Sat 22 Oct: RLWC: England v France KO 5pm

[MatthewWoody]

It was a good game and a proper test match. 

England were slightly lucky with the calls (it was forward, wasn't it?) when Fra came close, but they would have won it anyway. 

France can be a good test team. Maybe they're lacking some depth...

I agreed with the BBC commentary team when they said Eng conceded to many points. But it's a learning curve and maybe...England "needed" it, somehow. 

Going forward, imagining a final vs the Aussies, not having beaten them in 16 years (as GB, but ok) can be the very problem. Psychologically, I mean. 

If the famous Hall's finger touch in that 4Nations had been given, etc, England would have had more confidence v Aus now. 

OT: what's the calendar for the 2023 test season for England? 

[Gerrumonside ref]

11 minutes ago, MatthewWoody said:

It was a good game and a proper test match. 

England were slightly lucky with the calls (it was forward, wasn't it?) when Fra came close, but they would have won it anyway. 

France can be a good test team. Maybe they're lacking some depth...

I agreed with the BBC commentary team when they said Eng conceded to many points. But it's a learning curve and maybe...England "needed" it, somehow. 

Going forward, imagining a final vs the Aussies, not having beaten them in 16 years (as GB, but ok) can be the very problem. Psychologically, I mean. 

If the famous Hall's finger touch in that 4Nations had been given, etc, England would have had more confidence v Aus now. 

OT: what's the calendar for the 2023 test season for England? 

Re: your last point

I hope that they are holding back on announcements to time them at the most optimal moment in the tournament i.e. the eve of a final or semi final.

The worst case scenario is we are making things up as we go along due to political infighting or horse trading.

Agree that this result has slightly tempered my expectations now, but those three tries and some of the errors early in the tackle count should give England plenty to work on in terms of improvements.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Gerrumonside ref

[MatthewWoody]

2 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Re: your last point

I hope that they are holding back on announcements to time them at the most optimal moment in the tournament i.e. the eve of a final or semi final.

The worst case scenario is we are making things up as we go along due to political infighting or horse trading.

Agree that this result has slightly tempered my expectations now, but those three tries and some of the errors early in the tackle count should give England plenty to work on in terms of improvements.

We need to have the next 2 years tests set in stone. 

With England winning the trophy or getting close at least, I want people to be able to buy tickets for the next tests.

But it's rl and it's not gonna happen.

 

[latchford albion]

12 hours ago, shrewsbury roughyed said:

Hint of Alvin Stardust if you ask me

An upside down Stardust, a Stooges riff and a lyric from a Monty Python sketch - what's not to like.

 

And back on the thread, I think people are being too harsh on England although they definitely were much more sloppy in execution than last week.

[Dunbar]

Coincidentally both England and New Zealand have scored 102 points in their first two games.  But I would take those points against Samoa and France over Lebanon and Jamaica any day of the week.

Our attack has looked very good.  Just need to make sure we put in 80 minute performances. 

[JimBronco]

Just watched the game on repeat. England's performance wasn't on the same level to the Samoa game, but I think that was to be expected really. Have to give France credit for the way they got back into the game at 18-0 down. England did lose concentration but France still made them work and kept digging in. England showed that that they're on another level to France but will need to improve. 

[Harry Stottle]

5 hours ago, SydneyRoosters said:

I’m sure Catalans wouldn't mind having 6 or 7 players who are in there 17 play a game in a by round, I think you’re being very over the top, Catalans Dragons are the leading asset in French rugby league and they would love nothing more than an annual test against the English. 

And come on mate “do the French players want it”, obviously the French players want to play games against the English, In what world would they not want to play them. I’m very confused you would even ask that question honestly.

 

I went to two internationals v France when 8 then 9 Catalan player's "cried off" the week prior to the games, I gave the 3rd game a wide berth and couldnt be bothered going, and guess what the same happened again.

Sorry Rooster your assesment is speculation. 

