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The subtle dig Andy Farrell has aimed at Jones' 'new' England
Andy Farrell has taken a subtle dig at Eddie Jones’ ‘new’ England ahead of the March 12 visit by Ireland to Twickenham for a round four Guinness Six Nations fixture. Last Sunday’s post-game chat in Dublin was dominated by the farcical situation that resulted in Italy being reduced to 13 players and the match having uncontested scrums for 59 minutes.
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However, near the end of his media briefing, there was a question put to Farrell about how he felt England were shaping up and while he praised their narrow win over Wales, he suggested that Jones’ team haven’t changed as much as they would like people to think.
The England head coach and his staff have been frequently putting the message about that that they are in charge of a ‘new’ England that is trying to evolve its game with a view to winning the 2023 World Cup.
However, Ireland boss Farrell, who has named a 27-strong squad for his fallow-week training camp, suggested this alleged ‘new’ doesn’t quite stack up in one particular area of the game, the kicking that England do.
Speaking in the wake of Ireland’s 57-6 win over Italy, Farrell said about England: “We know they are going to come hard off the line at us. Italy came hard off the line at us at times and we weren’t composed enough, so we need to be a little more accurate there.
“We know they like to kick the ball for territory a lot, the same as what they have done the last couple of seasons. I thought they were good. I thought in the first half they were very dominant as far as territory was concerned. They kept the scoreboard ticking over and thoroughly deserved their half-time lead and I suppose like is they will be plenty for them to ponder in the next coming weeks the same as ourselves.”
Jones has in the past controversially labelled Ireland as a team that frequently kicks away possession but statistics on the official Six Nations website note that England have gained 2,130.9 metres from their kicking in their three championship matches so far, a figure that eclipses Ireland’s 2,032.5 tally. England’s kicked-metres count is led by Ben Youngs, who is credited with 640 metres while Marcus Smith has 379.
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In contrast, Jamison Gibson-Park, who has played way more minutes at scrum-half than his positional counterpart Youngs, has kicked for just 451 metres with James Lowe next best with 354 metres from his single outing last Sunday against the Italians.
Comments on RugbyPass
Andy Goode pushing his own agenda with very dubious considerations on refereeing performances. Luke Pearce speaking a bit of French doesn’t make him a good and adequate referee for the Champions Cup final; his latest refereeing performance in particular was not so great.
4 Go to commentsJordie knows that he has to earn the right to put on the jersey, whatever that jersey might be.
4 Go to commentsThe best outside centre in the world at one point. He will be greatly missed.
2 Go to commentsYip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to commentsOne that will start to come up from now on is penalties for back pushes during kick chase scrambles. Very difficult to detect. In Croke Park if you replay the Hendy NH try, you will see Furbank push Porter in the back, who collides with Larmour knocking the ball across into Hendy’s path to dot down. A more significant example was in the RWC QTR final where Arendse pushes Fickou into two other French players for the ball to spill into Arendse’s path for him to gather and run in to score SAs first try. Not cheating if you are not caught and very difficult to spot but with kicking becoming so critical I feel its an area that will referreeed/TMO-ed more.
4 Go to commentsWhat a pathetic little twit Andy Goode is, as if we care what he thinks…..😂
116 Go to commentsFoxy has been a wonderful player for the Scarlets and Wales.
2 Go to commentsNika the Georgian is the best referee in the world at the moment. Luckily we will be spared the shite SH refs and Barnes will hopefully remain retired given how shite and embarrassing he was at the RWC.
4 Go to commentsThis is the most exciting game of the summer imo, as we really won’t know in advance how both teams are going to play. - Will Robertson just reproduce his Crusaders tactics from last year, or will there be a conscious effort to borrow from the Hurricanes and Blues, and from the aspects of the ABs world cup strategy that worked well? - England under Borthwick have put in some good performances playing attacking rugby, and some good performances playing kick-oriented defensive rugby. Will Borthwick try to merge them together into a single all-court game, or will he continue switching between different approaches depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition?
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
9 Go to commentsFinals are always tense affairs for the players so I do not expect this to be a spectacle of running rugby unfortunately.
4 Go to commentsBulls***': Ex-England international calls out Eben Etzebeth… Not to his face but from very far away… after he’d left. Checked to make sure he wasn’t in the building.
116 Go to commentsHopefully this will mean a new Auckland league team to support in the west. Big Warriors fan but it’s very, very stale on that front and I’d like the option of another team if it was to watch league again. League needs to step up BIG time if its to get anywhere, another AK team and something from the capitol or south is a must for the game.
3 Go to commentsGood, deep interview, nice job Frankie!
1 Go to commentsNRL players don’t have anywhere near the number of Tests. Some people would be happy having Rest Homes full if 40 yo ex-players walking, or hobbling more like it, into walls. It’s just a game!
4 Go to commentsNOW Razor is worried about ABs getting injured or overplayed! Didn’t bother him last year. He happily played his AB Crusaders.
4 Go to commentsWhat is the World Rugby U20 players born year.
2 Go to commentsMuch like the Chiefs finally gave up waiting for Atu Moli to ever not be injured, you have to wonder if the Chiefs and Crusaders will let Josh Lord and Ethan Blackadder go next season. They’re being well paid to sit in the injury ward every year. Better off putting those funds towards someone who might actually play.
7 Go to commentsShowed better basic skills than some nz Super sides, who probably would have botched some of those backline moves. This tournament really is too short though. Needs more teams, or have them play two rounds to properly prepare them for the near full-time NH U20 sides.
4 Go to comments