So what should we expect from England? | Six Nations 2025 Preview
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2025
- The hardest team to predict. England's 2024 was up and down- Better performances, worse results. With the 2025 Six Nations now less than a week away, we dig into what Steve Borthwick is doing, where England's ceiling might be, their controversial defence, and much more besides...
I’m worried about people losing the faith and Steve getting flung out before we get to our ceiling.
How long should he get to get to the ceiling
@ minimum a full cycle for me
Yeh, full cycle. Took SA years to get to where they are now, similarly took Ireland a full cycle. @@readesiun988
Yes exactly, Steve was so close to almost being 100% win rate since the world cup. Genuinley came down to close/ wrong calls and missed kicks. Such a shame if he goes!
Losing? I never had faith in captain mediocre
I'm so happy that people are talking positively about England again. It feels like we've been aggressively mediocre for years and it's been painfully disappointing every year
Aggressively mediocre? lol
They are in exactly the same place as they have been for the past years. Bang average
I don’t see where this positivity comes from? Yeah we nearly beat France and NZ but we also nearly lost to the worst Wales side in history 😂 we are not good
@@Daniboi971Not good at all, but in terms of the 6N they will be good for the next cycle. They are on the up whereas Ireland and Scotland are about to fall off a cliff.
I will never doubt England again after watching that 2023 semi final. They were immense against probably the best team ever
England had a chance to beat SA in the Autumn test but they failed again. They also failed to win a game in NZ.
You can't take one game in isolation as evidence of anything.
You hang onto that 1 performance buddy 👍😂
Best team ever? Really? They aren't even close. Try not to be too hyperbolic
@@sambobly the poster is talking about SA 2023 side - you are saying they are not even close to being the best ever? they won back-to-back world cups, and were almost unplayable.
@@shonunezekiel Yes of course. Between 2011-2015 the All blacks lost 5 games and drew two. They had a win % in the 90s. Between 2019-2023 the Springboks had a win % closer to 60 and they lost 5 games in 2021 ALONE. The Springboks are a much MUCH worse team than the 2011-2015 All Blacks and it isn't even close. The numbers don't lie
Some people : "england bad, england meiocre wah wah wah"
Me a saffa : " wakes up in cold sweat at night remembering semi final 2023"
One amazing penalty kick away from elimination at the semis stage.
There were at least 4 teams who would have been worthy winners (SA, ABs, France Ireland). So hugely enjoyable tournament, and even in defeat, redemption for England in that semi final.
Ps, take it as a compliment that people are taking their performance against SA as the benchmark.
@@guywilletts2804 100% real this
@@guywilletts2804i agree, still my favourite WC. From the quarter finals it was utterly immense.
As a Welshman, I am excited to see what England have to offer.
You really do have some outstanding players. They just need to click and perform together. However, as you point out, it is still two years until the next World Cup.
Good luck!
take your tongue out of their a.ss m8
As an Englishman I’ll be just as nervy going to Cardiff last game as I will going to Dublin this week. Despite all the pundits there will be some shocks this year. 🏴🏴
@@kev63inukan experienced Englishman never underestimates an away match in Cardiff!
you guys are really good at this
Great and very fair assessment of our boys and our chances. One thing you have seriously wrong is that anyone in England is going to think ‘oh we’ll beat Wales easily’ whatever the previous tournament results. Everyone knows Wales is a war and never a given. I shall subscribe
Thank you, first experts that have come on and said it how it is. England didn't need to be more conservative with their blitz defence but rather commit more to it. So many commentators were getting this wrong when they were watching us.
The thing about ireland hitting their ceiling, for the most part i agree with you, however they have two new no 10s who are running threats unlike sexton. I think that creates new attack opportunities for ireland that they havnt had for years
Ireland are not at their ceiling. That was arguably reached in 22/23 and we have clearly regressed since then. We are in some kind of rebuild at the moment and (according to Captain Doris this week) are looking to evolve our game.
