldritt.

Replacements: Chat, Gros, Aldegheri, Cazeaux, Woki, Jelonch, Serin, Ntamack.

Strong team. Those backs could do a lot of damage. Would like to see France run the ball and avoid an arm wrestle up front.

So would I, and I’ll be disappointed if they do get drawn into an arm wrestle, but if they do Chat, Willemse, Aldritt and co would be more than a handful for the English.

[jngf]

I see a couple of issues:

(I) Carrying - would really like to see Wilson sharing the load with Billy from kick off in this area - and Curry taking up the slack of Wilson’s unseen work rather than attempting so many carries himself. Especially given Itoje-Ewels is not a great carrying partnership imo.

(ii) Back row lineout cover - All 3 French back rowers are between 6’3 to 6’6” ( with the very Croftesque Woki as back up ) - none of ours are over 6’ 2”



(

[Banquo]

I’m pretty pleased with the lineup TBH. While I wouldn’t say Ewels is an upgrade on Hill, he’s probably a safer bet until Hill can improve/adapt his discipline and technique for test rugby (which isn’t a given anyway).

I’ll be curious to see what happens with Kruis after his stint in Japan. He made it fairly clear that he intends to be back and we’ve definitely missed him. I can’t see him playing for anyone but Saracens, but let’s see if they get promoted first.

I’m happy with Malins at 15. Hopefully he has a good game and stakes a real claim to the starting jersey. My only concern with him is that he’s second choice behind Piutau at Bristol which isn’t the best recipe for a first choice test fullback.

yeah, cos Ewels wouldn't give away a stupid penalty changing the momentum of the game...

You referring to the one in the Wales game? Don’t you think that was all Genge? Technically was an absolutely awful lift.

I mean the one in their 22 when he was demonstrably the wrong side of a maul and stayed there and competed- from memory anyway. I must admit I didn't have the stomach to watch it back tho.

[Digby]

Quick enough without being lightning - I'd say on a par with a peak Mike Brown (who was actually reasonably fleet at his peak, before the jokes come in). He reminds me very much of Tim Stimpson in a lot of ways - hopefully he'll have a longer England career.

Puja

Why would you want to try and anchor England down with a new Tim Stimpson? If that's the fitting comparison surely he's found his level, at least until he improves more than a little

1) Stimpson was a pretty good player and a significant part of the very good England squad from 2000-2. Don't be dissing Stimmo.

2) It's just a comparison of his style - hard running, powerful, direct, good under a high ball and in the tackle - not necessarily his quality. He's a long way from actual consideration - he's a teenager in his first real year of senior rugby.

I actually don't think he'll interest Eddie at all - he's a completely different type of player to Malins and Daly and would require a shift to accomodate. Whether he will add playmaking to his repertoire as he gets older remains to be seen, but it's not there now.

Puja

Stimpson was pretty good, pretty good isn't good enough.

[Scrumhead]

I think the Stimpson comparison was re. similar qualities.

Steward is still a teenager and already looking very promising. With time, I think he’ll be a cracking player.

Eddie Jones seems to want a playmaking fullback hence the experiment with Daly and the selection of Furbank and Malins.

Steward isn’t really of that ilk which will probably work against him in the short to medium term. However, given the lack of bulk in our midfield, I quite like the idea of a big unit at 15 hitting the line at pace.

[Digby]

So far there's little evidence Jones wants a playmaking 15. There's some evidence he wants to counter off some types of kicks and off some type of turnover ball with the 15 running more than playmaking. And why would you need a playmaker at 15 when you've already got Ford, Farrell and Slade? You can already split the field and have a spare

[FKAS]

I think the Stimpson comparison was re. similar qualities.

Steward is still a teenager and already looking very promising. With time, I think he’ll be a cracking player.

Eddie Jones seems to want a playmaking fullback hence the experiment with Daly and the selection of Furbank and Malins.

Steward isn’t really of that ilk which will probably work against him in the short to medium term. However, given the lack of bulk in our midfield, I quite like the idea of a big unit at 15 hitting the line at pace.

Yes unlike those two he won't be slotting into 10 at senior level. He is sometimes used as a secondary kicker at Tigers because he has a huge boot on him. He is used as the out of the back link to the wings as well so he can distribute. I just thing he needs more time to bring all of his attacking skills to senior level. I'd be surprised if he didn't tour in the summer.

