England vs Scotland - minute-by-minute

[Mellsblue]

There’s a clip doing the rounds, which I obvs now can’t find, of DVDM changing the ball from right to left hand just as Dombrandt is attempting to tackle. I wonder if Dombers was thinking “I’ll target the ball and knock it loose or, worst case scenario, prevent an offload… oh balls”.

[Banquo]

There’s a clip doing the rounds, which I obvs now can’t find, of DVDM changing the ball from right to left hand just as Dombrandt is attempting to tackle. I wonder if Dombers was thinking “I’ll target the ball and knock it loose or, worst case scenario, prevent an offload… oh balls”.

that was really high skills in transferring the ball to make the hand off.

Dombrandt goes to Faz's tackle school, no try. Until its recycled.

[Puja]

There’s a clip doing the rounds, which I obvs now can’t find, of DVDM changing the ball from right to left hand just as Dombrandt is attempting to tackle. I wonder if Dombers was thinking “I’ll target the ball and knock it loose or, worst case scenario, prevent an offload… oh balls”.

That is both excellent camera work and a gorgeous, gorgeous try. The majority of test wingers are taken down by Chessum's tap tackle, Cheslin Kolbe would be proud of the ridiculous step to beat JVP, and you are bang on that his ball transfer is perfect and probably does do for Dombrandt (although if he'd put in a good technique tackle rather than a hug, it wouldn't've mattered). Full marks to the man - we can nitpick about the ways we could've stopped it, but the fact still remains that that is a special piece of work by a very talented player.

Puja

[Mikey Brown]

Boooo Mr Blobby

[Banquo]

There’s a clip doing the rounds, which I obvs now can’t find, of DVDM changing the ball from right to left hand just as Dombrandt is attempting to tackle. I wonder if Dombers was thinking “I’ll target the ball and knock it loose or, worst case scenario, prevent an offload… oh balls”.

That is both excellent camera work and a gorgeous, gorgeous try. The majority of test wingers are taken down by Chessum's tap tackle, Cheslin Kolbe would be proud of the ridiculous step to beat JVP, and you are bang on that his ball transfer is perfect and probably does do for Dombrandt (although if he'd put in a good technique tackle rather than a hug, it wouldn't've mattered). Full marks to the man - we can nitpick about the ways we could've stopped it, but the fact still remains that that is a special piece of work by a very talented player.

Puja

stopped at source is the thing there.....

[Scrumhead]

There’s a clip doing the rounds, which I obvs now can’t find, of DVDM changing the ball from right to left hand just as Dombrandt is attempting to tackle. I wonder if Dombers was thinking “I’ll target the ball and knock it loose or, worst case scenario, prevent an offload… oh balls”.

That is both excellent camera work and a gorgeous, gorgeous try. The majority of test wingers are taken down by Chessum's tap tackle, Cheslin Kolbe would be proud of the ridiculous step to beat JVP, and you are bang on that his ball transfer is perfect and probably does do for Dombrandt (although if he'd put in a good technique tackle rather than a hug, it wouldn't've mattered). Full marks to the man - we can nitpick about the ways we could've stopped it, but the fact still remains that that is a special piece of work by a very talented player.

Puja

Fixed your closing statement …

A special piece of work by a very talented South African player.

[Mikey Brown]

Who fucking cares?

[Puja]

Minute 71: We might get relatively quick ball from Earl's break, but we're not especially organised - Ludlam is sent in on the crash on his own and it takes a bit of luck and a very good clear out by Cole to not concede the turnover. It's slow ball and made slower by Youngs deciding to pass to the invisible fairy standing two feet in front of Smith. Our boy Marcus gets a good bounce, takes it to the line and uses Farrell as an orthodox hard-running 12, which works very well and makes you wonder why they didn't use it the rest of the time.

It's quick ball and we have a hint of a 4-on-3, which Smith gives serious thought to kicking aimlessly away before deciding he doesn't want to be further up the list and passing it on. Scotland bring up their sweeper, but Watson makes ground into the 22. We get quick ball again, but MakoV just gets utterly stopped on the gainline from a nice tip-on, in the same situation where Genge was making yards every time. Smith then gets the ball and dithers until his only option is to put Watson in trouble on his inside, although in fairness, his outside options aren't great - Itoje is running level with him in a position where any pass would be forward, Farrell is walking and showing no inclination to want the ball, and Cole is ambling about in a way that screams, "I'm here to clear out the next ruck and be dummied to, please don't actually pass me the ball." I've been there Dan.

It's slow ball, but it's still *our* ball on the edge of the 22, so I'm still going to blame Smith for Kicking Away Decent Attacking Ball: Youngs x1, Farrell x1, Smith x3, JVP x1.. It's not a terrible kick; it does put them under pressure, but it's given the ball back to the Scots and he got lucky that they screwed the kick and gave it straight back to him.

