The Anatomy of a Try: Jonny May vs Australia October 2019 Pt 2
Much of the talk before this England Australia game was around the midfield, England opting for a starting 10-12-13 of Farrell, Tuilagi and Slade. Australia opting for Lealiifano, Kerevi and Petaia.Part of Englands decision was to nullify Kerevi (and Petaia) but there was never much in the way of deception around how England would in turn play, it was about going forward both in attack and defence, brute forcing the Australians.Of the...
Anatomy of A Try: Jonny May vs Australia October 2019
As Australia found out knock out Rugby is a cruel mistress. You can have all the ball, try to play all the rugby. But if you aren’t accurate, don’t put the points on the board when they are on offer. Well, then you simply aren’t giving yourself much of a chance, are you? Knock out Rugby changes peoples mentality. The temptation is to play 100mph for 80 minutes with the intention of blowing your opponents out of the water. But the...
Chris Robshaw – Corner or Kick?
Watching England’s defeat to Wales was painful. If it wasn’t already obvious I’m an Englishman, and by default an England fan. So waking up this morning it's interesting to see how a lot of the discussion has revolved around Chris Robshaw's decision to kick for the corner and go for the win. So I want to try and look at this objectively, remove the emotional element and hopefully look at that...
Spotlight on England Rugby: Back to Basics
I really think England need to get back to basics. I say this as I’m forced to admit to myself that in this last world cup cycle England Rugby have been, frustrating to watch. Last Autumn we saw in the space of four games a team lose it’s way and then completely re-invent itself with a switch of game plan and a change in key personnel and for the most part it worked. Post six nations I felt a little more positive, a pack...
6 Nations Team of the Tournament
I don’t normally feature opinion pieces but a team of the tournament seems to be the done thing about this time of the year so I’m going to be a bit self indulgent for a change and decided to put together a composite six nations side (and I’ll try and justify my selections with a bit of reasoning). I must stress this isn’t based on stats or much scientific evidence, instead it’s based on my...