Comments on: England team to face Scotland on Saturday

By: Rob Watson

Rob Watson — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:02:25 +0000

Dark Matter?? No I think Deacon is the fecal matter of English rugby!

By: Iain Barton

Iain Barton — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:40:01 +0000

Deacon, Borthwick and Payne are the Dark Matter of English rugby. If you add up the combined mass, they should be there. If you look at the theories trotted out by insiders (the management), they should have an effect. But no-one has ever observed their impact or proved their existence in the real world. Therefore they only currently exist in theory and are currently of little or no practical use whatsoever.

Otherwise I agree with pretty much all that has been said above. My optimism remains intact, but then again I’m like this http://www.lechatnoirboutique.com/prodimages/Coffee%20Mug%20-%20Far%20Side%20Just%20Not%20Reaching%20That%20Guy.jpg

By: Proppie

Proppie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:23:59 +0000

Guys, you are all right. Decisions are there to make and you can argue about them but the extreme obvious things like 2nd row is a real problem. Ashton not in or another fine try scorer like James Simpson-Daniel. I do not care but at least one of the on form killers must be in. 12 tries for Ashton (look at his last one against Sale, pure class!) it is not nothing. Lawes is a fantastick 2nd and backrower, very versatile. I also agree on the number 8. Easter is under pressure in my opinion. It means that Johnno will let him stay for 3 more years I am afraid.
I understand the trust in Delon Armitadge as I am a fan of him to be honest you only get the guy better by giving somebody else the chance now. Ben Foden should have played. Now there is no consequence on playing bad so why should you bother after all.

Good luck this weekend, I will be sleeping on the sofa during the match to copy the impact on the game Deacon will have

By: Rob M66

Rob M66 — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:59:46 +0000

Johnson is a clown, he has to go. I cant be bothered with anything else its all been said, part of me want Scotland to win so that the whole of English rugby can begin a shake down from top to bottom.

By: Tomy Guns

Tomy Guns — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:31:05 +0000

Uncle Matt, love your analysis of the Moody scenerio (moving to Bath) and I actually do think you may be right. Johnno and the coaching team obviously have their favourites, but it strikes me as somewhat weird that THEIR favourites wouldn’t feature anywhere near a team then any supporter would pick. Why is this? As i previously stated, the best we can hope for is devine intravention and everyone from captain upwards being sacked and the rfu appointing someone who knows what they are doing – preferably from the southern hemisphere!

P.s Buddha – how long do you think we should give Johnno and he’s team? He’s already had 2 years (Gatland achieved more in 2 months with Wales!!!)

By: James Mac

James Mac — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:47:32 +0000

The thing that really annoys me is that some of these players have played well for England in the past (Delon, Monye, Flutey) yet are not performing at the moment. Do we really want to pick this players and hope they get back to their best in an England shirt? In an ideal world, this would happen BUT it doesn’t in the real world.

That is what really annoys me, you have the in form players there, most notably in Foden and Ashton, but Johnno is so stubborn he shows ‘faith’ in his players. I don’t think it is faith; no one would argue about dropping a poorly performing player for a player in form. Therefore I literally cannot see the logic in it.

Sorry for the rambling rant, I just hate illogical decisions… which unfortunately sums up this management team (why was Palmer called into the squad from outside both squads??? What is wrong with Kennedy in the Saxons??).

By: Buddha

Buddha — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:05:55 +0000

How disappointing. I’d have thought Johnno would have been more adventurous. We have a very big lumbering 2nd row and the back row will sorely miss Moody who would have forced issues with the half backs and inside centre. I think the biggest issue is the pairing of Care/Wilkinson it hasn’t worked. Care has caused no end of issues for Wilkinson through his insistence on traversing toward Wilkinson before passing. Each time Hodgeson came on those issue dissipated. It is therefore a great disappointment that Hodgeson has been released. Good for his club but….
But we have to be loyal and give Johnno time to develop his coaching team, which still seems to have polarised game plan strategies.
Good luck England.

By: Uncle Mat

Uncle Mat — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:03:43 +0000

At last, Johnno is being forward-looking. Moody will not be a Leicester player next season. He had to go.

By: Birdies

Birdies — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:37:02 +0000

When i read the team like most i was disappointed but not in the least bit suprised, clearly it is the case even at the highest level that it is who you know not what you know, at county level you need to go to the right school at national level you need to be at the right club, people may say i am being bitter but honestly what has Deacon or even Borthwick done at club level let alone international to warrant selection. Shaw yes has proved himself, Monye though he is a bit poor at the moment has in the past proved himself, what qualities do Borthwick and Deacon have that is better than Kennedy,Lawes,Skivington,Hudson? Nothing in my opinion so why is them who are selected and not others, who should be selected I’m not sure. The fact is that clearly nothing is going to change the coaching teams mind they have their favourites and thats that. Johno will no doubt claim he picked excitement in Youngs, but why was Hodgson dropped what has he done wrong? Now armitage deserved to be dropped and everyone would love to see foden in there but no he drops a player who has done nothing wrong and brings in a lad who in all honesty isn’t going to push for a the starting shirt any time soon. Picking Worsley is boring but what i am more shocked about is why Easter is still there, what has he contributed to any of the six nations games really? Nothing, i know there isnt a stand out 8 at the minute for England but Haskell would do, it is clear that nothing is going to make the management team pick and exciting team, they fail to realise that if they did and said team lost the supporters would still be happy that something was tried, but alas we shall just have to be contented with another boring game and total disappoint for the fans.

By: Hutch

Hutch — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:27:14 +0000

Given Johnno’s tendency to pick Leicester players, it’s interesting that he’s dropped the best one.

I think Tommy is right, the next 18 months will be a bit of a write-off (not unlike the last 6 years, sadly). We might cause one upset at the World Cup like we did in 07, but we won’t be good enough to win.

By: Uncle Mat

Uncle Mat — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:05:05 +0000

What must go through the minds of the players? Foden – with Armitage playing badly, he comes on and does well, and so gets dropped. Hodgson – same deal, but dropped from the entire squad!? (he would be my first choice, with Youngs on the bench). Haskell has been mediocre at best, was totally anonymous against Ireland, but retains his place to avoid more acrimony from Stade. Moody has one quiet game (certainly no worse than the other two) and is demoted to make way for the waste of space that is Worsley. Deacon, who apparently forgot to come out for the second half – without anyone noticing – keeps his place while people like Kennedy and Lawes would get the nod from 90% of English rugby supporters.

As others have said, this is a meaningless match – we should have thrown in the likes of Armitage, Dowson, Foden and Lawes.

By: James Mac

James Mac — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:02:27 +0000

I, like many on here it seems, cannot understand the logic in picking Dynamic Deacon over Lawes: 1) We now have absolutely NO speed or flair in the pack and 2) How is Lawes EVER going to get the experience needed??

Not even going to start on Foden on the bench again…

Johnno is being stubborn, sticking in his heels to show his ‘character’ and surely is hanging over the precipice… Unfortunately there is NO way that Andrew has the balls to do anything about it, we will limp into the WC, may have a few wins and then the management will claim they were right all along…

People always complain about the lack of quality players in the English game, which I strongly disagree with, the (potential) players are there, just never picked (thinking of Foden, Mullan, Lawes, S. Armitage, Robshaw, Saull, Alex Goode, Youngs etc). We are in danger of losing a great amount of potential talent for the sake of Johnno’s ‘pride’ and illogical policy of selecting his mates. Maybe he was appointed too soon after retiring and still has too many ties.

I will watch on Saturday… but then again I am a quarter Scottish!!