Said it soon as Fiji beat England in the Warm Ups
Kick long, kick dead, compete at lineout
Take 3 points every time it's offered
Drubbing, and England won't have to get out of 3rd gear
Which is good because I don't think they have a 4th
RWC QF: England
Match thread
Fiji
We have a third?
@MiketheSnow said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
@Catogrande said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
We have a third?
You used it against Chile
OK so that's had though rather than have :anguished_face:
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (FFR)
Assistant Referee 1: Nic Berry (RA)
Assistant Referee 2: Pierre Brousset (FFR)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
@frugby said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
Does the pedantic nature of Raynal favour Fiji or England, I can't decide.
England
According to reports in the British press Ford won't be in the starting xv, Farrell at 10 & Smith at fullback
@Duluth said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
According to reports in the British press Ford won't be in the starting xv, Farrell at 10 & Smith at fullback
Can I change my vote?
@Duluth said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
According to reports in the British press Ford won't be in the starting xv, Farrell at 10 & Smith at fullback
lol what? jesus and we thought we had coaching and selecting problems
@Duluth said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
According to reports in the British press Ford won't be in the starting xv, Farrell at 10 & Smith at fullback
That can't be surprising since he's done nothing in the pool games.
Quite a few tickets on the resale sight yesterday, assume that was Aus / Welsh fans giving up their tickets but still, shows how far England have fallen in the eyes of their fans.
If we pick Smith at fullback we’ve lost the plot
@Dodge said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
Quite a few tickets on the resale sight yesterday, assume that was Aus / Welsh fans giving up their tickets but still, shows how far England have fallen in the eyes of their fans.
If we pick Smith at fullback we’ve lost the plot
You can’t lose what you never had.
Borthwick, EJ and Foz are secretly best mates and are fucken loving the big joke they're playing.
@antipodean said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
@Duluth said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
According to reports in the British press Ford won't be in the starting xv, Farrell at 10 & Smith at fullback
That can't be surprising since he's done nothing in the pool games.
Who Ford?
@MiketheSnow said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
@antipodean said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
@Duluth said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
According to reports in the British press Ford won't be in the starting xv, Farrell at 10 & Smith at fullback
That can't be surprising since he's done nothing in the pool games.
Who Ford?
I think I've used up a week's worth of sarcasm in that post.
@Duluth said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
According to reports in the British press Ford won't be in the starting xv, Farrell at 10 & Smith at fullback
Farrell is the chosen one, so no matter what he starts. He's England's beaudy
@Machpants said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
@Duluth said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
According to reports in the British press Ford won't be in the starting xv, Farrell at 10 & Smith at fullback
Farrell is the chosen one, so no matter what he starts. He's England's beaudy
You have managed to insult both players at once.
So reports of a fight between Arundel and....guess! Yeah you got it right, Farrell.
Also reports of there being a 3-way split between the Drua players, NH players and coaching group.
Personally I reckon this is just the "forgotten" quarter trying to create some excitement.
I think Fiji now having reclaimed the underdog tag will play much better than what they did against Georgia and Portugal.
I think after they beat Aus they found themselves in the unfamiliar position of being expected to not just win, but win well on the world stage and make the 1/4's, a situation they don't often find themselves in.
I don't think the players responded well to that pressure and expectation and played within themselves and conservatively which certainly didn't suit the Fijian rugby style.
So I expect them to play a lot better - whether that "better" is enough to beat England I'm highly unsure. Conservative, knockout rugby simply suits England down to the ground.
So I'll say Fiji with my heart and England with my head...
@Bovidae said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
Who has to change their jersey?
Yeah not seen who won the toss, would've been done earlier in the week I guess
@Bovidae said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
Who has to change their jersey?
I've seen this image posted elsewhere. I assume it's correct
@Bones said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
@Duluth England wearing white again, very rare.
They keep changing the shirts so as to sell more. I can only assume they feel no-one wants to buy them currently
@voodoo said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
I have England by 100 here
If you're being held hostage just type "Clive Woodward is my hero"
@Bones said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
@Dodge hah yeah popped up on my Facebook feed yesterday after someone mentioned about AB ones...60% off or something at Lovell.
DM me your address and i'll send you an England one
@Dodge said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
@Bones said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
@Dodge hah yeah popped up on my Facebook feed yesterday after someone mentioned about AB ones...60% off or something at Lovell.
DM me your address and i'll send you an England one
I'm not falling for that again.
Oh you mean a jersey?
England team to face Fiji
England: Smith; May, Marchant, Tuilagi, Daly; Farrell (capt), Mitchell; Genge, George, Cole, Itoje, Chessum, Lawes, Curry, Earl.
Replacements: Dan, Marler, Sinckler, Martin, Vunipola, Care, Ford, Lawrence.
So Borthwick has finally realised what everyone else has known since RWC final 4 years ago - the Ford-Farrell axis does not work. Consequently he dumps the best game controller we have got, to select not the best attacking threat we have but the guy who is the second best game controller and has no attacking threat. Well at least we have a proper centre partnership now. Next step - give them some ball in space.
Not. Holding. Breath.
We continue to pick wingers with no pace, signalling that they will be there as kick chasers only.
Marchant aside (and Smith to a degree), where is our pace?
Vunipola the busted flush. The five year busted flush, is on the bench again. For the life of me I cannot see why. As much as I rate Underhill, why not pick an out and out 8 as a replacement? Good flankers, we have. No 8s not so much.
Arundell's reported fracas with Farrell seems to have been the excuse to cast him to the wind. He's off to France next season and there is yet another real talent for England that will get nowhere near his potential.
It's criminal.
@Catogrande I thought May was quick...or is "was" the important word there?
Bizarre borthwick just can't let Fozzie get the limelight on his own. But hey at least the bench looks like it will have more impact than the starters.
@Catogrande said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
Whilst he’s no slouch, he has lost that out and out speed he had. Not frightening pace anymore unfortunately.
That was pretty much all he had to give him an edge, so yeah I see your concern.
@Catogrande said in RWC QF: England v Fiji:
Whilst he’s no slouch, he has lost that out and out speed he had. Not frightening pace anymore unfortunately.
He's more furious than fast nowadays
This is a very distant memory unfortunately
@MiketheSnow it's fucking not for me. That's the last time I went down the club to watch the ABs.
