Team Talk !

An Old man rambling on, but I hope some of these emotions are swirling around the England team hotel this evening!!!.........................

Tomorrow we will pull on the England shirt.
Tomorrow we will be the lucky ones. Out of all the players who have tried to earn it, out of all the people who dream of wearing it, we will be the ones who have the honour of pulling it on.
And tomorrow we must look each other in the eye and know that together we will start to rebuild the honour, the dignity, the esteem that this shirt demands.
I think of the great players, the great men that have worn this shirt, that have given whilst wearing this shirt, that through their actions have created the myth and love that surrounds this shirt. The great names, from the likes of Beaumont, Cotton, Neary, to Winterbottom, Teague, Richards, Dooley, Underwood and Guscott up to the likes of Johnson, Leonard, Back, Dawson and Dallaglio.
These guys strove to give this shirt honour and success every time they wore it.
We have a duty, a debt, to make sure that our team honours their memory, honours the memory of every player who has worn this shirt, and every supporter who has loved this shirt, and we must take on that debt, that responsibility and ensure with every ounce of our being we will do the same.
So look at me now, so that I can see in your eyes that come tomorrow we will all do our job, we will all give our bodies, our minds and our hearts to guarantee that we will instill the pride and dignity that the shirt deserves.
And I want to be able to look at all of you as you peel that shirt back off your body and smile, proud that we have done just that, that you have done just that, and in so doing we have set a new start a new standard, and we can be proud again.
Proud of ourselves, proud of each other and proud that we honoured the shirt as it should be and that we have just laid down a new chapter in it's great history.
So look at me now, look at each other, and understand what we have to do, and understand and trust that when tomorrow comes, we will do it.

How we will beat the French !!!!!!!!!!!

Firstly, and maybe bizarely to some of you, I do think we can beat the French on Sunday! But to do it, we need to be very focused and play at an intensity that we have not seen for a good few years.
Our front five must be aggressive in the set piece, precise, accurate but aggressive, so that our scrum is solid, and our line out provides the crucial flow of ball.
If they do that job, it will enable our back row to use the pace they now have. I think Rees could be crucial, inexperienced as he is, he has enough pace to enable him to dominate the arrival at each and every tackle situation. That would allow Easter and Worsely to concentrate on winning the ball, and here Worsley has to stand up and deliver on the fifty caps that he has accumulated.
As an eight we need to challenge every breakdown, physically, mentally, hit every player hard, hit any player we can late, and stamp on any available limbs without being seen, and whilst being subtle!! We need to create an edge to every second of the game, and remain in control at the same time.
We need to make every second uncomfortable for the French, we need to hurt them as often as possible, and we need to keep them under intense pressure for thewhole game, not 79 minutes, not 75 minutes, it has to be for the whole game.
Ellis will have to show his maturity in pressurising Yachvili, hounding him, without descending into a red mist and just punching him! This is where we need to have an icy control in our heads, and yet a boiling rage in our bodies.
Ellis also needs to take pressure off young Flood, take on board as much of the tactical kicking as he can, and ensure that with some tactical running he attracts the interest of the French backrow so that they can not just focus in on Flood.
Catt will certainly provide the vision and distribution at number 12, and if he can deliver the right passes at the right times, the running skills and pace of our back three can definitely cause the French real problems.
Our tactical kicking and chase need to be perfect, and preferably down the channels as this will not allow the French any counter-attack opportunities.
In attack we need to play a relatively fast paced game, to use Rees to his full advantage. We need to deliver our running forwards, Easter and Worlsey into space by running them off 12 and 13 as well as just 10.
Exploit Dominici, and put runners off the shoulders of Flood as I think Skrela is not only slow on his feet, but not the bravest!! I think we can manufacture holes around Skrela, especially if we encourage Betsen to fly at Flood. The down side is that Flood will be pretty uncomfortable on Monday, but then again who really cares!!
Play with pace, take the risks, run at both wings hard, tie them up in the tackle and the run wide again from the next phase ( and whilst doing that give the wings a good kicking whilst they are in there!!!)
So passion with brains, steel and poise and the first hits and contact on our terms and we might even rouse the crowd into support!!
Ever the optimist!!!!

