Looks like a half decent team! Good to see the Armitage­ bros playing together, and the tough Goode probably­ deserves a chance over the obviously a-bit-flaky and­ still very young Cipriani. Still dunno why Banahan isnt­ in though.

What on earth are you talking about? It wasn't the­ forwards who were completely outclassed by the southern­ hemisphere teams. For the most part, England was on top­ in the scrum and competitive at the ruck. Yeah the ball­ was slow out from the ruck, but their ball wasn't­ much quicker (from the ruck). The main areas of concern­ compared to the southern hemisphere teams are
1.­ Fitness- look at where most of the points against­ england were scored: in the last 10-20 minutes.
2.­ Recycling the ball and support running- the ball went­ to ground far too much, there wasn't much­ offloading and, unlike the southern hemisphere teams,­ whenever there was a rare break, there was nobody in­ support so the breaker got caught, went to ground (on­ his own), thus leading to slow ball.
3. The backs.­ Full stop. Armitage was great under the high ball but I­ never saw him lead or participate in a good piece of­ attack. Sackey seems to be lazy and apathetic when the­ team isn't winning; running next to the person­ he's supposed to be tackling and tugging on their­ shirt occasionally. Flutey did nothing. Noon was­ alright in defence but brought about the end of any­ attack whenever he got the ball. We all know the­ problems with Cipriani. Care also looked slightly out­ of his depth and lacking in ideas. Basically, the ball­ was not passed out wide quickly enough, the wingers­ couldn't show their pace and the backs were unable­ to create space.
4. Kicking. Whether this is because­ of the ELVs or not, England kicked the ball away far­ too much when they should have kept possession. The­ kicking was poor, either not going far enough or­ failing to make touch and going straight to the­ opposition.
5. Discipline. The reason the Australia­ game was lost. Enough said really.

These are the main­ areas I would like to see improved. I fear 3 is not­ going to happen with the likes of Goode and Tindall­ though.

I idolize him very much. Just saw him chatting with a­ girl at____Meetrich Co m_____. I am wondering what kind­ of relationship he is looking for on that site.

Steffan should have been in the squad from the onset he­ is a good ball winner and hard carrier and bruising­ tackler.
its has been shown time and again that england­ cant compete with the all blacks or south africa just­ for the size and pace of their back rows eveident in­ the autum tests.
I think Rees is a good player but just­ lack that bit of bulk and go forward. You can say that­ Neil Back was not massive but he was an exceptional­ talent.

I'm lucky enough to have tickets for the game on­ satruday and i dont care what anyone says. win or lose­ it'll be excellent ... At the end of the day, yes­ its just a game but when england play as a team we have­ an excellent squad. guaranteed to entertain and surely­ its not all about the winning???? ok that side of it is­ nice but lets show the squad their country is behind­ them all the way

still trying to get my head around the matt stevens­ situation... he has been hung, drawn and quartered yet­ tindall returns like the prodigal son... I know that­ drugs are wrong, and it is an 'anti-social'­ habit, but surely there is nothing more anti-social­ than drink driving, and for him to have been banned for­ 3 years, it must have meant that he was absolutely­ mullered!!

englands problems are 4 - 8, scrum half and @#$% are­ poor also and centres are only ok.
You can't have­ excpect to win anything with poor players in these­ positions.
Can't believe croft isn't starting.­ Ireland for the Grand Slam!

I have to say that Goode looked quite a different­ player with Brive. It is clear someone got hold of him,­ made him train and get rid of his beer gut. He now­ looks more lik a professional sports person in­ appearance. Let's face it, we don't have a­ surplus of No. 10's and at least he has been there.­ His kicking is still top drawer and if that is what we­ need to win a game - so be it even though I would­ prefer to see some free flowing try scoring moves. We­ live in hope - but not expectation.

i hope this is good for england he has not had much­ time in a england shirt

It's only the first game,give the guys a chance all­ you pessimists!

i really feel bad for england.their team looks really­ poor.they shud look to restoring their pride by beating­ italy,but they wont find it easy.dropping­ cips?stupid.although he is struggling hes your best­ hope.as an irish man im very confident and i believe we­ have one hell of a squad all around,in fact i dont­ think borthwick would make our "A" team to be­ honest.i do feel sorry for england,a team who not to­ long ago could beat a southern hemisphere team..

Yet again the safety first, nil adventure approach -­ depressingly lacking in adventure and typical of this­ infuriating fear of failure that paralyses the England­ management.

The midfield selection is a fudge - Flutey­ is still finding his way, but Tindall? A good, solid­ centre, but he's not creative, his distribution is­ inconsistent and he lacks pace. Goode is a decent­ player - but a stereotypical kicking English 10. He­ offers no imagination or creativity, he is pedestrian,­ plays to script and is entirely predictable. He will­ not cause second guessing to any back row and is­ therefore very easy to defend against and contain.

The­ flair players, who do have creativity, imagination and­ pace are either overlooked or stuck on the bench.­ Geraghty is a class player, creative and quick, with­ quick ball he will be a major threat. Geraghty should­ be at 10. It's well past time that Mathew­ Tait's class, speed and elusive skills were­ recognised, the flawed old rubbish about him being too­ small - is boring clap trap. Tait should be at 13.

The­ back 3 are solid selections, Cueto deserves his recall­ and is proven at this level.
Up front, Mr Borthwick -­ great bloke, but sadly not the ticket at this level as­ player or captain. Kennedy is new so time will tell.­ The back row - Haskell is in on merit and with the­ injuries at 7, Armitage too, great opportunity for him.­ Easter is an honest, hard working forward, easy to­ admire and respect, but he's old school, lacking in­ athleticism.

Front row - the props select themselves,­ Mears is adequate - but Hartley still has to prove his­ temperament and technical quality. Bullocking round the­ field is one thing, but the ability to consistently cut­ it in this most technical position and at this level -­ quite another.

Depressing that no attacking instinct­ is shown in selection - Mr J should be expansive and­ have the willingness to dare - then empower the players­ to do so on the field.

Dunhookin 03/02/09

Team selection at 10 , seems like select reverse gear .­ A win is a win but if England want to progress they­ need more behind the pack .
Can't see this side­ doing much .

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We are waiting in the valleys and licking our lips­ ready to whip their @#$%. It will be a massacre by the­ red devils

Why is Lisaluse02, some brass from the US allowed to­ solicit on this message board?

Why is my criticism of Johnson's choice at 10­ 'Invalid Comment' when some old brass from the­ US allowed to solicit on this message board?

'Invalid Comment' - Huh, Jonno must be vetting­ the message board!!

egg chasers...who cares?

It is about time teams were picked on form and not­ reputation, geraghty should be playing at 10, goode in­ my opinion should not even be in the squad. England­ need to start trying the running game, foden should be­ 15 he is the in form full back at the moment. So come­ on Johnno have a word with yourself.