Ireland, in my opinion, have never truly reached their full potential. Even during the 2022/23 season, despite dominating opponents, there was still room for improvement and opportunities left unconverted on the field. For example, conceding 13 penalties against France in 2024 was far from ideal. I believe the dip in form towards the end of 2024 was a temporary setback, and it likely served as a wake-up call and a source of motivation heading into this tournament.
If you look back at the autumn games, our discipline was poor, lineouts were inconsistent, and there were far too many handling errors. Yet, even with those issues, we managed to defeat high-quality opposition. If Ireland focus on nailing the basics and improving in those areas, they’ll come back stronger than ever.
This Six Nations is Ireland's to lose. If they perform at their best, I don’t see anyone beating them in the competition. The negative talk surrounding Ireland right now could actually work in our favor. I watched the Doris interview you mentioned, and his excitement was palpable. He spoke about new plays and innovations, which filled me with confidence. This team clearly has the hunger to evolve and win.
I think a 3rd place finish would be reasonable for England as that would likely mean getting over the Calcutta cup hoodoo and beating Wales and Italy. If they can be within a score or Ireland and France that would decent, immense if they can beat one of those two. They're not as settled as Ireland and France, still seem to be developing a gameplan and bringing new players in ahead of the next World Cup. I'm expecting a serious challenge for the 2026 and 2027 Six Nations once Borthwick has fully settled on the team he wants to take forward. That being said, I imagine the pressure will be on if England finish 4th or lower, especially from the fans and the media.
Not squidge fueling the first of the 4 stages of grief, being an england fan😭
We’ll huff and puff and make it look very difficult then finish 4th again. Yay
Thanks for the vid gents, always find your content super entertaining & informative!
very excited to see itoje captain England. would have him in my springboks.
Who would you replace with him?
Squidge you should start a podcast! I could listen to you talk about rugby all day.
He's got one! It's called the Squidge Rugby World Cup Retrospective and he talks about previous World cups it's pretty good
They played so well - nearly won most of their games. Marcus Smith has been outstanding
Only game they won was against japan that M smith started, he really needs to guide England to wins before he’s called great.
He was outstanding v Aussies, other games he was not. You don't shed 7 points on a blocked kick to the Boks and then merit the label "outstanding."
Against the ABs he rushed out of the line and got badly caught out which led to an ABs try. Even in Aussie game he played well in? He yet again got caught out rushing out the defensive line and it opened space for Aussies to score winning try.
Smith thrives in chaos and space. Against Australia he got a ton of that. When the attack needs structure and organization to break a team down? Smith has been at best bang average. He runs out of ideas and far too often tries to force things himself. Huge periods during autumn internationals were England's attack stagnated and was reliant on Feyi Waboso making something out of nothing or a AB's 9 tossing a gift intercept to Smith.
@@davidwalker2402Prendergast been called great though Crowley came on to save the Aussie game for Ireland. In fact do we really know if he’s starting for Ireland this week.?🏴🙏
@@jlm4455 disagree on a few of these points
1. England were leading in both the NZ and Aus games when he was playing at fly half. Tbf he’s not a gd full back - I agree with that even as a Harlequins fan. M Smith doesn’t want to play full back (as he said himself in that Telegraph interview), the Harlequins coaches don’t want him to play full back and the England + Harlequins fans don’t want him to play full back. The only person who wants him to play full back is Borthwick and unfortunately he’s going to get a lot of undeserved hate when he inevitably doesn’t play well there
2. U said he rushed out the line against Aus for the winning try - this is incorrect. If u re-watch it u can see Sleightholme rushes out the line and gets caught out. Smith is faced with a 2vs1 and chooses decides to tackle the who has the ball at the time. All of us are taught from the age of 4 onwards that when faced with a 2vs1 u tackle the first man. To pre-empt a foreseeable reply u could argue Smith has to ‘trust his inside man’ but the Aus player has already run past Sleightolme and he’d have to make a very good tackle to get back so I don’t blame Smith for the final Aus try especially when he’s also playing out of position
