England vs Scotland - minute-by-minute

[Puja]

Here we are again, folks, for another over analytical deep-dive.

Minute 1: Smith takes the first kick off, to the resounding sound of the anti-Farrell-posters losing a hobby horse, and it's all very competently done with the ball landing on the 22 and Malins making the tackle. The Scots kick doesn't go out and Steward carries up - there is potential space for the wide pass to Smith, but he opts to go straight forward and set a platform.

We then show off what we've been working on in training - two hard forward carries with sub 3s rucks due to dedicated clearers and fast work by JVP. We have a hint of an overlap, but Smith kicks into the corner, trapping Russell on his own 5m line. It's nice, but I think I'd've preferred keeping the ball in hand some more. In fact, I'm going to start a tally, as I suspect this will become a theme - Kicking Away Decent Attacking Ball: Smith x1

Minute 2: Scotland set themselves and eventually box kick away, but White doesn't find touch. Malins carries up well before getting levelled by a Gilchrist shoulder that looked like a direct shot to the head on live viewing and really does here too. Still, no-one complains and we don't see any replays, so it's probably just the angle.

This time our rucking is significantly shitter - Ludlam does an excellent job of getting low and securing the ball, but Sinckler decides to lean on the top and ruck-inspect. Usually I'd say he achieves nothing, but he somehow managed to achieve negative amounts by being in such a poor position that a Scottish player can shove him back into JVP, causing a knock on. I'd blamed JVP for that on first viewing, but Sinckler deserves a smack for neither rucking nor getting the hell out of the way.

Minute 3: So much for the vaunted speeding up of the game, as we go to our traditional line: "Nothing happens as both sides fail to scrummage."

Minute 4: Half of this minute is taken up with scrum as well, but this time the ball comes out. Scotland do an odd move where they go 8 pops to 9 on the right, who then flings a long pass left to the other side of the scrum, but it works as JVP and Dombrandt both go flying to the blind, only to have to turn and run the other direction like they're doing a bleep test.

Farrell does a decent defensive job of backing off Russell until the inside defence makes it across (JVP busting a gut very admirably) and Scotland make 30m without properly breaking us. Kick on to Steward who gets something for his highlights reel by running over Tuipulotu. The ball is there and we could be looking to move it quick, but JVP waits to slow things down - I was annoyed at the time, but I think he's right - our wide players are the props just making it back from the scrum. Granted, so are Scotland's and if we'd gone fast, we might've been able to exploit them, but overall, I'd say it's right not to go harem-scarem this early in the match.

Minute 5: After some very slow ball at the next phaase, JVP sets up the caterpillar and boxes. It's a little bit long, but we chase well and Malins intercepts a silly Russell pass, only to get overenthused about his own pass and hurl it past Chessum who fumbles his recovery and is lucky not to concede a scrum.

We carry back to the middle and JVP goes back blind. Some decent hands set Chessum away does the wing, but he tries an offload that was never on to Malins (who didn't have any space anyway even if it went to hand), so the ball goes forwards. Not Chessum's best minute that one!

[Puja]

Minute 6: I thought we were going to get a scrum, but the ref calls a good Scotland shove as a joint fault collapse and we reset.

Minute 7: Ref gives a free-kick against England for driving early which feels harsh as both sides were playing silly beggars, but at least he's made a decision. Hogg kicks long to our 22, Malins catches and returns the favour to Hogg, who kicks back to Malins.

Minute 8: Malins kicks long, but this time finds grass down the centre. Russell eventually brings it to heel and kicks for touch, but it's given Ludlam a chance to put in the first Hit On Russell Which Isn't Technically Late But Is Definitely To Put Him Off. There'll be a few of those too from memory.

A nice bit of lineout movement sees us take the ball and look like we're mauling, but BCurry shows off those scrum-half skills by passing it out to the backs. It's another bit of set play, I think, as we get another 2 sub-3s rucks and quick JVP ball. Once again though, Smith kicks away with an overlap and this one is worse than the first - Malins is clear down the right if he passes and, to add insult to injury, the kick is too long anyway and is touched down in goal. We'd be screaming bloody murder if that was Farrell. Kicking Away Decent Attacking Ball: Smith x2

Minute 9: Itoje calls for the goal-line dropout, but then doesn't jump for it for some reason and gets beaten by VDM. I'm not saying "drop him", but that was Launchbury-esque and not in the complimentary way.

