6N 2023 England v France
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Time to discuss Englands place in 6N…
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@Jailbreak7 said in 6N 2023 England v France:
One thing is for sure, we are going to have to be at our very best early on in our WC match against France. If they start well, we are going to have to be better.
Foster, Schmidt, and I believe Ryan as well, were at the game as part of their 6N recon.
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France were bloody good today and well deserved, easy winners. But where were England? Had any of these guys met each other before? It was like they’d all been coached by different people. Absolutely abject.
And I thought we might just scrape a win. What do I know?
Fuck all it seems.
I need to drink quite a bit now.
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It's amazing how static and slow the English forwards were. Ponderous describes their approach well, in contrast to the dynamism of their counterparts. Some sweet backline tries too.
When the French play well, they're going to be difficult to beat.
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@Catogrande said in 6N 2023 England v France:
France were bloody good today and well deserved, easy winners. But where were England? Had any of these guys met each other before? It was like they’d all been coached by different people. Absolutely abject.
And I thought we might just scrape a win. What do I know?
Fuck all it seems.
I need to drink quite a bit now.
The defence was dreadful and I have to ask how much of this is down to Sinfield. He's a great guy with a great rugby brain, but have England grabbed him too early in an attempt to get another Shaun Edwards?
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I know there’s a big difference between France and Wales but our defence was very good v the Taffs. The French though kicked very well, in fact did to England what we did to Wales but even more so. The physicality of the French was awesome too. We were just never in it from minute 1-90.
Whilst not many of our boys can hold their heads up too high, we still managed to make the whole, significantly less than the sum of its misfiring parts. Our forwards were just like 8 strangers, all doing their own thing. Our back row was invisible.
Just what was our game plan? I’m buggered if I could see one.
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Sean Edwards is a name behind a fair few bloody noses for England in the 6N.
Dreadful performance from us. As Borthwick said right after the game: “they won all the collisions, offensively and defensively.” Says it all really. Our pack was anonymous. All the haters for Smith (and yes, he isn’t the answer) should recognise the soggy, sinking platform he had to work with.
As for France, they’ll give anyone a run in the RWC. -
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@Catogrande said in 6N 2023 England v France:
Just what was our game plan? I’m buggered if I could see one.
I think it was there - get Smith to create opportunities by providing a solid forward base and quick ball - but the French nullified it by being aggressive at the breakdown and fast on forward defence. That put pressure on Smith and the whole team under pressure. The inability to run a Plan B was the real concern. There were signs of that plan B in the 2nd half when OF came on but that didn't last.
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One thing's for sure. It's going to be an interesting selection v Ireland.
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@pakman said in 6N 2023 England v France:
In France at the mo. Les Rostbifs are now known as Les Misérables.
I doubt it. Given misérable doesn’t mean miserable in French. Unless it’s an English-speaking joke.