3. JVP was the one had the blocker for the charged down kick against South Africa - not Smith. Smith was charged down afterwards yes but he didn’t have a blocker
4. U also seem to contradict yourself by saying he tries to do things himself and he runs out of ideas. I would also argue if u consider how poor Slade and Lawrence were during ANS it’s unsurprising that he has to take on more creative responsibility himself. The reality is there’s a strong argument that M Smith was Englands best player over ANS and certain unfair to call him ‘bang average at best’
@@davidwalker2402bit unfair to say that when England were winning both the NZ and Aus games when he was playing at 10 - he can’t win games if he’s been substituted
I'm pretty confident in the players individually and the attack is starting to look more clinical, that said, my biggest concern is defence and more specifically the quality of the new defence coach. It seems more like a hire based on SB needing someone who isn't going to leave the setup rather than him being an elite defence coach, take a look at his old teams defence stats for some evidence of this. I'll be backing the boys and SB 100% though either way. 🎉
Great observations, the player group has had huge potential, based on 2019 rwc sf performance vs ab’s,
sf vs boks … who were poor showed the problem with England its poor Coaching - Jones from 2018 was abysmal ,
Followed now by borewick, both have failed to improve the team. make questionable selection decisions, play quality players out of position, refuse to select on form, replacements are predetermined and rarely make an impact. Fail to unite back room staff hence the regular changes of coaches personnel
Hopefully england will overcome the inadequacy of their coaching team
An England team I'd like to see in the Six Nations-
1. Genge
2. Cowan-Dickie
3. Stuart
4. Itoje
5. Chessum
6. Cunningham-South
7. Earl
8. T.Willis
9. Mitchell
10. M. Smith
11. Murley
12. Dingwall
13. Lawrence
14. Roebuck
15. Steward
16. Dan
17. Rodd
18. Opoku-Fourdjour
19. Martin
20. Hill
21. Randall
22. Slade
23. Freeman
Great analysis guys, come on the boys 🌹
Great video
I do miss enough exciting promising players in the premiership. So the self chosen restriction to select England based players only strips them off quality and experience. Noel’s in La Rochelle is great, so is Willis in Toulouse and even Loader in kapstad (although the stormers currently not).
I agree on England having more potential to grow than Ireland but I don't clearly see, besides Smith, Earl, Feyo, Itodje, who are the real world class players to take their individual game to the top top level. imo i guess you need a more consistant squad being great to compete "up there".
If England could get one decent centre pairing together they would be so dangerous
That is 100% accurate
I found the fullback discussion interesting, its the one position where I feel England are weakest. I agree do not put Smith there, as a former Fullback my biggest peeve is seeing a 10 at fullback (Or a converted winger). The best fullbacks, and the ones we remember are dedicated fullbacks (Halfpenny, Beale, Liam Williams, Ramos) and putting smith there not only massively weakens your high kick defence but also impacts your fluidity in attack, knowing when to fill in at centre, fly half, winger, understanding where best to stand to be the extra man in attack, what line to run etc.
Oh squidge mate you’re so annoying, a bit leftie and I really want to dislike you but I’m back lol I can’t dislike you for some reason, plus you make the best rugby content on TH-cam! Another excellent video man! 👍🏴
As an Ireland fan I think that them and France actually both have better 23 man squads than us but our team are just so well coached and used to playing with each other .
England have a strong first XV and a lot of very good young players fighting to break into those places .
The saints lads in particular are doing unbelievably well in Europe for such a young side.
England are blooding young talent so they can reap the rewards at the next World Cup.
I fear Ireland as usual will leave it way too late to replace older players who won’t make the next World Cup,
which is fine if they’re still the best player in their position but then you have lads like POM who are nowhere near good form and you’ve younger lads playing great in the back row for provinces and not getting a look in.
Another case is cian Healy still being the Ireland back up prop when he’s really around 5 years past his best, I know it might be a rough adjustment if we bring a young lad in for him but surely we should do it now because cian looks like he’s held together with tape at this rate and we’re only delaying the inevitable.
