Wales vs England - Build Up/Match Thread - 27-2-21

[TightHEAD]

First topic message reminder :

Wales v England

27th Feb

KO 16:46

England:

Daly;
Watson,
Slade,
Farrell,
May;
Ford,
Youngs;
M Vunipola,
George,
Sinckler,
Itoje,
Hill,
Wilson,
Curry,
B Vunipola.

Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Genge, Stuart, Ewels, Martin, Earl, Robson, Malins.

WALES

1. Wyn Jones (32 Caps)
2. Ken Owens (79 Caps)
3. Tomas Francis (54 Caps)
4. Adam Beard (23 Caps)
5. Alun Wyn Jones (CAPT) (145 Caps)
6. Josh Navidi (25 Caps)
7. Justin Tipuric (82 Caps)
8. Taulupe Faletau (83 Caps)
9. Kieran Hardy (3 Caps)
10. Dan Biggar (89 Caps)
11. Josh Adams (29 Caps)
12. Jonathan Davies (85 Caps)
13. George North (99 Caps)
14. Louis Rees-Zammit (6 Caps)
15. Liam Williams (68 Caps)

Replacements:

16. Elliot Dee (34 Caps)
17. Rhodri Jones (19 Caps)
18. Leon Brown (14 Caps)
19. Cory Hill (29 Caps)
20. James Botham (4 Caps)
21. Gareth Davies (59 Caps)
22. Callum Sheedy (6 Caps)
23. Uilisi Halaholo (1 Cap)

[BigTrevsbigmac]

The legend that is Jason Leonard the ‘funbus’ has got to be one of the most popular ex rugby players around and quite rightly to.

[BigTrevsbigmac]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/feb/26/maro-itoje-draws-inspiration-from-chris-eubank-before-crucial-wales-clash

Interesting stuff from Itoje & how he deals with the challenge that England are the team most others want to beat.

[mikey_dragon]

The legend that is Jason Leonard the ‘funbus’ has got to be one of the most popular ex rugby players around and quite rightly to.

You’re saying he is more popular than the likes of Austin Healey and Stuart Barnes?

[Duty281]

Expecting lots of kicking, lots of ill-discipline, lots of errors and a narrow Wales win.

I'm really looking forward to it.

[BigTrevsbigmac]

The legend that is Jason Leonard the ‘funbus’ has got to be one of the most popular ex rugby players around and quite rightly to.

You’re saying he is more popular than the likes of Austin Healey and Stuart Barnes?

Yes of course.
I quite like Austin Healey though he has a good sense of humour & does a decent job on BT.
Barnes I don’t even bother reading his nonsense.

[RiscaGame]

Expecting lots of kicking, lots of ill-discipline, lots of errors and a narrow Wales win.

I'm really looking forward to it.

I’d probably agree with all of that, bar the result.

[eirebilly]

Biggar at 10 is not the choice i would make right now. He just doesn't seem to control the game as well as he used too.

I would say that if England click, they will win easily. If not, it will be a close fought affair.

[Duty281]

Expecting lots of kicking, lots of ill-discipline, lots of errors and a narrow Wales win.

I'm really looking forward to it.

I’d probably agree with all of that, bar the result.

Well I think the result's a coin flip, to be fair, pretty close to a 50-50 game. If England 'click', as Eirebilly says, I think they'll win by a fair amount, but there has been no sign of any clicking recently.

[king_carlos]

Expecting lots of kicking, lots of ill-discipline, lots of errors and a narrow Wales win.

I'm really looking forward to it.

I’d probably agree with all of that, bar the result.

I'd agree with both and neither of you. I think it will be scrappy and error strewn but not sure who will win.

Both sides are taking punts on experienced players re-finding their previous best.

The lineups at hooker and inside centre sum up my frustrations with the game. George vs Owens and Faz vs JDv2 should be battles of 4 Lions going up against each other at their best. Instead we have two Wales players with a torrid injury record of late and two England players who are miles from their best form. Just meh.

[doctor_grey]

Biggar at 10 is not the choice i would make right now. He just doesn't seem to control the game as well as he used too.

I would say that if England click, they will win easily. If not, it will be a close fought affair.

That's not clicking you hear. I think it might be the ticking of an incendiary if England don't play well.

[eirebilly]

Ah here now Doc, can always count on ye

[doctor_grey]

Ah here now Doc, can always count on ye

Thanks - one way or another, it's going to be fun.

[eirebilly]

Ah sure.

I still expect England to 'click' at some stage and i think it will be this game.

[doctor_grey]

If England lose, the Eddie Jones presser might be like this (just looking for an excuse to share this again):
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2505503283021734

[No 7&1/2]

Never seen that interview before. What a prick..

[Heaf]

Unfortunately I think Wales will win today - England just not at the races at the moment

[No 7&1/2]

Re clicking, its overdue! Must be hard getting that balance on raising yourself enough in an empty stadium. I have been thinking of that and applying it to the forwards who need that emotion sometimes but perhaps its affecting guys like daly for their concentration levels too.

Anyway fingers crossed for a decent game and an English win.

[whatahitson]

While Mike Brown says he believes he lost his place for talking back to Jones, and Danny Care might have been the same, Jones has shown far more loyalty to players than I expected. Rather than giving out two or three caps to see how a new guy goes, he has preferred to let an incumbent play through poor form, and has ended up flat out ignoring a whole host of players.

That's because they're not playing anywhere as badly as the media like to pretend they are. 2 trophies from 2. How much do England players earn for an appearance? You don't give that away cheaply it will damage the shirt.

Mate, apologies but I have to disagree on a few things.  It is not mainly the media who think England are not playing a style conducive for wins and do not seem to be playing overly well in general.  This includes playing people clearly not in shape.  From what I have seen and heard a lot of people see England as failing the eye test.   They clearly played better in the last Six Nations, disjointed by Covid as it was.  

