Scotland vs England - minute-by-minute

[FKAS]

Mells, I'm not sure I'd take that as anything more than baiting. There's no way Scotland wouldn't have liked to have buried that game early and run up a big score it they could. I think Puja's right they couldn't. Scotland like to kick long which is why we opted for Furbank given his playmaking skills and tactical kicking from the back. That wasn't so much of a tactical change in game as to how it worked out I think.

Cameo, Scotland kicked more whilst England had way more passes, way more runs, the same number of clean breaks and beat more defenders. The only attacking stats where Scotland better us is offloads and crucially tries scored. We tried plenty, we just fecked it up time and time again. We gave Scotland the ball 22 times of which maybe 2 were breakdown turnovers, the rest were mostly unforced errors.

[FKAS]

I can’t remember where I read it and whether it was an opinion or a fact from out of the camp but, the piece said Scot didn’t play too much as they realised they didn’t need to. Just give the ball back to us and let us feck if up. It’s not like they didn’t have any success so they just gave up - they scored that great try where they sliced up to pieces.

Agreed - and with Cameo below.

Looking at the detail that you've provided with the excellent mbm, Puja, you can pick out all of the pieces that England are trying and failing at. We were definitely our own worst enemies. In the first 20, Scotland are trying to play and we're simply not letting them. Hitting them hard, constantly and really getting in Finn's and others' faces.

At half time, they've clearly had a smart talking to about tactics. Stop doing that, start doing the clever kicking, playing for territory and don't put yourselves under needless pressure by trying to play flat. Create a broken field (or allow England to) and rely on better instinct across the park.

Whereas our half time talk appeared to be a short session showing the backs what a rugby ball looks like and what it's for, and then 10 minutes of smearing hands and faces with vaseline and cutting off the blood supply at the wrists.

Which is generally the Irish tactics for the second half of a game. Bring on Connor Murray, look to control territory and apply pressure knowing you've worked the opposition hard in the first half and the opportunities will come.

[pjm1]

Mells, I'm not sure I'd take that as anything more than baiting. There's no way Scotland wouldn't have liked to have buried that game early and run up a big score it they could. I think Puja's right they couldn't. Scotland like to kick long which is why we opted for Furbank given his playmaking skills and tactical kicking from the back. That wasn't so much of a tactical change in game as to how it worked out I think.

Cameo, Scotland kicked more whilst England had way more passes, way more runs, the same number of clean breaks and beat more defenders. The only attacking stats where Scotland better us is offloads and crucially tries scored. We tried plenty, we just fecked it up time and time again. We gave Scotland the ball 22 times of which maybe 2 were breakdown turnovers, the rest were mostly unforced errors.

I think we're all agreeing on the same fundamental point: if England had converted the huge amount of advantage we had, we would have made it an even closer game, or potentially have won. But our skills / awareness was so poor, we didn't/couldn't.

If Scotland had carried on playing how they did in the first 20, we'd probably have beaten them: they were playing into our hands and our opening tactics were actually quite smart, even if our execution (first try excepted) was ropey. That would have been stupidity on an England level though - to keep hitting your head, figuratively, against the brick wall and expecting something different. Only we do that.

So, Scotland did evolve their tactics to stop doing was was demonstrably not working (in part because they couldn't execute quite well enough, and part because our tactics were designed to take that option away from them). They didn't need to play an open, expansive and attacking game - because the tactic of playing for territory allowed us to gift the ball back to them in broken play, with no defensive line set - because we were in attack mode. I don't think anyone is saying they didn't want to beat us by more, but the most certain way of Scotland winning (which is the primary goal, for them), was to give us every opportunity to turn ball over and concede territory and structure. Which is what happened.

And yes FKAS, I am very concerned that Ireland are exceptionally good at this!

[FKAS]

I was more noting that we were stealing the Irish tactics re the second half kicking but yes they are very good at them.

[pjm1]

I was more noting that we were stealing the Irish tactics re the second half kicking but yes they are very good at them.

