The official KUMB Rugby Union Thread

[DasNutNock]

TOMOS - Collector is absolutely right, time to hand over the heavy lifting duties to Dan. Look after yourself & best of British with your rehab

[Tenbury]

Stop being a Pillock,and act your age. The NHS doesn't have unlimited resources.

[ and get well soon mate ]

[Toulouse_Iron]

A well deserved and quite predictable win by the cat stranglers.
They had shown in the autumn tests that they could produce dazzling rugby. I tipped them for a possible tournament win (but not a grand slam). Like the Welsh in 2013, this was the match of their lives and the intensity was unbelievable.
The first 10 minutes ware always going to be hell for the English but the Scotch never backed off, never took their foot off the accelerator and we had no reply.
I thought that after the restart, we might have had a clue but the try was a false dawn. They were faster in mind and deed and turned us over about 10 times, often in their 22..
What struck me most about the England side was the lack of leaders on the pitch when the panic started to set in and unforced errors crept into our game. Somebody needed to take 30 seconds to tell everyone to be patient, keep the ball, stay on their feet and go through the phases (like Ireland will against them). I saw nobody take the responsibility.
In 2003 we had leaders all over the pitch and we could change and adapt o tactic to suit what was happening on the pitch.
This England team is good, not great. That Sweaty side played a truly fantastic game and hats off to them. They now need to play at that level consistently and they will go far.

[Tenbury]

Top work from the Sweaties.

In the long run,that could be what England need,(let's be honest,the WC is the bigger picture here) especially if it forces Jones to address the issues at 2 and 15.Funnily enough, I can see them beating the Irish now.

[pablo jaye]

I agree, England needed a bit of a spanking to get Eddie to really look at the areas of the side that don't really work - Hartley is not the best hooker and when the going gets tough, you expect your captain to pull the team together, which he didn't.

Mind you, the Scots had a game plan and really targeted players like May on the wing - whenever he got the ball, there were 3 players on him. They played well, were the better side and deserved the win.

I think if I were a neutral, I'd have been cheering on the Sweaties.

[The Old Man of Storr]

Honestly providing the Welsh lost I don't mind the England result, I've always said anyone but Wales such is my disgust for that team

If a group of Welsh thugs attacked you then surely your feelings of ' disgust ' should be against that particular group of thugs rather than the Welsh Rugby team which is constantly evolving , unless of course Leigh Halfpenny and Co. booted the crap out of you .

[Samba]

Glad to hear you're on the mend TOMOS.
And watch out in this weather that's coming in, this week.

[Patito]

Glad to hear you're on the mend TOMOS.

Some disappointing results this weekend...

[jacko]

Well that a was a humbling. Scotland got everything they deserved. I said that for Scotland to win everything would have to go right for them and everything wrong for england. That's exactly what happened. Scotland didn't create loads and loads but they had the run of the baize.

England never got out of the blocks. I think they lack brains. Hartley might be a great leader of men but he isn't quick witted. It was like the Italy game where they just seemed to be unable to get a grip of what was going on. So much for this nonsense about being 'bullet proof'.

Our kicking game was awful. We rarely found gaps or touch. We were sluggish in the breakdown. And when we were fighting our way back in the second half we had no flair on the bench. We had a bench that can hold and extend a lead but we had no one who could offer something different when plan A wasn't working out.

All in all it asks a lot of questions. I hope Jones uses this as a way of taking a chance on a few players and keeping them around the team. none of the young players he has tried out seem to be hanging around.

Its all every well having an inquest now about what went wrong but it's too late. We got blown away. Embarassing.

[jacko]

A well deserved and quite predictable win by the cat stranglers.
They had shown in the autumn tests that they could produce dazzling rugby. I tipped them for a possible tournament win (but not a grand slam). Like the Welsh in 2013, this was the match of their lives and the intensity was unbelievable.
The first 10 minutes ware always going to be hell for the English but the Scotch never backed off, never took their foot off the accelerator and we had no reply.
I thought that after the restart, we might have had a clue but the try was a false dawn. They were faster in mind and deed and turned us over about 10 times, often in their 22..
What struck me most about the England side was the lack of leaders on the pitch when the panic started to set in and unforced errors crept into our game. Somebody needed to take 30 seconds to tell everyone to be patient, keep the ball, stay on their feet and go through the phases (like Ireland will against them). I saw nobody take the responsibility.
In 2003 we had leaders all over the pitch and we could change and adapt o tactic to suit what was happening on the pitch.
This England team is good, not great. That Sweaty side played a truly fantastic game and hats off to them. They now need to play at that level consistently and they will go far.

Just read this after I wrote my post.