Schoolboy rugby at it's best!!!

Leinsterfan,

I thought you would appreciate this!!! Don't know why!!!

This guy could have played number 13 !!

You have to laugh at this !!! He comes on from the touch line, slyly lines up his man, who he realises is being held, throws his punch, not a bad one I have to say, and then runs like hell !!!! That takes guts!!!! I thought about doing that so often !!!

The Podcast and a leather sofa!!!!

I know I am slightly biased, but you need to listen to the podcast tomorrow! Zinny was on fire!
Great quote, that O'Driscoll will lift up the Scottish skirts and realise that they have no balls!!
Ieuan was very diplomatic! Talking up Wales's chances etc etc. I think we need to buy him a cardigan, slippers and a pipe!!!
Ian Poulter is on great from in the naked rant, having oiled himself up to sit on one of his leather sofa's !!! Lovely thought!!
I obviously tried to be intellectual, interesting and insightful!! But sadly ended up being shite, as usual!!
Definitely worth a listen!!!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?xml=/portal/exclusions/podcast/podcastportal.xml

The England team. I think !!!!!

I might have got Catt right (because I have my finger on the pulse and I am genuinely very intelligent!!) but I thought five changes max, not ten!!!
Delighted Streetle is still there, and that Lewsey is in his best position.
Catt at 12 and Captain! Interesting! He will certainly add a little creativity, I just hope he does not go overboard with his big miss passes. Farrell is out through injury......... REALLY!!!!
Jonny out and Flood in. Well from a decision making view point and a style of play view point I am going to be interested to see how he does, it is the responsibility of kicking that worries me. I just hope his first goes over and that he relaxes after that.
The forwards are just unrecognisable! Vickery out, which is a shame, but then huge pressure on White to prove he is the destructive scrummager Leicester tell us he is! There can be no better time to show us, and I just bloody hope that he does.
Corry in the second row...........!!! I did get a wee bit of flak in November for saying he is just too slow off the base of the scrum these days, but having met him and watched him, I have huge admiration for him and hope that he delivers from the second row.
The backrow looks raw, but exciting, and I think it is about time we went down that route. Who knows it could be a disaster, but I would prefer to take that risk than just plod on down the road we were going.
So a hell of a shock to see all the changes I must admit, but once you look over the team, and you ask what alternatives are there, I hope like me you just think well it is worth giving some of the new faces a go.
Fingers crossed that they show some fire, passion, steel, and that we can be proud of them at the end of the game.

You decide!!

The video says it all really!!!
Much as I love most of football, the one bit I can not understand is the diving and pretending to be injured! You either are, or you aren't!! Why pretend?? Pass a new law in football that anyone faking it, gets a good 30 sec kicking from the opposition!! I think it would soon stop!

Mike Catt - a little bet !!!

I bet Mike Catt plays against France!! Anyone care to disagree??!!

Deano !!

Wasn't that Deano at his best!! I don't know if any of your saw it, but after Quins played Leicester, Deano was told in his interview that Andy Goode had called Quins boring and negative! Deano, took a swig from his drink, that look came into his eye, and then he answered! First of he was serious about the match, and then came his great little touch, 'how come he was playing anyway, has he made up with the coaches then???!!!!' Brilliant!! Publicly he had a recurring hamstring problem, but Deano has just revealed to all of us that Goode has obviously fallen out with the coaching team, and he has been out of the side whilst his dummy has been ricocheting around Leicester city centre!!!! Love it!!!

Dallaglio dropped!

