Ah, back to reality. And I'm not just talking about the international stars who find themselves returning to the weekly grind of the day job, competing in the Aviva Premiership, I'm talking about myself (as usual too) having just returned from a two week holiday. Luckily though, it helps when you have something to keep you busy and to look forward to - I have a wedding to plan (despite my other half seemingly deciding all the details within 2 minutes of me popping the question) and the England stars can return to the closest fought Premiership playoff battle in recent memory - not to mention the fact that it's their final few chances to impress the boss prior to World Cup selection.
Leicester find themselves in somewhat familiar territory, lurking around those playoff spots despite not really getting out of third gear this season. Of course, when you consider the injury list they still have, you can give some sympathy to them (they are arguably missing 7 front line players in Kitchener, Slater, Croft, Williams, Allen, Tuilagi and Camacho) but the fact is that they tactically have been too lateral, too predictable and lacking in any variety. But against Sale, in their last Premiership home game, there were finally signs that things are starting to click - big players hitting gaps around the fringes and players finally starting to look to offload out of the tackle. They also have a far quicker back row than Exeter on Saturday and some real pace on the wings, so the signs are that they will attempt to give the ball some width and move the Chiefs pack around from the off.
Exeter had a wobble a few months ago but that seems like a distant memory now, and they sit in second spot, despite 4 teams being within two points of them in the chase for a home semi final. A large part of their success has been the form of their precocious youngsters - particularly in the backline, where Slade, Hill and Nowell have been terrorising defences for most of the season. That being said, when you come to Welford Road there's no point in having a fancy backline unless you have the pack to match up to the Tigers, and coach Rob Baxter has gone for sheer size and power up front, with the 7 shirt and joining big Dave Ewers and ex-Tiger Tom Waldrom in the back row - and you can bet the Tank will be wanting to have a big game to show Richard Cockerill why he shouldn't have let him go. There's plenty of physicality there but, when compared to Leicester's combination of Salvi, Gibson, and Crane, not a lot of speed or subtlety; it will be interesting to see how that battle plays out.
I'm not saying the Six Nations was a holiday for the internationals, but it's now that the real work starts.
Leicester Team
News
England quartet Ben Youngs, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole and Geoff
Parling start for Leicester after international duty. Hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini is on the bench
after captaining Italy in his 75th Test cap last weekend.England internationals Tom Croft, Manu
Tuilagi, Ed Slater and Anthony Allen remain on the long-term absentee list. Starting Line-up: Tait;
Thompstone, Smith, Bai, Benjamin; F. Burns, B. Youngs (capt); Ayerza, T.
Youngs, Cole, De Chaves, Parling, Gibson, Salvi, Crane.
Ben Youngs.The
Tigers' stand-in captain was unbelievable against the French and a deserved
man-of-the-match – and if there's one thing to be said about Youngs, it's that when
he has his tail up he is very hard to play against.When he's confident his decision making is
not only accurate but also lightening quick, meaning that the fringe defences
don't even realise what is happening by the time the scrum half is scooting
around them.He is the heartbeat of
Leicester's attacking game – when his pack give him decent ball – and he will
be looking to bring in the big carriers around the fringes throughout the game.
Exeter Team News
Only two of Exeter's side that played in their LV= Cup
final loss, Mitch Lees and Carl Rimmer, keep their places. Thomas Waldrom returns to Welford Road for the
first time since his summer transfer while Dean Mumm captains the team from
flanker. Lees packs down alongside
Damian Welch in the second row, while Henry Slade keeps his place at fly-half
ahead of Gareth Steenson. England winger
Jack Nowell plays at centre, with Ian Whitten and Matt Jess on the flanks.
Jack Nowell.The
England winger returns to the 13 shirt after a very impressive series of
displays with England, and is just one part on what has to be the most exciting
young three-quarter line in the country – with Slade and Hill both extremely
accomplished and talented partners in crime.Nowell has made up for his appalling rat's tail haircut and some suspect
ink by literally finding his feet in the senior game this season – he might not
be lightening quick, but he has sharp acceleration, a beautifully balanced
running style, a great step and a bruising, nuggetty physicality that – thanks to
his low centre of gravity – makes him tough to bring down.The guy oozes class and confidence and the
more he gets the ball, the more dangerous Exeter will be.
Key Battle
Freddie Burns v Henry Slade.Two of the prodigal sons of English fly-half
play – but one who is seemingly the forgotten man of international rugby, the
other who has critics clamouring for his inclusion in Stuart Lancaster's world
cup plans.Slade is the younger of the
two and is seemingly yet to learn what he shouldn't be able to do at senior
level – he has a confidence and skill-set that allows him to pose a real threat
and variation with the ball in hand, whilst maintaining a composure and
maturity beyond his years.And, for a
pretty boy, he tackles blood hard, too.Burns in many ways has the same set of skills, but perhaps with a
slightly bigger locker of tricks and slightly smaller threshold for dealing
with pressure, but things haven't quite gone his way so far this season – in large
part thanks to the underperforming Leicester pack.But in recent weeks, he has shown more than a
few glimpses of what at one time made him the next big thing in English rugby.Both these guys will get decent front foot
ball at one time or another, and it all comes down to who has the ability to
make the right calls at the right times.
Prediction
Exeter, for me, have more of a threat over the park and
have certainly leant towards power, rather than subtlety in their pack,
particularly in the back row.I'm
surprised that Leicester have benched Goneva, their chief attacking weapon, for
this one, but the Leicester side contains plenty of experience and one of the
best front rows in world club rugby.The
Chiefs, on paper, will struggle in the set piece and that, at Welford Road, may
well be the key to the game, no matter how much firepower they have out
wide.I do expect to see some decent
rugby played by both sides but I suspect that the deciding factor will be
Leicester's brute force in the scrum.Tigers by 5.
