88D Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 On 14/01/2021 at 10:23, tigerburnie said: Ellis Genge, George Ford and Ben Youngs(who would be on the bench if we had a better option as I think he's lost a bit of his pace these days). I was going to copy their list, but the atricle has vanished, from memory Genge- George-Furlong Itoje- Launchberry Curry- Doris- Stander May- Youngs Ford Joseph Slade Stockdale Hogg This was from their list, some of these would not have been in my squad Youngs would be nowhere near my Lions team, indeed I wouldn’t have him in the England team.in the backs, Ford, Joseph and Stockdale dubious for me. Quite like Launchbury, but Ryan or one of the Scots would get in for me. Stander can disappear from some games, but would probably try harder against his compatriots! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted January 15, 2021 Author Share Posted January 15, 2021 Ben Youngs has been playing better for Tigers than he has for years, the break from games seems to have lifted his game, he has lost that bit of pace though, but an experienced head who would box kick the Boks to death. O'Mahony is playing well for Munster, but wasn't in the beebs list. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted January 29, 2021 Author Share Posted January 29, 2021 Well the league program begins again with 2 games tonight, Tigers welcome Sale to Welford Road, not quite as intimidating when it's empty of fans, but hopeful of a win. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 (edited) On 15/01/2021 at 21:52, tigerburnie said: Ben Youngs has been playing better for Tigers than he has for years, the break from games seems to have lifted his game, he has lost that bit of pace though, but an experienced head who would box kick the Boks to death. O'Mahony is playing well for Munster, but wasn't in the beebs list. I don’t recall that Youngs “box kicked the Boks to death”, last time they met? Edited January 30, 2021 by rockershovel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted January 30, 2021 Author Share Posted January 30, 2021 Well Barf didn't cover themselves with much glory and the Tigers shot themselves in the foot, poor discipline cost them, missed our first choice half backs badly. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted January 30, 2021 Author Share Posted January 30, 2021 Ben has produced some important scores over his career can't think of a better 9 at the moment for the England shirt, funny enough neither can Eddie Jones. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 58 minutes ago, tigerburnie said: Ben has produced some important scores over his career can't think of a better 9 at the moment for the England shirt, funny enough neither can Eddie Jones. Youngs probably is the best option around at #9, as things stand. The problem is, the general situation at #9. Care is 34 and must be pretty much at the end of his Test career. Willi Heinz is 32, with limited Test experience. My best guess is that we will see Ben Spencer and Dan Robson given more opportunity, starting with the 6N. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted January 30, 2021 Author Share Posted January 30, 2021 4 hours ago, rockershovel said: Youngs probably is the best option around at #9, as things stand. The problem is, the general situation at #9. Care is 34 and must be pretty much at the end of his Test career. Willi Heinz is 32, with limited Test experience. My best guess is that we will see Ben Spencer and Dan Robson given more opportunity, starting with the 6N. Tigers have a young lad in the development squad who has had a couple of first team games who is highly thought of called Jack Van Poortvliet, he was playing for my old club in National 2 South last season so maybe a while off yet. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 2 hours ago, tigerburnie said: Tigers have a young lad in the development squad who has had a couple of first team games who is highly thought of called Jack Van Poortvliet, he was playing for my old club in National 2 South last season so maybe a while off yet. Van Poortvliet made two appearances in the 2020 U20 6N, although it was easy to miss that given the level of coverage... I’d expect Eddie Jones to work towards taking three #9 to the 2023 RWC, one being a veteran and mentor (and I suspect that this is why Heinz has been brought in, he has a reputation in that respect) with two younger players stepping into the role in 2021/2 and Youngs retiring from Test level, willingly or not. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted January 31, 2021 Author Share Posted January 31, 2021 I think Steward might break into the higher ranks before JVP though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
88D Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 On 30/01/2021 at 15:51, rockershovel said: Youngs probably is the best option around at #9, as things stand. The problem is, the general situation at #9. Care is 34 and must be pretty much at the end of his Test career. Willi Heinz is 32, with limited Test experience. My best guess is that we will see Ben Spencer and Dan Robson given more opportunity, starting with the 6N. Agree on Spencer and Robson as England scrum halves, but EJ does have his prejudices and idiosyncrasies. Will be interesting to see what he does with Randall, and whether he brings Mitchell back into the squad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 8 minutes ago, 88D said: Agree on Spencer and Robson as England scrum halves, but EJ does have his prejudices and idiosyncrasies. Will be interesting to see what he does with Randall, and whether he brings Mitchell back into the squad. I don’t think EJ will be much interested in JvP or Randall at the moment. The immediate problem is that England are dependent on three scrum-halves, all past thirty. Care has really become an impact sub; Youngs is visibly losing pace, and he wasn’t fast to begin with. Jones will be looking for players established at club level and ready for the next step up. Test level #9 and #10 need to be Captain standard, in a team like England which tends to lack overall cohesion and show a distinct lack of ability to react to changed circumstances at times. Mitchell doesn’t seem to fit that bill, and the other two are still a ways off yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted January 31, 2021 Author Share Posted January 31, 2021 Ben Youngs Career Highlight Compilation 2020 - Rugby's Biggest Stars - YouTube You perhaps need your memory