@Victor-Meldrew said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Nepia said in England Vs All Blacks:

The oddest feeling about seeing this team is that even when I'm not happy with a team I'm confident we're going to win. I looked at this, which isn't much different than a lot our teams this year (when I've been confident we're going to win) and I instantly thought we're gonna lose this one. Hopefully my pessimism is hugely misplaced.

Lee Germon Barrett is due a big game, hopefully this is it.

Touchstone game for me. We seem to go to shit every now and then and this game is the chance to move on from that.

Interested in how we handle the inevitable periods when we play badly and hope we cope as well as we did in the Irish and Scottish Tests

Same here. I see our tight 5 good enough. If the loosies handle this it's a step forward to the next WC.
Of course forwards are more important than backs.

@Nepia said in England Vs All Blacks:

I instantly thought we're gonna lose this one.

Yeah... I don't expect a win.
I've tried to explain to the seppos.. "I come from a place where I have a team I expect to win. 90% win-rate against anybody. Fuck y'all."
Don't have that any more. I'm kinda starting to understand how other people view sport. Don't particularly like it.

@Mauss said in England Vs All Blacks:

@pakman said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Mauss I should have clocked that from the Gary Stevenson reference!

I like him. Not so much as an economist per se. More as a sort of modern-day court jester. He’s like a character that’s jumped out of Brant’s Das Narrenschiff, a beautiful, bat-eared clown in these increasingly feudalistic times.

Brant’s *Das Narrenschiff == Ship of Fools?
With those sorts of high level references you're the Goff Whitlam equivalent of a modern rugby analyst. I just hope you're not Rocky 'Renaissance Man' Elsom!

@Kruse said in England Vs All Blacks:

Don't particularly like it.

Never change, Kruse. Sobriety is seriously over-rated.

@nostrildamus said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Mauss said in England Vs All Blacks:

@pakman said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Mauss I should have clocked that from the Gary Stevenson reference!

I like him. Not so much as an economist per se. More as a sort of modern-day court jester. He’s like a character that’s jumped out of Brant’s Das Narrenschiff, a beautiful, bat-eared clown in these increasingly feudalistic times.

Brant’s *Das Narrenschiff == Ship of Fools?
With those sorts of high level references you're the Goff Whitlam equivalent of a modern rugby analyst. I just hope you're not Rocky 'Renaissance Man' Elsom!

“The latest rugby analysis, now brought to you by the Service Pénitentiaire de Narbonne”?

I wish.

That backline looks as mediocre as an Italian WW2 infantry division. Having said that, such is the retardation of the present batch they will probably win handily. Sadly I don't really give a shit either way. And to think I used to break into a cold sweat if we beat Japan by 100 points but let in one try.

At least we have optimal bench impact with ALB there. Will have England quivering in fright when his pace, creativity and X factor are injected into the game.

Interesting watching Aussie ex-hack David Pembroke’s podcast interview with two former Wallaby coaches in Eddie Jones and Ewen McKenzie on the prospects for England vs All Blacks this weekend. Jones reckons Borthwick has England 12 months ahead of the ABs in terms of development and believes they’ll have too much depth and power. He reckons it will be close, but England will take it by “a few”. McKenzie, however, likes the AB bench and believes they’ll have the lateral power to go around England to win by a couple of points. Both are highly critical on the use of cards in the autumn internationals. Jones says the English Rugby Union told him when he was there that they could sell Twickenham out three times over when the All Blacks come to play. But the people paying those high-priced tickets deserve to see 15-on-15, he said.

@Bovidae said in England Vs All Blacks:

The Tupaea-Proctor midfield combo has played well together in the past.

England will be aiming to bully us up front (see the SA in Wellington example), so it is the forwards that will need to perform. The ABs can set the tone in the first scrum.

I don't think we have the cattle (starting at least) to do that

@Nepia Sorry mate, was being cheeky. Ioane will light up the URC no doubt.

@brodean said in England Vs All Blacks:

Some interesting comments by McCaw. Like what he says about being ready to play and him not liking the concept of 'developing as an All Black'. Example: Holland ready to go. Parker developing.

View embedded content

Wise words indeed.

@W32 said in England Vs All Blacks:

I watched the full 2019 semi final between these two teams for the first time. That was an incredible performance by England. Hoping for something similar this weekend. Cant wait

England caught ABs unawares and were well on top.

However, at about 60 minute mark ABs were in the ascendency and won an attacking lineout about 30 out.