First off, apologies for the lack of posts of late.
You see, even amateur rugby bloggers have to take holiday,
and what makes me especially amateur is the fact that I arranged mine for the
final two weekends of the Six Nations.A
fortnight which, by all accounts, was pretty epic.However, the tiny island of Koh Tao in Thailand
doesn't have many places where rugby is regularly viewed…or wifi for that
matter. However, I'm back now and fully caught up, meaning I can
deliver the all-important Six Nations Team of the Tournament…
1.Joe Marler.Gethin Jenkins recovered from a terrible
opening performance to put in a couple of good shifts but Marler is rapidly
turning into one of the finest looseheads in Europe.His work rate in defence is monumental and he
likes to carry a bit too but it's his vastly improved scrummaging that has seen
him really catch the eye.He will be
disappointed that he didn't get the best of Mike Ross in Dublin, but otherwise
he was generally on top.
2.Leanoardo Ghiraldini.In an Italian pack that was more often
than not outplayed, Ghiraldini was a real force.Carried with power and aggression throughout
the tournament and has one hell of an engine on him, making him almost like an
extra flanker.Rory Best also had a
decent tournament, with a great showing against England in particular, despite
continuing to look as if he has literally no neck.
3.Dan Cole.It's hard to believe that the Tigers' man ever had his place in
doubt.He destroyed Gethin Jenkins on
his return from injury and was generally a dominant force in the scrum
although, like Marler, he will be disappointed that he didn't get on top
against Ireland.He snuck into the top
turnover chart for the Six Nations as well, with 6 snatches, and his carrying
is vastly improved from two years ago – one headbutt on Cian Healy and big
charge was my personal highlight.Special
mention to Mike Ross as well who was a rock for the Irish in the set piece.
4.Paul O'Connell.What a man.Yes, he looks like he's walked straight out
of Mordor but, despite getting a bit long in the tooth, he is the heartbeat of
an Irish pack that, more often than not, relentlessly bludgeons the opposition
at the breakdown.A massive competitor,
it's hard to imagine Ireland without him – and opponents will be ecstatic the
day that the big man hangs up his boots.Tip of the cap to Yoann Maestri, a rare class act in an underperforming
French pack, and to Johnny Gray as well, who fronted up every game even if his
teammates didn't follow suit.
5.Alun Wyn Jones.The Welshman is quickly becoming the
Welsh side's O'Connell, a ferociously passionate and aggressive lock who refuses
to take a backwards step, even when under massive pressure.Sam Warburton rightly won many plaudits for
his displays but, after the defeat to England in Cardiff, it was Alun Wyn Jones
who grafted the side back together.Courtney Lawes may well have pushed for a spot if he had played a full
tournament, such was his impact (literally) on his return.
6.Peter O'Mahony.James Haskell started brightly but
gradually descended into the idiocy we saw in the final game, but O'Mahony
cemented his position as arguably the best blindside in the northern
hemisphere.He hits like a runaway train
and is superb over the ball, as well as being a very handy lineout option.And, as Munster captain, he seems to have
inherited that classical 'manic aggression' that has for years been the
trademark of Mr O Connell.A future
skipper of Ireland too, by all accounts.
7.Sam Warburton.This was a horrible position to pick,
since all the home nations open-sides could make claims for this spot.Blair Cowan was a turnover king, Sean O'Brien
was injured for plenty of the tournament but finished with some brutal
displays, whilst Chris Robshaw was a tackle-machine and pinched plenty of ball
himself, answering critics in the process.But Warburton recovered from being outplayed by Robshaw to reaffirm
himself as the all-court openside – showing precision at the breakdown and real
thrust in attack, as well as leadership to almost turn the Welsh into champions
once again.
8.Billy Vunipola.Harsh on Sergio Parisse, who once again
looked like a class above his teammates, but Vunipola was in relentless form
for the majority of the tournament.He
grabbed a couple of tries and broke more tackles than anyone else, and he seems
to be less of a lard-bucket than he was previously…although I would never say
that to his face.He regularly went the
80 minutes and, if he carries on this form, it will be very hard for even Ben
Morgan to displace him.
9.Ben Youngs.This time last year, Youngs was nowhere to be seen, but he came back
with a bang this tournament.He was the
best player on the park against Wales and, although he (along with most of his
side) was tactically out done against Ireland, his display against France was
probably his best in an England shirt, back to terrorising fringe defences with
sniping breaks.Rhys Webb was another
contender who looked dangerous and Conor Murray put in a tactical masterclass
more than once, but Youngs wins it for out and out threat.
10.Jonathan Sexton.After recovering from concussion Ireland
looked like a different side, and against France and England the Irishman was
absolutely imperious.He lands the ball
on a sixpence and his goalkicking is almost (but not quite) at Halfpenny level –
that's not to say that he doesn't offer a threat with the ball in hand though,
as he knows when to take the ball to the line and fizz the ball wide.George Ford, despite looking 12, is a close
rival having reinvigorated England's back play, whilst Dan Biggar and Finn
Russell both impressed in patches.
11.Jack Nowell.The Exeter man has an abysmal haircut, which almost made me
disregard him from this list, but he has sparkled into some form this
season.He was a bit ropey under the
high ball against Ireland, but he consistently beats defenders and makes
breaks, and is a powerful carrier to – he offered a much more consistent threat
when he replaced May in the side.George
North did finish strongly with a hat-trick, and what a shame we didn't get to
see Teddy Thomas in full flight.
12.Robbie Henshaw.A tight call with Jamie Roberts, who
became a midfield colossus after an ineffectual game against England, but
Henshaw has emerged as a real force in the 12 shirt for Ireland, offering
genuine class, guile and physicality.He
is not the biggest guy but he does hit hard, he doesn't miss tackles and he
hits smart, direct lines too – it's early days, but we may well be looking at
the next stalwart of the Irish midfield.