I'm not sure we were, as much as Scotland were. For the second half, Scotland were in the lead and we were (supposed to be) chasing it. A perfect time for them to close down, tactically - which they did. Conversely, we needed to get creative and make the plays stick. The frustration across supporters of seeing our 9 ponder and dither and then kick ball away was for this reason. Playing that Irish close-it-down game when we needed the opposite was inept. I think that's what you're meaning?!

There are almost no likely scenarios where I see England leading Ireland at half time. Ireland will definitely close down in the second half and our performances in the three second halves we've played have been atrocious.

[FKAS]

I was more noting that we were stealing the Irish tactics re the second half kicking but yes they are very good at them.

I'm not sure we were, as much as Scotland were. For the second half, Scotland were in the lead and we were (supposed to be) chasing it. A perfect time for them to close down, tactically - which they did. Conversely, we needed to get creative and make the plays stick. The frustration across supporters of seeing our 9 ponder and dither and then kick ball away was for this reason. Playing that Irish close-it-down game when we needed the opposite was inept. I think that's what you're meaning?!

There are almost no likely scenarios where I see England leading Ireland at half time. Ireland will definitely close down in the second half and our performances in the three second halves we've played have been atrocious.

No Ireland play that way largely whether they are leading or not (generally they are but you know not always). Having played hard in the first half they look to expose players closer in, ideally tired tight five players close in to the breakdown or pressure back threes, who's positioning might be slipping, in the air. It's still a good way to score points *if you are accurate*. The * section * being the key bit where we were shite.

It's also entirely possible we won't try and out do Ireland at their own game for this one. Scotland had a pretty average to weak set of tight five replacements but either the tactics didn't work or we executed them incompetently enough so they didn't. Ireland have a strong bench so a different game plan may well be used.

[16th man]

I was more noting that we were stealing the Irish tactics re the second half kicking but yes they are very good at them.

I'm not sure we were, as much as Scotland were. For the second half, Scotland were in the lead and we were (supposed to be) chasing it. A perfect time for them to close down, tactically - which they did. Conversely, we needed to get creative and make the plays stick. The frustration across supporters of seeing our 9 ponder and dither and then kick ball away was for this reason. Playing that Irish close-it-down game when we needed the opposite was inept. I think that's what you're meaning?!

There are almost no likely scenarios where I see England leading Ireland at half time. Ireland will definitely close down in the second half and our performances in the three second halves we've played have been atrocious.

No Ireland play that way largely whether they are leading or not (generally they are but you know not always). Having played hard in the first half they look to expose players closer in, ideally tired tight five players close in to the breakdown or pressure back threes, who's positioning might be slipping, in the air. It's still a good way to score points *if you are accurate*. The * section * being the key bit where we were shite.

It's also entirely possible we won't try and out do Ireland at their own game for this one. Scotland had a pretty average to weak set of tight five replacements but either the tactics didn't work or we executed them incompetently enough so they didn't. Ireland have a strong bench so a different game plan may well be used.

Or we're vastly over rating our own tight 5 subs, to the point where there wasn't an edge there to be exploited.

(I don't actually think this is the case, but it's worth having in mind.)

[FKAS]

I'm not sure we were, as much as Scotland were. For the second half, Scotland were in the lead and we were (supposed to be) chasing it. A perfect time for them to close down, tactically - which they did. Conversely, we needed to get creative and make the plays stick. The frustration across supporters of seeing our 9 ponder and dither and then kick ball away was for this reason. Playing that Irish close-it-down game when we needed the opposite was inept. I think that's what you're meaning?!

There are almost no likely scenarios where I see England leading Ireland at half time. Ireland will definitely close down in the second half and our performances in the three second halves we've played have been atrocious.

No Ireland play that way largely whether they are leading or not (generally they are but you know not always). Having played hard in the first half they look to expose players closer in, ideally tired tight five players close in to the breakdown or pressure back threes, who's positioning might be slipping, in the air. It's still a good way to score points *if you are accurate*. The * section * being the key bit where we were shite.

