Sat 2nd Nov: Men's International: England v Samoa KO 2.30pm (BBC One)

[StandOffHalf]

2 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

I haven't checked the timings but presumably the two Australia games are at what they consider the prime time and the rest are wrapping around that.

11.40 for the Women's play-off, 1.50 for the Women's Cup Final, 4.05 for the Men's Cup Final, 6.20 for the Men's play-off.

The stadium is going to empty after the two Ozzie games. I feel it would have been better to go W, M, W, M, with the Jillaroos vs Kiwis at 4.05 and Oz vs Tonga as the 6.20 main event.

[StandOffHalf]

6 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Direct your anger at whoever organised the fixtures. I'm just saying why I think they're in that order.

Yes, quite.

[Barley Mow]

1 minute ago, StandOffHalf said:

11.40 for the Women's play-off, 1.50 for the Women's Cup Final, 4.05 for the Men's Cup Final, 6.20 for the Men's play-off.

The stadium is going to empty after the two Ozzie games. I feel it would have been better to go W, M, W, M, with the Jillaroos vs Kiwis at 4.05 and Oz vs Tonga as the 6.20 main event.

The Australia v Tonga game is obviously the main draw for spectators. Most people, I imagine are unlikely to watch more than 2 matches, so I assume the thinking is to sandwich that match between the next two most attractive to give people an option of which two they'd prefer to see.

Ordered how you suggest, anyone who isn't particularly interested in the women's final would probably just turn up for one match - Australia v Tonga.

[StandOffHalf]

1 minute ago, Barley Mow said:

The Australia v Tonga game is obviously the main draw for spectators. Most people, I imagine are unlikely to watch more than 2 matches, so I assume the thinking is to sandwich that match between the next two most attractive to give people an option of which two they'd prefer to see.

Ordered how you suggest, anyone who isn't particularly interested in the women's final would probably just turn up for one match - Australia v Tonga.

Yeah, I think that's a fair observation. 

Main Event plus one other. You could be right.

I feel a bit sorry for the Women opening the day up at 11.40 in the morning. Nobody is going to be there.

[MattSantos]

19 hours ago, Dunbar said:

I really can't agree about the halves - I thought both Smith and Williams engaged the line and squared up the defense really well in the shift plays and their execution consistently created space on the edges.  You can see this in the tries but they were doing it well all game.

Add the game management of the long kicking game (Smith in particular) and the repeat sets won and I don't think there is a lot to complain about with the performance of the two. 

Smith ran the ball once? Twice? The tries were all shift plays primarily until Farnworth went through the middle. Against better teams, we need to earn the shift plays around the edges. Saying that, i did enjoy the early stages where we saw Harvard et al running off a wide half rather than in and around the ruck. Perfect then for that straighter attack, but alas, we went to the edge too quickly. As i mentioned, i would have preferred us to be more controlled in this part of the game plan.

Let's not mid ourselves, Samoa were ok at best; roughly 10 errors per game and i'd guess at an average of 50 missed tackles per game

We need to be a lot lot better next year

 

[StandOffHalf]

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Edited November 4, 2024 by StandOffHalf

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59 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

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Lots of tears on there, love to see it.

[RigbyLuger]

On 02/11/2024 at 15:55, StandOffHalf said:

''Nom, nom, nom, nom''

Robbie likes Herbielicious' side-step.

Dude is a different class TBF.

A shame that great play is now ruined by that commentary.

[Dunbar]

3 hours ago, MattSantos said:

Smith ran the ball once? Twice? The tries were all shift plays primarily until Farnworth went through the middle. Against better teams, we need to earn the shift plays around the edges. Saying that, i did enjoy the early stages where we saw Harvard et al running off a wide half rather than in and around the ruck. Perfect then for that straighter attack, but alas, we went to the edge too quickly. As i mentioned, i would have preferred us to be more controlled in this part of the game plan.

Let's not mid ourselves, Samoa were ok at best; roughly 10 errors per game and i'd guess at an average of 50 missed tackles per game

We need to be a lot lot better next year

 

Well, we are all entitled to our opinion but I think you are wide of the mark in your analysis.

I thought in both games Radley (initially) and then Knowles did a good job of regularly taking  the run option rather than the shift out the back.  This kept the discipline of the set structure pretty well.

As for the halves.  They clearly had a better overall kicking game than Samoa and Smith’s long kicking game complements Williams who excels in the shorter attacking kicks.

I cannot agree the halves were the weakest part of the English performance.

Game 1: Williams 4 line break assists and 3 try assists

Game 2: Smith 4 line break assists and 2 try assists

Where I do agree.  We can and should get better but we have the best half back combination that I can remember.

[MrIzzard]

On 02/11/2024 at 22:01, Chrispmartha said:

He hasn’t been ‘gash’ all season at all, to say he’s borderline SL shows a lack of understanding IMO.

It seems some just have a weird irrational dislike of him

Herbie Farnworth showed what direct hard running produces,  Newman seems to want to run sideways 30m before attacking the line.

[MattSantos]

5 hours ago, Dunbar said:

Well, we are all entitled to our opinion but I think you are wide of the mark in your analysis.

I thought in both games Radley (initially) and then Knowles did a good job of regularly taking  the run option rather than the shift out the back.  This kept the discipline of the set structure pretty well.

As for the halves.  They clearly had a better overall kicking game than Samoa and Smith’s long kicking game complements Williams who excels in the shorter attacking kicks.

I cannot agree the halves were the weakest part of the English performance.

Game 1: Williams 4 line break assists and 3 try assists

Game 2: Smith 4 line break assists and 2 try assists

Where I do agree.  We can and should get better but we have the best half back combination that I can remember.

I don't recall saying they were the worst part of the performance.. What you can quote me on in 12 months.. if we play like again Australia, we'll get pumped.

Radley and Knowles did take the run option, i'd just prefer my half to do that ala Cleary / Moses. 

I agree that they're probably the best pairing we have and they have a very high ceiling. I hope they reach it.

 

[Dunbar]

2 minutes ago, MattSantos said:

I don't recall saying they were the worst part of the performance.. What you can quote me on in 12 months.. if we play like again Australia, we'll get pumped.

Radley and Knowles did take the run option, i'd just prefer my half to do that ala Cleary / Moses. 

I agree that they're probably the best pairing we have and they have a very high ceiling. I hope they reach it.

 

Your first post included 'My grudge is the halves and whilst their were obvious examples of skill, I wasn't impressed with their control or how little they squared their hips and ran the ball.'

I assumed your grudge was the part that you were most disappointed with.

Anyway, it is not something to have an argument about, if you take my points on what they did well and yours on what to improve, you probably have Wane's plans for the next 12 months.