13.Jonathan Joseph.An easy call, and probably the revelation
of the tournament.He was absolutely electric
throughout – particularly against Italy – and was a threat with his quick feet
whenever he got the ball.Concerns about
his defence proved to be unfounded too, as the Bath man tackled low and hard
all tournament.An acknowledgement to
Mark Bennett too, who impressed in an otherwise unimpressive campaign for
Scotland.
14.Tommy Bowe.Liam Williams looked a lot sharper than Alex Cuthbert when he came
into the side, and Yoann Huget also had his moments – however, I haven't
selected him simply because I don't like him, the diving prat.Tommy Bowe may not have been spectacular, but
he still oozes class and works ridiculously hard to get involved in the game,
always offering himself off his wing as well as being imperious under the high
ball.
15.Leigh Halfpenny.Rob Kearney, Stuart Hogg, Mike Brown and
even Scott Spedding all had decent claims, but Halfpenny's boot and aptitude at
taking catches under pressure makes him the obvious selection.His running game is also under-rated, as he
has the knack of wriggling out of the first tackle consistently, but it was his
prowess off the tee that made Wales such a threat from anywhere inside (or even
just outside) the opponent's half – particularly against Ireland.
There are some things that fall into the bracket of ‘timeless
classics’.‘The Wall’ album by Pink
Floyd is one example.An Aston Martin
DB5 is another.My 2005 Toyota Aygo is,
sadly, not one.But one sporting fixture
that makes it into the privileged group, is undoubtedly England v Scotland the
battle of the badly behaved brothers.We’ve
all grown up hearing and learning about the squabbles between the neighbours in
times past (usually instigated by the ‘big’ brother south of the wall) but
these two have also been doing battle on the rugby field since 1871.And at Twickenham, we’re treated to another
episode on Saturday afternoon.
England walk into this one on the back of a defeat against a
tactically flawless Irish side, having been thoroughly out-fought and
out-thought in all the crucial areas, but that loss did follow three
undoubtedly positive performances away against Wales and at home against
Italy.Stuart Lancaster, his hand forced
by injury, has stumbled across a group of players who have proven themselves to
me more than just ‘fillers’ whilst the established names make it off the treatment
table – guys like George Ford, Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson are
established starters, and with Manu Tuilagi still to return, England finally
look like a side capable of taking on any and all comers.But they are running out of time to prove it.
The ingredients of promising displays but resounding failure
may form a familiar, and bitter, concoction for most Scots (and they have
stronger palates than most) but, under Vern Cotter, they should be feeling
optimistic.They have at their helm one
of the premier coaches in European, if not world, rugby and – alongside the
traditionally strong back row and solid pack they have a backline that can
really play.We all know about the quicksilver
running of Stuart Hogg, but now they have the talents of Sean Maitland and Finn
Russell to compliment him and a centre combination which finally poses more
threat than a bag of bunnies.The
missing Alex Dunbar is a blow, but Matt Scott is no tame replacement.Scotland no longer hopes, she believes.But she doesn’t yet expect.
And don’t expect this fixture to go out of fashion before
Saturday evening.
England Team News
England have made two changes to the run-on side that lost
to Ireland in Dublin two weeks ago.Mike
Brown has made a recovery from the concussion he suffered against Italy and
replaces Alex Goode at full-back. Goode was tested all afternoon by an aerial
bombardment from the Irish half-backs and Brown can expect similar treatment on
Saturday.Courtney Lawes will play for
England for the first time since November as he comes back from an ankle injury
that has plagued him. George Kruis is
out of the team at the expense of Lawes, and with a place on the bench for
Geoff Parling, Kruis drops out of the 23 completely.
Starting Line up:15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13
Jonathan Joseph, 12 Luther Burell, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben
Youngs, 1 Joe Marler, 2 Dylan Hartley, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Dave Attwood, 5 Courtney
Lawes, 6 James Haskell, 7 Chris Robshaw, 8 Billy Vunipola.
Subs: 16 Tom
Youngs, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Geoff Parling, 20 Tom Wood, 21
Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Billy Twelvetrees
Key Player
Courtney Lawes.The
Saints second row has returned from a lengthy absence to take his place within
the engine room of the English pack – and it’s a massive return for a number of
reasons, despite the very commendable efforts of George Kruis in his
stead.Lawes brings the experience and brutal
physicality to the side that Kruis perhaps doesn’t have in his locker at the
moment, but he also brings a telepathic understanding with Dylan Hartley to
lineout, which has been unusually shaky so far.Hartley himself is under pressure after three pretty poor displays this
Spring, but Lawes should certainly help see off the rather large double threat
of the Gray brothers at the set piece – an area where the Scots will be
sniffing blood.
Scotland Team News
Greg Laidlaw captains a side that sees the return of
fly-half Finn Russell, who has seen out his suspension for taking out Dan
Biggar in the air when Scotland hosted Wales earlier in the month. There are
four other changes to the side that lost to Italy as David Denton, Jim Hamilton,
Matt Scott and Dougie Fife are all named to run out in London.Denton makes his first appearance in this
season's Six Nations while Fife - who scored a try from the bench against
France – and Scott are named in the starting team for the first time.
Starting Line
up:15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Dougie Fife,
13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig
Laidlaw (capt), 1 Alasdair Dickinson, 2 Euan Murray, 3 Ross Ford, 4 Jim
Hamilton, 5 Jonny Gray, 6 Robert Harley, 7 Blair Cowan, 8 David Denton.
Subs: 16 Fraser
Brown, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Johnnie Beattie, 21
Adam Ashe, 22 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 23 Greig Tonks.