It's also entirely possible we won't try and out do Ireland at their own game for this one. Scotland had a pretty average to weak set of tight five replacements but either the tactics didn't work or we executed them incompetently enough so they didn't. Ireland have a strong bench so a different game plan may well be used.

Or we're vastly over rating our own tight 5 subs, to the point where there wasn't an edge there to be exploited.

(I don't actually think this is the case, but it's worth having in mind.)

England had 100% scrum sucess to Scotland's 58%. England lineout 92% to Scotland's 87%.

We won't always have a better forwards selection on the bench but we did Vs Scotland.

[16th man]

No Ireland play that way largely whether they are leading or not (generally they are but you know not always). Having played hard in the first half they look to expose players closer in, ideally tired tight five players close in to the breakdown or pressure back threes, who's positioning might be slipping, in the air. It's still a good way to score points *if you are accurate*. The * section * being the key bit where we were shite.

It's also entirely possible we won't try and out do Ireland at their own game for this one. Scotland had a pretty average to weak set of tight five replacements but either the tactics didn't work or we executed them incompetently enough so they didn't. Ireland have a strong bench so a different game plan may well be used.

Or we're vastly over rating our own tight 5 subs, to the point where there wasn't an edge there to be exploited.

(I don't actually think this is the case, but it's worth having in mind.)

England had 100% scrum sucess to Scotland's 58%. England lineout 92% to Scotland's 87%.

We won't always have a better forwards selection on the bench but we did Vs Scotland.

For the sake of argument, tight 5 forwards don't just walk from scrum to line-out to scrum, hitting any rucks which appear within a couple of metres of them, anymore.

[FKAS]

Or we're vastly over rating our own tight 5 subs, to the point where there wasn't an edge there to be exploited.

(I don't actually think this is the case, but it's worth having in mind.)

England had 100% scrum sucess to Scotland's 58%. England lineout 92% to Scotland's 87%.

We won't always have a better forwards selection on the bench but we did Vs Scotland.

For the sake of argument, tight 5 forwards don't just walk from scrum to line-out to scrum, hitting any rucks which appear within a couple of metres of them, anymore.

Of course not but it's still a core element of their job.

[Mr Mwenda]

Saw a youtube video of Richard Hill's debut in 1996. I was amazed at how much space there was out wide, it was a near unrecognisable game.

[Oakboy]

Saw a youtube video of Richard Hill's debut in 1996. I was amazed at how much space there was out wide, it was a near unrecognisable game.

Player athleticism reduces the amount of grass unoccupied by the time the ball lands. Theoretically, that should reduce kicking, not increase it, shouldn't it?

[pjm1]

Saw a youtube video of Richard Hill's debut in 1996. I was amazed at how much space there was out wide, it was a near unrecognisable game.

Player athleticism reduces the amount of grass unoccupied by the time the ball lands. Theoretically, that should reduce kicking, not increase it, shouldn't it?

If that was the only variable, but I don't think it is. Kicking itself has got a lot better - distance, accuracy and how kicks are used. Data is much more available (arguably too much so, for some!) and can highlight correlations in plays and outcomes. Not always helpful, mind.

So, I think we're seeing more kicking because we're better at it and the data suggests that kicking more, well is correlated with positive outcomes. Unfortunately, kicking more, badly (especially when both teams do it, badly) is an absolute abomination and awful viewing...

[Banquo]

its nothing new, Bob Dwyer nearly 40 years ago said any fool can coach a team to win by kicking. He was challenged to do it, and did, with his Randwick flat backline team, famous for handling and not kicking....kicked the leather off it, and won by 30.

