NZ vs England

[ichabodscrane]

I don't think NZ are doing anything we can't do (to England). They're just attacking with pace and changing angles a fraction in the centres. Savea has two by holding his width, Smith has two by folloing the play and taking off-loads.

I agree 100% but New Zealand have some super intelligent players in Ben Smith, Ma'Nonu, Aaron Cruden that make scoring tries look so easy. I thought Cipriani should have started to give England that unpredictability.

[ichabodscrane]

Impressive start to the 2nd half by England.

[Lamb of BOD]

Impressive indeed. Will be interesting to see if the introduction of Burrell will shore up the mid-field, as I thought Eastmond looked totally lost out there defensively

[Lamb of BOD]

In fairness to Lancaster, he orchestrated a remarkable change in that England team at half time. Good coaching

[Donny B.]

Only getting back to the game now and fully expected a 50+ scoreline. Fair play to England for not collapsing

[paddyor]

So how did the Eastmond Tuilagi centre go? Eastmond in particular. Also reports from elsewhere suggest Burns resumed his from for Glaws this season.

[Lamb of BOD]

So how did the Eastmond Tuilagi centre go? Eastmond in particular. Also reports from elsewhere suggest Burns resumed his from for Glaws this season.

Midfield defence was atrocious - Eastmond in particular. Didn't seem to me to have any idea where to stand, who to mark etc. It was positioning rather than tackling - similar flaws to our own Brendan Macken imo. NZ tore through England using simple hands across the backline as a result of the English centrefield defending far too narrowly. I don't think I noticed Eastmond going forward much - but they were on the back foot for the entirety of the first half. The English defence held up much better when Burrell replaced Eastmond. In general, Eastmond looks good with the ball in hand - he's a lovely, well-balanced runner, but can get horribly exposed in defence.

Burns didn't have a good game at all. He kicked far too often, and most of them were aimless. Couple that with a kick or two out on the full and you have a bad day at the office. I didn't get to see that much of the final quarter, but I can't imagine that they were weakened in any way by the introduction of Cipriani and, as ichabodscrane mused earlier, I cannot fathom why they didn't start Cipriani, if only to give them a creative spark.

I thought the only Englishman (in the first half of the game) to really stand up to the All Blacks was Chris Ashton. He was horribly exposed out on the wing, but they were so over-run from the centre that nobody could have covered out wide, but he drove into tackles and looked to make something happen going forward - on the rare occasion he touched the ball.

[simonokeeffe]

Yarde is like running with the Bulls in Pamplona, an adventure if you're going forward, scary when you're going backwards

[tigerburnie]

Some interesting analysis from you guys, I think England are lacking an organiser in the backs, a BOD if you will, to give the younger lads like Eastmond and Yarde some on field guidance. With Parling missing up front the set pices fell apart in the last test and exposed the likes of Lawes who really aren't the thinkers in the game. Burns has come off the back of a fairly poor mixed up season with Gloucester, I was surprised he made the tour to be honest.

[simonokeeffe]

Some interesting analysis from you guys, I think England are lacking an organiser in the backs, a BOD if you will, to give the younger lads like Eastmond and Yarde some on field guidance. With Parling missing up front the set pices fell apart in the last test and exposed the likes of Lawes who really aren't the thinkers in the game. Burns has come off the back of a fairly poor mixed up season with Gloucester, I was surprised he made the tour to be honest.

Farrell has become for England what Ronan O'Gara was for Ireland pre Sexton post Humphries

[offshorerules]

Some interesting analysis from you guys, I think England are lacking an organiser in the backs, a BOD if you will, to give the younger lads like Eastmond and Yarde some on field guidance. With Parling missing up front the set pices fell apart in the last test and exposed the likes of Lawes who really aren't the thinkers in the game. Burns has come off the back of a fairly poor mixed up season with Gloucester, I was surprised he made the tour to be honest.

Farrell has become for England what Ronan O'Gara was for Ireland pre Sexton post Humphries

A revolving door?

[Vamos los azules]

The dirt trackers put in a better performance at the weekend than the match day squad
http://m.youtube.com/watch?utm_campaign ... e=youtu.be