Smith has the ball, 30m out, middle of the pitch, 10m runup to the nearest Scot and... doesn't have anything. Doesn't look to break wide and test the puffing Scots forwards, with Malins and Earl in support, doesn't look to do a chip and chase into the space that's wide open because the sweeper and full-back are over in the other corner having dealt with his last kick, just ambles forward until the Scots have got their defensive line together and then asks Malins to run at them. Malins does okay and makes it up to the 22, but Chessum commits the most obvious penalty of the match - he's shagged out from running back and forth for the past two minutes and chasing kicks up and back and, while he makes it to the ruck first, his legs go and he just flops down over it. I've been there too - it's possible these bits of empathy I'm having are because I'm not very fit, rather than me putting in the workrate of an international forward.

Minute 72: Scotland throw the lineout over the top to Tuipulotu running at Smith, but Smith takes his legs and Ludlam's playing bodyguard anyway and levels him. There's a couple of unassuming phases and Russell kicks for touch, but lands it on the line, so it's a lineout back.

Minute 73: We throw to Chessum at the front again and RIP Fantasy Rugby because he'd be scoring bucketloads for these takes in that. We maul again and it's significantly better than last time, although that's a low bar to trip over. We're still not especially low or dynamic, but it's enough to make steady forward motion and take us into the Scots half with some good attacking ball, that Youngs promptly kicks away. I've only really been giving the count for offences solidly inside the 40m so far, but I'm counting this one because it's a) secure ball in their half, b) moving forwards, and c) so shitely executed that it deserves obloquy. Steyn catches it inside his 22, under so little pressure that there's not an England player within 5m, despite the wingers having been up and flying on the chase.

Kicking Away Decent Attacking Ball: Youngs x2, Farrell x1, Smith x3, JVP x1.

Minute 74: The mark is kicked down into our half, Youngs catches and decides to see if he can do a better kick. He does in the sense that this one doesn't land inside the 22m for an easy mark, but Steward's still 5m away from Russell when he catches it, despite having been sprinting level when the ball hit boot. Russell passes wide and Steward gives him a little shove which technically counts as a Hit On Russell Which Isn't Technically Late But Is Definitely To Put Him Off: Steward x1, Itoje x1, Curry x 1 Ludlam x2, Farrell x1.

Scotland go wide and our chase is haphazard and tired, allowing Scotland to go up to the 10m line without any real challenge and up to halfway with a basic offload. A mixture of quick ball and a very low level of energy to fold around leaves a gap in the midfield and, while Itoje and Watson do well to close it, there's more quick ball and England's defence is all over the place. Full marks to Itoje, Ludlam, and Earl who are making a lot of effort to get in the right positions. A solid What-The-Fuck-Is-The-Point-Of-You to Mako and Isiekwe who once again are not showing any particular energy to fold around to the openside for the second ruck in a row. Marchant looks like he's trying to get round, but isn't doing it with any great urgency, meaning that Youngs can't drift and thus Russell can pass over the top to Steyn who's free down the right.

Youngs races back, hilariously signalling to Steward at Steyn, like he's offering the advice of, "Tackle that one!" Steward does bring him down one-on-one, despite the step, although he is still a bit long and arm-tackley for my liking. Scotland get lightning quick ball though and fling it the other side, where they have a 6-on-2, except one of the 2 is MakoV and he's just... not drifting for some reason? He's not blitzing either, just... standing still and waiting for them to come to him. Utterly bizarre and all he accomplishes is being an obstacle to Farrell who is desperately racing across to try and help. The pass goes, Malins ends up with a 3-on-1 and no sign of cover coming (NICHOLAS AKAMONYE ISIEKWE WHY ARE YOU JOGGING?!) and he goes for his only hope of trying to take Gray man-and-ball, but the pass goes and it's a 2-on-0 with the outside man being DVDM.

Minute 75: Farrell and Smith are pelting across trying to get there, but they're easy to step and Malins chasing back has no way to stop him before he crosses the line. MakoV flops on top after the try is scored, like he's just realised he was supposed to be doing something.

[Puja]

Minute 76: Replays. It's a great try by Scotland - accurate, fast passing, great decision-making, attacking where we're weak, and another top-drawer finish by DVDM. We've been massively weakened by most of our subs though - Cole, Mako, and Isiekwe are ambling about, while Ludlam and Farrell are running like mad things despite having played the whole game. I will begrudgingly accept it from Cole, as we're short on tighthead options and it's not like we didn't know what we were getting when we brought him back. He's got limitations, but who the hell else is there to pick right now? Mako and Isiekwe, on the other hand, need to be shown this try on repeat, until they come up with a valid answer to, "Why weren't you running?"

