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Sports » rec.sport.rugby.union » A v E fulltime
| A v E fulltime [message #1071477] |
Sun, 11 June 2006 13:52 |
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An easy win on the scoreboard for Australia. A better performance in the 2nd
half which was based on some excellent defence and an English side which
wanted to shoot themselves in the feet. England needed some one to control
their backline but in the 2nd half they but they had no-one.
Well the 2nd half was better viewing with some nice tries and good defence
but still not something you would gladly pay money to see.
At the moment would still rate Australia favourite fro the wooden spoon in
the T-N.
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| Re: A v E fulltime [message #1071486 ] |
Sun, 11 June 2006 14:13 |
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"will s" <spamcrap [at] ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
news:448c03e2$0$26198$5a62ac22 [at] per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au...
>
> At the moment would still rate Australia favourite fro the wooden spoon in
> the T-N.
I wouldn't go that far. With the sacrifices coaches are willing to make for
the RWC, I would expect this year's 3N to be quite unpredictable.
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| Re: A v E fulltime [message #1071496 ] |
Sun, 11 June 2006 15:15 |
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will s wrote:
> An easy win on the scoreboard for Australia. A better performance in the 2nd
> half which was based on some excellent defence and an English side which
> wanted to shoot themselves in the feet. England needed some one to control
> their backline but in the 2nd half they but they had no-one.
>
> Well the 2nd half was better viewing with some nice tries and good defence
> but still not something you would gladly pay money to see.
>
> At the moment would still rate Australia favourite fro the wooden spoon in
> the T-N.
Not the game I was hoping for.
Australia were not so much bent on revenge as, like the All Blacks,
rusty and awkward. The final score flattered them.
Having said that, no surprises in the England performance. Still no
backs with any penetration to speak of. And so much for the abandoning
defence for attack philosophy. They have the attack of a shy librarian.
Better performance from the Australian forwards, but then there was
enormous room for improvement. Rodzilla is everything a marketing
manager wants in a rugby prop. 11 out of 10 for his pick up of the pass
behind him for his try.
Mortlock is Da Man. He is the world's best centre, daylight second and
BOD third. If New Zealand had Mortlock in the backline it would just be
embarrassing how good they could be.
The bottom line is that was was left of England's international
complement for the end of season junket were never really a chance to
win, but Australia were not nearly as hungry as they ought to be and won
by more than they deserved.
-- rick boyd
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| Re: A v E fulltime [message #1071514 ] |
Sun, 11 June 2006 20:49 |
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Pretty pants really allround.
Both sides seemed hell bent on acheiving very little in the first half
- Englands solitary glimpse of something useful was negated by an
excellent piece of defensive work by Gregan - the vodeo ref could have
gone either way possibly but no complaints from tghis englishman. Easy
to say in hindsight but the Wobbly scrum deserved IMO a second test at
the penalty after the held-up scrum rather than elecrting tokick for
goal.
Second half England ran out of ideas (old refrain) and Aus piled on the
pressure. Lovely timing for latham's try, and after that it was all
over bar the shouting. Aus scrum performed better in teh 2nd half but
as ussual the ref didnl;t have a clue what was ggoing on and just
pinged thwe wrong side most of the time.
England's lineout was pretty poor, as was their on-contact skills and
subsequently continuity - sone parallelss with their round ball
counterparts there in the inability to keep the ball.
Once again basic skills was the beginning of England's p[oor
performance - what DO these club coaches do with these players?
didds
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| Re: A v E fulltime [message #1071577 ] |
Mon, 12 June 2006 09:09 |
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rick boyd wrote:
<snip>
> Not the game I was hoping for.
Me neither.
>
> Australia were not so much bent on revenge as, like the All Blacks,
> rusty and awkward. The final score flattered them.
>
> Having said that, no surprises in the England performance.
Really? The headless chicken stuff was a surprise to me. Brian Ashton
is all for heads up rugby, but even at schoolboy level he couldn't
tolerate stupidity, dropped or missed passes.