[Puja]

Minute 61: Spencer finishes his tea break at the bottom of the ruck to pass the ball away. Two decent carries by Chessum and CCS give us some forward movement, before Ford sweeps round blind to try and put Earl through a half-gap. Unfortunately next phase, Stuart carries high into contact and is easily stripped of the ball. The Scotsman passes back to White who attempts a kick, only to be charged down by Itoje and once again the bouncing ball is kind to the Scots, bouncing perfectly to Kinghorn. Itoje is through on him and stops him getting away, but he offloads to Russell, who ignores the massive 3-on-1 overlap in favour of kicking it away. We'd be screaming if Faz'd done that in a game.

The ball finds grass (as our backfield were sprinting up to try and cover the overlap that Russell hadn't seen) and Daly has to trudge back into the 22 to recover it. It's a tight angle and he doesn't do a great job, putting it into touch on our 10m line.

Minute 62: FSmith and Marler are on. Scotland go very long to the tail of the lineout, taking it over the 15 and it feels like an error because it brings our defence up onto them. Itoje and then Earl make a mess of the next two Scottish rucks and are unlucky not to get rewarded. Scotland go around the corner a couple of times with minimal success and so White goes for a cute dink over the top. Could've been dangerous, but this time the bounce favours us and Furbank is covering well. He rounds Huw Jones the chaser, then spots there are tired forwards in front of him and takes them on. He's got such a lovely change of speed when he puts his foot down and it beats another man, giving him the chance to put either Spencer or Daly away down the wing, only for his offload to go to nobody in particular. It's not as bad as some of the fumbles I've castigated, because it is an offload out of the tackle, but it's a simple offload, in a tackle which he's dominating, and he makes that 9/10 for Northampton, so it is going on the list.

Basic handling error under little fucking pressure: Care x2, Slade x1, Ford x1, Lawrence/Slade combo x1, Furbank x2, Martin x1

We regather the ball but FSmith chooses to reset possession rather than attempting the riskier outside break and it's now slow ball outside our 22.

Minute 63: Caterpillar and Box! They Fight Crime! Tuesdays on CBS! This one takes 10 seconds from ball being placed to ball being kicked, but frankly I'd be willing to let Spencer have more time if he could do better with it. This one is too long and catching practice for Steyn. Our chase is decent enough - we haul down Kinghorn short of the halfway and, while we are short on numbers on the openside, Russell doesn't fancy the look of our blitz and goes for the long kick. FSmith takes and kicks from one foot inside our 22 for a beautiful touch inside the Scots half.

Scotland go to the centre of the lineout, but Itoje sacks the maul instantly and it's static ball.

Minute 64: Dempsey goes for a run, but is tackled behind the gainline by Earl and FSmith doing a low and high, then the next phase sees Scotland lose another metre to Martin rushing up to demolish the runner. Stuart and Marler take turns to make a mess of the ruck and Horne box-kicks under pressure. It's either sliced luckily or beautifully judged - Daly doesn't start coming forward quickly enough and so George has to run back to take it and unfortunately makes a mess. It does go backwards, but that's no comfort to Furbank when he has to gather both the ball and a cadre of angry Scotsmen at the same time. Does well to keep hold of the ball and get his knees down, so we recycle. Earl then makes a little snipe off the base, reinforcing my opinion that he's a better international scrum-half than Spencer is, but unfortunately we get the rare occurrence of a mistake from Itoje as he loses his balance and flops over rather than clearing and setting the ruck and Millar-Mills gets to go in unopposed to win a penalty.

Minute 65: Nothing happens as Russell prepares to take the kick.

[Puja]

Minute 66: Russell slots the penalty. Easy kick for him, but still so important. England kick off and I'd say Feyi-Waboso (just on for Slade) is a step or two ahead of the kicker, but that never gets called now. Grant Gilchrist's lifting pod set up for where Ford has kicked every single kick-off so far and are surprised that we've stopped just feeding them free ball as this one goes over them. The man behind is surprised as well and can only fly-hack it to Itoje, who carries up well.

Anyone know what the law is about being off-side from a fly-hack? If a scrum-half slices a box-kick and it goes straight up in the air, the referee will penalise anyone who was in front of them if they don't retreat out of the 10m from where the ball lands, regardless of if the 9 runs forward and plays them onside. How does that work from a volley? Not hugely relevant, just curious.