Key Player
Finn Russell.I won’t
pretend to be an expert on the diminutive fly half, having not seen a lot of
him prior to the tournament, but boy has he impressed...when he’s not being
sent off for pole-axing people in mid-air, that is.He looks to have that uncoachable quality of
having a test-match temperament – he plays for his country like he does for his
club.Of course, because of the step up
in quality, it doesn’t always come off, but he has the ability to move on and
not let it negatively affect his game.And for a small guy, he’s a pretty tough nugget as well.Cotter’s men will be looking to Russell to
try and frustrate the English by pinning them back deep, as Sexton did so
effectively two weeks ago.
Key Battle
Billy Vunipola v Dave Denton.The return of Denton is huge for the Scots. I’m
a big fan of Johnny Beattie but he hasn’t been hitting the heights – or making
the yards, to put it more accurately – that we’ve come to expect.Denton offers that power and explosive
physicality – but he’s up against one of the leading ball carriers in the
tournament in Billy Vunipola, a man who takes power to a whole new level.Inevitably these battles between the two oldest
rivals in rugby end up in a ‘muscle-off’, and Denton has to step up to the
plate and make the same dents that Vunipola makes if his side are to have any
chance of winning.
Prediction
Both sides have come into this promising a backlash but only
one side is going to actually deliver.There are fascinating battles all over the park but in the crucial ones –
the scrum, Robshaw v Cowan, Vunipola v Denton and Ford v Russell – I think that
England have the edge.I have no doubt
that the visitors will fight tooth and nail because they have legitimately made
progress under Cotter but haven’t earned the results that they should have
done, but England should be too good by the end of the 80 minutes.Expect a tight first 40 though.England
by 12.
Doing a spare-time rugby blog has its ups and downs. On the plus side, I occasionally get trips to big games or interviews with top players arranged that I otherwise wouldn't have a hope in getting. On the downside, I occasionally have to write an article the night before I go on holiday when I should be packing (as I am now) and I also have to occasionally write about a game which was considerably less enjoyable than pushing needles into your eyes whilst listening to a Justin Beiber record. Which again is the case here. Bath v Sale should have been a brutal, enterprising and exciting encounter given the quality of players both sides had at their disposal and the fact they were both locked in a tense playoff battle, but instead - as you'll see - I gave up at half time.
That said, I did have my customary enthusiasm at the start of the match, boosted by their marvellous double-pint cups - it wasn't even dampened by that berk yelling 'come on you Bath' over the tannoy every 5 minutes (note to the club, stop it, it's classless and it doesn't even make sense). Bath had all the ball in a physical opening, using Garvey and centre Sam Burgess as prominent ball-carriers, with the crowd being treated to some rare glimpses of Burgess' dexterity with the ball in hand. Homer landed an opening penalty strike after 14 minutes that rewarded their territorial dominance, but also suffered an early injury blow when Henry Thomas, who was on England bench duty against Ireland in Dublin last weekend, departed with what appeared to be a shoulder problem. It added to the home team's front-row injury worries, with Thomas fellow international props Paul James and David Wilson both currently sidelined, and meant an early appearance for Kane Palma-Newport who at least stirred the crowd from a near slumber as they revelled in his magnificent beard. Cipriani missed a golden chance to put Sale level, but his straightforward 24th-minute penalty chance went astray when he slipped on contact with the ball, with the home crowd suitably sympathetic towards the England international in light of his mis-fortune. Sale full-back Mike Haley - who otherwise looked relatively dangerous - then dropped the restart to compound Sharks' frustration, and Homer doubled Bath's advantage after referee Wayne Barnes, who was making his 150th Premiership appearance, awarded a penalty following a scrum offence.
Cipriani then made amends for his miss by bisecting the posts from 48 metres, and despite Bath looking to turn the screw up-front as half-time approached, they were frustrated by a combination of their own errors and resilient Sale defence in a first half that was characterised by terrible, terrible tactical kicking.
A
6-3 interval advantage was scant reward for Bath's territorial
dominance, but Sale remained firmly in the contest ahead of a key second
40 minutes for both clubs. I'm not going to lie, I headed to the bar at half time and, based on the quality of the rugby on show in the first period, I didn't return to my seat - although I did watch the remainder of the game unfold on the big screen as I enjoyed a delicious (double) pint of Bath Gem, which was far more interesting in many ways.
The visitors took early charge of the second period, camping inside Bath's 22, yet their hopes of an opening try were denied when centre Johnny Leota was penalised for clearly crossing in midfield.
It was a reprieve for Bath, and frustrations boiled over when home skipper Stuart Hooper and Sale lock Nathan Hines were involved in an off-the-ball skirmish before Homer gained a fifth penalty chance, and he completed his hat-trick to secure a six-point advantage.
Homer then extended Bath's lead to nine points, and there was no way back for Sale as the home side comfortably closed matters out, and Barnes blew to put the crowd out of their misery.
It was a huge win for Bath, who make sure that they remain right in the playoff mix - but for Sale, it looks increasingly like they will struggle to extend their season, or even make the Champions Cup next year. To be honest, I didn't give any of that too much thought though - I was enjoying the highlight of my evening, in a double-pint cup.
The problem with the Six Nations (aside from the non-stop
drinking and casual anglo-celtic racism passed about by anyone with a remote
interest in the game) is that it does distract you from what on earth is
happening on the domestic front.When
the Six Nations was about to kick off, Bath were cruising (along with
Northampton) at the top of the Premiership pile, smoking their metaphorical
cigars and dreaming already of a cosy home semi-final on the road to a jolly
good day out at Twickenham.If you
haven't paid much attention since then you'd be forgiven that the current table
contains a few typos – Bath now lie fifth following three consecutive defeats.