> Still no backs with any penetration to speak of. And so much for the abandoning
> defence for attack philosophy. They have the attack of a shy librarian.
Defence was abandoned for a ludicrous chip kick philosophy.
>
> Better performance from the Australian forwards, but then there was
> enormous room for improvement. Rodzilla is everything a marketing
> manager wants in a rugby prop. 11 out of 10 for his pick up of the pass
> behind him for his try.
Better scrum but England lacked three or so props and 3 or so choice
locks. Judging by the other two games, they'll get minced in the 3N.
>
> Mortlock is Da Man. He is the world's best centre, daylight second and
> BOD third. If New Zealand had Mortlock in the backline it would just be
> embarrassing how good they could be.
Do you think so? In almost all cases I'd agree - always a great
defender and a clever player - but he looks to me to have lost a lot of
pace.
>
> The bottom line is that was was left of England's international
> complement for the end of season junket were never really a chance to
> win, but Australia were not nearly as hungry as they ought to be and won
> by more than they deserved.
Bottom line for me was that England needed to learn how to take all
their chances. Balshaw too weak to get the ball down properly. Varndell
too poor or unconfident to either take on his man or pass the bloody
ball properly. And when the pressure came on, the backline organisation
went to pieces with the halfbacks passing short balls to anyone round
the base of the scrum.
I expected Australia to score a few tries in the final quarter but,
really, England have themselves to blame if they can't convert the
points they have on a plate early in the game.
Still, I was impressed by some of the forwards and Richards. The backs
weren't the turnstile I expected them to be - perhaps because Australia
never got their act together - which is lucky because if the Aussies
had really tried to attack Voyce, Varndell and Balshaw it would have
been deeply unpleasant. Did they have a gentleman's agreement not to
carpetbomb the back three?
And on that note - what actually goes through Balshaw's mind? If
England looking for a defensively weak flibbertigibbet we might as well
have brought Dan Scarborough along - at least he has more confidence
than Balshaw.
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| Re: A v E fulltime [message #1071583 ] |
Mon, 12 June 2006 09:29 |
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"Ben L" <bjlongman [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1150096155.639545.237930 [at] y43g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>
> Bottom line for me was that England needed to learn how to take all
> their chances. Balshaw too weak to get the ball down properly. Varndell
> too poor or unconfident to either take on his man or pass the bloody
> ball properly. And when the pressure came on, the backline organisation
> went to pieces with the halfbacks passing short balls to anyone round
> the base of the scrum.
>
Varndell looked utterly out of his depth. He may not lack speed but he lacks the requisite
aggression at this level to take on his man. Admittedly, he danced and skitted his way around
TUQIRRRRRRII ! but he, quite literally, threw away every other opportunity to show his pace, usually
to nobody in particular. When he didn't have the ball he was positionally clueless and defensively
AWOL. If I were English I would be very concerned if he was the best winger available. The guy is
clearly not comfortable on the ( 15s at least ) rugby paddock. 100 metres in 5 seconds, pah! big
deal.
Brad
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| Re: A v E fulltime [message #1071586 ] |
Mon, 12 June 2006 09:42 |
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Brad Anton wrote:
<snip>
> Varndell looked utterly out of his depth. He may not lack speed but he lacks the requisite
> aggression at this level to take on his man. Admittedly, he danced and skitted his way around
> TUQIRRRRRRII ! but he, quite literally, threw away every other opportunity to show his pace, usually
> to nobody in particular. When he didn't have the ball he was positionally clueless and defensively
> AWOL. If I were English I would be very concerned if he was the best winger available.
He's not, necessarily. This tour is about taking a bunch of primarily
young players and seeing who is good enough to make the cut.
His defensive play is no better for Leicester, but his attack is. Why
he chose not to back himself is anyone's guess, but my money is on
immaturity and inexperience. Out of his depth is a pretty fair
description.
