Tigers Vs Sequins

[Hymenoptera]

Game changing decision not to go uncontested..Marler cannot play both sides, totally marmalised. Ibotye has a very bright future, wish our previous like came to fruition. Smith at 20 is exceptional.

[Vespula Vulgaris]

And considering the way Tigers came back into it I'll happily take that result. Still leaves us with a 5 point buffer.

[RBB]

Irish looking bang average now, and looking like a team who will struggle. All in all, things going our way this weekend, come on you Chiefs!

[Chunky24]

So many teams this season, including wasps, full of good players but making so many relatively basic mistakes in games.

[Shugs]

Tigers were completely reliant on their pack which I guess is nothing new. They were clueless in attack and defence by and large and were worse than awful from restarts. For me London Irish should now be worried. Hopefully we can continue to improve and Tigers pack will dig them out a few points. Nice to see that it isn't just us that Lasike can run through - he's a beast with a head of steam up.

[Mellie]

Dombrandt has been bigged up recently but he looks unfit and was very poor when he came on. Not sure why Quins didn't go for a drop goal after going from side to side for what seemed like ages.

[Shugs]

I know what you mean but they were one solid carry from scoring. For me once they went 14 points up they started playing from everywhere rather than managing the game - one of the disadvantages of playing in front of 75k

[Old Geezer]

Shugs, I would agree and I think Smith still has a lot to learn but at 20 he has time.  Too eager at times.

[BG]

I'm surprised Eastmond has a shoulder left having had to tackle Lasicke when Ford went awol tackling in the 10/12 channel near the try line.. to be fair.. I would have sidestepped that tackle as well.

[Shugs]

I'm surprised Eastmond has a shoulder left having had to tackle Lasicke when Ford went awol tackling in the 10/12 channel near the try line.. to be fair.. I would have sidestepped that tackle as well.

Ha! Indeed. Thought he changed the game when he came on against us. Doesn't have much game nous or guile but sometimes direct, powerful running is good enough.

[NellyWellyWaspy]

I'm surprised Eastmond has a shoulder left having had to tackle Lasicke when Ford went awol tackling in the 10/12 channel near the try line.. to be fair.. I would have sidestepped that tackle as well.

Ford went missing in that channel a lot, leaving Eastmond to tackle Marcus Smith repeated times.

[Shugs]

Also, wondered throughout how Youngs has got so many England caps. Terribly ponderous.

[Old Geezer]

I think Youngs got his caps in a period when England rugby was in a very ordinary state.  You could say the same about an awful lot of players from that era.  EJ generally shook things up for the better IMHO but I have never understood why he stuck with Ben Youngs or even Danny Care.  I think that what made a huge difference for England was the return of Watson who could make something happen and the discovery of a back row.  It may be heresy to say, but I have the same view about Daly and to some extent the penalty prone ball dropping Nathan Hughes!!!  Always thought Ben Morgan would be better than Hughes.

[BG]

I watched the Rising Sons podcasts  during the WC and its very evident that Ben "Lenny" Youngs is part of the chosen clique within the squad. He had a purple patch about 2 or 3 seasons ago but almost became a bottleneck between the pack and the backs during the WC.

Ben Morgan was a superb ball carrier but I don't think he's been the same since his horrific leg injury.

Daly had a good 18 months for us playing outside Cips and managed his way into the Eng squad

On the odd occasion he is very good going forward but he's average at best at 11 and every team knows what to do if he's picked at 15

[mike909]

BG - so who is the "clique" in the England side - much as I don't like Jones, he doesn't seem one to suffer fools? That said, he might be a little more cautious these days after "losing" the odd changing room in the past....even when they have been playing well for him (Aus after 03)

Daly went really well on the Lions tour, at wing, but within a team that was picked for a reason. It also was a team that moved Farrell to 12 and had the advantage of the best 13 in the 6Ns to pull things together!

I think England had every chance post 2015 to move on but failed to do so in too many places - regardless of the RWC Final they got to. Never quite understood how Care had pissed off so much either!