Ye England biggest issue is that all the players are spread pretty equally over 6-9 different teams. Like you said irelands players are used to playing with each other because of how many play in leinster
Ireland are only so good because they all basically play with eachother all year wheras England have 10 teams that meet up 1 week before the six nations. Ireland have a MASSIVE advantage.v
You make some great points though I disagree with discarding older players in prep for the WC. Feel irelands Leinster boys have carried such a heavy load these last few years and continue to do so as Ireland and Leinster expected to win everything. plus have to carry the Lions this year that their smaller squad although great quality will struggle come the World Cup.
@@kev63inukif they’re still the best player in their position then I’ve no problem with us selecting older players but I do if it’s Healy and Pom who are well past it
England, like France, grow stronger the further they go into tournaments. This is largely a combination of being less weakened by injury due to the depth of their player pools, and because their players come from a larger number of teams, meaning it can take more time for them to hit their stride. For me, that is the main reason France and England are the only Northern Hemisphere teams to get to World Cup finals (and reasonably consistently). The big issue for England in this 6 nations is that they face Ireland away and France home in the first 2 rounds. France have a giant pack and a 9 & 10 who play week in and week out together. Ireland are the top ranked team in the 6 nations. If England win either of those games, they will win 4. If they lose both, I can only see them beating Wales and Italy.
Or maybe their draw in the competition 😅
@speak_your_truth. that doesn't really work for many big tournaments aside from the 2023 world cup
L'Angleterre est une bonne équipe. Par rapport à la France qui ont un nombre grandissant de très bons joueurs, l'Angleterre peut nous surprendre. Le Crush va être dantesque
How much of a difference would the English players playing in France make to England if they were allowed to play
Stupid law.
A lot of difference. We have refused to use so many great players.
If you mean Jacques Ouilisse and Henri La rondelle, keep your hands off, they're french now ;)
As an England fan I think we'll come 4th at best. We are almost guaranteed to be 0 from 3. For me, El Abd is the big weak point. Oyonnax have some of the worst defensive stats in ProD2. That is not the CV of a Test defence coach.
Is that a Long Eaton rugby top?
Sure is. Best team in the world
I still don’t believe Steve is the man to coach England forward. There was a sense of identity brewing in the last 6 nations, but the summer / autumn tours proved we still don’t know who we are as a team.
There doesn’t appear to be effective leaders anymore, which is where the best teams in the world have multiple with in the 30+ man squads.
Making Maro captain is a great choice imo, but it only works if there are other leaders at match day to take the game by the scruff of the neck when needed.
But hold on a sec... Borthwick is no Rassie. While Steve's coaches are leaving him, Rassie's coaches love him. While Boks started slow in 2018 they won the 2019 world cup. I'm not sure comparison makes sense
Bingo. Worth a reminder, Squidge's audience is largely English rugby fans. Pretty much without fail he has a sunnier outlook of English team.
4/5 main coaching positions in the South Africa backroom staff were filled by someone different for the 2019 RWC Final and the next game they played, v Georgia in 2021. And only one of that 5 is still in their position now.
Commenting to wait for @wonderer response. 😂
@@SquidgeRugby2 that's not a totally fair reflection. Rassie, Jacques and Mzwandile were still there along with Jones who was added just before the World Cup in 2019. You could argue Rassie was no longer the coach but he sat in the coaching box at every Bok game. The forwards coach and the fitness coach changed after 2019.
I think you also have to ask the question are the squads comparable too? A core of that 2019 squad lost by 2 points to the All Blacks in 2015. While Rassie did a fantastic job in 2018 he had the talent to work with.
I don't think the pool of players is a like for like comparison either.
And gosh you can rave about Marcus Smith all you want, but I'd take Handre Pollard any day.
Anyway, let's see if your prediction of an upward trajectory holds true.
@@SquidgeRugby2 great facts to swerve that clumsy question Squidge. 👍
I think Borthwick is a very good coach but his long term success with England will come down to him the person rather than him as a coach because I do question why he has so much turnover with his key support staff and then gives his pal the defence coach role, when he was hardly lighting it I within the Pro D2
Can't blame him, you get pretty desperate after losing someone like felix jones
I don't. I think he is wooden, stubborn and unable to adjust.