He's better covered at Leicester where the defensive systems are
obviously more fine tuned and because Geordan Murphy has excellent
positioning.
>The guy is clearly not comfortable on the ( 15s at least ) rugby paddock. 100 metres in 5 seconds, pah! big deal. Brad
He certainly didn't look very comfortable. But he has looked preciously
confident for the past domestic season.
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| Re: A v E fulltime [message #1071590 ] |
Mon, 12 June 2006 10:33 |
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Ben L wrote:
> Brad Anton wrote:
> <snip>
> > Varndell looked utterly out of his depth. He may not lack speed but he lacks the requisite
> > aggression at this level to take on his man. Admittedly, he danced and skitted his way around
> > TUQIRRRRRRII ! but he, quite literally, threw away every other opportunity to show his pace, usually
> > to nobody in particular. When he didn't have the ball he was positionally clueless and defensively
> > AWOL. If I were English I would be very concerned if he was the best winger available.
>
> He's not, necessarily. This tour is about taking a bunch of primarily
> young players and seeing who is good enough to make the cut.
>
> His defensive play is no better for Leicester, but his attack is. Why
> he chose not to back himself is anyone's guess, but my money is on
> immaturity and inexperience. Out of his depth is a pretty fair
> description.
>
> He's better covered at Leicester where the defensive systems are
> obviously more fine tuned and because Geordan Murphy has excellent
> positioning.
>
> >The guy is clearly not comfortable on the ( 15s at least ) rugby paddock. 100 metres in 5 seconds, pah! big deal. Brad
>
> He certainly didn't look very comfortable. But he has looked preciously
> confident for the past domestic season.
Let's just hope he hasn't been scarred too much by yesterday's
experience. His defence and positioning should improve with time.
With a bit of luck they'll leave him out of at least the starting XV
next week - most of his obvious mistakes yesterday were in attack, I
suspect if Australia have a second crack at him they'll target his
defence a lot more.
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| Re: A v E fulltime [message #1071599 ] |
Mon, 12 June 2006 11:50 |
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"Rookie" <simon__carter [at] hotmail.com> writes:
> Ben L wrote:
>> Brad Anton wrote:
>> <snip>
>> > Varndell looked utterly out of his depth. He may not lack speed but he lacks the requisite
>> > aggression at this level to take on his man. Admittedly, he danced and skitted his way around
>> > TUQIRRRRRRII ! but he, quite literally, threw away every other opportunity to show his pace, usually
>> > to nobody in particular. When he didn't have the ball he was positionally clueless and defensively
>> > AWOL. If I were English I would be very concerned if he was the best winger available.
>>
>> He's not, necessarily. This tour is about taking a bunch of primarily
>> young players and seeing who is good enough to make the cut.
>>
>> His defensive play is no better for Leicester, but his attack is. Why
>> he chose not to back himself is anyone's guess, but my money is on
>> immaturity and inexperience. Out of his depth is a pretty fair
>> description.
>>
>> He's better covered at Leicester where the defensive systems are
>> obviously more fine tuned and because Geordan Murphy has excellent
>> positioning.
>>
>> >The guy is clearly not comfortable on the ( 15s at least ) rugby paddock. 100 metres in 5 seconds, pah! big deal. Brad
>>
>> He certainly didn't look very comfortable. But he has looked preciously
>> confident for the past domestic season.
>
> Let's just hope he hasn't been scarred too much by yesterday's
> experience. His defence and positioning should improve with time.
> With a bit of luck they'll leave him out of at least the starting XV
> next week - most of his obvious mistakes yesterday were in attack, I
Typical. The worst thing you can do is drop him. I said this before the
tour : if you take the youngsters you have to give them a fair crack of
the whip (whoa there Rick) : you dont drop them and replace them with a
zimmerframed "untouchable".
> suspect if Australia have a second crack at him they'll target his
> defence a lot more.
>
No doubt : so leave him there to learn. He will be a "place" in upcoming
years so might as well swallow the medicine now rather than later.