Ludlam gets onto the loose ball though and it's ours outside the 22 with a decent carry by Curry. Sinckler then causes his second ruck fuck-up of the first 10 minutes by pushing in front of JVP who was looking for quick ball, and playing a very langorous job of scrum-half himself. We do reset to another quick ruck and Farrell is at 10, throwing a nice long pass out to give Marchant a 1-on-1 which he uses for a half-break. It's very quick ball again, but Steward is pinged for a neck roll in the ruck, which is a fair cop.

Minute 10: Scotland kick to touch and win the lineout uncontested. Tuipulotu runs at Smith, who doesn't exactly go in with good tackle technique, but he's got body guards in George and Dombrandt so he doesn't need to. Dombrandt puts in two very good tackles in quick succession and gets out of the way twice of the 9 who is looking for obstruction penalties, so praise where it's due there.

[Puja]

Minute 11: The ball is pulled back to Russell to kick and Farrell's eyes light up as he targets a ribcage. Hit On Russell Which Isn't Technically Late But Is Definitely To Put Him Off: Ludlam x1, Farrell x1

Slow ball and we lok like we're boxing, but the ball is passed to Smith who kicks long and kinda aimlessly to the Scots 22. Russell has a free catch and 20m to the nearest English chaser. He wastes it by kicking aimlessly to Smith, who then kicks aimlessly to Hogg, who then tries a SPIRAL BOMB. Doesn't really work - the ball doesn't go high enough and bounces harmlessly to OHC who thinks about a run... and then kicks back.

Minute 12: It's a nice kick from OHC, tbh, as it does find grass, but Scotland kick out for the lineout. We're looking to take these very quickly today and it's front ball to Ludlam who taps off the top. We're going quick again - 3s ruck, followed by 1s, a JVP snipe. Next up is a BCurry carry which goes backwards a little, but it's still 3s ruck ball which is disappointingly kicked away by JVP. We'd not gone forward that phase, but there were plenty of players on their feet and it felt like a waste. Kicking Away Decent Attacking Ball: Smith x2, JVP x1.

Minute 13: Scotland sportingly kick us the ball back and a Steward up and under is nearly recovered. It isn't though, so Scotland reset to a caterpillar and kick to Steward who kicks well to find grass. The Scotland kick is pressured and lands with OHC in space who looks to see whether a run is on.

Minute 14: OHC neither backs himself to make it on the outside, nor cuts back inside to where the forwards are. Instead he ends up in the 15m channel with only Smith for support and some decent Scottish jackalling wins the turnover (although Smith does do a better job than some flankers at trying to prevent it).

Scotland kick long and take their time over the lineout. It goes over the top to their back man who feeds onto Russell and... oh dear. This isn't any better on second or third viewing. It's a nice, solid lineout move by the Scots and it's bypassed our entire forward pack and inside defence, but 14 out of the 15 English players have read it and defended it really well, drifting out and numbering up to make sure that we've left no gaps.

Our 15th player, on the other hand, Captain Fucking Chaos himself, thinks he has read the pull-back to Russell and fancies another big hit. Not only is he laughably slow to read it - the ball has long gone before Farrell's even within a metre of getting his fingertips on him - he actually cuts in front of Smith, who has actually read the play well enough to not only drift onto Russell in the first place, but to be starting to drift onto as he's seen the ball has gone. Not only does he abandon the player he should be taking in the defensive system, but he cuts across the inside man who might've got there to cover for him.

It's woefully, woefully selfish play. The epitome of individual glory ahead of teamwork. How is that man captaincy material? How?!

Jones walks through a gap the size of the Grand Canyon. Marchant's left scrabbling on all fours like Wile E Coyote trying to change direction, at the realisation that the captain has just upped and abandoned the entire defensive system (Sorry, still not getting over this), but gets back well enough to forces Jones into OHC who does a great job to make a cover tackle, but the ball is offloaded and the attack keeps going.