He dose this every year bigs up England to do something but they finish 3rd or 4th
Agreed. Same thing we hear about Scotland. The reality is England couldn't win a game in NZ and couldn't beat SA at home. I think they'll be competitive again but France and Ireland are still favorites imo.
@@PB22559 No, it isn't. Squidge is almost reliably pessimistic when it comes to Scotland.
Please, don't give us hope
Who will kick penalties Smyth or ford?
Soo… they could win it or they could come 5th. But they are on track to win the next world cup
After listening to this I understand why betting companies are profitable. It's all utterly subjective bullshit back by nothing except. This is my hot take
@@DM-rp9ik Precisely
@@DM-rp9ikbetting companies are profitable because they run 85-90% books.
It feels like the yearly case of blind optimism!
Borthwick just doesn’t inspire any confidence for me (he didn’t as England captain either). The back room coaching staff is a revolving door and replacing a well respected international defence coach with someone from a struggling second division club feels like we’re scrapping the barrel. Finishing third will feel like winning it after the last few years! 😂
The premiership isn’t the tournament we think it is either; the English teams struggle to make much of a dent in Europe and I think that’ll reflected again in the 6N. I hope it’s not, but I fear it will.
I’m going to ask again, please put your camera back one meter and lock the focus.
FRANCE 🇫🇷
IRELAND 🇮🇪
SCOTLAND 🏴
ENGLAND 🏴
ITALY 🇮🇹
WALES 🏴
🏴 👍 Transition for WC
I think that you are both missing the point. All the other top nations are equally, building on their existing processes. Whether we lose by 1 point or 10 makes no difference - we come second. We have no proper leadership on the field at key times. Great sides like SA are captained by inspiring leaders (Kolisi and Etzebeth), with world class players (like Pollard) taking the right decisions under pressure, in the last 20 mins. Watch the NFL - the Kansas City Chiefs have just set a record, winning 17 (one score games) in a row. Mahomes and Reid just know how to win the big moments. On defence I think you are mistaken - blitzing all the time regardless of what the opposition attack is doing is just crazy. Until we select an inspirational, really smart decision-maker as captain - we will continue to flounder. Select the best captain first (who can hold his place on his position) and let him build the side around him. The captain does not have to be the best player - just the best leader!
That's not Itoji
@@speak_your_truth.why not ? He has had a leadership role for England for years and has captained Saracens well this year ? Why don’t you think he would be good ?
Why do you think that’s Englands main problem is leadership? I can’t think of a loss in the last year that was down to leadership. I would have thought their defencing errors and selection are more telling
Am I missing something, think saying that England are gonna beat France is a super hot take. Toulouse just put 80 on Leicester
a team with a large majority of the french national team vs a team that has only 2 deserving england internationals in. Good comparison
@ chessum, Martin, steward, heyes…? There’s 4 arguable starters ,Throw in slade who will start as well. That’s 5 players starting for England that have been smashed to bits by Toulouse and Bordeaux.
Not to mention La Rochelle beating both Bath and Bristol. .. wouldn’t be putting my money on England to beat France if I were you..
@@Athorner.53 I got news for ya, when Sarries was the majority of the English national team? England were a far better team.
@chrisfairfield1198 not saying england will beat France. Just pointing out the fact that toulouse put 80 on leicester doesn't affect that game. Steward definitely doesn't start if furbank is there heyes probably wouldn't be in the team if fasogbon was fit, chessum and Martin are the only players in tigers that can rightfully start. But 2 people can't stop an international backline
@@jlm4455and they dominated every club team but england didn't win a world cup, so clearly it doesn't mean success
I don’t think they have any players that would get in a world 15, and so have no world class players.
Depends how you define world class. It’s possible to have more than one world class player in each position.
Eg. I’d pick T.Ramos in my 15 but I’d still say the likes of W.Jordan and D.Willemse are world class
@ fair one, those are good examples. However I still don’t think England have any world class players.
@@ajbrannigan4223 I'd put Itoje & Underhill firmly in the world class bracket. Smith and perhaps Mitchell are one good year from entering the conversation too.
