I doubt very much that the England rugby team were out of the New Zealand press for very long this week. Lots of accusations have been made, but with no formal complaint. To be honest it just sounds like a standard tour to New Zealand. They are renowned for being poor hosts in terms of making tourists feel comfortable- even more so than Australia. But this latest stunt has topped previous Southern Hemisphere off pitch tactics. The flip-side of this is that when England return to New Zealand in three years time they will be truly prepared for these sort of games. I genuinely don’t think there’s any truth in the allegations surrounding these mystery four England Rugby players. It sounds a lot like when they accused Sheridan of drinking a few days before the first Test. I do have got a sneaky suspicion that Ollie Barkley is amongst those accused or it could just be the old Newcastle boys having a bit of banter.
As for the actual game tomorrow, I am very excited by the prospect of Tait playing full-back. I think that he can really make that shirt his own if he plays well tomorrow. If England want to go for a relatively slow full-back like Mike Brown then they might as well shove Wilkinson there for the Autumn tests. His kicking game, solid defense and general aura would be a great benefit to the side. Tait and Abendanon are very good attacking options at 15.
I think that Ollie Barkley’s omission from the squad comes down to potentially three reasons; he was involved in the hotel room antics, they are looking to smash the Kiwi midfield with Noon, or to give the illusion of having depth at 10 by having one on the bench, this creates a much more structured game plan as it means the back-line have to worry about being moved round too much. Basically, Johnson made an error in picking Hipkiss to replace Cipriani over an out and out 10 like Goode. If Goode was playing, Nonu and Carter would get absolutely smashed.
I don’t think Narraway had as a good a game as everyone has been making out, the forwards as a unit played well. Mears and Narraway didn’t play well enough to warrant a start this week. I think Croft should have been put at 6 and Haskell at 8. It won’t surprise me if Paice comes on early in the second half for Mears as well.
The problem with putting Noon at 12 is he lacks a lot of creativity, England were lacking this creativity last week. He has clearly been picked because of his relationship with Flood at Newcastle and his defensive attributes. However, having Flood and Care playing half-backs will make a massive difference.
Sale’s highlights this season have been pretty dull to be honest and Wigglesworth and Hodgson showed why last week. I do rate Wigglesworth, but as soon as Care came on he sped the game up and added another dimension. His vision led to Ojo’s second try, a try that made the result a little ‘rosier’ for England fans. Ojo had a great debut and will make a good partner for Sackey when he comes back from injury. Varndell lacks the skill set to become a good international winger at the moment, but hopefully his raw pace will serve England well this weekend. Varndell can’t kick, pass, catch or tackle very well and I am very surprised he was the first choice substitute for any injured wingers in the senior squad.
Anyway, I predict a much closer game then the last one. England only lost the game during very small windows last week and Noon and Tindall in the centres should help the team cut out the errors.
England will be closer from all they have been through this week and they have always had a camaraderie that many other international rugby teams envy. Whilst the game has turned professional, the values from the amateur era still hold true with the home nations. Values which the All Blacks can only learn about when they come over and play their rugby in the Premiership and Heineken Cup.
Posted by craigy87 
Posted by craigy87 