Earl attacks the pass from Spencer off the next ruck and makes good ground, then we play a nice move of FSmith taking the ball to the line and sending Martin up the guts with a pop pass. Furbank is next up and reckons he sees a gap between three Scots forwards - he is wrong, but gets his knees to floor and three English players pile in to drive him an extra metre or so and get the ball back quick.

The ferocity of our carrying and rucking has disarranged the Scots defence and Feyi-Waboso spots that they're short numbered on the blind. He picks the right line, Spencer passes the ball well and swiftly, and he walks through untouched for his first England try before the television graphics even finish displaying who he's on for.

Minute 67: Replays. IFW does a very good job there, cause he could so easily have overshot Spencer, who was a hell of a lot less prompt at getting the ball away than I thought. Feyi-Waboso has to stutter step in his run-up to make sure his timing is right for when Spencer's ready, which is nice work. Obviously used to playing with iffy 9s at Exeter.

If I was going to criticise, I'd say IFW could get a lot closer to the posts with that finish. It's not going to be relevant, because we've got FSmith on the pitch now and he hasn't missed a kick this season, and there's no way he's not going to nail this one...

Minute 68: 30-23... holy shit, he's missed it. Bounces out off the inside of the post. 30-21 and that's a lot more awkward a scoreline.

George is off as Scotland kick-off to Ben Earl again. He goes for a sideways run and doesn't round the tackler, getting pulled down further back than we'd like. We set a caterpillar and once again there's 12 seconds between ball being presented and Spencer putting boot to ball. It's a poor kick again, barely making it out of the 22.

Minute 69: Scotland throw to the front and Itoje drives through the nascent maul, stopping Darge from escaping out the back and making a mess of whatever Scotland were planning on doing. They do get an offload away and Ewan Ashman arcs around the back, throwing a big dummy so that he can run straight into... Cunningham-South. He then has time to think about whether he should've given the pass as CCS marches him back 5 metres. We're up quickly in defence, with Earl and Stuart putting in efficient tackles, and Scotland have moved back from 25m out to 42m out in just a few phases.

Russell calls for it and Chessum goes for him - he's not able to make the 10 before the ball gets away but, unlike against Italy, he's not going from out-to-in, but charging up straight without compromising the other defenders. The ball's through Russell's hands before the contact, but England have it covered and get a bonus as the ball carrier runs behind the blocker to avoid Itoje and the ref gives us the penalty.

Minute 70: FSmith puts in a belting touchfinder, going from 5m inside our half to just outside the 22. First Dan lineout throw and it's a simple call to the front-middle where we form a maul. Scotland defend it well though, which is the problem with throwing that short in the lineout - secure ball, but easy to stop the drive.

Spencer makes a little snipe to see if there's a gap, but there's nothing there, and then fires to Lawrence on the crash who now has Russell in his face because the 9 did a sideways jig before passing. He does make the gainline, but the next phase we send Itoje into a wall of Scots tight forwards on his own and he's held up. Poor play all around, that.

[Puja]

Minute 71: Nothing happens as we faff about setting up the scrums.

Minute 72: The scrum collapses - it looks like Hepburn going down under pressure, but the television camera angle is too artsy to let me see and the ref's not interested anyway as the ball is at the back. Scotland get it away and Russell kicks long to Furbank.

The Wing Commander goes on a little run, but there's no spaces in the Scots kick-chase - he makes a little dent between two tacklers and is able to get his hands free to offload, only for Chessum to fail at this whole catching-a-pass business. I guess we did always say in the 90s that we wanted our forwards to handle like backs, well, here we are, be careful what you wish for.

