England v Australia

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England v Australia
29 November 2014
KO 14:30
Twickenham
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)

*****
Well 3 down - one to go. And this is a biggy. World Cup group rival....a win would be a nice mental strengthener.

So who do we start.

Have the coaches learned some lessons?...Farrell is not in form and not fit.
Also having a playmaker at 10 opens options up.

Can they issue glue to all the players so they can actually catch the ball...specifically in try scoring situations.

DaveM wrote:

Taylorman wrote:That's nice. A win over the AB's can now be 'assumed' based on a win over Oz (who 'incidentally' also lost to the Boks, Ireland, France, NZ (x2) and Argie already this year) and who have lost their best performer playing 'during' all these losses this AI's in Kurandrani, and who have a new test coach of less than a month old.

Nice assumption Dave...didn't quite get to the rest sorry...had to pick my chair up...I'm sure it was good though.  

Calm down, it's all hypothetical. England were terrible in the second half against NZ, with no control of territory and a shocking kicking game. For the first time this autumn we got that right, and if we can keep doing that then we'll be a lot harder to play against. Given the margin of victory was slim an England side getting the basics right for once would obviously have a much better chance of winning. It doesn't mean they definitely would though and I withdraw the word "presumably".

I hope that helps you keep your chair upright.

yeah point taken and it was directly primarily at English fans so fair enough.

I'm actually of the opinion that Ireland would have beaten us if we played them when the Boks did. One small part of it would have been the surprise element. Even though we got a good going over last year we probably would have been caught out again if they played the way they did against the Boks. For one Sexton played well where last year he wasn't as strong as the rest of the side.

England as a side for me haven't progressed as well as I thought since 2012. The same issues are still there (mainly back play, the 9 and 10 role and genuine break makers). They've had flashes of it- Tuilagi stands out and May is looking good but there are also those that are in and out of the side- Farrell one I don't get.

As far as I'm concerned England have unlearned how to beat NZ and haven't really got the knack of the Bok's so next year I think Lancaster is limited in his options and will need to focus more and more on the pack. They might have beaten NZ but not if the AB's played to their own standards as well, something we only saw during the England series and versus Oz at Eden Park.

This year was a funny year for us all and the only real consistent side, for whatever reason, was Ireland. Fairly consistent in results, selections- they know their strengths and weaknesses and play to them.

The rest of us are all over the place. I've no idea whats behind Hansen's wide cross section of selections over this season and all I can think of is he's wanting to expose as many as possible while he can to give them every chance next year.

So without anything too flash happening in England's corner for 2 seasons this side needs a lot more to be a genuine World cup winner next year. The current side isn't cutting it as I thought they would last year or two under Lancaster.

England are now in a position where they can generally field a pack where every member has 20+ caps and all the combinations have played together several times. But in the backline, injury issues have meant that they can generally field an experienced 9 and 15 and the rest of the backline is cobbled together from whoever is fit at the time, usually meaning that there are at least 3 players with fewer than 10 caps and that the key combinations haven't had much time on the pitch together.

Why is it a surprise that the pack is one of the best around (even when lacking some key players) and the backline has its moments but lacks fluidity?

For England, a lot depends on whether a consistent bunch of players can stay fit for the rest of the season. If they can go into the 6N with the group that played Australia still fit, plus Care and Farrell finding some form and Burrell and Tuilagi back in action, and carry that lot through to the RWC, then they are in good shape.

If, as has happened for every series under Lancaster, injuries leave us having to invent a new backline going into the tournament, we might still come good if the same bunch of players can stay fit through the training camp and win their early matches. If they don't, then I'd still expect England to get out of their group, but then to come unstuck in the knockout rounds.

To me the pack just shows what can be achieved by an experienced Int coach compared to complete new comers.

Rowntree has over a decade in the field coaching for England and it shows now as he's moulded two packs worth of players into some of the best around.

It's no surprise that guys like Thomes, Mullan, Webber, that Sarries lock I seem to always forget the name of and other complete novices have all come in and worked pretty seamlessly. Even when we've lost a huge amount of exp from guys like Cole, Corbs, Parling, Palmer, Moody, Easter, Sheridan etc all being injured or retiring previously.