Happy 61st birthday to one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time - and my favourite by far. Let’s hope, if there is some kind of heaven, he’s there to welcome his great friend, Murray ....... Can’t believe it’s nearly 27 years since we lost him
The infuriating thing is England are capable of playing fantastic rugby. They were brilliant against New Zealand in the WC semi-final and they were very good against France last week. I'm all for kicking the ball in the right scenarios - done well the kicking game is a good tactic but England rely on it far too much. It seems to me they're too impatient. They don't go through the phases like other teams do. And we all know about the absurd penalty count.
Exactly. As I say, they have the players, but, if you look at, particularly, France and Wales (plus NZ and Australia), they rely on one or two players suddenly doing something spontaneously, which is really difficult to defend. Teams playing England know that, 95% of the time, they’ll kick from the base of the scrum. With the inability (and probably unwillingness) of most referees to pull up “lazy running” where the catcher is protected by his team effectively blocking of any attempt to compete, this tactic doesn’t work unless the kick is spot on. Ford put one cracking kick up which came down under the Irish posts and very nearly caused a major issue for them, but that was about all. If they’d mix it up like both Wales and France did yesterday, they’d be much more difficult to defend against. As for the penalty count, well a few of them were almost schoolboy errors, though I do think the Irish scrum conned the ref by relaxing just a tiny bit before the ball went in, this making it look like England were pushing early. A very cute little bit of game play, which the English players should be professional enough to be able to compete against. The next 12 months will be very interesting for English rugby to see if they can truly build for the RWC or if they need to change direction. I hope they can get back to those wonderful performances like the RWC semifinal vs the ABs ......
Agreed, but I think Jones' intransigence and rigid adherence to 'doing things his way' is killing us now. Time to move him on (though they can't afford to sack him). It's very Mourinho at Tottenham in very many ways.
I’m afraid a lot of it is down to Ford and Farrell both trying to run the game. Despite Farrell’s fantastic kicking record I don’t rate him as a leader at all. I would prefer to drop him and have Ford solely in charge. There a host of centres who could step in, Jonathan Joseph being top of the list, but George Ford has shown in his time at Bath and Leicester how good his tactical play is. Maybe have one of the pack as captain, to keep discipline. My vote would be for Itoje, who rarely makes a mistake.
I’d definitely go for Itoje in a heartbeat. I’ve always thought (as an ex-fly half - yeah, alright, stop sniggering at the back, I was a lot thinner and fitter then) that you cannot captain a team if you play outside that position. It’s far better to have a skipper in the pack and a “leader of the backs” at 10 or centre. Most successful rugby teams have a skipper in the pack. Itoje is a player who should be England’s Alun Wynn-Jones - he has the capability to be a fixture for many years. Farrell is a good, but no longer a great player. Eddie should drop him and try out something new, but I doubt he will, due to intransigence.
Exactly Dave. Tom Curry would also fit the bill and like Maro, would lead by example, but Itoje is the standout forward of the current England setup. But while Jones insists on keeping Farrell in charge England won’t move up to the level they need to win a World Cup, especially if the indiscipline isn’t stopped.
RIP Johnny Drumfries https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19178755.johhny-dumfries-marquess-bute-dies-aged-62/
Yeah - absolutely. Now taken my sister, two cousins and a couple of good friends - all younger than me ....
Horrid news. I'd say your 'very good driver' part is...well...relative. In comparison to me, yes. In comparison to proper F1 drivers, not so much (though of course you don't win Le Mans if you're a fool).
Yes, he was not particularly successful in F1, think he only got one top 6 finish, but then he was up against Ayrton, though he did win at F3. He was much more successful in sports cars.