Exactly, no leaders on the pitch. Hartley just lacks the brains. He's your blood and guts style leader, but on Saturday we needed someone who could work out what the problem is. I would have thought it would have been Ford or Farrell who would have been capable of doing that to be honest.

The problem with our penalties is that not only do they give them point scoring situations but when we are attacking it takes off any pressure that we're building up.

Really dissapointing day at the office. I do fear that all the victories has made Eddie stick with the tried and tested rather than experiment a bit. We are stuck with a pretty undynamic back row right now. It'll be interesting to see what he does now. He's still got time to introduce some new players but it may mean losing a few games and i'm not sure he'll want that either.

I know there's no need to panic right now , our form is exceptional, but we could be better.

[DasNutNock]

We need to fix our back row and quickly. Our front row wasn't much cop on saturday, either.

[sendô]

England never got out of the blocks. I think they lack brains.

You're not wrong, and it's not the first time it has happened. We struggled to adapt against Ireland last year when they stopped the Grand Slam, and remember the farce against Italy when they weren't competing at the break down?

I suspect most of the cleverness in that team comes from Jones himself and the rest are just tough players who are hard to beat in the most part.

[dave_l]

Well played Scotland. That was the best of their game plan which when it goes well is an absolute joy to watch. England were just never at the races.

The back row was the main issue. We didn't have the right personnel and Owens breakdown interpretation was such that it suited the Scots well. The selection was the key issue though. Playing Lawes at 6 just isn't an option at international level. I'd give Itoje a few weeks on the bench and put Lawes back in the second row alongside Launchbury. Underhill has to start the next game with Robshaw at 6 and Hughes hopefully back to a semblance of fitness at 8. We badly miss Billy V's brute strength but also his clever hands and offloading for the likes of Joseph to run on to.

I'd start Marler and bench Mako, MV as an impact sub is brilliant at international level particularly if he has been expected to do more ball carrying than usual as his brother isn't about and Hughes isn't up to speed. I'd also swap George in for Hartley and make Launchbury captain.

I'd also like to have a session that explains to them just how much the opposition get up for these games. It's their cup final and we so often don't seem as up for it.

[jacko]

Interesting post.

I think Itoje hasn't played well. I think he could do with a break too. He's played a lot of rugby over the last year.

I certainly don't agree with making Launchbery captain. I'm not sure he's got the brains either. I hope they start Underhill. He will make mistakes but everyone has to start somewhere.

[Loftyhammer]

To paraphrase Blair(?) - "It's the breakdown, stupid"

We seem to have completely lost the art of rucking and knowing how & when to compete there. As long we go down the route of trying to pick the "best" players (Itoje, Lawes & Launchbury) we won't be able to fix it either. Pick your best 2 in the 2nd row where they belong and make a bloody decision..... It's a shame that BV & Simmonds are both injured, but you're not telling me we don't have any other options that could add some pace & skill at 7 or 8?

Not sure wholesale changes are needed....but sort the flippin back row out sharpish please Mr Jones!

[DasNutNock]

Bill Clinton

[The Old Man of Storr]

Thanks for all the nice messages , everyone , very much appreciated - had my dressing changed today and part of the wound had turned black :shock: - I was told this might happen but my confidence in the Nurse dipped when she said ' I'd better consult the District Nurse over this .....and you are on antibiotics aren't you ? ' .

Got to go back in two days' time .

p.s. I had 26 stitches removed .

[Samba]

Thanks for all the nice messages , everyone , very much appreciated - had my dressing changed today and part of the wound had turned black :shock: - I was told this might happen but my confidence in the Nurse dipped when she said ' I'd better consult the District Nurse over this .....and you are on antibiotics aren't you ? ' .
Got to go back in two days' time .
p.s. I had 26 stitches removed .

Blimey, you don't do anything by halves, Tomos.
You do realise Carroll would be out for a year with your injury!

[djbubbles]

As a proud irishman, i feel we will beat the scots convincingly at home and then lose to england at twickenham.
Ireland are quite ruthless and their finishing is clinical, but we are far from the finished article, whilst still trying out new players. Conor Murray is the key to Ireland, so if you manage to shackle him, you stop us.

[Toulouse_Iron]

As a proud irishman, i feel we will beat the scots convincingly at home and then lose to england at twickenham.
Ireland are quite ruthless and their finishing is clinical, but we are far from the finished article, whilst still trying out new players. Conor Murray is the key to Ireland, so if you manage to shackle him, you stop us.

Strangely, as the Scotch tend to ping it wide and you lot got turned over the only two times the Taffs attacked properly down the wings, I see a tricky home game for you and an away fixture that will largely depend on how the Millwall of world sport play against the garlic munchers. Have I missed out any national stereotypes?
And Ruthless is not the word I'd use. Relentless, maybe....