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England have taken the drastic action of having referees at training to help curb their Six Nations penalties problem
England have taken drastic action after becoming the joint-most undisciplined team of the 2021 Guinness Six Nations, calling referees Wayne Barnes and Matthew Carley into their bubble at The Lensbury in an attempt to fix the penalties problem that was one of their most wounding February failings.
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Eddie Jones’ side have had their title defence ruined by defeats to Scotland and Wales either side of an unconvincing win over bottom side Italy. Amid the debris of those Six Nations setbacks is the figure of 41 penalties conceded by England, a momentum-killing number only matched by the hapless Italians.
Table-toppers Wales have conceded 33 penalties in three games, the unbeaten French 18 in two games, Ireland 26 in three games and Scotland 17 in two outings.
Coming into round four off the back of a damaging 14-9 penalty count in the loss to the Welsh, England defence coach John Mitchell has revealed they have been trying to eradicate their disciplinary shortcoming by having two of the Six Nations’ current Test match officials visit them for some in-camp tuition.
Barnes and Carley were both on the whistle in week one of this year’s championship, respectively taking charge of the Wales-Ireland and Italy-France games in Cardiff and Rome. Now they are doling out advice to Jones and co following a Six Nations afternoon at the Principality where the reputation of Maro Itoje was especially hammered by his individual concession of five England penalties.
"We have got a huge amount to play for" ??#SixNations #ENGvFRAhttps://t.co/VZvb0aszWS
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 9, 2021
“We have had Wayne Barnes and Matt Carley in,” said Mitchell as preparations ramp-up ahead of next Saturday’s Le Crunch with France at Twickenham. “Wayne was in yesterday [Monday] and Matt was in the day before [Sunday] and he is back in today.
“You have got to be really careful that you don’t create artificial situations that are meaningless so what is important is the referee just referees what he sees and I guess we need awareness about why he made that decision and basically who and what, so that is the starting point of the awareness and the education.
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“In performance sometimes you get some referees who do not even communicate what it is for, they can be very vacant, and then you have got your leaders who have got to understand that as well, where we need to clean up or why have you been making those decisions. It creates a really good opportunity to grow your awareness around referee decisions.
“We will not stop playing on the edge but we will be more clever about it. It’s important to address the problem as quickly as we can,” continued Mitchell, switching to how Itoje has coped with coming in for recrimination for his play in Cardiff.
“He cares. He has acknowledged that (problem). He has spoken with Eddie about it and has greater awareness around it. We have had referees in this week so there is greater education around that area.
“But at the end of the day he is colossal, he is one of the most destructive footballers in the world and we want him to continue to be that and it is about learning quickly and making sure that you are clear in what you need to do based on the situation in the match.”
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"Looking forward to taking away what he has"
– England are primed for the France dangerman#SixNations #ENGvFRA https://t.co/i3BssvDeTo
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 9, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
smith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
36 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
9 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
36 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
36 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
36 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
36 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
36 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
36 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
36 Go to comments