And to be clear, I am not equating throwing it around Barbarian style to good Rugby.  Nor does it have to be the NZ frequent offloading style either.  I do see players not in shape which, as I have said before, shows disrespect to the jersey, the supporters, and the team.  As you said, the jersey should not be given cheaply.  Players not in shape is exactly that and the Six Nations is not the place to play oneself into shape.  I also see players not contributing where other players could show their wares.  I believe it is this combination of things which I believe a lot of supporters as well as the media are not happy with.

Hopefully I am wrong this weekend and England can get a good solid win.  But I have little reason for confidence the way they seem to be playing now.

I know what you ar saying and agree England are not playing as good as they can nowhere near BUT they are still winning I expect them to beat Wales today but you never know. I just think there's a lot of hysteria created by the media because they need something to talk about to sell papers an advertising space and that means go for something controversial. Wales and Ireland look far worse overall with their new coaches I'd be more worried about them than England. What Jones is doing is taking calculated risks and if England end up losing to Wales and France or Ireland then the pressure is on and the risk might not have worked but as I said on the other thread England are realistically aiming for world cups now not six nations. I trust Jones and the players to come good when it really matters there's no point peaking now they want to peak in 2.5 years.

[whatahitson]

Commentator said Jack Yeandle, who was red-carded last night, had never received a card of either colour before.

One risk with having a large Saracens representation is that none of those players have directly experienced this refereeing environment. As it is, even those squad members from teams in the Premiership have played club rugby only occasionally.

That puts a lot of onus on instilling the necessary tackle and ruck clear-out discipline at the England training camps, and I wonder how much we've done on that. The fact Yeandle can get a red card when he had a spotless record suggests it's harder to change old habits, or perhaps some players are still not aware that the techniques which have worked well for them before, now put them at risk.

England place a lot of value on players getting off the floor quickly, and back ready for action. When tiredness sets in, you start relying more on muscle memory to do that. If the players haven't trained themselves out of old behaviour, then we might get on the wrong side of the referee.

Wales have a couple of returning players who might also not be up to speed, so the risks aren't all on one side. Here's hoping we don't get any incidents.

This is a good point I thought Yeandle wrapped his arm it just shows you never know Farrell is a liability when the game doesn't go his way don't forget England ended the game with 13 men this time last year and Jones likes his "tactical fouls" just like Pep Guardiola to stop the opposition. England will have to be squeaky clean today particularly Itoje and Farrell.

[Geordie]

Owen Farrell man of the march.....

[Geordie]

Uurrgghh and the English (not Itoje etc) go on their knees...uirrggjhhhhh

[No 7&1/2]

I'll go for Ben Youngs then geordie.

[Geordie]

I'll go for Ben Youngs then geordie.

It'll be one of the three..Owen, Ben or Billy.

Guarantee it...

[Geordie]

How on earth is that a penalty against Itoje!!!!

[miltonkeynesengland]

3 pens already

[doctor_grey]

Daly caught a kick!!!!!

[eirebilly]

How on earth is that a penalty against Itoje!!!!

Knock on at best for me...

[Duty281]

Three penalties in five minutes. A grand old start.

[doctor_grey]

by the way, wtf is Castle Bingo?

[No 7&1/2]

Nice break by youngs. His passing hasn't been as bad. I'm on to a winner.

[Geordie]

Youngs lo0ked lost when he was in space

[king_carlos]

Youngs, Daly, Farrell and Billy have started brightly to be fair. We've given them a lot of stick but they've looked sharp.

[doctor_grey]

Youngs lo0ked lost when he was in space

He was looking for his friends, but they were too out of shape to keep up. He was alone otherwise.

[Scottrf]

Youngs lo0ked lost when he was in space

No he looked for support, contrasted with Watson who gets credit for breaks last game and turned over.

[formerly known as Sam]

Youngs lo0ked lost when he was in space

If he goes for it and gets tackled there he gets turned over. Right decision to tread water and find support. Take the metres made and build. Other than the horrible pass to Ford for the kick early on he's started brightly.

[Geordie]

Itoje is being slammed by a woeful ref...hes too quick.

[Geordie]

Youngs lo0ked lost when he was in space

If he goes for it and gets tackled there he gets turned over. Right decision to tread water and find support. Take the metres made and build. Other than the horrible pass to Ford for the kick early on he's started brightly.

Yet Robson goes for It 2 weeks ago and is a God?

[king_carlos]

Itoje is being slammed by a woeful ref...hes too quick.

That second was the right call to be fair. Tight but Hardy was tackled before it was stripped.

[miltonkeynesengland]

Played Wales

[Geordie]

Stick a red shirt on that ref...

[doctor_grey]

Farrell needs to shut up. now.

[eirebilly]

Farrell has to stop very quickly. The ref already looks to be against England so he needs to shut up...

[Duty281]

What a try! Great inventiveness. Well done Wales.

Farrell the usual embarrassment. Should have been carded. England have started out on the wrong side of the referee, again.

[No 7&1/2]

Horrible decision by the ref.

[doctor_grey]

And, yes, that was a smart head-up play by Wales. I am so happy Biggar plays for Saints (at least for the moment).

[Scottrf]

Need to be awake but the ref tells Farrell to talk to his team then allows a quick pen...that is poor.

[Geordie]

Wales XVI 10 - England XV 6

[Soul Requiem]

I'm not sure how you can have water carriers on from both sides and then carry on. Woeful refereeing.

[Heaf]

Technically correct but the ref should really have got all the non-players off the pitch before restarting - just shoddy officiating really.

[king_carlos]

Faz has his old kicking boots on again which is good to see.

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