Russell scores the conversion and we've got time for the kick-off - it is once again functional and to the Scotland pod at the edge of the 22. Do we not think that now would be the time for a short one and send Marchant or Steward up to reclaim it? We're 6 points down with 4 minutes to play - would not ball be useful? Or, put it right in the corner and make them kick back to our lineout? This just seems like a nothing tactic.

Minute 77: Scotland reset with a voluntary ruck in the 22 and then kick away through Russell, who finds Smith just inside our half. Smith runs, ball in one hand, dummies a switch with Watson, before accelerating through a gap. Where the hell has this been all game?! Scotland cheat very effectively and subtly to slow the ball (not mad - good play), but it's still relatively quick before Mako takes the ball up and just bounces off the Scotland defence to get tackled behind the gainline again. He has been *dire*.

We resuscitate with a good George carry, and Earl takes a flat ball at pace, interests two defenders, before popping it to Watson in space. Scotland cover, but we're up to the edge of the 22 and a nice offload by Itoje to Lawrence (who has come on for a 3 minute triumphant appearance) takes us over it. Unfortunately we then pass to Mako, who improves by catching the ball and making an actual whole metre in contact, but it's still lost us ground.

Minute 78: We run another phase and then Isiekwe follows Mako's example by getting folded without breaking the gainline. These two are suffering from the minute-by-minute review. The ball is painfully slow because of this, but Youngs out to Farrell, who passes to... oh fuck me softly, it's Mako Vunipola on the crash ball who gets stopped without making any ground by Finn bloody Russell. Further slow ball ensues, but Farrell does a good job by running at a gap and then popping the ball to Ludlam on the charge to go through the hole he just opened and we're back up to where we were before the Mako-Isiekwe-Mako carries.

Scotland give away a penalty and we have the advantage to do whatever we want with... Kicking Away Decent Attacking Ball: Youngs x3, Farrell x1, Smith x3, JVP x1.

In mild defence of Youngs, Malins has called this - he's spotted a bit of space behind the defensive line and is haring up to make the chase. In attack of Youngs, Malins is calling for a little dink over the top, landing about 10m forwards for him to run onto, while Youngs belts it so hard that it only just bounces the right side of the tryline. Malins realises Youngs has properly fucked it and runs into the back of the nearest Scot, taking a dive that any footballer should feel ashamed of. Thankfully the ref doesn't reverse the penalty for being a dick.

Minute 79: Make no bones about it, this is a poor kick from Smith. On the 22m, about 20m from touch, an international fly-half should be nailing that as a 5m lineout every single time, whereas this is 9.1m according to the smart ball. The commentator is talking up how much time we must've spent on our driving maul, but I'm nervous considering we've spent the majority of the game dummying a maul and playing out the back and the few times we've tried to maul, it's been messy. A dummy and play away would probably be really effective here, cause Scotland can't not defend the maul and it'd likely take them by surprise.

We throw to Chessum at the front and Scotland defend it really well - hitting hard and fast as soon as he hits the ground. It's reminiscent of the 2015 RWC against Wales actually - we've telegraphed that we're going to the front, we go up and down with the speed of a rusty cherry-picker, and are surprised when the opposition have picked their spots and pile into us. The ball gets back to Ludlam, but he's misread the situation - with the speed we're reversing, he's ended up in the middle of the forming maul rather than the back of it and he either needs to break away instantly or get the ball behind him so that it can go to where the new back is. He instead binds in and starts driving forward, which becomes a problem when the side of the maul is folded around and engulfs him.

Somehow, he gets the ball to the floor and out the back - I'm not sure how. I'll be honest, I wrote that entire paragraph above thinking he got held up and turned over there, but my memory obviously failed me. Well done Lewis.

Youngs makes sure a bad situation is worse, by picking up the ball, holding it for half a second to give the blitz a good head start, and then passing to Earl, who does pretty well from a standing start.

Minute 80: Lawrence does the same the next phase - it's all disorganised and ad-hoc, but individual carrying skills are seeing us creep forward and get cleaner ball. Same again with Itoje, then Earl, only for Youngs to pop to a stationary Isiekwe and offer him to the Scotland tight defence which slows our momentum. Smith takes the ball up and sends Earl on an inside ball, but he is tackled and the ref gives a penalty. I stand by my live opinion that this is a nonsense call for two reasons - firstly Gray hurls himself bodily off his feet over the top of the ruck to takes out the legs of all three English clearers and secondly Ritchie is in no way supporting his body weight. Plus it's a little bit irking that the penalty was given at 79.32 and the Scots were allowed to faff about until 80.04 before tapping and kicking it out. However, we were hardly stressing the Scots defence with that attack, so it's hardly like we were robbed.