Basic handling error under little fucking pressure: Care x2, Slade x1, Ford x1, Lawrence/Slade combo x1, Furbank x2, Martin x1, Chessum x 1

Kinghorn shows Chessum how this whole "catching" thing works by taking the loose ball. Scotland recycle and the next victim of our blitz defence is Andy Christie who receives the ball a half-second before Martin and CCS smash him backwards. He does offload, however, and Scotland would normally look to attack from here, but Redpath can see Freeman dashing up from 13 and turns back inside where he's taken care of by the forwards.

Russell then goes for a grubber which is blocked by Marler and once again the bounce of the ball goes kindly and it ricochets around before being deemed to have been an England knock-on. Not sure if that didn't come off a Scots hand first, but we're given no replays and it's hardly an atrocious call.

Minute 73: Hepburn dives to the floor at the scrum, but the ref resets rather than pings it. He goes around to that side though and pings Stuart for an incredibly pedantic call of Stuart going head on head with Hepburn at the crouch and accusing him causing the instability. It's a harsh penalty, but I can't necessarily blame the ref, because it's not necessary from Stuart. It's a one percenter in terms of disrupting the other team's scrum and it's not worth the risk vs reward, especially when the ref has come around to your side of the scrum to see what the problem is. That's the time for you to be good as gold and let Marler fold Millar-Mills in half.

Minute 74: My mistake - the ref's actually given a free-kick. Not harsh at all then and just stupid play. Healy puts up the high ball and IFW is very composed underneath it. He takes the catch and then accelerates out of it, beating two defenders in contact and driving through a third. It's in our own half, but it's now front foot ball and we're 9 points down with under 7 minutes to goooooooo... and obviously this calls for passing to a forward to carry up so we can set up a box-kick.

Marler lays the ball back at 73.28. Spencer kicks the ball at 73.44. What the actual fuck are we even doing.

This one is at least an excellent kick - Feyi-Waboso literally barges through a Scots player who was forming the shield and gets up to slap the ball back on our side. It's loose, but Itoje regathers the bouncing ball and then throws a hospital pass to FSmith, who does very well to get the ball away before he's tackled. It gets to Furbank on the first bounce and he's off and running. Lawrence and Freeman link up well as a centre combo and they stretch the Scots defence, making ground up to the halfway line. Daly goes to act 9, but Spencer is belatedly there.

Minute 75: Spencer feeds Earl (who is high-tackled, but nvm) and the ruck is secure with ball available at 74.05. I will take this moment to remind you that we are 9 points down, there is under 5 minutes left, we have clean ball, and we've got a decent set of players on their feet and waiting to run.

Spencer calls "Disco" and Chessum actually has to come running in from where he was hoping to receive the ball, in order to act as a human A-frame while Spencer hops around on one foot and attempts to hook the ball out with just one stud.

The ball, and my dreams of us trying to win the match, are kicked away once again at 74.17. It's far too long and is just catching practise for Kinghorn. Scotland recycle and take their own time doing a box-kick and why wouldn't they? They're the ones who are LEADING THE FUCKING MATCH.

The kick is too long and it should be catching practice for FSmith, but unfortunately it's the extra catching practice laid on for kids with clogs for hands and he spills it forwards.

Basic handling error under little fucking pressure: Care x2, Slade x1, Ford x1, Lawrence/Slade combo x1, Furbank x2, Martin x1, Chessum x1, FSmith x1

Scotland regather and recycle - Russell drops deep and looks to kick over the top of Feyi-Waboso, but Anglo-Welsh can do no wrong and gets himself in perfect position to catch, before wheeling and running hard at a gap between two men.

[Puja]

Minute 76: FSmith is calling for it blind and we attack from our own half for the first time in forever, with Earl running at a gap and driving 8m through contact. We've also got penalty advantage from Scotland being offside at the kick, but Spencer takes a full 3 seconds to interrogate the ref as to whether his call of "Advantage Offside" means that they have penalty advantage and, by the time the ball is passed away, Scotland have a 14 man defensive line set up and ready. Someone on England's side calls, "We'll take it, we'll take the pen!" and it's a good call, cause we had absolutely nothing on there and, while you might not have gathered it from my calm and relaxed writing, we do only have 4 minutes left to try and score twice.