Minute 15: There is some incredible scramble defence going on from a few people here, including some good soak tackles and slowing of ball. BCurry concedes a penalty for a jackal which is kinda 50:50, but I think overall is an experience thing - it probably wasn't worth trying it at that ruck. Scotland use the advantage with a wild pass to Tuipulotu who looks like he's about to get munched but instead puts through a beautiful grubber kick that bounces perfectly for Jones to score. It's great skill and a lovely finish - we just don't have our sweeper in place because Malins, Steward and OHC were all involved in the scramble defence of our line and no-one has been organised enough to step in for them. Possibly a defensive system fail? Maybe, but that's one part a team still learning the patterns and one part some excellent finishing by Scotland.

[Puja]

Minute 16: We see the replay of Farrell's Great Adventure from the overhead camera and oh gods, it's even worse from there. We had everything covered as long as he did what everyone else in the defensive line was doing and there was never, ever, ever, ever, any possible slight chance that he could get to Russell to do anything but a HORWITLBIDTPHO. And that's a fun and entertaining tactic in their half, when you're a spare defender and you're not required anywhere, but on our 22, when a lineout move has taken out our entire pack and you are part of the only defensive line? Jesus wept.

Worst thing of all? He doesn't even get there with enough time to put a proper hit in on Russell. I mean, we can thank heavens for small mercies that he's got to the stage where he doesn't just put in an illegal tackle for funsies, but if you're going to completely tear apart a defensive line to chase individual glory with a big tackle on the player that's **NOT YOUR PLAYER TO COVER**, then at least get there in time to bury the fucker.

Dallaglio suggests that the defensive mistake wouldn't've happened if he'd been playing 10. Nope, cause if he'd tried that kind of stuff playing 10 it still would've been a problem, just one player further in. Smith was doing the right thing by treading water and drifting out.

I'm not going to stop being angry about this, but I should probably stop writing about it now. Russell dabs over the conversion.

Minute 17: England kick off and it's functional again - down into the 22 and tackled on the edge of it. However, Itoje and Chessum give away an incredibly dull penalty for being offside in defence. It's harsh in that they're not massively offside and would get away with it 8 times out of 10, but it's stupid in that it gains us absolutely nothing. Take one step further back and Scotland have to kick to us instead of getting a free lineout 30m up the pitch.

Minute 18: Scotland throw over the top again, but Curry and Smith have both read it and hit Tuipulotu hard enough to force a knock-on and then Dombrandt earns a penalty. Smith kicks us down to the 22m.

Minute 19: George overthrows the lineout - it wasn't a great call as we went up at the same place as the Scots jumper, but this one's definitely the hooker's fault on the throw. Thankfully it's Scotland's turn to kick away an attack for no reason and Steward gets a free ball. He kicks poor straight to Russell, but he kicks poorly straight to Malins who at least kicks well to VDM. Scotland run it up and Curry might feel very aggrieved not to get rewarded for his jackal - looked just as good as the turnover on OHC earlier.

Minute 20: White box kicks too long to Steward who does okay, but has definitely had better kick returns. We then take it up slowly and set up a box-kick for JVP to kick slightly too long, although the chase is good.

[Puja]

Minute 21: White looks like he's going to box, but instead passes to Russell who puts up a bomb while Ludlam puts in another Hit On Russell Which Isn't Technically Late But Is Definitely To Put Him Off: Ludlam x2, Farrell x1. Tbh, that one was probably a touch late, but it's close enough to get away with it.

The tactic is working though - Russell definitely had his eye on Ludlam coming towards him and skews the kick so badly that none of our catchers are anywhere near it as we expected better. Malins reacts earliest and gets closest, realises that he's not going to catch it and instead focusses on getting his footballing skills out to kick it on the full. He makes good contact to grubber through and Russell discovers that the bounce of a rugby ball always hates you when he goes for a flash one-handed pickup and the ball changes direction just in front of him. Malins sticks his boot on it again and regathers in the 22.

Quick ball with Curry playing 9 again. We carry up, recycle, and go blind where Malins draws and puts Chessum through a hole. For a minute he looks like he might make it, but Scotland drag him down and then flop over the ball in an attempt to kill it. JVP does well to pry it out, but the ball flies loose and ends up bobbling out to Smith on the edge of the 22. He dummies a massive pass over the top to a completely invisible winger, before darting inside for a half break and offloading to Dombrandt.