Final scores:
Kicking Away Decent Attacking Ball: Youngs x3, Farrell x1, Smith x3, JVP x1.
Hit On Russell Which Isn't Technically Late But Is Definitely To Put Him Off: Steward x1, Itoje x1, Curry x 1 Ludlam x2, Farrell x1

[Puja]

It's no wonder Youngs was dropped. The wonder is that Isiekwe and MakoV survived. Plus BCurry feels very hard done by - he was probably the weakest of the flankers if we were sacrificing one of them for JWillis, but I'd still've dropped Dombrandt myself.

Puja

[Which Tyler]

Good job Puja. Thank you

[Cameo]

Even from a Scottish point of view I find that very interesting.

I agree the final lem could have gone the other way. Though I also agree Youngs' kick with advantage was truly terrible.

No reason for you to pick on it but that Russell kick straight out that you mention clearly landed in, and I was surprised wasn't overruled as it was shown clearly before the lineout was taken.. I'll take it though as we scored from the next few phases.

[Mr Mwenda]

Great, Puja. Ta.

[Banquo]

Great stuff modmeister

[FKAS]

It's no wonder Youngs was dropped. The wonder is that Isiekwe and MakoV survived. Plus BCurry feels very hard done by - he was probably the weakest of the flankers if we were sacrificing one of them for JWillis, but I'd still've dropped Dombrandt myself.

Puja

Isekwe could still be dropped for Ribbans though Ribbans forthcoming move to Toulon being announced may count against him.

Smith's aimless kicking and general faffing (it's well past time he dropped that crappy hitch kick) might see him down to the bench as well. Surely we can't have the defensive liability at 12 again.

Ludlum on the upside proved to be a great pick on the flank in the Lawes role.

[Banquo]

(in good news, Andy Nicol being dumped/leaving the beeb)

[Mellsblue]

Re Smith’s allegedly poor kick to Malins for the try, it turns out, from the horse’s mouth, that the reason it looked so difficult to take was because Malin’s briefly lost the ball in the lights and by the time he found it again “it probably would’ve been harder to catch it and then put it down so I thought it would be best to do it all in one motion”.

[p/d]

(in good news, Andy Nicol being dumped/leaving the beeb)

the cork has left the bottle!!!!!

[Banquo]

Re Smith’s allegedly poor kick to Malins for the try, it turns out, from the horse’s mouth, that the reason it looked so difficult to take was because Malin’s briefly lost the ball in the lights and by the time he found it again “it probably would’ve been harder to catch it and then put it down so I thought it would be best to do it all in one motion”.

his body language should have told us that

[p/d]

Good job Puja. Thank you

+1 .....

a great read.

[Banquo]

as before, I'm loving the bias confirmation on kicking it away .

I'd hope the Borthanator has as good a view of what the issues were in the game .

[Puja]

Even from a Scottish point of view I find that very interesting.

I agree the final lem could have gone the other way. Though I also agree Youngs' kick with advantage was truly terrible.

No reason for you to pick on it but that Russell kick straight out that you mention clearly landed in, and I was surprised wasn't overruled as it was shown clearly before the lineout was taken.. I'll take it though as we scored from the next few phases.

I'll be honest, I was so confident that that had landed on rhe line that I didn't even look at it on the rewatch (was trying to get it finished last night before it got to the stage where my rewatch overlapped with the next game!). Will go back and have another look shortly.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

as before, I'm loving the bias confirmation on kicking it away .

I'd hope the Borthanator has as good a view of what the issues were in the game .

Yeah. There was one bit where it was stated that Smith had no options to pass so kicked putting Scotland under pressure, who then shanked their exit kick letting us restart our attack in midfield… and is then pulled up for not kicking for a chip and chase. It’s not exactly top draw play by the sounds of things but it’s not ‘kicking away decent attacking ball’. I suppose that’s the nature of sport, and particularly a multifaceted one such as rugby, it’s all very subjective.
All that said, I appreciate the time and effort.

[Greebo]

Thank you, Puja. For some strange reason I find these fascinating to read, even in defeat.

[Banquo]

as before, I'm loving the bias confirmation on kicking it away .

I'd hope the Borthanator has as good a view of what the issues were in the game .

Yeah. There was one bit where it was stated that Smith had no options to pass so kicked putting Scotland under pressure, who then shanked their exit kick letting us restart our attack in midfield… and is then pulled up for not kicking for a chip and chase. It’s not exactly top draw play by the sounds of things but it’s not ‘kicking away decent attacking ball’. I suppose that’s the nature of sport, and particularly a multifaceted one such as rugby, it’s all very subjective.
All that said, I appreciate the time and effort.

er...I am saying that the commentary in fact confirmed my own bias that we had kicked far too much in attack.

#justiceforthemod