Having Steward cutting lines from 15 would very much help our backline impact. Eddie loves a kick chase and a kicking battle. Having a fullback that strong under the high ball and able to send the ball up and catch it when it comes down with snow on it always helps.

Eddie hasn't wanted to take chances in the 6N. I think he wanted to get the silverware and then send off a lot of players to the Lions Tour and experiment on the summer. It's backfired quite badly.

[Digby]

I cannot imagine many coaches would go into the 6N with a high % win and think what'll I'll do now is experiment, I would, but that's just one of the reasons nobody would give me the job. And then whatever the plans having to take the smaller squad because of Covid restricted any options still further, although even then we've had a decent number of players with less than 15 caps pick up game time.

He might take a punt on Steward down the line, though there's nothing there to suggest he's other than one of maybe a half dozen possibles who could push on if given such a chance.

[morepork]

Can we bet on which lock from which team will get the first red card?

[oldbackrow]

Is it wrong to have a thought that if France beat us and then beat Wales we wont have to put up with anywhere near as much gloating than if Wales win with a Grand Slam?!

[Danno]

Is it wrong to have a thought that if France beat us and then beat Wales we wont have to put up with anywhere near as much gloating than if Wales win with a Grand Slam?!

I think I know which one I prefer

[Raggs]

Can't we beat France and France beat Wales? If we have to lose to France, then yes, I'd prefer that France beat Wales too.

[Digby]

It's a little bit sad to worry about Wales winning a slam, much better to simply not care about them either way, just as it'd be much better for them not to care about England either way

[Raggs]

I'm not worried about the Welsh team winning it, I'm worried about the Welsh supporters that we interact with .

[Mikey Brown]

I'm not worried about the Welsh team winning it, I'm worried about the Welsh supporters that we interact with .

Yeah, it's like the good old days of RR at the moment. They've gone from desperate no-hopers to top team in the world over on the WMB, having scraped by on little more than not giving many penalties away and some very fortunate refereeing decisions. I'm sure this happened right before the last Lions tour as well. I'd like to see them actually be good against France if they're going to win the title.

[oldbackrow]

I'm not worried about the Welsh team winning it, I'm worried about the Welsh supporters that we interact with .

Normally I support Wales when they are playing anyone but England, however, the nationalistic bile from many so called Welsh fans, both on social media and in person on my last trip to Cardiff wants France to win!
Plus I think France are the most exciting team they've had for ages.

[Raggs]

I do think France "deserve" (as much as a team can deserve to win something, recognising the fact that actually winning it is the most deserving thing) to win. They play fantastic rugby.

[Scrumhead]

Agreed. As much as I hate losing, I can live with losing to a worthy opponent.

First and foremost, I’m hoping for a great game of rugby tomorrow. If we play well but lose, I don’t there is a great deal of shame to losing to what looks like a genuinely stellar side in the making. I feel very differently about losing to what I believe is a fortunate but poor Welsh side.

[Danno]

Or any Welsh side.

But wholeheartedly agree

[Banquo]

Agreed. As much as I hate losing, I can live with losing to a worthy opponent.

First and foremost, I’m hoping for a great game of rugby tomorrow. If we play well but lose, I don’t there is a great deal of shame to losing to what looks like a genuinely stellar side in the making. I feel very differently about losing to what I believe is a fortunate but poor Welsh side.

I don't they are poor actually. Their defence and conditioning are excellent, front row solid with Wyn Jones playing very well; A-W J is a superb skipper and picks his moments well; I like the back row options they have- Faletau's resurgence has been handy. The half backs are competent, with the annoying Biggar somewhat undersung- his kick chase and presence under the high ball is a USP; whilst the current midfield is a unlikely pair a little past their best they are workmanlike and physical, and the back three is classy with zip and ball players. They may not be as flash as France, but they've improved rapidly since the Autumn. They are also pretty disciplined- the last 15 v England was a masterclass in contrasting abilities to win a game.

[Beasties]

I really hope someone wipes SCW's nose sharpish.

[Beasties]

Listening to Jonny I'm reminded why I never listen to the build up.......

[Galfon]

Dupont limbering up
Ominous
0 - 7, 2 mins

[16th man]

Made that look fairly straightforward didn't they?