Of course, this doesn't tell the whole story.The West Country outfit are just one point
off second spot and are in the midst of a 5-horse race for the remaining three
spots, with all the clubs separated by a maximum of a solitary point.It's almost as if a mini-season, the
'run-in', for the last 3 places in the playoffs, starts now.It's also easy to overlook the fact that
Bath's run of defeats have courtesy of an away loss at the powerful Saracens, a
home loss to the all-conquering Saints and an away loss at the resurgent
Chiefs.The wheels are wobbling but they
haven't yet come off a Bath car that was trundling along quite nicely prior to
the international window.The fact that
they have been shorn of an international spine of players – and the heartbeat
of their attacking game – hasn't helped either, but Mike Ford will still be
concerned at the lack of accuracy that his side have shown over the last
month.Perhaps a bit of complacency set
it?Who knows, but you can bet Ford and
co will have hammered it out of them pretty emphatically.
Speaking of hammerings, it would have been rather
frightening being a fly on the wall in the Sale dressing room this week, let
alone one of the players (mainly forwards) getting an earful from Steve
Diamond.The Sale coach can't have been
happy with his side's meek display at Leicester last week – unlike Bath, they
can't point to the mass absence of international stars, with Danny Cipriani
excepted.But for large swathes of the
game their pack was bullied, which is not what you expect from a side with the
likes of Dan Braid and Nathan Hines filling the ranks.Diamond will also be hoping to see a bit more
ambition from his side – but the return of a certain fly half will help that
no-end.Sale have looked powerful and
creative all season and, prior to last week, they were on a good run – but they
are 4 points off the main pack and could miss out on a Champions Cup place, let
alone a Playoff place, unless they get back to winning ways, sharpish.
Because the 'season within a season' starts tonight.
Bath Team News
Bath have made five changes for the visit of Sale, as
Chris Cook returns at scrum-half, Ollie Devoto starts at fly-half and Henry
Thomas is back at prop.Matt Garvey
comes in at blindside flanker, so Carl Fearns moves to number eight to play
alongside Francois Louw.
Kyle Eastmond.As
usual, there'll be plenty of attention on his rather illustrious centre partner
but Eastmond is critical to Bath's attacking game.With Ford and Joseph still holidaying off
with the England camp, the pressure to deliver that X-Factor – those
game-breaking moments – will fall on Eastmond.He's not been given the front foot-ball he needs to operate effectively
over the last couple of games, but league-convert's ability to create space with
speed and footwork, as well as his impressive distribution, means that he is
the focal point of Bath's attacking game.Get this man on the front foot, and there isn't a more dangerous 12 in
the Premiership.He'll also be aware
that Luther Burrell is a doubt for the Scotland game, so a big display here
could propel him right back into Stuart Lancaster's thoughts.
Sale Team News
Sale bring in fly-half Danny Cipriani after his release
from England duty. Flanker David Seymour
replaces Josh Beaumont and Tommy Taylor comes in for Marc Jones, who took a
heavy knock in the loss at Leicester last weekend.
Danny Cipriani.I
watched Sale play up at Leicester last week and, in all honesty, they were
pants.I've taken more inspiration from
a James Milner motivational speech.It
was clear that they missed Cipriani, an unused substitute for England at the
weekend, but the mercurial fly half returns this week and it is he who holds
the key to unlocking the Bath defence.He has two powerful centres outside him to put through holes and, when
he plays so flat to the line, they are very hard to stop.He can also expect, with effectively three
opensides selected by Steve Diamond in the backrow, plenty of turnovers, which
should provide him with the space he thrives on.It's another chance to persuade Lancaster to
trust him with a starting spot in the national side.
Key Battle
Francois Louw v Dan Braid.Yes, technically one is at openside and the other at blindside, but the
reality is that they are part of a backrow containing three flankers, meaning
that the breakdown is going to be brutally contested this evening, and
potentially a mess, too, if it's not refereed properly.When you look at the teamsheets, Louw and
Braid both stick out as the pedigree ball-pinchers for either side, both with
powerful frames and that ability to get over the ball in a flash, latch on, and
not let go.These guys are two of the
best imports in the Premiership and, with the speed and power both sides have
out wide, turnover ball could become a key attacking weapon for both sides.
Prediction
Bath may be on a slump but they haven't fallen off the
cliff just yet.They need to stop
thinking that they have the season sewn up because they are now in a dog fight
just to get into the playoffs – something that the Sharks have known all season.Sale will arrive at the Rec knowing that they
will have to play with more intensity and ambition than they did against
Leicester and the return of Cipriani will help that – but the quicker they
play, the more it probably plays into Bath's hands.With the back row selected by both teams, we
should be in for a game bordering somewhere between the entertaining and the
chaotic…let's hope it's the former.I
think that set piece solidarity and home advantage will be the key tonight in a
hard-fought win for the West Country outfit.Bath by 6.
The dust has settled, the bruises are healing and the
Guinness-induced comas have *almost* cleared up, so now we’ve got the chance to
look at why one side are still chasing a Grand Slam, and why the other is not.
The below are all areas where England failed to deliver –
but you could also read them as areas where Ireland were simply better.Either way, here are the 5 key battlegrounds
that will be causing Stuart Lancaster to consider changing his apparently one
sole facial expression (I call it 'mild contemplation').
1.Poor Kick Chase
It was easy to declare that Johnny Sexton and Connor Murray
had better games from the boot than Youngs and Ford, and to an extent that was
true.However, the latter were not
helped by any stretch of the imagination by a kick chase that resembled a group
of (rather burly) men ambling about on a Sunday stroll.There were plenty of times when the
half-backs put the ball in an area, with enough hang-time, for England to apply
real pressure, but time and again the likes of Kearney and Zebo were allowed to
gather the ball under no real pressure.Compare that to Ireland, who had their wingers and back row haring after
every kick, meaning that the likes of Goode and Watson were often met with a
face-full of Irish elbow when attempting to claim any high ball, and meant that
(more often than not) they were beaten to it.