Minute 22: It's quick ball and Sinckler once again gets in the way of JVP to try and play 9, but this time Jack gives him a hefty shove to knock him over and out the way to claim the ball for himself. The delay is enough that White can get in on JVP, interfering enough with the pass to make Genge have to stop and gather rather than charge over the line. He tries a back of the hand offload to Farrell, but it's never going to hand and we come back for the penalty.

Either JVP needs to be louder or Sinckler needs to obey more. I like that forwards are looking to keep the ball moving by playing when the 9's not there, but that's the second time that Kyle's actively got in the way and, if he'd hit the ruck properly as he should do as first man, then White would've been cleared out anyway. That's a more time on the training pitch error though.

We tap and go with Genge, who picks up and runs sideways rather than picking up and running forwards. Odd, but there you are. Further cock-ups through unfamiliarity - Dombrandt is running a line around to the blind, JVP picks and looks to give the pop, but Dombrandt has already run through and is now ahead of the ball, but the pass has to go to someone, so Curry gets a ball standing still. It bobbles loose and we have to reset.

Minute 23: We've lost cohesion, so we stop and reset with one of our quick ball pods - Sinckler takes it up with a hard carry, Chessum and Curry are on the left and right to blast over the top and JVP gets 1s ruck ball. We do it again with Itoje carrying and Ludlam/Farrell clearing and it's good, albeit not exactly stressing the Scots defence. More phases occur, but we're not going anywhere nor really tying in defenders.

Finally, we get space on the outside with Farrell running onto a flat pass and flicking it on to the next man along in space to get it past the rush defender coming up on him (Yes, I know - I had to check the shirt number too, but it *is* him. He does do some things well) and we get a little bit of momentum.

Minute 24: Chessum and Itoje would be entitled to be miffed about their offside pen here - Scotland are consistently offside every phase and the ref's fine with it. We're back to bouncing off the 5m line again - it's relatively quick play and good rucking, but Scotland don't look worried.

Just literally as I typed that, Sinckler looks like he's going to carry and then pulls back to Smith, who takes it to the line and chips wide for Malins to score. A couple of things that were really good there - using Sinckler as an actual carrier, so that his pull-back returns to being a surprise instead of the thing that defences are expecting because it happens every time, and Farrell playing as an orthodox 12 and doing a good job - his line off Smith is what interests the defence to stay narrow and opens up the kick to Malins.

Minute 25: Replays of the try. Smith has put a little too much on that kick - compared to N'tmack's one the day after that lands perfectly for the winger, this one made Malins rely on the bounce of a rugby ball and required a good finish. That's a touch nitpicky, but I'm gonna be that guy.

Farrell has a conversion that's tough, but not insuperable. The commentators are giving him the big talk-up about how much he practices and how hard he works and how many times has he kicked this one on the training paddoc.. oh, he's missed it.


And, on that note, I think we'll call it there for the night. More will likely follow tomorrow. Do feel free to comment if you enjoy - it does keep me going and makes me feel like I'm not just a weirdo rambling to myself.

Puja

[Danno]

It's back

[Mellsblue]

Is it ok to comment that you’re a rambling weirdo?

[16th man]

Minute 3: So much for the vaunted speeding up of the game, as we go to our traditional line: "Nothing happens as both sides fail to scrummage."

Bart's classmates celebrating.gif

[Mr Mwenda]

Thanks, puja. Appreciated. Seems my memories of the first 20 minutes are fairly accurate. How rare!

[Banquo]

I love a bit of bias confirmation

[ad_tigger]

HORWITLBIDTPHO?

[Banquo]

55 scrabble points?

[Puja]

HORWITLBIDTPHO?

Hit On Russell Which Isn't Technically Late etc.

Puja

[Stom]

I’m glad you’ve done this.

I loved the hits on Russell, they were so brilliantly done, and I’m so glad Farrell is called out for that awful defense.

[Banquo]

I’m glad you’ve done this.

I loved the hits on Russell, they were so brilliantly done, and I’m so glad Farrell is called out for that awful defense.

....doesn't harm to repeat it I guess.....


the thing is, its his MO. He charges out of the line most games, and at 12 that's really damaging when it goes wrong- much less harmful at 10, though still not ideal. It isn't always so obvious- but he stitches his 13 up regularly.