Wow !! LAWRENCE DROPPED BY WASPS!!
Is it me, or does anyone else feel it is sad to see a great player slowly drift into oblivion??
Surely someone close to him should be telling him to stop?? Or is that just me - am I old fashioned?
It is starting to look like an old heavyweight who believes that he has one more big fight in him, when all around can just see that it is not going to happen, and that his time is up!
Does anyone believe that he can still come back and make an impact International level, when he has now just been dropped at club level?
Here is a guy who has won everything, been one of England's great back row players, and yet it all seems to be sliding away, and I just hope the memories of him at his best are not replaced by memories of him fading away and just telling us all through the press that he can still come back.
Who knows we could be watching the equivalent of Rocky, Dallaglio V !!!

Marketing the game!!!

It's all about marketing the game!! Not sure that a Julian White or Danny Grewcock would have quite the same impact !! But just liked the idea!!!

latest podcast

Dear All,

I hope many of you have heard the latest podcast, and Campo's amusing rant!! Not bad, i was quite impressed!!

here's the link...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?xml=/portal/exclusions/podcast/podcastportal.xml

We would appreciate your comments on the podcast, what you like, how it could be improved, what new ideas you would like to see included?
Would a video/ podcast appeal?? We can easily do that, and we could get a guest in every week?
Anyway I hope you will give me your feedback, and look forward to it!

Podcast Dress code!!!!!!

Just to give an idea of how we dress for the podcast!!! Bloody shocking isn't it!!!
I bet none of you knew that Zinny waxed his chest!!! Tart !!!
Also do you think my hair colour looks natural ??!!!

Something to make us English fans smile!!

England Selection !!!!!!! Oh what FUN !!!

As you can see my Tin Hat took a few hits over the weekend having made my 'Andy Farrell' comments!! Now even more popular in the League heartlands!!!
However, I hope having read my blogs that people now realise that it was not a knee jerk reaction to one match, and it certainly was not an attempt to blame him and him alone for the massive defeat on Saturday.
The key for me is how England now move forward, and what route Ashton decides to take. Will he try and stick with the majority of the side in a show of faith and loyalty, believing that they do have the ability and all they need is more time together to gel. Or does he become slightly radical and admit that the rebuilding process is going to have to go deeper and take longer than he might have thought?
Does he bring in and keep the likes of Rees, Strettle, Tait, Easter and more?
I am not one for chopping and changing a side far from it, I look back at the man who I think changed English rugby more than anyone, Geoff Cooke, and one of his greatest strengths was his consistency of selection (and picking me as Captain, that was genius!!!!)
Seriously though, there is no point in making changes for changes sake, but serious decisions have to be made about a number of players, and that is even if they are given the time, do they have the talent and ability? I think that the likes of Chuter, Grewcock, Deacon, Corry and Worsely all have to be looked at. Some definitely had the talent, but have they still got it, and the others, well have they actually even got it?
In the backs, Farrell, Tindall and Wilkinson!!! Dare I say that!!!
It is not a midfield that strikes terror and panic into the hearts of the opposition!
We need pace somewhere!! Jonny despite all the hype is not launching the line as he should, but to be fair he needs game time. Tindall will never be the most creative, incisive centre (unlike myself!!!!), but he does have strengths. Farrell is a league legend, and quite rightly, and I believe if he had come to Union four years ago, he would have been awesome. My firm belief, even backed up by the Welsh wizard himself Ieuan, in his blog, is that he no longer has enough pace to play centre. You can have a myriad of other talents, and he does, but he is so lacking in the fundamental area of pace, that those other talents are negated!
Lewsey, Strettle and Robinson as my back three, and maybe Tait back in the middle? Or is it time for Abbott or a Smith??
Hit me with your opinions, I am sure you will, so I will put my hat back on!!!!

