Fair play to Ireland, they fully deserved the grand slam, England need to get their egos in check and go back to playing with some intensity. They thought they'd walk this 6 nations and came up embarrassingly short. They'll come back stronger for it though, sometimes you need some bad results to reaslise you're not invincible.
Has anyone considered that the players are simply tired? A large number of the English players represented the British Lions after a long season. Then begin another gruelling season. Players are not robots they cant keep going at a high level without rest.
Agreed. But also Ireland have better players, imho, in key positions. 9 and 10 especially. Furlongs the best prop on there. Stander, omahony and leaver were better than our back three.
Were there no Irish players in the Lions squad? England have been on a very good run and complacency crept in, it happens to all good teams eventually. There's no shame in not winning it's how you respond that matters. I don't think they'll take it lightly and we'll see a stronger England for it going forward.
I agree, although had England played to the best of their abilities then today's game would have been the 6 nations decider, instead it was over before the game kicked off, that's the disappointing aspect.
A couple of friends of mine are Kiwis and they don't have huge admiration for the way Ireland play the game though they are the 2nd best team in the World. When it comes to RU I always listen to a Kiwi.
I agree with them, Ireland aren't an exciting team to watch but it's working for them. Whatever style of rugby you play if you're winning then you're doing it right. If Ireland tried to be expansive and exciting they wouldn't have won the grand slam. They had a game plan to win and it worked to perfection, in that sense you can't do anything but applaud them.
Someone I know who played rugby at a decent level and who now coaches the game said England had flattered to deceive in his opinion and would get found out before the start of the Six Nations. Lucky guess? Or more knowledge of the game than myself and others who expected better things?
Lucky guess. They have already proven themselves to be a very good team, they haven't played to anywhere near the same level and as a result they came up short. There's not a lot between the northern hemisphere teams, it only takes one to be below their best for another to triumph.
Ireland beat France with the last kick of the game. Scotland beat Italy with the last kick of the game. Fine margins indeed. Could this Ireland team whitewash the Aussies in their own back yard? We’ll be back.