[ad_tigger]

Also I enjoy these, especially as I spent 10 minutes yesterday explaining to a colleague why the first Scottish try was not a system issue but a moment of absolute idiocy on the part of one man. I'm very interested in your take on the VdM try of the epoch as well

[Puja]

I’m glad you’ve done this.

I loved the hits on Russell, they were so brilliantly done, and I’m so glad Farrell is called out for that awful defense.

....doesn't harm to repeat it I guess.....


the thing is, its his MO. He charges out of the line most games, and at 12 that's really damaging when it goes wrong- much less harmful at 10, though still not ideal. It isn't always so obvious- but he stitches his 13 up regularly.

It's often a good MO when the defence isn't stretched and can be very useful at turning attacks back inside. It's not an inherently bad manouevre. What made this one so egregious is the utter failure to read the situation that a) this was a team defensive moment in which he was badly needed and b) that he was too far away/too slow to achieve anything. One of those misreads is bad enough, two at once is instant dropping him territory.

Also I enjoy these, especially as I spent 10 minutes yesterday explaining to a colleague why the first Scottish try was not a system issue but a moment of absolute idiocy on the part of one man. I'm very interested in your take on the VdM try of the epoch as well

I'm looking forward to the VdM try as well - my initial reaction on live viewing was that it was Marchant's fault for drifting too wide and I'm interested to see if that holds up.

...I should really be working right now though, rather than faffing about on here, let alone doing a m-b-m...

Puja

[Banquo]

I’m glad you’ve done this.

I loved the hits on Russell, they were so brilliantly done, and I’m so glad Farrell is called out for that awful defense.

....doesn't harm to repeat it I guess.....


the thing is, its his MO. He charges out of the line most games, and at 12 that's really damaging when it goes wrong- much less harmful at 10, though still not ideal. It isn't always so obvious- but he stitches his 13 up regularly.

It's often a good MO when the defence isn't stretched and can be very useful at turning attacks back inside. It's not an inherently bad manouevre. What made this one so egregious is the utter failure to read the situation that a) this was a team defensive moment in which he was badly needed and b) that he was too far away/too slow to achieve anything. One of those misreads is bad enough, two at once is instant dropping him territory.

Also I enjoy these, especially as I spent 10 minutes yesterday explaining to a colleague why the first Scottish try was not a system issue but a moment of absolute idiocy on the part of one man. I'm very interested in your take on the VdM try of the epoch as well

I'm looking forward to the VdM try as well - my initial reaction on live viewing was that it was Marchant's fault for drifting too wide and I'm interested to see if that holds up.

...I should really be working right now though, rather than faffing about on here, let alone doing a m-b-m...

Puja

....as I said, its damaging when it goes wrong. I understand it can be a good move (more often at 13 tbh where no intervention means an easy overlap), but he does it poorly more often than not...his judgement isn't good (compared to say Barritt, who would call either him or the 13 snuffing an attack out).

[FKAS]

Love it.

[Mellsblue]

Farrell does his shooting out of the line at the wrong time far too often. It’s symptomatic of who I think he is as a player. He doesn’t have a feel for the flow of the game, he has a plan and he sticks to it, even if the situation demands something different. You see it in attack when he does something that works and he’ll then add it in to his game but use it too much and in the wrong situation. It’s all robotic and preprogrammed with not enough appreciation of what is happening at that moment. It’s the no1 reason why I don’t think he’s a test 10 (or at least my type of test 10) or captain.

[Oakboy]

Farrell does his shooting out of the line at the wrong time far too often. It’s symptomatic of who I think he is as a player. He doesn’t have a feel for the flow of the game, he has a plan and he sticks to it, even if the situation demands something different. You see it in attack when he does something that works and he’ll then add it in to his game but use it too much and in the wrong situation. It’s all robotic and preprogrammed with not enough appreciation of what is happening at that moment. It’s the no1 reason why I don’t think he’s a test 10 (or at least my type of test 10) or captain.

As a matter of interest, how much credit do you give Farrell for agreeing to play at 12 so often when he repeatedly states that he is a FH? It somehow reinforces his presence/value to the team/squad allegedly but I wonder if his attitude and acceptance of playing out of position is a large part of the problem. It is not just that he's a poor 12, it taints his mentality.

