Sat 5th Nov: RLWC: England v Papua New Guinea KO 14:30

[Davo5]

7 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

England would have been in on it though. Cunning ploy from Wane.

Wow even for you that’s a doosie,we’ll done but you must be getting towards the end of your Aussie book of excuses.

[hindle xiii]

2 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

Her Royal Highness probably prefers upper class sports like badger-baiting and fox-hunting.

Let the plebs have ferreting and hare coursing.

[johnh1]

1 hour ago, DavidM said:

BBC directors sure love replays during play 

And extended views of Shaun Wane!

[StandOffHalf]

It would have been interesting to see the PNG boys being really obsequious and getting down on their knees, kissing her feet as she towered over them, etc.

It would have been a striking visual representation of how they were set up to fall over today.

[tjhrads93]

4 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

Her Royal Highness probably prefers upper class sports like badger-baiting and fox-hunting.

I think you may be doing a touch of baiting yourself today .

[Archie Gordon]

1 hour ago, JohnM said:

... nearly 2 million watching on the main national TV channel ...

That's pretty good going.

[Damien]

England were very impressive in that first half and everything they did just came off. PNG looked a bit shellshocked and just couldn't get the ball.

The Atmosphere was pretty good at the DW and the band in the North stand did a great job of getting the crowd going. With a one sided game it was as good as you could get really.

[Davo5]

19 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

England would have been in on it though. Cunning ploy from Wane.

 

11 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

Her Royal Highness probably prefers upper class sports like badger-baiting and fox-hunting.

 

6 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

It would have been interesting to see the PNG boys being really obsequious and getting down on their knees, kissing her feet as she towered over them, etc.

It would have been a striking visual representation of how they were set up to fall over today.

There’s an angry man Petunia 

[GeordieSaint]

16 minutes ago, Damien said:

England were very impressive in that first half and everything they did just came off. PNG looked a bit shellshocked and just couldn't get the ball.

Best 30mins display from an England side I can remember in a long time. We went off the ball in attack after that but the defence was excellent for 80mins. I think I am a bit shell shocked; never mind PNG. Superb stuff.

[Dunbar]

So, here are my overall thoughts on today's game... so many positives but some things to get right.

- what a start, unbelievable execution for 25/30 minutes.

- Hill and Burgess were outstanding in that first 20.  From the very first set it was clear that they were going to roll through the PNG middles.  They may be tough but you simply can't beat the size that Hill and Burgess offer.

- Some inventive and brave short kicking - mixing up both the kick styles and the tackle.  It shows real confidence and good coaching.

- Once again the backs carried the ball well.  I think we forget just how big and physical Watkins, Farnworth and Young are while Makinson is tough as well as fast - he runs much more than his weight.

- The England defence were committed and organised, getting bodies into the tackle to dominate the ruck - particularly the first half.

- Radley and then Knowles offer good distribution as middles allowing Welsby and Williams to attack on the edge.  Again showing good coaching and execution.

Things to work on or stuff that could be better

- I thought Welsby had his quietest game so far.  That actually isn't a bad thing as we didn't need him to be outstanding.  He will still be our x factor in the semi and (hopefully) final.

- The biggest concern is that after we spelled Hill and Burgess, we started to lose some contact and ruck.  Lees in particular wasn't finding his front (Cooper was better).  I still think Thompson should be on the interchange bench as his leg speed at the end of a half means he is rarely dominated in the tackle.

- We still need to work on our distance kicking game.  Our short kicks are good and we contest them well, both low and high, but our kicks from further out don't threaten enough.  We don't get the height to trouble the better full backs/wings.

- Of course the second half didn't match the first in intensity and execution but it was job done after 40 and it always difficult to maintain that.  People talk about the Australian ruthlessness but they only scored 18 in the 2nd half against Lebanon after going in at half time with the game won.

 

Overall, 4 wins, a fit squad (if Hill isn't hampered by a HIA) and a semi final booked.  It really couldn't have gone better so far.

[GeordieSaint]

I’d play Thompson over Lees as well - better impact off the bench. Lees is a great SL player but I just don’t think he’s big enough to play against the best Southern Hemisphere sides.

[tjhrads93]

1 minute ago, Dunbar said:

So, here are my overall thoughts on today's game... so many positives but some things to get right.

- what a start, unbelievable execution for 25/30 minutes.

- Hill and Burgess were outstanding in that first 20.  From the very first set it was clear that they were going to roll through the PNG middles.  They may be tough but you simply can't beat the size that Hill and Burgess offer.

- Some inventive and brave short kicking - mixing up both the kick styles and the tackle.  It shows real confidence and good coaching.

- Once again the backs carried the ball well.  I think we forget just how big and physical Watkins, Farnworth and Young are while Makinson is tough as well as fast - he runs much more than his weight.

- The England defence were committed and organised, getting bodies into the tackle to dominate the ruck - particularly the first half.

- Radley and then Knowles offer good distribution as middles allowing Welsby and Williams to attack on the edge.  Again showing good coaching and execution.

Things to work on or stuff that could be better

- I thought Welsby had his quietest game so far.  That actually isn't a bad thing as we didn't need him to be outstanding.  He will still be our x factor in the semi and (hopefully) final.

