APV1 says...

@ kiwilad - is the name "RFU" more arrogant than "Super Rugby" or "The Rugby Championship"..?

Posted 17:45 19th November 2012

melkdave says...

Wow lot of sad posts today.Lets be reasonable ,We lost to a streetwise battle hasrdened Australia ,with a inexperianced young green team.Just compare the amount of players with 5 or less caps in each teams starting XV Australia 2 -England 6 including 2/3rds of the frontrow 1/3 of the backrow and 1/2 the 2nd row,the FB and one wing.And it didnt get any better cap wise with the replacments eitherAll the front row. replacements the other half of the 2nd row ect ect.England are still very much in the building stage ,and lets see what player A offers over player B ect,My god it hasnt even been a year yet under SL and co,and some fans are execting miracles already.Even with the above facts ,we almost beat the 3 rd ranked team in the world,Did we make mistakes you bet,was are handling fantastic no,did we progress in that match no ,but then we ddnt really take a a step backwards either.Apart from Mahlar having a shocker getting a bind ,the scrum was actually ok,and would have dominated if Mahlar could find his binds.Thats not saying work doesnt need to be done there though,it does,and GR wont be happy at all.Nor will AF and MC Australia caused us alot of problems ,and taticial outhought us and handling /ball retention was poor ..But progress is being made as to finding players who can play at the top leval,and offer something toEngland imo.Does alot more need to be done you bet ,but the mid term goal is wining BILL in2015 ,while long term its staying consistantly in the top3 IRB ranked nations and very long term sbeing and staying as the number one nation ala NZ now.

Posted 12:28 19th November 2012

Jeff says...

England are in for a rude awakening this weekend against the Springboks.

The Boks might be predictable at the moment but no team in the world has a stronger pack right now. If England don't front up...game over. The Boks easily decimated the fragile wallaby pack and gave them a hiding.

Robshaw will surely not kick for lineouts again...especially not this coming weekend. The Springboks loose trio is outstanding and their lineout is very good, watch out for Etzebeth. If england can't get any sort of dominance in the scrums its gonna be tough to win.

Posted 11:15 19th November 2012

rugbyphile says...

Almost everyone knows the Wallaby/Waratah scrum tactics (except some refs)--step back a little on the engage, turn inwards and hope your opponent misses the bind. But the England props showed no understanding of the need to get the bind.

Not seen Marler before and he seemed to have done something to his knee--but he was below standard and must surely go?

Posted 09:40 19th November 2012

three6three6 says...

Nothing much has changed then has it since 2003.... when the Wallabies were hiding their inability to scrummage by continually collapsing the scrum. England probably made a tactical error by not picking their best scrummaging front row. If this had meant recalling Andrew Sheridan..... well this would have been worthwhile!

Posted 03:55 19th November 2012

kiwilad says...

Perhaps NOW the arrogant chaps at The Rugby Union, (how arrogant is that?) will look at the policy of importing players x every other Country rather than nurturing their own.

Australia need to look at it as well.

Posted 22:21 18th November 2012

alanatleeds says...

Clive Woodward is a 20/20 hindsight merchant who seems set on undermining anyone who succeeds him. His comments are not helping the England cause and I question his motives.

Posted 21:52 18th November 2012

ArmchairGeneral says...

If Rowntree can't coach Cole against these known Oz tactics get Leonard in. The first scum they engaged on the word "crouch"!! Basics! Furious about that game. Was thinking with a win we could go on to beat Boks and then a hard game with a 50/50 game vs ABs would at least restore some home pride even if we cant often win away to top 3. Now only wins over Boks and ABs can do that and I've lost faith in the team. That was a weak Oz team. No excuse. I can't see much progress and WC we will be hosting a contest between RC nations and France. What the players are saying is encouraging until you think about the Oz team we lost to. Word off the pitch are our strength. Two wins is the only way out from here.

Posted 21:41 18th November 2012

NHsaints says...

Not your fault Cole, normally you'd have Hartley on the inside holding you up while the front row trampled over them but youngs doesn't yet have the scrummaging experience to beat his man on the shove and add to your side of the scrum, Marler doesn't have any excuses though, he gave away some silly penalties and never really had the scrummaging capabilities. I'd much rather see Corbs start this week with Vunipola still on bench (he was really good when he came on).

Posted 18:24 18th November 2012