jogging 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 10 hours ago, tigerburnie said: Ben Youngs Career Highlight Compilation 2020 - Rugby's Biggest Stars - YouTube You perhaps need your memory jogging Yes, yes, but he is now 32 and will be 34 at the next RWC. EJ knows that England need to raise their game in the half-backs and centres for the 2023 RWC, to break the mould of only being as good as their game-plan (hence the demolition of NZ, followed by a final in which SA led from first to last, and England were unable to score a try). There is obvious scope for quicker ball behind the ruck, and less kicking away of possession. Farrell and Ford are both younger, and Farrell is very much a player moulded by Jones. The next 13 months contain two 6N, Lions (whatever form that takes, not forgetting the additional game vs Japan in Edinburgh), plus whatever happens in the autumn - and I wouldn’t rule out a reiteration of the Amazon 8N tournament. Care’s international retirement can’t be long delayed, by now. My guess is that Jones will proceed to the next stage of his long-running project, to mould the half-backs and centres in his image, while making full use of Youngs and Heinz in the peak schedule of the coming year or so. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 (edited) 20 hours ago, 88D said: Agree on Spencer and Robson as England scrum halves, but EJ does have his prejudices and idiosyncrasies. Will be interesting to see what he does with Randall, and whether he brings Mitchell back into the squad. I’ve been looking at Mitchell, since you mention him - and I doubt he will be back. His history reads as though he burnt brightly at U18 and U20 level, but (for whatever reason) failed to show the same form in the Senior game. Eddie Jones certainly sees things other coaches don’t, as demonstrated by his work with Hartley, Farrell and Sinckler and I’d guess that he wanted to form his own opinion of Mitchell. But Spencer and Robson both now seem to have established their claims ahead of him. Edited February 1, 2021 by rockershovel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted February 4, 2021 Author Share Posted February 4, 2021 I see Eddie has gone for the sledgehammer for the start of the Calcutta Cup, this will not be a game for the squeamish, Ford might actually pass the ball when he gets on, otherwise it looks like 10 man rugby with a lot of high balls raining down on the Scots back 3. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 16 hours ago, tigerburnie said: I see Eddie has gone for the sledgehammer for the start of the Calcutta Cup, this will not be a game for the squeamish, Ford might actually pass the ball when he gets on, otherwise it looks like 10 man rugby with a lot of high balls raining down on the Scots back 3. 10 man rugby is the English way, because it works for them. EJ has plenty of forwards. That’s why the England v Italy game is usually so dull. Italy have a big, strong pack, but they are generally slow and lacking tactical cohesion in the backs. So England put a couple of early scores on them - the Johnny May, kick ahead and breakthrough variety - and then it all stagnates. England want to win with four tries, but don’t much care about the Italy score as long as Italy don’t pick up a bonus point. England then score twice in the last 10 mins, as Italy run out of pace and subs, and that’s it for another year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted February 6, 2021 Author Share Posted February 6, 2021 Great Tigers win, but England on the other hand look lacklustre in the first half. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold grandadbob Posted February 6, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 6, 2021 Lacklustre is putting it mildly! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iak Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 A rather happy day thank you... Dull game but great outcome! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, tigerburnie said: Great Tigers win, but England on the other hand look lacklustre in the first half. Well done Scotland. They don’t tend to be a tournament winning team, mostly because of their relatively small selection pool, but in their day they are world class. There won’t be many England players polishing their CVs tonight, though... endless penalties, a lot of unproductive kicking away of possession, some pretty wild passing, a general lack of game management. All the usual suspects, in fact. England clearly need Ford, because the Farrell/Youngs combination didn’t deliver, and Robson did enough to stake a further claim. Interesting to see the centres, too. Watch for younger, faster hands between #9 and #13... Edited February 6, 2021 by rockershovel 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold grandadbob Posted February 6, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 6, 2021 Well played Scotland. I’m now going to sit in the corner of a darkened room for a few hours. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted February 6, 2021 Author Share Posted February 6, 2021 That rates as one of England's worst performances in a very long time, not only did some of the players not look fit, but some of them didn't seem to get that to score, you actually need to have the ball rather than kick it away with no chasers following them up, Hogg wasn't going to drop a ball all day. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 Nice factoids on the BBC report Quote The last time that Scotland won at Twickenham, the world was a very different place. * A pint of beer cost 62p. * Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’ was top of the UK charts. * Larry Holmes was WBC heavyweight champion. * The average UK property price was £23,335. * Sega and Nintendo released their first video game systems. * ‘Gandhi’ swept the board at the Oscars. * British police series ‘The Bill’ aired for the first time. * A loaf of bread cost 28p. * ‘Octopussy’, the 13th James Bond film, was released in cinemas. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/rugby-union/54769922 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold grandadbob Posted February 6, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 6, 2021 @tigerburnie One of the worst I’ve had the misfortune to watch in over 60 years but all credit to the Scots who played out of their skins and I think the score flattered England. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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