Edited October 23, 2022 by Harry Stottle

[Dr Tim Whatley]

Just got back, having stayed overnight in Bolton.

Big thumbs up - the bar in the leisure centre, where service was swift and the cans were cold. Then being able to get in to hotel bar after the game and cheer the players as they walked back to the coach. Even managed to grab a pic with Dom Young - amazing to be able to get that sort of access to the players just after a big game.

Big thumbs down - almost impossible to see the score or game clock on the big screen (we were behind the sticks at the opposite end of the stadium and I didn't bring my binoculars).

[Saint Toppy]

Gotta say somewhat disappointed with that England performance after the previous week thrashing of Samoa,  England's intensity was nowhere near what it was 7 days earlier.

Aside from Hall I don't think any of the new players brought in really staked their claim as being 1st choice going forward.

Overall team performance was average but that was backed up by some individual errors that led to the French try's. Poor from Watkins & Thompson in the lead up to the first 2 French try's giving away the 6 agains. Poor try line communication between Thompson & Ackers for 1 try and bad error by Sneyd for the other as that ball was kicked far too hard and likely to go dead, no need to play at it (and besides which Hall was round the back covering anyway). Their last try was awful defence, firstly from Sneyd and then from Whitehead.

[jim_57]

17 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

I went to two internationals v France when 8 then 9 Catalan player's "cried off" the week prior to the games, I gave the 3rd game a wide berth and couldnt be bothered going, and guess what the same happened again.

Sorry Rooster your assesment is speculation. 

France played Wales this year mid-year. The side below looks close enough to full strength to me assuming the few that are missing were injured but certainly no mass withdrawals.

• 1 Morgan Escare  
• 2 Paul Marcon  
• 3 Arthur Romano  
• 4 Mathieu Laguerre  
• 5 Fouad Yaha  
• 6 Arthur Mourgue  
• 7 Cesar Rouge  
• 8 Romain Navarrete  
• 9 Alrix Da Costa
• 10 Julien Bosquet  
• 11 Benjamin Jullien  
• 12 Paul Seguier  
• 13 Benjamin Garcia  
  • 14 Eloi Pelissier  
  • 15 Jordan Dezaria  
  • 16 Justin Sangare 
  • 17 Mickael Goudemand 

Edited October 24, 2022 by jim_57

[Just Browny]

23 hours ago, Dunbar said:

I have just caught up with the game.  Some thoughts from me, I haven't read through the whole thread so apologies if it is old ground.

- No doubt the English side got up for the Samoa game as it was the big game in the group, so maybe a little bit of a hangover was expect but overall it was a decent enough performance. 

- in both games though there was a concerning drop off around the 20 minute mark.  I don't think it was the interchange forwards, Thompson was good and Oledzki solid enough, it was the whole team that took the foot off the pedal.  It didn't matter in both games but it absolutely will if we switch off in the knockout games.

- Radley was good again.  Although we need Knowles in the 17 as he adds that intensity we need from the bench.

- I hope Watkins is good for the quarters.  He will get a week off next week so a full 2 weeks will hopefully see him right for the big games to come.

- I don't care where he is picked, Jack Welsby simply has to play.  I expect Wane will go back to Williams and Welsby in the halves for the big games but he can influence the game from anywhere.  He just needs to be on the pitch.

- I think the France Samoa game will be competitive.  I expect Samoa to get the win but it won't be easy and I would like to see France win.

The only bit I'd question of your excellent post was the timing of the slump. In game one it was actually from minutes 15 to 30 that we blew the game open and I think our third try was scored on about 29 minutes.

If there's a parallel between the two games it's that we got into a dominant position and then released the pressure to some extent: in game one with an over-ambitious pass that gave Samoa a sniff and then on Saturday just a general loss in intensity. Like you I wouldn't put it down to a change in personnel. On Saturday half time came at a good moment for England.

Edited October 24, 2022 by Just Browny