--
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| Re: A v E fulltime [message #1071611 ] |
Mon, 12 June 2006 12:33 |
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Walter Mitty wrote:
> "Rookie" <simon__carter [at] hotmail.com> writes:
>
> > Ben L wrote:
> >> Brad Anton wrote:
> >> <snip>
> >> > Varndell looked utterly out of his depth. He may not lack speed but he lacks the requisite
> >> > aggression at this level to take on his man. Admittedly, he danced and skitted his way around
> >> > TUQIRRRRRRII ! but he, quite literally, threw away every other opportunity to show his pace, usually
> >> > to nobody in particular. When he didn't have the ball he was positionally clueless and defensively
> >> > AWOL. If I were English I would be very concerned if he was the best winger available.
> >>
> >> He's not, necessarily. This tour is about taking a bunch of primarily
> >> young players and seeing who is good enough to make the cut.
> >>
> >> His defensive play is no better for Leicester, but his attack is. Why
> >> he chose not to back himself is anyone's guess, but my money is on
> >> immaturity and inexperience. Out of his depth is a pretty fair
> >> description.
> >>
> >> He's better covered at Leicester where the defensive systems are
> >> obviously more fine tuned and because Geordan Murphy has excellent
> >> positioning.
> >>
> >> >The guy is clearly not comfortable on the ( 15s at least ) rugby paddock. 100 metres in 5 seconds, pah! big deal. Brad
> >>
> >> He certainly didn't look very comfortable. But he has looked preciously
> >> confident for the past domestic season.
> >
> > Let's just hope he hasn't been scarred too much by yesterday's
> > experience. His defence and positioning should improve with time.
> > With a bit of luck they'll leave him out of at least the starting XV
> > next week - most of his obvious mistakes yesterday were in attack, I
>
> Typical. The worst thing you can do is drop him. I said this before the
> tour : if you take the youngsters you have to give them a fair crack of
> the whip (whoa there Rick) : you dont drop them and replace them with a
> zimmerframed "untouchable".
Playing him when he hasn't got the right tools to cope (either mental
tools or skills) will do more harm than good. Keep him involved in the
squad to work on his skills and defence with Ford and Ashton, and build
his confidence up by starting him on the bench and using him as an
impact player. If Robinson had any clue he'd have started doing that
earlier in the season so that we wouldn't have to be giving the guy his
second cap starting an away game against one of the best backlines in
the world with nobody on the bench as cover.
>
> > suspect if Australia have a second crack at him they'll target his
> > defence a lot more.
> >
>
> No doubt : so leave him there to learn. He will be a "place" in upcoming
> years so might as well swallow the medicine now rather than later.
>
What's he going to learn that he hasn't already learnt in the GP final
and yesterday's game? Namely that he needs to improve his positioning,
his defence and his passing. If he already knew how to do those things
for Leicester and he was struggling to find his form for England that
would be fine. But if he can't do them for his club then he's not
suddenly going to pick them up in the middle of an international game
when he's got Tuqiri. He needs to go and learn the skills on the
training ground and then learn how to apply them for his club and then
his country.
I suspect he will play again next week in which case I hope I'm proved
wrong, that England can get him the ball in space and that this time
round he'll back his pace and score a couple of tries. I just don't
see it happening, and if it doesn't happen on Saturday then he's going
to get dropped anyway when the ABs come visiting and Robinson has a
rejuvenated Cueto and Lewsey to choose from (not to mention the dreaded
Cohen...) so what good's that going to do him?
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| Re: A v E fulltime [message #1071621 ] |
Mon, 12 June 2006 13:42 |
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will s wrote:
> An easy win on the scoreboard for Australia. A better performance in the 2nd
> half which was based on some excellent defence and an English side which
> wanted to shoot themselves in the feet. England needed some one to control
> their backline but in the 2nd half they but they had no-one.
>
> Well the 2nd half was better viewing with some nice tries and good defence
> but still not something you would gladly pay money to see.
