One theme dominates reaction to England chariot grinding to halt

England need to develop being more comfortable at keeping possession, and trying different ways to attack with ball in hand. This will allow them to play a better multi-phase game and wear down opponents. To do this they probably need more gainline busting power in the back row and in the backs. The likes of Barbeary, Fisilau, Sototu, and Cunningham-South can sort that in the back row while Atkinson, Lawrence, Ojomoh, van Rensburg and Feyi-Waboso offer solutions in the backs (I know two listed aren’t eligible yet but will be at some point this year). They also need to work on the kicking game so when they do use it the kicks are contestable and they challenge better

the English backs were awfully predictable, zero imagination

relying on brute force is no longer the solution to win rugby games

SA would reduce England to a pile of rubbles

And I hope France shows them what time it is

It was interesting to hear “FOR THE LOVE OF RUGBY PODCAST” question why ENG didn’t ask for a scrum from the penalty after Zander Fagerson was warned about the yellow card.

Dan Cole did say it was a little strange why they didn’t press their advantage knowing he would be under pressure and at least allow them to balance 14 vs 14.

It certainly wouldn’t have been missed by SA and their coaching team, who would have exploited the advantage to their benefit.

It would appear that England were unable to quickly realise Scotlands tactics.

Poor leadership.

That’s Maro and Ford.

Ford apparently is world class at managing games and moving his team around the pitch.

Reality is he is non existent in the leadership role when up against good teams .

Borthwick was totally out thought and should take a deep breath and admit his kick , kick has failed and against top teams they must have a running game to go with the occasions where kick is required .

Ford is a one trick pony and must be replaced and soon . That way our decent back line will find more ball .

I think the most concerning issue re the loss on saturday was the palpable lack of on field leaders, when the game was starting to get away from England, itoji was virtually anonymous untill he was taken off, and nobody else seemed to be able to step up and be a rallying point.

The game plan they adhered to was clearly giving them zero returns, somebody should have identified that and changed tack.

Aalthough they werent helped by the 6/2 bench split.

It's not a personnel issue. It's a game plan issue. Hoofing the pill away when you're on the front foot will fail no matter who is playing 10.

England did not just kick the ball. Their kick pass ratio was almost 1:6 which was 25% better than Scotland, they had more carries than Scotland and strung together way more passes and rucks. They also generated 62% lightning quick ball. The problem was they turned the ball over 20 times and also played 30mins of the game a man down. They had 12 22m entries but only scored 1.4 points per entry so they were highly inefficient. Scotland got the bounce of the ball on a couple of occasions, they capitalised on poor English defence and English ill discipline and got points when they hit the 22 at 3.4 per entry. They also made 90% of their tackles in a world class defensive display. England played inaccurately, it happens, and they consequently suffered a poor defeat but there are good signs for them and they shouldnt be too discouraged.

Quite interesting to see the AWAY wins for England since 2023 Rugby World Cup came against Usa, Wales,Italy, Arg & Japan.

“POM” squad - zero impact.

Where do you start with England? It felt like two steps backward. This happened under Lancaster where the forwards got above themselves in thinking they didn't need to do the grunt work up front because they were in the backs instead of securing quick ruck ball. Last week I questioned whether my opinion of George Ford at 19 was wrong. This week I know I was right. Just like Prendegast and unlike Finn Russell he offers no running threat and only looks good when the forwards are on the front foot. Why was Cowan Dickie on in place George? You know the first 20 mins are going to be chaotically critical and yet Borthwick chose a hooker who is liable to do stupid things as it so proved with a no arms tackle deep in the Scotland half turning an English scrum into a Scottish penalty which a few minutes later turned into a Scottish try. Enough has been said about Arundel. Several players were absent during the game.

What I Havnt seen is criticism of the English coaches. It was obvious what the English game plan was going to be and Scotland practiced for it. I cannot imagine for one moment Rassie employing exactly the same tactics two matches in a row expecting to get the same result. Maybe Borthwick read too much into the Wales game and too little into Scotland game against Italy. Freeman at centre is a bust. He needs to go back to the wing. Fin Smith at 10 with Marcus Smith as back up and to cover 15 where Furbank would come in. Whilst Steward is able enough without the protection of runners his ariel prowess is less impressive he lacks real pace when joining the line.

All in all England lacked creativity and had no ability to change the game plan due to the chosen personnel and that comes down to Borthwick

Couldnt help but notice how quiet Instagram was..No dancing video from England this weekend..a Little reality check for them

Scotland’s great play and in depth knowledge of England allowed England to have a “Murphy’s Law” match: anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Kudos to Scotland.

I hope as an Ireland supporter they will panic and rip up their progress. They won’t though.

It is shaping up to be a great six nations though.

When Scotland were on a yellow card scrum warning England times out two scrum advantages. Why?

Get one more scrum pen, a yellow card for Scotland and then grind the score down versus 14.

That will come up in the team review and that is one of things that will be learned and applied to Ireland next week.

That’s an excellent England team. They should have too much for Ireland next week. Ireland are talking about something special. Nothing special will come next week when the scrum is demolished again.

The ford up and under got Arundel sent off .

It gets players injured and steward knock ons again and again .

When will Mr Blackett start to notice its not working .

Or is he following orders.

A 10 who has no speed and never attempts line breaks has no place in top class rugby , yet teachers pet ford not only gets selected but is never taken off to allow game time for his understudy when it was crying out for a change of plan .

Very strange

England need to move away from the aerial game, fin smith needs to be ten , Furbank at 15 and and freeman should be moved back to the wing to make space for Ollie Lawrence and max Ojomoh’s attacking game this would add another dimension to englands backline and promote more of a running game

England had a bad day, Scotland played very well. Calm down everyone.

Not unreasonable that many are questioning the kicking tactics today. On the point of contestable kicks specifically, yesterday’s loss highlights two inherent risks that hadn’t really been exposed previously: first, it’s always a 50/50. England have won a greater percentage previously, but were second best yesterday and when you’re second best against a team that can turn defense into attack at the flip of a switch, you’re exposing yourself to trouble.

Secondly, the contest itself can be inherently risky as illustrated by Arundell’s second yellow. Get it wrong and things can go bad very quickly. This risk/reward ratio went badly against England yesterday, which in my mind suggests the more you employ contestable kicking as a tactic, the greater the odds gradually turn against you. It’s like flipping a coin and calling heads repeatedly.

Contestable kicks are dependent on timing and execution being near perfect every time. If either are off, you’d better have a backup plan or, better still, don’t use it as your sole tactic for gaining territory.