France v England

[Banquo]

On Curry's fitness, you would hope that the hip surgery might be fixing some underlying problems, and that, aligned with the enforced time off fir the rest of his body, plus the hopeful loss of the extra bulk put on so that he could fulfill one of Eddie's post 2019 foibles and shift to 8, will mean he's going to be more durable going forward.

If he is then, best case scenario is we get one of our few contenders to be world class back, in his best position at 7.

What was done to the hip, do you know?

[Galfon]

What was done to the hip, do you know?

six-hour operation to address 'arthritic change and tears to the labrum and cartilage' apparently..
from Planet R:

Curry was eventually left with three choices to treat what turned out to be a very serious injury.

“One was to leave it; that wasn’t going to happen the way I was walking and running,” he explained. “Two was [the surgery], and then three was the resurfacing where they put the metal in. I wasn’t ready for that, I wanted to keep my hip. The surgery was the best option of the three.”

Can see him back playing at some stage but will certainly be different for him.

[Galfon]

That 6'8 " 23 st. Kiwi/Samoan/Oz newbie for Fra is humungous in size ( now playing at Toulouse).
Some of the collisions will be off the scale in Lyon.

[Puja]

That 6'8 " 23 st. Kiwi/Samoan/Oz newbie for Fra is humungous in size ( now playing at Toulouse).
Some of the collisions will be off the scale in Lyon.

Wild to think that he couldn't get a contract in Aus and not for want of trying. Something very wrong with their talent identification there.

Puja

[Spiffy]

So... is Earl a number 8 yet?

He certainly seems to have found his niche in that slot after a run of very good games. He's actually bigger than the world's best 8 - Ardie Savea (who may also be the best 7). His head to head with Aldritt on Saturday will be a good tester.

Makes you wonder how England would have fared by sticking with Sam Simmonds and tweaking their game plan at the time to suit his style.

[Galfon]

Wild to think that he couldn't get a contract in Aus and not for want of trying. Something very wrong with their talent identification there.
Puja

Glancing at the surnames across the Fra 23 there appears to be a fruitful talent channel when it comes to bulk, though at least Manu won't be up against his nephew (Henry's lad) playing at Perpignan, still a teenager but tipping the scales at a plentiful c 23.5 st.
Any higher and they'll be due a .
It's been raised on this organ before, but the reliance on bomb-squad, blob-squad, finishers whatever .. just takes the gloss off some matches.

[Banquo]

So... is Earl a number 8 yet?

He certainly seems to have found his niche in that slot after a run of very good games. He's actually bigger than the world's best 8 - Ardie Savea (who may also be the best 7). His head to head with Aldritt on Saturday will be a good tester.

Makes you wonder how England would have fared by sticking with Sam Simmonds and tweaking their game plan at the time to suit his style.

I did posit that Simmonds might be spitting blood somewhere.

[Which Tyler]

So... is Earl a number 8 yet?

IMO, once someone's played a full season's worth of matches in a certain position then, at the very least, they're not "out of position" there.
So 25-30; Earl is on 32 starts (and I'm sure, more when filling in).

On top of that, he's performed very well there, and is rightly the incumbent for England.

[Banquo]

So... is Earl a number 8 yet?

IMO, once someone's played a full season's worth of matches in a certain position then, at the very least, they're not "out of position" there.
So 25-30; Earl is on 32 starts (and I'm sure, more when filling in).

On top of that, he's performed very well there, and is rightly the incumbent for England.

done bloody well tbf....esp he didnnt regularly start there for anyone until august 23- he didn't start there at all in the season 22/23 til then, nor that much at all in others, dotted about over 6 seasons or so.

[TheDasher]

Earl is just exceptional, 1st name on the team sheet and 100% a number 8.

Underhill is I feel underrated - he was immense against Ireland and the value of having this immovable tackling object in the pack is sometimes overlooked, a bit like with Big Joe Worsley, although Underhill hits harder I'd say. He was a big part of what stopped Ireland getting up a head of steam I thought.

[Danno]

Earl is just exceptional, 1st name on the team sheet and 100% a number 8.

Underhill is I feel underrated - he was immense against Ireland and the value of having this immovable tackling object in the pack is sometimes overlooked, a bit like with Big Joe Worsley, although Underhill hits harder I'd say. He was a big part of what stopped Ireland getting up a head of steam I thought.

Fair now, but he's definitely been playing his way into form from the start of the tournament. He was not great.

[TheDasher]

Earl is just exceptional, 1st name on the team sheet and 100% a number 8.

Underhill is I feel underrated - he was immense against Ireland and the value of having this immovable tackling object in the pack is sometimes overlooked, a bit like with Big Joe Worsley, although Underhill hits harder I'd say. He was a big part of what stopped Ireland getting up a head of steam I thought.

Fair now, but he's definitely been playing his way into form from the start of the tournament. He was not great.

He's not often eye catching like Curry, but he tackles on the gainline, genuinely stops people - he must stop so many metres from bring conceded. Poor vs Italy and improved in every game since... good vs Scotland and Ireland, great vs Argentina too. The backrow vs Ireland was awesome, just hoping it wasn't a one off.

[francoisfou]

The locals down here are not exactly full of confidence and are already getting their knives out for Galthié, especially after last night’s result!

[Danno]

Earl is just exceptional, 1st name on the team sheet and 100% a number 8.

Underhill is I feel underrated - he was immense against Ireland and the value of having this immovable tackling object in the pack is sometimes overlooked, a bit like with Big Joe Worsley, although Underhill hits harder I'd say. He was a big part of what stopped Ireland getting up a head of steam I thought.

Fair now, but he's definitely been playing his way into form from the start of the tournament. He was not great.

He's not often eye catching like Curry, but he tackles on the gainline, genuinely stops people - he must stop so many metres from bring conceded. Poor vs Italy and improved in every game since... good vs Scotland and Ireland, great vs Argentina too. The backrow vs Ireland was awesome, just hoping it wasn't a one off.

It's the old form/class adage

[morepork]

I'm really looking forward to this. Two giants that are currently less than the sum of their parts. I hope both teams show up.

[16th man]

Earl is just exceptional, 1st name on the team sheet and 100% a number 8.

Underhill is I feel underrated - he was immense against Ireland and the value of having this immovable tackling object in the pack is sometimes overlooked, a bit like with Big Joe Worsley, although Underhill hits harder I'd say. He was a big part of what stopped Ireland getting up a head of steam I thought.

Unlike Joe Worsley, he doesn't mean you're playing with 14 when you have the ball.

[16th man]

God knows how we coughed up that many points to Scotland.

[Mr Mwenda]

God knows how we coughed up that many points to Scotland.

Scotland were better than today (after 50 mins); they got the bounce of the ball; england shat themselves after dropping too many balls.

Little comfort at all I know.

[16th man]

Russell has had a miserable game.

[Which Tyler]

Ire v Sco match has taken all the pressure and tension out of France v England.

Whoever can find some intensity with nothing to play for, is likely to win.
You'd always favour the home team in that situation.

[Mr Mwenda]

What happened to Biggles there? Seemed to be quite a dearth of replays.

[Stom]

What happened to Biggles there? Seemed to be quite a dearth of replays.

No idea how he did it, but his calf went.

[Galfon]

Fortunate start - pity about the required re-Furb.
Eng slow-down tactics bring fruit.

[Mr Mwenda]

Smith does a Furbank there, silly.

[Galfon]

Smith at sea there - great passing.