Re: Changes for 3rd Test : Sat Nov 14, 2015 3:21 pm  

Much better this week with a scrum-half playing. However, still missing a full-back who can offer himself as a second stand-off and this is a prerequisite at the top level. Hardaker has looked well short of international class in the opposition half in all three games.

Re: Changes for 3rd Test : Sat Nov 14, 2015 3:24 pm  

Thought the inclusions of McGillvary and Smith were the difference today, both played a vital role, although we never got to see Jerry in full flight tryscoring mode, mostly due to the fact Watkins inside him had a stinker, he ran the ball in like he has every week for years, and got us moving forward.

Smith gave us something we haven't had for the 1st 2 games - a kicking game, very controlled from him and gave us some good platforms to work with.

So i will give Mac some credit and say well done for making those changes !

Re: Changes for 3rd Test : Sat Nov 14, 2015 3:27 pm  

Some good performances all around I'd say. Fullback slot should be well up in the air now. Down on Hardaker and Tomkins for compete for it, as it should be.

Re: Changes for 3rd Test : Sat Nov 14, 2015 3:28 pm  

GIANT DAZ wrote:

Thought the inclusions of McGillvary and Smith were the difference today, both played a vital role, although we never got to see Jerry in full flight tryscoring mode, mostly due to the fact Watkins inside him had a stinker, he ran the ball in like he has every week for years, and got us moving forward.

Smith gave us something we haven't had for the 1st 2 games - a kicking game, very controlled from him and gave us some good platforms to work with.

So i will give Mac some credit and say well done for making those changes !

Quite agree, especially McGillvary, massive man, really strong and looked like he was gonna break through the line everytime he went forward. Kiwis had to use 4 men to bring him down, class player!

Re: Changes for 3rd Test : Sat Nov 14, 2015 3:31 pm  

yorksguy1865 wrote:

Quite agree, especially McGillvary, massive man, really strong and looked like he was gonna break through the line everytime he went forward. Kiwis had to use 4 men to bring him down, class player!

His ball carrying skills are just unreal. does the hard yards every week in SL!

top top player.

Re: Changes for 3rd Test : Sat Nov 14, 2015 3:39 pm  

That was a quality game, in front of a full house on live TV. Couldn't ask for more as an RL fan.

As for the performance, England were better in every aspect of the game, apart from the right hand side defense which looked shaky, although with 2 new players on that side probably didn't help.

Looking at next year, I hope we can get a couple more back rowers who can provide some punch out wide, I'd be surprised if Farrell carried the ball a dozen times over the 3 games. Whitehead was good today, and Ferres was good across the series, but it's definitely one of our weakest areas. A possible solution would be to move Flanders into the 2nd row, and playing Sam Burgess at LF.
The halves are still our weakness, Widdop is so so average, he was outplayed by Sinfield before, and Matty Smith, and George Williams in this series. I'm not sure where an international half is going to come from in 12 months.

Re: Changes for 3rd Test : Sat Nov 14, 2015 3:40 pm  

kobashi wrote:

His ball carrying skills are just unreal. does the hard yards every week in SL!

top top player.

Indeed. Which is something that many servers of the game were quite capable of seeing, which is why McNamara gets credit for putting him in today, but loses credit for not having put him in the 1st or 2nd tests. McGilvary is an excellent example of how important wingers are to starting sets well with their kick returns.

Likewise Smith. I'm not going to go all go-eyed about his display. His kicking was far superior to anything we'd seen from Widdop or Williams, but I feel a half-back needs to offer more than just a good boot, and I still don't quite understand why Gale (who has a kicking game AND a creative game) was omitted from all three Tests. And again, from the perspective of judging McNamara, if your game plan is going to be a highly conservative one based on kicking for territory and few passing moves, then why wouldn't he include his top kicker from the beginning? It's all a bit odd.

Still, we won, and we don't get to say that very often in international RL, so for now let's enjoy it.

Re: Changes for 3rd Test : Sat Nov 14, 2015 4:23 pm  

Exciting game, but again a dull gameplan. The one time a forward did something other than ram it up the middle (Graham passing before contact) we scored. Smith kicked well, Widdop disappointed again, our wingers were our best forwards, but the whole McNamara plan relied on good last ditch defence AND NZ being completely clueless on 4th and 5th tackle. If either Johnson OR Foran were playing instead of Hiku the Kiwis would have won by 20+ points, even with Ben Thaler's extremely partial decisions.

To the person who thinks McNamara's interview suggests he's jacking it in, well let's hope so.

Re: Changes for 3rd Test : Sat Nov 14, 2015 4:52 pm  

The two guys coming in both added plenty. I was really impressed with McGillvary. His workrate was excellent and he was aggressive. I thought Matty Smith offered just what we needed in those conditions and he performed like he's done for us in wet conditions on a number of occasions.

Plenty to work and improve but that group of players are fantastic and there's some excellent players to come in.

Re: Changes for 3rd Test : Sat Nov 14, 2015 4:52 pm  

FlexWheeler wrote:

Don't be ridiculous.

Aye I was way off the mark I admit. Watkins was absolutely diabolical today world class my backside! Percival will be first choice England centre for many years to come three years younger than Watkins as well!