2.Rubbish Ruck Clearout
Yes, I should probably consider using a more technical term
than ‘rubbish’ but it does seem appropriate, and it comes down to a mixture of
aggression and technique, or a lack of both in England’s case on Sunday.When Ireland decided to keep the ball in hand
– not all that often, admittedly – they blasted English players out of the way
before the carriers had even hit the ground, flying in low and hard to make it
impossible for any white-shirted individual to get their hands on the
ball.At times it was like the England
players were simply consumed by a green wave, but they could not replicate that
themselves.As a perfect example in the
first half, Chris Robshaw carried well before being brought down by Tommy O’Donnell,
but Dave Attwood (instead of getting underneath the backrower and cleaning him
off the ball) damply draped himself over his man like a wet towel, missing the
opportunity of the clearout, gifting Ireland the penalty and killing any
English momentum.
3.Poor Decision Making
Do you know which side kicks the most in world rugby?The All Blacks.The all-singing, all-dancing All Blacks.And Ireland emulated that by refusing to play
any rugby inside of their own half, putting the pressure onto England and
seeing who would blink first.And
England did, spectacularly, like an overly flirtatious maid batting her
eyelids.Too often, on the odd occasion
when England did field a kick without too much pressure, the temptation to run
it back was too great and – especially in Goode’s case – they ran into problems
more often than not.There was also the
youthful exuberance, so useful in so many ways but so self-destructive in
others, which heaped pressure on the side – both Ford and Watson had moments
where they skinned several defenders and broke free, but instead of taking
smart options and holding onto the ball, they tried impossible offloads which
were inevitably knocked on – the ability to keep your head, even when you’re “on
a roll” will come with experience.
4.Wobbly Set Piece
Ok, the scrum wasn’t wobbly as such, but it wasn’t the
dominant force we expected.It meant
that one of the advantages, one of the platforms that England expected to be
able to launch from was taken away.Now,
Dan Cole had a fine game in other aspects but the fact that the Irish eight
weren’t marching backwards didn’t help England’s cause – but it was the lineout
which was really troublesome.Dylan
Hartley is usually a reliable architect of a successful machine when it comes
to lineouts, but on Sunday it had the nasty habit of collapsing at crucial
moments – think of 5 metres out from the Irish line in the first half.Although why Hartley decided to throw long in
such a pressure situation with that beanpole Devin Toner lurking towards the
back, is anyone’s guess.England banked
on dominating Ireland’s set-piece and securing all of their own – sadly, that didn’t
happen.
5.Indiscipline
At times on Sunday, the Aviva Stadium resembled a South
American street-festival, such was the frequency of Craig Joubert’s whistle –
mainly against the men in white, and the vast majority of it entirely
justified.Now some penalties are
necessary, we all know that (slowing the ball down with the Irish camped on the
line in the first half was one example) but the inability of players to listen
to the referee and use their noggin cost England not only points but momentum
in attacking positions as well.James
Haskell strikes me as a thoroughly nice bloke but I have to question his grey
matter when he consistently decides to risk sticking his hands into the ruck,
or flopping onto the wrong side, when there is no immediate threat.He wasn’t the only one, but he was one of the
main offenders in a list of mostly experienced players.
It’s not all bad news for England of course – they made more
line breaks, beat more defenders and made more offloads than their Irish
counterparts.The statistics show that
they were in fact the more dangerous side with the ball in hand – but it’s
knowing when to pull the trigger which is the key to giving England a seat at the top table once again.
A bit of role-reversal is always fun.If you were told Ireland and England were
playing, and one of those sides had ground out 9 consecutive wins through
ruthless, smart rugby played by a side with a backbone of grizzled veterans,
whilst the other was an inconsistent but exciting blend of talent and
creativity just finding their feet in the Test arena, I know which peg most of
you would hang the green shirts on.
But the truth is that Joe Schmidt inherited an aging Irish
side, and the rugby mastermind has used this well and truly to his
advantage.He has a side who have all
experienced the agony and ecstasy of Test Rugby, a side who know how to claw
their way to victory when the pressure is on...there is a reason that Irish
fans are cautiously optimistic about their chances at Rugby’s showpiece later
on in the year.England, on the other
hand have unearthed – through a hand forced by injury, more than anything – a side
that is filled with fire-cracker excitement and one that still has the likes of
Manu Tuilagi to return to fitness.It’s
a side that has plenty of promise, but not a whole lot of time to fulfil it,
despite an all-action opening two rounds, which have yielded two victories.
England though, have made a habit of being slow starters in
the Championship so far, and Sunday was no different.From kick off, Simon Zebo gathered, Ireland
cleared their lines, won the battle for the high ball and then won a penalty
for offside.Johnny Sexton stepped up
and delivered the 3 points from distance.Easy.And there was no respite
for the men in white from the restart, as Billy Vunipola was penalised from the
kick-off and allowed Sexton to claw his side up to halfway without breaking a
sweat.From there, more smart kicking
pinned the visitors back by their own line and there was a very real danger of
the Irish getting out of sight before the game had even begun.Following an Irish scrum 5 metres out, Sean O’Brien
and Rory Best both went close to barging and wriggling over the line, only to
be denied by good tackles from George Ford and Vunipola.It eventually resulted in a penalty though –
perhaps necessarily conceded – and Ireland were 6 – 0 up after 10 minutes.
It was indeed 10 minutes before England actually had the
ball, and they immediately threatened.Slick
hands out wide and a smart chip did earn a lineout in the Irish 22 and, from
there, the pack built up some decent pressure to earn a penalty advantage, Ford
taking advantage with a sweetly struck drop goal to get his side on the board.
