I appreciate England are still considered a better side than Wales (or at least last night's odds suggested as much) but Wales are 20/1 best price to win the whole thing compared to 8/1 England, which makes no sense to me. We'll do very well to make the top two now.
The decision to not take the penalty and go for the try was questionable, but a reasonable gamble imo, considering the difficulty of the kick. The really bad decisions came from the coach, making so many unforced changes at a time when England were in control. Unforgivable and Lancaster will probably pay the price after the tournament.
I agree with this Col....but do you not think Robshaws mistake was throwing to the front, and not to the back, where they could have probed for a breakthrough, or at least got a "better" penalty
Absolutely. Wales showed that they could play and make the right decisions under pressure. England couldn't.
That's why Robshaw will never be Lions Captain. As well as not being really good enough as a player (he is not a 7 - Warburton and Tipuric are both far better 7s), his captaincy is not at the highest level..... Yet I'm sure I heard somewhere yesterday that he has either equalled or broken Martin Johnson's record for the number of times captaining England. How the hell did that happen? Martin Johnson - now there was a player and a helluva captain!
I think Robshaw has been captain for all but his first appearance for England. Obviously, they see leadership qualities in him. Typically, the criticism comes when we lose...
I agree that Lancaster must see Leadership qualities in him - he must do, as he is happy to leave his best 7 (Armitage) out of the squad...... that may come back to haunt him and cost him his job if you don't beat the Aussies!
That's it. It was possibly the right decision poorly executed. Had it worked Robshaw would be a hero. If Farrell (good pick over Ford at stand off) had missed the kick all the clairvoyants would be moaning about not going for the corner. But Wales deserved the win because, apart from a couple of minutes after the kick off, they were by far the better team in the second half and their replacements, often playing out of position, stepped up. Wales always improve in the second half. Their set piece in the first half was so dire that England, whose back three looked very good (I think Brown is possibly our only real world class player) should have capitalised more. But I think the tactics, rather than the selection, didn't help as the centres were almost entirely defensive, especially after the Welsh tactic of trying to turn them became clear. Burgess did alright in a very restricted role. Gatland is a superior coach to Lancaster, but I still favour having an English coach for England. What other countries do is their affair, no criticism implied. I don't know enough about club rugby to say who the alternatives might be. Anyway it's the nature of modern sport to conduct endless post mortems and apportion blame, but let's not forget what a great occassion it was, maybe not in terms of technical prowess, but certainly in terms of passion and pride. And still all to play for.
Stefon Armitage is a perfect 7 for French rugby IMO. Not mobile enough for the game Lancaster wants to play.
I'll remember that the next time I don't understand something it automatically follows no-one else understands it either...
Why should something I ask BBH to do be directed at you???????? You are not the centre of my universe Sworsdy darling.... ...........................and no I do not want to do what you suggest
Morning Nuts. Enjoying the tournament? If I were 35 years younger, and a couple of stone heavier than I was 35 years ago (ie my current weight, but carried everywhere but where I carry it now), I would love to play openside flanker. Licence to create carnage.