Radio 5 Interview

Having done the radio 5 interview, and seen Carling says Farrell should be dropped all over the BBC website, I thought I would explain in a little more detail,
I do think England need to change the midfield, we look predictable, one paced and too similar. We need an edge, we need pace, we need someone with either the creativity, or the pace to cause defences problems. We need the kicking and experience of Wilkinson, although I think even he needs to look hard at how he is instigating a lot of the backline moves. He is a little too deep, too lateral and too easy to read. Tindall is on form for Gloucester, although I think even he would admit yesterday was not one of his finest memories in an England shirt. That said he is a brave and dependable defender and he provides an option to get the ball over or at least to the gainline.
So we are left with Farrell. Much as I am an admirer of his League achievements, and they were awesome, it is not being translated into the Union game. I am not saying that it won't, but when looking at the current situation, and when assessing his three games, he has not convinced me that he has the pace, knowledge or instinctive skill to play International rugby union. His pace will not improve, but the other areas might well do, and then it would be time to reassess.
He was far from alone in being outclassed yesterday, in fact apart from Strettle or possible Lewsey, I think England were outclassed and out thought through out the whole team.
So I do think the midfield needs to change, and I do think Farrell is the guy who needs to be replaced, but I am sure he will not be the only one, and I am also sure he was not the reason England lost to Ireland.

Irish brilliance !!

Awesome! I have to hold my hands up and say it! From the reception given to the England team to the intercept try by the Boss to round off the demolition, it was all awesome.
I had read articles upon articles about Croke Park and the history, and the two lines that really resonated with me were about a country having the chance to show it's maturity and dignity having moved on from those horrific memories. And I have to say I was massively moved at the arrival of the teams and especially at the anthems, the dignity, the maturity was humbling and it was at that moment that I wished I had taken up the invitation to go. To have witnessed that at first hand would have been a very special memory.
And it did not stop there! The Irish team then mirrored their countrymen in the crowd, and were simply dominant in every aspect of play. They had managed to harness the roaring emotion of the occasion and control it and then channel it into one of the finest Irish performances I have ever seen.
O'Connell was magnificent, all aggression, control and experience, and it was he that started to tip the balance Ireland's way with his attacks on the English line out. Their backrow were brilliant, quicker, sharper, more powerful, more explosive, more physical and more skillful. ( Have I left anything out??!)
O'Gara ruled the pitch, and the midfield provided no surprises by humiliating England's, but they had able support from the back three, especially Horgan who was brutal, dirty, and a try scoring hero!
I sat at the end completely deflated. We had been shattered, we had been torn apart by this Irish team, and it was very hard to take.
I struggled to look for some positives...............! Strettle was definitely one, I thought he showed attitude and ability and I liked his style. Lewsey as ever was a beacon, Rees looked sharper when he came on as did Tait, but that was it......!
I think it is fairly obvious to all that Farrell will not make an International centre. He just does not have enough pace, and you need look no further than that. Sadly the midfield as a whole does not pose any threat at the moment, and Ashton needs to rectify that if we are to threaten the best teams. Our back row is still a problem, as we do not possess any explosive ball carriers, and we look laboured and entirely predictable at the moment.
I have never understood the front five, and still don't!! But I am at a loss as to what Deacon delivers to England that is special or gives us any edge? And again, where in that five are our ball carriers??
It has been one whacking reality check! More of a swift kick in the ***** ! But how we react, and how Ashton reacts will be the test of us, and how we will be able, or not, to challenge the French.
So..............by the end my emotions had switched back, and as I curled up like a baby into the foetal position on the sofa, I was relieved that I had not accepted that invitation to go over.............!

None of this Today !!!!

I am sure this won't happen!!! And as for the language!!!

More of this tomorrow PLEASE !!!

Robinson out !

It is a huge blow to lose Robinson, let's not kid ourselves. we need our best finisher, and his experience, so his loss, and the pressure now on Strettle as a new cap is huge! It is made worse by the rumours I hear that Wilkinson is not going to make it either! I hope more than anything that they are wrong, but it does not look good! Drink heavily, that could be the solution!!!