It had been predicted that the aerial battle would be
critical, and the game didn’t disappoint – or did disappoint, depending on how
entertaining you find the sight of blokes hoofing the ball up into the air over
and again.Ireland were certainly
getting the upper hand, with a ferocious kick chase forcing Anthony Watson and
Alex Goode into mistakes, whilst Tommy Bowe and even Simon Zebo were looking
imperious, but it was the visitors who had the next shot at points, Ford
skewing a long-range penalty attempt off to the left.They had a chance for more shortly
afterwards, as Ford went for the corner off of a kickable (but tricky) penalty –
however, Dylan Hartley’s throw was woefully short and easily (and gratefully)
picked off by Devin Toner.Another
chance wasted.
It would be pretty much the last chance of points England
would have in the half. Robbie Henshaw was becoming more of an influence of the
game, firstly turning over Vunipola and then winning another penalty as Luther
Burrell failed to quickly distribute a pass, with an overlap outside him, and
was collared on his 22 metre line by the Connacht man.Another 3 points later, and it was 9 – 3 to
the men in green.
England just couldn’t get the foothold they needed in the
game – they were losing the kicking battle even though the majority of kicks by
Ford, Youngs and Goode were reachable, but there was no intensity to the kick
chase (certainly not when compared to the Irish’s, anyway) and whenever they
did get go forward, the standard of the clearout was not good enough, with Dave
Attwood doing an impersonation of a wet flannel in one ruck after Chris Robshaw
had made good ground.
There were moments – a great pass by Ben Youngs sent Jack
Nowell (in for Johnny May) free down the left, and his chip and chase forced an
English lineout in the Irish 22 – but they were few and far between.Ireland should have been further in front –
Sexton missed a penalty following a crunching hit on his opposite number, Ford –
but they were good value nonetheless for their 9 – 3 lead at the break.
England came out after the break knowing that this was where
they had impressed in their opening two encounters – but it didn’t really go
according to plan.After Anthony Watson
had made a promising dart which led to nothing, Alex Goode came to his side’s
rescue after Ireland had broken through and hacked the ball ahead.The Saracens man did brilliantly to evade
three tacklers from behind his own goal-line and surge out of his own 22 – if only
he had looked to his right, he had men free, but it was still a marvellous
piece of play.
Watson made another fine charge moments later, but it was
soon the same story of disappointing indiscipline by England as Dylan Hartley
failed to role away and gifted Sexton another 3 points, and five minutes later
it was to get much worse.Surging
towards the English line, the Irish pack earned a penalty advantage and Conor
Murray – who had been on the money with his kicking and service all afternoon –
took the opportunity to try something different with a deft chip over Alex
Goode, the chasing full back beaten to the ball by a leaping Robbie Henshaw,
who crashed down for the score.It was
fantastic piece of enterprise by Murray and Henshaw, and Sexton made it a 7
point play with a superb touchline conversion.
The only good point to emerge, from England’s perspective,
from this 5 minute period was the fact that Johnny Sexton pulled up after his
kick with a hamstring complaint and had to leave the field – and, from that
point, Ireland lost a lot of their fluency.England, conversely, began to develop something that looked like
intent.Firstly Billy Vunipola thundered
off the base of the scrum and put in a grubber which just rolled dead after
galloping for 30 metres, and in another set piece soon after the England pack finally
caused the green machine to creak and earned Ford a shot at goal, which the
Bath man took to pull the visitors back to 19 – 6.
Ireland were still causing havoc at the breakdown, however,
and most of the English endeavour was in open play rather than through
structured patterns, with any ball being presented to Youngs usually slow and
scrappy.Dan Cole and Jack Nowell did
try to spur their team into life, however, with a couple of big charges, the
former smashing headfirst through Cian Healy in a brutal charge up the field,
and Ford chipped away with another penalty to make the score 19 – 9 with 10
minutes remaining.
Finally, the England of the last two rounds game into sight,
with powerful carries from the Vunipola brothers and veteran Nick Easter
providing a platform for the visitors to work off, but they still could not
cross the Irish whitewash, with Peter O’Mahony immense in the tackle area and
at the breakdown.Easter was disallowed
a try for blocking after attempting to burrow over from 2 metres whilst Nowell
also had one chalked off in the last play of the game for an alleged forward
pass from substitute Billy Twelvetrees (something I still, personally, cannot
see).The truth was though that, aside
from that last 10 minutes, England did not deserve a try – Ireland, though,
thoroughly deserved their win.
It was easy to be critical of Ireland before the weekend –
they had looked underwhelming in their opening two games and devoid of
attacking intent.But Sunday reminded us
of one thing – the men in green now have 10 straight victories and Joe Schmidt
has given them a pragmatic, and ruthless, mechanism with which to win Test
Matches; they now lead the Championship outright and remain on course for a
Grand Slam.This dark horse is emerging
from the shadows of the World Cup race.
And for England?The
mountain of expectation shouldn’t come crashing down, but it should be rebuilt
at a more realistic size – this is a young side, and plenty of the mistakes
that ultimately cost England the chance of competing in this game can be put
down to inexperience.But for how long
have we been saying that?
Ireland Player
Ratings
15.Rob Kearney – 7 – Faultless under the
high ball and put in a few testers of his own.Didn’t see a huge amount of his running threat when joining the line but
he is always a focal point on the counter.
14.Tommy Bowe – 7 – Magnificent again under
the high ball, even if England didn’t apply enough pressure.Had a good battle with Jack Nowell down his
flank.
13.Jared Payne – 6 – The jury is still
out.He was a rock in defence and kept
Joseph well shackled but we didn’t see too much of his threat with the ball in
hand.