Minute 77: Dan throws long to Chessum at the back and it's tapped down to Spencer. FSmith uses Earl as a hard-running centre and I do like this tactic - he's a lot better at it than Lawrence will ever be. Quick ball and FSmith decides against the pull-back, instead running himself and carrying hard in contact.

We recycle quickly and CCS plays first receiver, pulling back to Daly who finds Lawrence. There's some room for him to run at weak shoulders, or he can pass out to Earl to see if his ersatz centre partner can do anything with the wider space, but Lawrence makes a colossal hash of it, swinging a wide ball with such confidence that every time I see it, I assume there is an England winger there outside of Earl and it's a miss-pass, even though I know there's not. It is comedically bad, under no pressure at all, and I can only attribute it to a player who has not had enough time in training after coming back from injury getting chucked into the team.

Basic handling error under little fucking pressure: Care x2, Slade x1, Ford x1, Lawrence/Slade combo x1, Furbank x2, Martin x1, Chessum x1, FSmith x1, Lawrence x1

Replays do not improve it. It's a 10m pass, under no pressure, and it doesn't even get close to Earl. It's not even the pressure of a try-scoring opportunity either - it's Earl vs Steyn from 35m out and, with all due respect to Earl, I'm not expecting him to burn Steyn on the outside and go in at the corner. We'd've likely got just as good a result from Lawrence throwing a big dummy and then tucking it under his arm to run at the weak shoulders in front of him.

Anyway, back to the game - Scotland throw to the back and England do a poor job of defence, neither getting up to challenge nor putting a bit smash on the maul. I can only assume they've had the stuffing knocked out of them by that last chance going out of the window, cause they're just insipid and, by the time they react, it's too late - Scotland have a decent maul set up and a broad blindside.

Minute 78: The problem with this position is that England have to number up on the blind side. Stuart isn't sure whether he should go in to stop the drive or stay out to defend the 15m channel and, by the time he realises that it should've been option A, it's too late to do anything about it and he's as much use as a chocolate fireguard. We then make a cavalcade of bad decisions - Chessum attempts to "sneak" around to kill the ball, but ends up hanging off the side, adding no weight at all until the ref sends him away. Stuart and Dan dive in and out without adding much because they're not sure if they should be there, Martin and Marler attempt to get around the other side and end up getting spat out, and the maul rumbles on for nearly 30 metres before Itoje, who was the only one consistently being useful in that morass, manages to get in on the ball and rip it back to England's side.

We fling it aimlessly wide, and DVDM reads a miss-pass to come in and bury Freeman. Freeman does well to get an offload back our way, but Lawrence has to retreat back into our 22 in order to gather it properly. He feigns like he's going to make a big wide pass, but instead takes it up - probably wise Ollie. We're stuck on our 22 and get something of a relief as the ref calls us back for the penalty of VDM getting too rough with Freeman. He gets a yellow, which is probably just about fair.

Minute 79: We throw to the front and form a maul, but it's a dummy and Earl pops out and feeds Spencer on the peel. This move is much more aggressive - Lawrence runs hard at the line before pulling it back, and does so late enough that he's attracted defenders. FSmith then carries it up and lures in Russell before popping just before contact to Feyi-Waboso on the burst. He goes between two defenders and we're on the front foot, just outside of the 22 - time for a box-kick, Ben?

I was just being sarcastic and taking a cheap shot, but I should've watched a few more seconds, because Spencer decides the snipe is on and runs into three Scots forwards to be held up. He is very unlucky in that he 100% has his knees to the ground within a second and a half of contact and the ref doesn't give him it but, on the other hand, it's his own bloody fault for trying to drive through two of the front row rather than passing it. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Minute 80: The last official minute is taken up by a scrum collapse.

Minute 81: Shockingly, this scrum doesn't collapse under pressure for some unknown reason. Scotland get it back for Russell to kick it out.