There's a few players who are relatively new to intl rugby who are serious potentials too - Feyi-Waboso, Sleightholme & Freeman for example
That's not how world class is generally defined. You are just re-defining it yourself to suit your comment.😅
Borthwick🤤🤤🤤
Laughing at you for making parallels btw Rassie and Borthwick. From a Scotsman.
I see England 2nd behind France but if they succeed in Dublin and in Twickenham they'll end up 1st! Take heed to Scotland "the Banana slip" and they are in with a Grand Slam.
Theres no premiership rugby for 2 months , mental 😮. No wonder the clubs are broke and people loss interest ..will be like a new season when itvstarts again
The guy coaching their defense has gone from world cup winner to a guy who ships trys in proD2
Felix jones is one of the best defense coaches in the world and he left England because of the total upheaval on the training park.
@davidwalker2402 Exactly, and they got cut up a lot against New Zealand Australia and South Africa with this new guy so I ask what's changed other than vibes.
@@davidwalker2402 Any more details on the upheaval on the training park?
@ i think it will come out in a book sometime.
SA 2018? Lol no, not even close. SA had genuine talent across the board. England do not.
The need to big up England is because most of Squidge's viewing audience is English.
The French team was without many of their best players. ABs were in transition (Italy gave them fits) and if you actually looked at the game? Carved England open whenever their attack was remotely organized.
Bok game was never as close as score suggested and England's defense was torn to pieces by an Aussie team still finding its way.
Their lone good result was against Ireland at home last 6Ns.
Borthwick is nowhere near the coach Rassie is and? England just lost their defense coach whose "hammer" defense England tried to run.
Then you have the Prem. Underperforming in Europe and defense? Looks entirely optional. Which of course does not stop Squidge, pundits and fans bigging up players in the Prem. Which time and again has proven premature.
If England win in Ireland, then sure I was wrong and perhaps these lads are right.
That said, they do this every season with England.
Bigging up England ? Do watch content on this channel ? It’s a preview of England in the upcoming 6 nations on an English rugby show ffs.
Also why are you talking about South Africa in 2018 ? Are they in the 6 Nations? No so what has South Africa got to with anything ?
Why are you comparing Rassie with Bortwick ?
I get you support South Africa but they are not even playing in the 6 nations, there is plenty to discuss without you desperately trying to crow bar South Africa into a discussion about another team.
I think England's style of play makes them competitive in every game, but South Africa had the individual players to win those games. England don't. When games are tight the opposition will win it with a moment of brilliance from an individual player. Bar Marcus Smith England just don't have that.
Spot on
see a third place from england where they lose to ireland and france then win the rest
With the increased competitiveness of the high ball, Freddie surely is the guy for 15. With an iron-clad high ball operator, England could terrorise teams with an aggressive kick-chase, to cause errors, while not conceding errors themselves. Combine that with some goal-kickers to slot penalties from knock-ons, back-fields could come under serious pressure.
Their scrum isn’t good enough currently to win penalties from knock ons
Hit the notification harder than if you dropped Bill Sweeney’s wallet
Im going to make the counter arguments this guy wont because hes playing to an audience and the stereotype of the Welsh lap dog.
Coaches aren't up to it. The defence coach is a former ProD2 coach with a team in the bottom half their defence was a shambles.
Huge downgrade from Jones.
The squad and players are not up to the level people think. The poor level in premiership rugby is hiding this as we seen in the Heineken cup. The 80 point loss Tigers took or the Saracens loss to a Castre second side should have alarm bells going off all over the place.
Finally key guys injured George IFW furbank ect.
More likely England will be up against it with all these factors
Disappointment most likely
I love how non English pundits are assuming Marcus Smith is out ten. While every English pundit wants it to be Fin (and will not doubt want it to be Marcus the moment fin is picked)
Whilst i think England have the players to win the 6 Nations (which hurts me to say as a Welshman), I dont think they've got the right coach to do it.
Do England really have the players though? How many of the English players would make the French or even Irish side? A few but not many is the answer.