[Mellsblue]

Farrell does his shooting out of the line at the wrong time far too often. It’s symptomatic of who I think he is as a player. He doesn’t have a feel for the flow of the game, he has a plan and he sticks to it, even if the situation demands something different. You see it in attack when he does something that works and he’ll then add it in to his game but use it too much and in the wrong situation. It’s all robotic and preprogrammed with not enough appreciation of what is happening at that moment. It’s the no1 reason why I don’t think he’s a test 10 (or at least my type of test 10) or captain.

As a matter of interest, how much credit do you give Farrell for agreeing to play at 12 so often when he repeatedly states that he is a FH? It somehow reinforces his presence/value to the team/squad allegedly but I wonder if his attitude and acceptance of playing out of position is a large part of the problem. It is not just that he's a poor 12, it taints his mentality.

He has the same issues at 10 that he does at 12, for me.

[Banquo]

Farrell does his shooting out of the line at the wrong time far too often. It’s symptomatic of who I think he is as a player. He doesn’t have a feel for the flow of the game, he has a plan and he sticks to it, even if the situation demands something different. You see it in attack when he does something that works and he’ll then add it in to his game but use it too much and in the wrong situation. It’s all robotic and preprogrammed with not enough appreciation of what is happening at that moment. It’s the no1 reason why I don’t think he’s a test 10 (or at least my type of test 10) or captain.

As a matter of interest, how much credit do you give Farrell for agreeing to play at 12 so often when he repeatedly states that he is a FH? It somehow reinforces his presence/value to the team/squad allegedly but I wonder if his attitude and acceptance of playing out of position is a large part of the problem. It is not just that he's a poor 12, it taints his mentality.

He has the same issues at 10 that he does at 12, for me.

I'll mildly disagree- he's got enough ammo to be a kicking intl 10 and his tackling and defence can be covered up and indeed be an unexpected asset down a usually softer channel. But he stinks the place up at 12 generally where defensive lapses cost a lot more and you need some sort of running threat.

Groundhog day tho. 11 years of saying the same stuff about the same player.

[Which Tyler]

The shooting out thing, is just a thing that Farrell does.
Sarries made a virtue of it, by letting him do that from 10 and target the FH's outside shoulder to turn him back in to the heavy traffic, whilst his 9 takes Farrell's place in the defensive line before heading back into the sweeper role, and Barritt acting as a safety net defensive leader from 12

England got away with it during Eddie's first 4 years, not because Farrell wasn't making these same plays from 12 (the worst defensive position to be doing it, too much ground to cover to hit the 10, and not the leading edge of the defensive line looking to take the 13 man and ball), but because Ford knew he was going to, so again, drifted towards Farrell's place in the line, and again, there was a safety net defensive leader outside him in JJ.

With Smith inside, and Marchant outside, he's not being covered (though it sounds like Smith was doing so on Saturday), and Marchant simply isn't as good in defence as Barritt and Joseph (but then, who is?).

Oh, and @Puja - you ARE a weirdo rambling to yourself - especially at 1 in the morning!
But you're OUR weirdo rambling to yourself, and we love you for it.

[Banquo]

The shooting out thing, is just a thing that Farrell does.
Sarries made a virtue of it, by letting him do that from 10 and target the FH's outside shoulder to turn him back in to the heavy traffic, whilst his 9 takes Farrell's place in the defensive line before heading back into the sweeper role, and Barritt acting as a safety net defensive leader from 12

England got away with it during Eddie's first 4 years, not because Farrell wasn't making these same plays from 12 (the worst defensive position to be doing it, too much ground to cover to hit the 10, and not the leading edge of the defensive line looking to take the 13 man and ball), but because Ford knew he was going to, so again, drifted towards Farrell's place in the line, and again, there was a safety net defensive leader outside him in JJ.

With Smith inside, and Marchant outside, he's not being covered (though it sounds like Smith was doing so on Saturday), and Marchant simply isn't as good in defence as Barritt and Joseph (but then, who is?).

Oh, and @Puja - you ARE a weirdo rambling to yourself - especially at 1 in the morning!
But you're OUR weirdo rambling to yourself, and we love you for it.

I think Barritt used call that stuff- and as you say a 10 shooting out is nowhere near as damaging (if a fck up) as a 12 doing it. again As you say JJ and Barritt probs both undervalued as defenders- JJ is one of the best I've seen at 13.

So totally agree