The Rugby Thread

[Buzzo]

Same as against Japan.

Poor first half, solid second. We look loads better with Laidlaw at scrum half.

I think we have a strong first 15.

[G]

How can these lads not afford laser eye surgery! Losing contact lenses on the pitch.

[danperkins]

was saying the same to my dad. We've been ok, should be comfortable if he decides to use the bench.

[CJ]

C'mon romania

[Muddled]

I had Ireland at a handicap of -41.

[Boogs]

I'm still buzzing over beating the Sais but rather worried about the injuries we continue to pick up. It's going to be a difficult few games even if we do have to play Fiji on Thursday

[RichC]

The grief I'm going to get from a mate at work tomorrow.

He's already been texting; the ****

[Vermilion]

I'm still buzzing over beating the Sais but rather worried about the injuries we continue to pick up. It's going to be a difficult few games even if we do have to play Fiji on Thursday

Would have been better without the 4 day turnaround too, which wont help at all.

After that game at the w/e, to now face Fiji the way they play, and after a very short break also with players out and lots of walking wounded isn't the best.

[Chazza]

England begin the countdown to the defining match of Stuart Lancaster’s reign amid accusations by the former captain Will Carling that their head coach has created a “classroom-orientated environment” among players treated as “schoolboys”.

World Cup survival hinges on the outcome of Saturday’s showdown with Australia after Wales left Twickenham with a stunning 28-25 upset victory. Should England lose, they will become the first single host nation to exit the tournament at the pool stage.

Chris Robshaw has been condemned for opting for an attacking lineout in the closing moments when awarded a penalty instead of giving Owen Farrell the chance to kick for goal - albeit from a difficult position near the touchline - that would have levelled the scores at 28-28.

Carling, who led England 59 times, is scathing of Robshaw’s “unbelievable” decision and of the selection against Wales, but saved his most savage criticism for the failure by Lancaster – a former schoolteacher – to empower his leaders.

“I got the sense that England were panicking. I don’t blame Chris as much as I blame others. I blame the environment,” Carling told the BBC. “We have a very prescriptive environment in the England team. I’ve listened to Stuart Lancaster say for years that ‘I don’t have the leaders and therefore we’re having to make all the decisions as coaches’. It’s a very classroom-orientated environment. My view is that he has had leaders and that he needed to have trusted them and develop them.

“What we watched in the last 10 minutes was a confused debate between people who have never been given responsibility to lead and drive the team. Instead, we’ve treated them as schoolboys.”

Had England secured a draw against Wales, they would have been in a stronger position come the final reckoning of an unprecedented tough Pool A.

“You have to kick the penalty. Farrell was kicking brilliantly and if we’d drawn, that would not have been a disastrous result,” Carling said. “We got a bonus point against Fiji with the game against Australia to come, so we would have been very much still in the pool with no sense of panic. It was such an unbelievable decision and sadly the wrong one.

“We were far more likely to get those three points than a [try from a] lineout. There are so many more variables in going for a lineout drive, especially when we executed it as badly as we did.”

Lancaster’s decision to drop George Ford at fly-half in favour of Farrell and start Sam Burgess at inside-centre paid off to the extent that Wales’ power game was nullified, but Carling insists it also deprived England of the creativity they needed to kill off the match.

Carling, who won 73 caps from 1988-1997, has called for Ford to be restored to the starting XV and for Henry Slade to be picked in the centres.

“England have to pick sides to win games rather than being hard to beat. There’s a very subtle difference, but a very important one,” Carling said. “I think we picked a team against Wales that would be hard to beat, would survive off mistakes and pressure when we have players who are good enough to go out and win games.

“Some of the selections were bizarre and the timings were strange. To me the mindset was all wrong. We’d beaten Wales on a Friday night in Cardiff in February by attacking them and we should have done the same on Saturday.

“I don’t know where Lancaster goes now. Henry Slade is a great footballer and should have been playing against Wales. We need some footballers in there.

“What we witnessed was England dominating in the pack, but we didn’t have footballers in the backline who managed to translate the possession and territory into points.

“If we pick the footballers again, so Ford at 10, Farrell at 12 and Slade at 13, then suddenly we have a backline who can play.”

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/sep/28/will-carling-england-rugby-world-cup-2015-stuart-lancaster-wales?CMP=share_btn_tw

Personally I would drop Barritt pair Slade with Burgess and leave Farrell at 10. Ford has looked way off recently.

[RichC]

I've just come back from a long painful lunch with a Welsh mate who thinks (and I agree) that we tried to be too clever and not play our best side.

For all the worry about Burgess before the match it was Barritt who for me offers little in terms of creativity that caused us the issues

[Buzzo]

I still don't know how you managed to lose from such a position of superiority.

Barritt blew it by blitzing on the move that ended with the Wales try, and then the ridiculous decision to go for the try. Before that you gained some great territory and I recall a late tackle under the Welsh posts which handed possession back to them. The discipline was terrible. But that said, I suspect England need to unite ahead of the match - recriminations can come afterwards if necessary. No point looking back just yet.

Saturday is looking like a superb rugby evening with our game and England Aus back to back

[Chazza]

Barritt is not good enough, been nowhere near the team for ages and now starts for his apparent defensive qualities.

The other one is Wigglesworth who has not done anything of note but keeps getting on ahead of Care.

[RichC]

Nick Easter has been called up in place of Billy Vunipola

[Chazza]

Nick Easter has been called up in place of Billy Vunipola

He was our best player on Saturday when he was on.

[RichC]

Yup, massive loss.