Borthwick is fine. Its the rest of the coaching team that's the problem. You can't lose Alex Walters and felix jones and recover easily.
@PB22559 a lot of them. A whole lot of them. If the English players had coaches as good as ireland especially they'd be a lot more consistent
@ A lot of them?? Ok then, tell me what English players would make the current Irish side?
And then tell me what English players would make the starting French 15.
I think you'll quickly realise England have plenty of strength in depth but not as much quality per position as some of the other top sides.
@@PB22559 the coaches make a team so much better. Look at the south african team. They are nowhere near the level at club then they are at international
Not much.....
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hahahaha just joking 😁
Marcus smith will be the best 10 in the world in 2 years time. Coming from an irish fan
No, he won't. I've watched from when he first broke through. He is pretty much the same player. He thrives in space and chaos. He struggles when he has to play structured rugby. In ABs game England's attack was anemic. ABs did not give Smith space and time he got v Aussies. As a consequence, England's attack amounted to pass it to Feyi Waboso and hope for individual magic.
When Fin Smith plays the attack flows far better. Yes, he doesn't offer the chance of individual brilliance Smith does but honestly at test match level the chances to produce those moments are few and far between.
No he isn't
Jamie George is good in carry and around the field...since when? Those days for George are long gone. He made his living at the set piece; Stuart is a bit better but hardly someone opposition is losing sleep over. Genge flashes but that is all he does. I can't remember that last test match Genge had a bunch of good carries and was destructive around the park. Feels like he is living on his reputation when he was with Tigers.
Tom Curry has not been the same player he was for at least 2 years. Constantly injured and his jackal ability has fallen off a cliff. What he is most consistent at? Giving up date pens.
OFJ (prop) at Sale has not been fantastic. I've seen get torn to pieces in the scrum in multiple games. Young and talented, yes but he is nowhere near the player Squidge wants you to think he is.
Marcus Smith was not unbelievable in the autumn. FFS didn't realize the Rugby pass Rugby Jesus mantle needed to be taken up by someone else.
Smith had one truly great game v the Aussies (I don't count Japan game). V Abs and Boks he was mediocre and at times poor. England's attack in both those games struggled. Smith has still yet to prove he can run an attack plan smoothly and allow/put other backs in space to make plays.
He is great when it breaks down but it requires patience, going through phases and setting up a defense to break them down? He struggles. In ABs game this got overshadowed by his intercept that led to a try. Outside of that moment? Smith did next to nothing.
In Boks game he was worse.
Even in Aussie game where everyone got carried away by his level of play, he had a really bad moment that cost England the game. On Aussies last try, instead of trusting inside defender to make tackle, Smith rushes up, Aussie back gets offload away and winger has acres of space to score winning try. That space was opened up by Smith rushing out of the line needlessly. Smith has to stay in the line, use touch line as extra defender. If he does? At very least forces Aussies to score winning try another way.
Toulouse totally outclassed Leicester Tigers the other weekend, they played rugby from a different planet, dynamic, passing out of the tackle, high skill levels etc and the tigers team had Chessum, Martin, JVP, Stewart all in the England squad made to look very average ! So I think England will lose to Ireland & France, Scotland but beat Italy & Wales. England need a back three with PACE, & high skill levels which is why Stewart & Freeman are not quick enough to be in the back three. It should be Murley, Hendy & Gabriel Itoye. Then you have very dangerous pace which is the missing ingredient with England. Freeman should be centre, I don’t get why Bore-thwick doesn’t realise this? A bit daft when he’s meant to be a world class coach!?
Gloucester just putt 50 points into them this weekend. Gloucester were missing 10 players, Leicester team was stronger than against Toulouse.
I am South African.
My money is on England.
They now have their own 'Siya Kolisi.'
😂
Top notch analysis.. Black Captain = Win.. lol
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
If England are making progress , why do they keep losing, NZ even SA have started to rebuild but they still win, England just keep losing and surely that doesn’t instill confidence and really slows down momentum.
Sack Borthwick
Nah England is getting the wooden spoon this year
53-10!