Banco From United Kingdom, joined Oct 2001, 14752 posts, RR: 55 Reply 7, posted (8 years 2 months 3 weeks 5 days 23 hours ago) and read 778 times:
Quoting Bill142 (reply 3): Are England playing without Johnnie Wilkinson?
They're playing virtually without anyone you'd recognise bar Jason Robinson. It's far from the 2003 side half of whom have retired and the other half of whom are injured.
Even so, they're still underperforming woefully. The Ireland game is actually one which you'd have had down before the tournament as one they would likely lose, the reason it has become such a big thing is because they were so appalling against Wales and France (second half).
JGPH1A, funnily enough, I agree. England definitely did get the rough end of most of the marginal decisions, with two tries disallowed (God knows how he gave the first one offside) but even so, they had enough opportunities against a very jittery Ireland side to beat them. Those decisions aren't why they lost.
But they seem clueless in attack. The direction is lacking. That's partly the key half back positions are occupied by novices (Harry Ellis) or relative novices (Charlie Hodgson). It doesn't help that the midfield is totally new either, with both Greenwood and Tindall injured. But that's tough, really. Only an idiot would expect the same level as the 2003 side, but the way England have played is that of a side totally lacking confidence. They've now lost their last four matches by a combined total of 12 points.
She's as nervous as a very small nun at a penguin shoot.
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