>
> At the moment would still rate Australia favourite fro the wooden spoon in
> the T-N.
OB has been playing 12 all season, and never got control of the game.
Catt could possibly have bossed things better from 10 as he looked like
the only one with a clue. The backs lined up too close to each other.
Why pick a backline with pace, then line them up so they've no space?
Still stood too flat and not attacking from depth. The static nature of
them gave the Aussie defense a field day.
Every time I've seen Varndell lately he looks scared to get hit. I'm
afraid to admit that the same now also looks true for Balshaw. If they
can't grow some nuts, retire them. Good effort from some of the new
boys in the pack. I really like the look of Sanderson at 8.
I wasn't happy with the ref - especially at the breakdown, and the lack
of offside calls. Massive improvement required for the rematch from
England, which will be tough with Aussie confidence high.
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| Re: A v E fulltime [message #1071638 ] |
Mon, 12 June 2006 14:51 |
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Rookie wrote:
> Walter Mitty wrote:
> > "Rookie" <simon__carter [at] hotmail.com> writes:
> >
> > > Ben L wrote:
> > >> Brad Anton wrote:
> > >> <snip>
> > >> > Varndell looked utterly out of his depth. He may not lack speed but he lacks the requisite
> > >> > aggression at this level to take on his man. Admittedly, he danced and skitted his way around
> > >> > TUQIRRRRRRII ! but he, quite literally, threw away every other opportunity to show his pace, usually
> > >> > to nobody in particular. When he didn't have the ball he was positionally clueless and defensively
> > >> > AWOL. If I were English I would be very concerned if he was the best winger available.
> > >>
> > >> He's not, necessarily. This tour is about taking a bunch of primarily
> > >> young players and seeing who is good enough to make the cut.
> > >>
> > >> His defensive play is no better for Leicester, but his attack is. Why
> > >> he chose not to back himself is anyone's guess, but my money is on
> > >> immaturity and inexperience. Out of his depth is a pretty fair
> > >> description.
> > >>
> > >> He's better covered at Leicester where the defensive systems are
> > >> obviously more fine tuned and because Geordan Murphy has excellent
> > >> positioning.
> > >>
> > >> >The guy is clearly not comfortable on the ( 15s at least ) rugby paddock. 100 metres in 5 seconds, pah! big deal. Brad
> > >>
> > >> He certainly didn't look very comfortable. But he has looked preciously
> > >> confident for the past domestic season.
> > >
> > > Let's just hope he hasn't been scarred too much by yesterday's
> > > experience. His defence and positioning should improve with time.
> > > With a bit of luck they'll leave him out of at least the starting XV
> > > next week - most of his obvious mistakes yesterday were in attack, I
> >
> > Typical. The worst thing you can do is drop him. I said this before the
> > tour : if you take the youngsters you have to give them a fair crack of
> > the whip (whoa there Rick) : you dont drop them and replace them with a
> > zimmerframed "untouchable".
>
> Playing him when he hasn't got the right tools to cope (either mental
> tools or skills) will do more harm than good. Keep him involved in the
> squad to work on his skills and defence with Ford and Ashton, and build
> his confidence up by starting him on the bench and using him as an
> impact player. If Robinson had any clue he'd have started doing that
> earlier in the season so that we wouldn't have to be giving the guy his
> second cap starting an away game against one of the best backlines in
> the world with nobody on the bench as cover.
Nope, agree with WM on this one...there's no point in bringing the
newbies if you aren't going to play them. To yank him out of the
starting XV now would be risking another Tait situation. It's only his
1st cap and I'm sure he will improve.
> > > suspect if Australia have a second crack at him they'll target his
> > > defence a lot more.
> > >
> >
> > No doubt : so leave him there to learn. He will be a "place" in upcoming
> > years so might as well swallow the medicine now rather than later.
