Well done and all that but still a surprise. But a certain amount of Argentina not turning up rather than our boys excelling, no?
Well done and all that but still a surprise. But a certain amount of Argentina not turning up rather than our boys excelling, no?
Argentina were thrashed by the All Blacks. They just aren’t very good.
Argie go in strong full of bluster and bravado but end up surrendering in droves. Lol.
No tries from England is quite concerning
Some really smart play from Ford from the bits the atrocious German 4G networks let me watch. Not doubt he’ll be dropped when that thug Farrell has finished his suspension.
Argentina were thrashed by NZ last Tri Nations, or whatever it now is, but they also beat NZ in the first fixture. They thrashed the Aussies who beat SA, and they beat England last time round at Twickenham. They’re no mugs.
England defended really well, Mitchell showed why it was madness to leave him out, and Ford showed his class at 10. His drop goals changed the whole thing.
Mitchell Ford is the way forward – I don’t hate Farrell as some do but Youngs Farrell would have lost us that game.
Not a game to play expansively 14 v 15 and the only two times England went wide they fucked up.
There may be a suspicion of unconscious bias in the ref (to even up the spectacle) but Argentina really didn’t help themselves, correctly (mostly) being whistled off the park.
Ford took his drop goals well. I watched in amazement when England had a four-on-two and ended up running the ball into touch. I turned off after all hope had gone of either side playing some rugby.
A gameplan (and don’t try telling me it would have been much different with 15 v 15) which was the complete antithesis of Friday’s bizarre NZ approach where they ran every scrap of possession out of their own 22 and offloaded as if several decades of sensible effective controlled rugby had never happened. It was almost as if they were trying to make a point – in which case they failed badly.
For once I’ll accept feelgood. Whether it has any bearing on the next meaningful match, the QF against Wales or Oz, remains to be seen. Chances are a couple more starters will be suspended while Borthwick will probably have been sufficiently impressed by Farrell and Care’s performances against Chile and Samoa to crawl back into his comfort zone.
P.s. was anyone else slightly surprised to realise that was George Ford’s 85th cap? Admittedly Farrell has 107. They play a whole lot more these days.
Interested.
Mitchell Ford is the way forward.
Absolutely. Speed of thought and speed of action was in a different league to Care/Farrell. They would actually give the outside backs a chance to attack, if they are allowed too.
The overall performance was OK – 14 men from minute two so they clearly had a plan for that eventuality and implemented it. It would be nice if they could have been more expansive when the opportunity arose, but the team is not yet good enough to do so.
Wales v Fiji was rugby as it’s meant to be played. Or so I fondly imagine Webb Ellis would think.
Philip,
I very much doubt Webb Ellis would have approved of the refereeing. If the organising committee don’t get to grips with the inconsistent officiating and TMO rulings the tournament will be seriously devalued.
Damn it even the bbc have mentioned it:-
Tom Curry became the fourth England player to be sent off this year within three minutes of his return to the side after an ankle injury……………But Steve Borthwick’s men may feel slightly hard done by possible inconsistency that saw Chile captain Martin Sigren receive yellow against Japan and South Africa centre Jesse Kriel stay on the field without even a review against Scotland for similar-looking offences.
And as for the absence of yellow cards against Wales for persistent goal-line offences!