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...
New Zealand vs England – Focus on Englands Defensive Woes
Alas it was not to be, 3-0 to New Zealand. Expected? Maybe so, but England must have hoped for a test win. They showed a lot of encouraging signs but for all their endeavor they still came up significantly short. Combative yes, competitive, yes, but for about 30-40 minutes of the test series New Zealand tore England apart with attacking Rugby that exposed huge flaws in their game. Defence has been a big part of England's...
Anatomy of a Try – Ben Smith New Zealand vs England June2014
It's been a couple of weeks since our last Anatomy of a Try, or Video, but we touched on this try in our article focusing on the second test. It's an absolute gem and a lot happens in the sequence so I wanted to come back and break it down in a bit of detail. England had a great start to this test match but you're never going to sit on a lead against the All Blacks, so it can't have been much of a...
Keep it Simple Stupid – Focus on New Zealand vs England 2nd Test
Game two and the series to New Zealand. But did we expect anything less? While it was a very good game to watch, and England were competitive throughout, it was New Zealand’s ability, post half time break, to raise and maintain the intensity for a 20 minute period that was the major difference. Within those 20 minutes they gave one of the most clinical displays of attacking Rugby you are likely to see, but what struck...
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