- The biggest concern is that after we spelled Hill and Burgess, we started to lose some contact and ruck.  Lees in particular wasn't finding his front (Cooper was better).  I still think Thompson should be on the interchange bench as his leg speed at the end of a half means he is rarely dominated in the tackle.

- We still need to work on our distance kicking game.  Our short kicks are good and we contest them well, both low and high, but our kicks from further out don't threaten enough.  We don't get the height to trouble the better full backs/wings.

- Of course the second half didn't match the first in intensity and execution but it was job done after 40 and it always difficult to maintain that.  People talk about the Australian ruthlessness but they only scored 18 in the 2nd half against Lebanon after going in at half time with the game won.

 

Overall, 4 wins, a fit squad (if Hill isn't hampered by a HIA) and a semi final booked.  It really couldn't have gone better so far.

Excellent assessment mate.

The drop in size was a bit of an issue and it would be Lees missing out for one of the bigger options for me.

[OMEGA]

1 hour ago, The Legend said:

You can't argue too much with Makinson taking the man of the match with his points haul, however, Tom Burgess had won the man of the match for me after 20 minutes. 

His opening stint won the match for England after 20 minutes. 

 

I wouldn’t have argued if Burgess was given the Man of the Match award but he wasn’t on his own in that first 30 minutes.

Chris Hill and Dom Young made huge metres through the middle as well

[The Legend]

Defensively, Lees is very good, he gets off the line and bashes his opponent. He's not got the same quality needed when driving the ball in and punching some holes in the oppositions defence. He's a bit lightweight in that area. Such a shame we lost Walmsley to bring on to replace Burgess when he goes for a rest. 

This back division is really playing with confidence when they're given the platform to when layed on by Burgess and Hill. 

I think the big teams will focus on stopping Burgess and Hill's impact as the way to stop England. Easier said than done. 

Edited November 5, 2022 by The Legend

[The Legend]

16 minutes ago, OMEGA said:

I wouldn’t have argued if Burgess was given the Man of the Match award but he wasn’t on his own in that first 30 minutes.

Chris Hill and Dom Young made huge metres through the middle as well

I don't deny that, they all mucked in. Burgess still stood out like a saw thumb though. Every carry was just destroying them. He lead from the front and the rest of the teams jobs were made easier from the momentum he gave us. 

I don't think I've seen a better performance from a prop in an England or GB performance in terms of just carting the ball forward. Maybe an Australia or New Zealand would have contained him better but you can only play what's in front of you. 

Edited November 5, 2022 by The Legend

[Sports Prophet]

Just finished watching the game on catch up. My gosh England look damn good. My fingers are crossed for the WC winner to come from that side of the finals draw.

It certainly looks like England have a lot more to rely on than just me having my fingers crossed.

 

[Damien]

I forget to say but Burgess was immense today before he went off. The PNG players just couldn't contain him.

[Rockingchair]

Attended todays game , first international for many a year , not been to the dw stadium before , unfortunately missed the womens game as cousins daughter plays for England and would have been nice to see her play live . Cost me and my brother 72 quid a piece for cat b tickets and 15 quid for two burgers . The ground was more or less  full we was in the Boston east stand with a good view . Opening twenty mins was a great atmosphere but that dwindled slightly once it was obvious England were dominant. For me burgess was massively dominant, Bateman played well . Overall a great day out . Really difficult to gauge how we’ll fair against the big guns but certainly think we have a chance of going all the way .

[The Legend]

2 minutes ago, Rockingchair said:

Attended todays game , first international for many a year , not been to the dw stadium before , unfortunately missed the womens game as cousins daughter plays for England and would have been nice to see her play live . Cost me and my brother 72 quid a piece for cat b tickets and 15 quid for two burgers . The ground was more or less  full we was in the Boston east stand with a good view . Opening twenty mins was a great atmosphere but that dwindled slightly once it was obvious England were dominant. For me burgess was massively dominant, Bateman played well . Overall a great day out . Really difficult to gauge how we’ll fair against the big guns but certainly think we have a chance of going all the way .

Fair play to you. Bloody expensive day out is that. You should have nipped into to Lidl and bought a pack of 4 Pork pies each at the cost of about £1.50 They'd have tasted better than those burgers for the price alone. 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

9 hours ago, Dovster said:

Hope you're right.

I am always right

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

11 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Lots of talk about their nuggetty forwards and strength in contact....they have like Wellington Albert and Namo in their pack.....second tier props... Burgess can through them both at the same time ....even Cooper might. Same story across the park

Don't believe the hype......England by a cricket score

Now I'm not one to say I told you so.....

I told you so

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, Damien said:

England were very impressive in that first half and everything they did just came off. PNG looked a bit shellshocked and just couldn't get the ball.

The Atmosphere was pretty good at the DW and the band in the North stand did a great job of getting the crowd going. With a one sided game it was as good as you could get really.

I thought the band were a great addition. 

On the actual game, I haven't watched it back, but how long was it that PNG didn't touch the ball for? 

[JimBronco]

The form Burgess was in today, even quicksand wouldn't have stopped him. Fantastic performance. 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

15 hours ago, Niels said:

I have had a small bet on England to win by more than 22.

I have seen all the PNG games and they look solid. But there seems a gap in quality and England seem to be underestimated.

You're making like a bandit their mate 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

3 hours ago, Niels said:

Thanks, I am glad I took your advice.

 

 

I just wish more people on this forum would listen to me 

The world would be a better place if I were king