> >
> What's he going to learn that he hasn't already learnt in the GP final
> and yesterday's game? Namely that he needs to improve his positioning,
> his defence and his passing. If he already knew how to do those things
> for Leicester and he was struggling to find his form for England that
> would be fine. But if he can't do them for his club then he's not
> suddenly going to pick them up in the middle of an international game
> when he's got Tuqiri. He needs to go and learn the skills on the
> training ground and then learn how to apply them for his club and then
> his country.
I think he's got the requisite skills pretty much, I think the occasion
and the expectations on him affected him. The best way to overcome this
is to have another crack.
> I suspect he will play again next week in which case I hope I'm proved
> wrong, that England can get him the ball in space and that this time
> round he'll back his pace and score a couple of tries. I just don't
> see it happening, and if it doesn't happen on Saturday then he's going
> to get dropped anyway when the ABs come visiting and Robinson has a
> rejuvenated Cueto and Lewsey to choose from (not to mention the dreaded
> Cohen...) so what good's that going to do him?
Well it's a chance to see if we have a potential replacement/backup for
the above players.
Richard Bridgman
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| Re: A v E fulltime [message #1071643 ] |
Mon, 12 June 2006 15:06 |
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"Rookie" <simon__carter [at] hotmail.com> writes:
> Walter Mitty wrote:
>> "Rookie" <simon__carter [at] hotmail.com> writes:
>>
>> > Ben L wrote:
>> >> Brad Anton wrote:
>> >> <snip>
>> >> > Varndell looked utterly out of his depth. He may not lack speed but he lacks the requisite
>> >> > aggression at this level to take on his man. Admittedly, he danced and skitted his way around
>> >> > TUQIRRRRRRII ! but he, quite literally, threw away every other opportunity to show his pace, usually
>> >> > to nobody in particular. When he didn't have the ball he was positionally clueless and defensively
>> >> > AWOL. If I were English I would be very concerned if he was the best winger available.
>> >>
>> >> He's not, necessarily. This tour is about taking a bunch of primarily
>> >> young players and seeing who is good enough to make the cut.
>> >>
>> >> His defensive play is no better for Leicester, but his attack is. Why
>> >> he chose not to back himself is anyone's guess, but my money is on
>> >> immaturity and inexperience. Out of his depth is a pretty fair
>> >> description.
>> >>
>> >> He's better covered at Leicester where the defensive systems are
>> >> obviously more fine tuned and because Geordan Murphy has excellent
>> >> positioning.
>> >>
>> >> >The guy is clearly not comfortable on the ( 15s at least ) rugby paddock. 100 metres in 5 seconds, pah! big deal. Brad
>> >>
>> >> He certainly didn't look very comfortable. But he has looked preciously
>> >> confident for the past domestic season.
>> >
>> > Let's just hope he hasn't been scarred too much by yesterday's
>> > experience. His defence and positioning should improve with time.
>> > With a bit of luck they'll leave him out of at least the starting XV
>> > next week - most of his obvious mistakes yesterday were in attack, I
>>
>> Typical. The worst thing you can do is drop him. I said this before the
>> tour : if you take the youngsters you have to give them a fair crack of
>> the whip (whoa there Rick) : you dont drop them and replace them with a
>> zimmerframed "untouchable".
>
> Playing him when he hasn't got the right tools to cope (either mental
> tools or skills) will do more harm than good. Keep him involved in
> the
He has the tools. He plays for Leicester.
> squad to work on his skills and defence with Ford and Ashton, and build
> his confidence up by starting him on the bench and using him as an
They cant create something in him : he is a pro rugby player. They can
only hone what he has for the England setup.
> impact player. If Robinson had any clue he'd have started doing that
> earlier in the season so that we wouldn't have to be giving the guy his
> second cap starting an away game against one of the best backlines in
> the world with nobody on the bench as cover.
What season? International? League?
>>
>> > suspect if Australia have a second crack at him they'll target his
>> > defence a lot more.
>> >
>>
>> No doubt : so leave him there to learn. He will be a "place" in upcoming
>> years so might as well swallow the medicine now rather than later.