What happened next has never been exactly clear, but Owen F tossed the ball away, at which point the usually very controlled Sam Whitelock gave him a good shove and OF dropped like a girl.

Cue ref awarding relieving penalty and England escaped to safety.

Notwithstanding the excellence of England, that one was very winnable.

And we knew how to beat Boks.

Still hurts.

@Bones said in England Vs All Blacks:

Bear in mind this is a Borthwick team. If we can get on top, I can't see they will have the belief they have the tools to work their way back. If they get on top, I wouldn't count against us coming back. Basically we're lucky he's coached less resolve into them than Razor has into the ABs.

those of you who take any notice of my posts will realise i am no fan of Borthwick but I am not sure this is a fair representation, I think resolve is probably the one thing he has managed to get into this environment. We've won some games late under him, we've stuck in games pretty well. My issue with him is that he can't coach rugby

@Mauss said in England Vs All Blacks:

@nostrildamus said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Mauss said in England Vs All Blacks:

@pakman said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Mauss I should have clocked that from the Gary Stevenson reference!

I like him. Not so much as an economist per se. More as a sort of modern-day court jester. He’s like a character that’s jumped out of Brant’s Das Narrenschiff, a beautiful, bat-eared clown in these increasingly feudalistic times.

Brant’s *Das Narrenschiff == Ship of Fools?
With those sorts of high level references you're the Goff Whitlam equivalent of a modern rugby analyst. I just hope you're not Rocky 'Renaissance Man' Elsom!

“The latest rugby analysis, now brought to you by the Service Pénitentiaire de Narbonne”?

I wish.

Je croyais qu'il était encore libre?

@Dodge said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Bovidae said in England Vs All Blacks:

The Tupaea-Proctor midfield combo has played well together in the past.

England will be aiming to bully us up front (see the SA in Wellington example), so it is the forwards that will need to perform. The ABs can set the tone in the first scrum.

I don't think we have the cattle (starting at least) to do that

AB scrum will be a step up with Scooter back in engine room.

If Itoje at TH lock there is scope to attack hard there.

@BerniesCorner said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Victor-Meldrew said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Nepia said in England Vs All Blacks:

The oddest feeling about seeing this team is that even when I'm not happy with a team I'm confident we're going to win. I looked at this, which isn't much different than a lot our teams this year (when I've been confident we're going to win) and I instantly thought we're gonna lose this one. Hopefully my pessimism is hugely misplaced.

Lee Germon Barrett is due a big game, hopefully this is it.

Touchstone game for me. We seem to go to shit every now and then and this game is the chance to move on from that.

Interested in how we handle the inevitable periods when we play badly and hope we cope as well as we did in the Irish and Scottish Tests

Same here. I see our tight 5 good enough. If the loosies handle this it's a step forward to the next WC.
Of course forwards are more important than backs.

Loosies have been a mess for me. Too many trial combinations with not enough time to settle but hopefully we're getting there. Tight 5 very different - some clear thinking taken place to develop depth & players with De Groot, Vaa'i & Holland being excellent examples.

@Dodge said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Bovidae said in England Vs All Blacks:

The Tupaea-Proctor midfield combo has played well together in the past.

England will be aiming to bully us up front (see the SA in Wellington example), so it is the forwards that will need to perform. The ABs can set the tone in the first scrum.

I don't think we have the cattle (starting at least) to do that

Kinda agree. Our tight 5 is very much our strength right now but not underestimating England one little bit.

@Dodge said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Bones said in England Vs All Blacks:

Bear in mind this is a Borthwick team. If we can get on top, I can't see they will have the belief they have the tools to work their way back. If they get on top, I wouldn't count against us coming back. Basically we're lucky he's coached less resolve into them than Razor has into the ABs.

those of you who take any notice of my posts will realise i am no fan of Borthwick but I am not sure this is a fair representation, I think resolve is probably the one thing he has managed to get into this environment. We've won some games late under him, we've stuck in games pretty well. My issue with him is that he can't coach rugby

Oh sure, the individual players have resolve, but I'm a long way from convinced they think they're on the right path and have the right game plan.

@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:

TSF is essentially an island of rugby reason in a sea of idiots

Island in the sea thst is what we are!

@DaGrubster said in England Vs All Blacks:

@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:

TSF is essentially an island of rugby reason in a sea of idiots

Island in the sea thst is what are

No one in between, how can we be wrong?