I'd like to see these punishments meted out in games, rather than weeks. As the citing panel have demonstrate by their mess up in trying to make sure Healy misses 2 6 nations games, some games matter more than others. So if someone is cited in an international, the penalty should apply to the next x international matches. Otherwise, in a case like Andrew Hore, the penalty simply meant he missed 1 game, while if that same offence took place in the pool games of the RWC, he'd have had to miss the tournament. It's bizarre. »
I'm with you to an extent over the back 3, but for lack of outstanding alternatives, they've all made significant contributions. And I'd argue Goode and Brown were pretty good against Ireland. »
Intruiging game. What seemed to me to be the difference was the organisation and decision taking. It seemed to like England did play more rugby than many are crediting them for, but they tended to do this only when it was in the area of the pitch where it wouldn't hurt them if it went wrong. That said, I think on at least a couple of occasions off turnovers they looked to go, but after the Irish shut the door went back to their playin for territory. »
Yeah, I agree with the strong mentality - the autumn showed that. Could've beaten Australia ... Should've beaten SA ... then rallying to beat NZ. But but but... at the moment, for all their promise, we have to remember that England haven't won in Ireland for a decade, and the last 2 times have been ugly. Ireland have experience and control in their team in a way that only comes with years of seasoning. »