[Puja]

The assessment after watching that:
- Lawrence was not as bad as I thought he was, given that two of the handling errors I attributed to him live were really someone else's fault. He was also given little to do of the stuff that he's good at, but generally looked very rusty.
- Slade was awful. I don't care how much of our game we've built around him at first receiver; it's just not worth it. Dingwall/Lawrence please (I would actually take Tuilagi/Lawrence at this stage) and let's let Ollie run in the wide spaces rather than pretending he's a crash ball merchant.
- Itoje is superb and anyone saying he should be dropped is an arrant madman.
- Care and Ford backed up my pre-mbm opinions of being meh without being awful. Care especially was unfairly griped about on here - I wouldn't ideally start him, but I think that, had we had a fully fit Mitchell and Care coming off the bench, that game was there to be won. Spencer was just awful - he's not got international quality. Ran at holes that weren't there, chose poor passes, called for box-kicks at awful times that he took ages over and didn't nail - he's just not got it.
- On the bright side, FSmith did generally well, although I'd be very wary of starting him against Ireland given a couple of bits of execution at the sharp end. Oh, where we could've been if he'd been given 160 minutes against Italy and Wales.
- And Feyi-Waboso must start. Didn't put a foot wrong in his cameo and he's too good in contact not to use.

Puja

[Mr Mwenda]

Thanks again, Puja. Caterpillar & Box, crime fighting duo is an excellent coinage.

[Mellsblue]

All I’m getting from this is Martin and Chessum make school boy errors when surprised by having to catch the ball and F. Smith clearly is a choker at this level due to one missed pen and a knock on.
Less importantly, the reversion to kick and chase when everything around us is going to shoite is incredibly depressing in what it reveals, even more so than when you’re watching it on the day.

[Oakboy]

All I’m getting from this is Martin and Chessum make school boy errors when surprised by having to catch the ball and F. Smith clearly is a choker at this level due to one missed pen and a knock on.
Less importantly, the reversion to kick and chase when everything around us is going to shoite is incredibly depressing in what it reveals, even more so than when you’re watching it on the day.

I'm still convinced that if the players on the day don't know what to do to the extent that play is mistake-ridden, the most likely explanation is that the coaches did not know how to do their job before the game.

[Banquo]

The assessment after watching that:
- Lawrence was not as bad as I thought he was, given that two of the handling errors I attributed to him live were really someone else's fault. He was also given little to do of the stuff that he's good at, but generally looked very rusty.
- Slade was awful. I don't care how much of our game we've built around him at first receiver; it's just not worth it. Dingwall/Lawrence please (I would actually take Tuilagi/Lawrence at this stage) and let's let Ollie run in the wide spaces rather than pretending he's a crash ball merchant.
- Itoje is superb and anyone saying he should be dropped is an arrant madman.
- Care and Ford backed up my pre-mbm opinions of being meh without being awful. Care especially was unfairly griped about on here - I wouldn't ideally start him, but I think that, had we had a fully fit Mitchell and Care coming off the bench, that game was there to be won. Spencer was just awful - he's not got international quality. Ran at holes that weren't there, chose poor passes, called for box-kicks at awful times that he took ages over and didn't nail - he's just not got it.
- On the bright side, FSmith did generally well, although I'd be very wary of starting him against Ireland given a couple of bits of execution at the sharp end. Oh, where we could've been if he'd been given 160 minutes against Italy and Wales.
- And Feyi-Waboso must start. Didn't put a foot wrong in his cameo and he's too good in contact not to use.

Puja

...the number of impactful contributions Itoje makes is ridiculous.

As was the time we wasted when Spencer came on. As was the selection of lawrence (at 12).

[FKAS]

Thanks Puja.

Shame F.Smith is out injured this weekend.

A few tweaks and hopefully we can be a bit more accurate and actually pose some sort of challenge to Ireland.

[Danno]

This is so much more entertaining than the match was. Cheers Puja.