>>
> What's he going to learn that he hasn't already learnt in the GP final
> and yesterday's game? Namely that he needs to improve his positioning,
> his defence and his passing. If he already knew how to do those
> things
Maybe he had an offday : needs to settle down and do what he does
best. Dropping him wont improve his ability to deal with the pressure.
> for Leicester and he was struggling to find his form for England that
> would be fine. But if he can't do them for his club then he's not
> suddenly going to pick them up in the middle of an international game
> when he's got Tuqiri. He needs to go and learn the skills on the
Agreed. But its a gamble : hes there for his speed. All teams need a speedster.
> training ground and then learn how to apply them for his club and then
> his country.
>
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| Re: A v E fulltime [message #1071647 ] |
Mon, 12 June 2006 15:32 |
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simon s-b wrote:
<snip>
> I wasn't happy with the ref - especially at the breakdown, and the lack
> of offside calls.
Apparently he is England's "pet ref". Didn't strike me he did either
team that many favours in the last test.
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| Re: A v E fulltime [message #1071728 ] |
Tue, 13 June 2006 06:33 |
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Ben L wrote:
> rick boyd wrote:
> <snip>
>> Not the game I was hoping for.
>
> Me neither.
>
>> Australia were not so much bent on revenge as, like the All Blacks,
>> rusty and awkward. The final score flattered them.
>>
>> Having said that, no surprises in the England performance.
>
> Really? The headless chicken stuff was a surprise to me. Brian Ashton
> is all for heads up rugby, but even at schoolboy level he couldn't
> tolerate stupidity, dropped or missed passes.
>
>> Still no backs with any penetration to speak of. And so much for the abandoning
>> defence for attack philosophy. They have the attack of a shy librarian.
>
> Defence was abandoned for a ludicrous chip kick philosophy.
>
>> Better performance from the Australian forwards, but then there was
>> enormous room for improvement. Rodzilla is everything a marketing
>> manager wants in a rugby prop. 11 out of 10 for his pick up of the pass
>> behind him for his try.
>
> Better scrum but England lacked three or so props and 3 or so choice
> locks. Judging by the other two games, they'll get minced in the 3N.
>
>> Mortlock is Da Man. He is the world's best centre, daylight second and
>> BOD third. If New Zealand had Mortlock in the backline it would just be
>> embarrassing how good they could be.
>
> Do you think so? In almost all cases I'd agree - always a great
> defender and a clever player - but he looks to me to have lost a lot of
> pace.
>
>> The bottom line is that was was left of England's international
>> complement for the end of season junket were never really a chance to
>> win, but Australia were not nearly as hungry as they ought to be and won
>> by more than they deserved.
>
> Bottom line for me was that England needed to learn how to take all
> their chances. Balshaw too weak to get the ball down properly. Varndell
> too poor or unconfident to either take on his man or pass the bloody
> ball properly. And when the pressure came on, the backline organisation
> went to pieces with the halfbacks passing short balls to anyone round
> the base of the scrum.
>
> I expected Australia to score a few tries in the final quarter but,
> really, England have themselves to blame if they can't convert the
> points they have on a plate early in the game.
>
> Still, I was impressed by some of the forwards and Richards. The backs
> weren't the turnstile I expected them to be - perhaps because Australia
> never got their act together - which is lucky because if the Aussies
> had really tried to attack Voyce, Varndell and Balshaw it would have
> been deeply unpleasant. Did they have a gentleman's agreement not to
> carpetbomb the back three?
>
> And on that note - what actually goes through Balshaw's mind? If
> England looking for a defensively weak flibbertigibbet we might as well
> have brought Dan Scarborough along - at least he has more confidence
> than Balshaw.
>
The only comfort that ANY team can take from last w/e matches is that 3
other teams are playing shite as well, (didn't see Scotland/SA or
Wales/Arg so can't comment there) let's hope they get rid of the
butterfingers this w/e.
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