12.Robbie Henshaw – 8 – Superbly taken try
and straightened the line well afternoon.Applied excellent pressure to the English backline and made 14 tackles –
although he did miss 6.
11.Simon Zebo – 8 – He was targeted by the
English kickers and his place was allegedly under pressure but he did not falter.Superb in the air and we saw a couple of
glimpses of his footwork, too.
10.Johnny Sexton – 9 – It speaks volumes at
how the Irish control markedly diminished after he left the field.Mostly excellent goalkicking and he helped
his side dominate territory whilst on the field.
9.Connor Murray – 9 – A fantastic display
by the 9, not just in terms of his kicking and game management but also his
opportunism in setting up Henshaw’s try.Man of the Match.
1.Jack McGrath – 7 – Held his own against
Cole and was a force in the loose as well, clearing out the breakdown with
plenty of gusto.Not a lot of joy with
the ball in hand though – 1 metre for 11 carries, an average of 9cm per charge.
2.Rory Best – 8 – I am not usually a fan of
Best but he ran an impressive lineout and was a thorn in England’s side at the
ruck, pinching a couple of turnovers as he so often does.
3.Mike Ross – 7 – Did a superb job at
preventing the expected dominance of Marler from ever occurring.As usual, did not do a whole lot else, but
his work took away a major weapon of the English.
4.Devin Toner – 7 – Imperious at the
lineout, both on his ball and when challenging the opposition’s.Crucial steal in the first half may have
helped swing the game.
5.Paul O’Connell – 8 – Led from the front
once again and was everywhere in the loose, making 12 tackles.His hard graft in the rucks, clearing out
with aggression, will have been appreciated by his colleagues.
6.Peter O’Mahony – 8 – Another Irish big
name to step up when required.Like O’Connell,
the Munster skipper was a brutally physical presence and key to the Irish
winning quick ball.
7.Sean O’Brien – 6 – A couple of promising
early rumbles but George Ford actually handled him pretty well and the Tullow
Tank had to leave in the first half following a bang to the head.
8.Jordi Murphy – 7 – Perhaps not the ball
carrying panache that you generally expect from an 8 but there is no doubting
his industry.11 tackles and a couple of
turnovers were crucial for his side.
Replacements – 6 – Tommy
O’Donnell echoed Murphy in working his socks off, Ian Henderson looked menacing
but Ian Madigan did not control the game as well as Joe Schmidt would have
hoped, whilst Cian Healy was ineffectual on his return.
England Player
Ratings
15.Alex Goode – 5 – There was one moment of
absolute brilliance, where he wriggled out of trouble from behind his
goal-line, but otherwise he was not great under the high ball and tended to
take the wrong option on the counter-attack, running into trouble.
14.Anthony Watson – 6 – Did some brilliant
stuff and then followed each play up with something average.Beat plenty of players and made a couple of
gorgeous breaks, but was ropey under the high ball and gave the ball away
cheaply at times.
13.Jonathan Joseph – 6 – Did not see the
ball in a lot of space, thanks to good Irish defence, but his footwork does
impress and we saw some good hands and defence on show.
12.Luther Burrell – 6 – Carried strongly and
made some hard metres on several occasions.But questions remain about his defence and his natural ball playing
skills, especially when he missed an overlap in the first half.
11.Jack Nowell – 7 – Like the rest of
England’s back 3, did not look great under the high ball but he at least
brought some intent and intensity to the attacking game, making 3 clean breaks
in the process and looking dangerous throughout.Great battle with Tommy Bowe.
10.George Ford – 6 – A bit like Watson, did
some great things, like jinking his way out of trouble, but would generally
follow it up with a balls up – which probably comes down to inexperience. Given
a lesson in game management by Sexton.
9.Ben Youngs – 5 – Forced to deal with slow
ball which any scrum half would struggle with and this completely negated his
running threat.His kicks were not
overly successful either, but this was also due to a poor chase.
1.Joe Marler – 5 – England expected
dominance from him but he didn’t deliver.He was also surprisingly quiet in the loose for someone who is usually
so prominent.
2.Dylan Hartley – 4 – Under real pressure
for his spot now.Despite crowing how he
had ‘repaid Lancaster’s faith’ despite two average showings, the lineout was
again wobbly at crucial times and he was outsmarted and outfought at the
breakdown.
3.Dan Cole – 7 – Again, didn’t get the
scrum dominance we expected but he was magnificent in the loose.10 tackles, 0 missed and 20 metres from 3
carries are great stats for a tighthead.Was targeted as a turnover threat though at the breakdown and generally
kept a safe distance away.
4.Dave Attwood – 5 – Don’t get me wrong, 19
tackles made is a superb effort, but the silly penalties he gave away and the
poor clear-out technique piled more pressure on his side.
5.George Kruis – 6 – Again, a big tackling
effort, and some noteworthy carries too.However, like most of the pack he was out-muscled at the breakdown for
the majority of the game.
6.James Haskell – 4 – He was meant to be one
of England’s big carriers but 1 metre from 5 carries is a real let down – as are
the 3 penalties he conceded, which yet again raise concerns over his
discipline.A prime example of why
England lost this game.
7.Chris Robshaw – 6 – 100% from the skipper
once again but he was not supported well enough.15 tackles made and he always looked to get
over the ball but the Irish rucking was too well disciplined.
8.Billy Vunipola – 8 – Arguably England’s
best performer.He put in 13 tackles and
made more metres than the rest of the pack put together. One of the few players
to play with a real intensity.
Replacements – 7 – They
mostly had a positive impact – Easter, Croft, Mako Vunipola, Tom Youngs and
Wigglesworth all added urgency and made metres upon introduction.Billy Twelvetrees, though, couldn’t hit a
barn door with his distribution.
