No I'm not blaming Widdop but, IMO it was the wrong play and we could (and should) have been taking time out of the game and not allowing the Kiwis to come straight back at us.

Not a bad international career but not exactly glittering either. His greatest year as an England player was the year before the WC when he bossed Wales and France which speaks volumes. Never world class but tried his best every time.

So then Sinfield should have put the ball out of play instead of kicking it to the fullback then!!!!

YES

Pretty much sums up most England halfbacks in my lifetime.....

Don't know what your lifetime is but it remains a mystery why a sport that from the 1960s to the 1990s turned out superstar half backs like the following just can't produce one or two today:

David Eckersley
Alan Hardisty
Chris Hesketh
Tommy Bishop
Graham Steadman
Tony Myler
Parry Gordon
Alex Murphy
Sean Edwards
Roger Millward
John Woods
Gary Schofield
Dave Topliss
Andy Gregory
Ken Kelly
Steve Nash

But this isn't a thread about England half backs in your lifetime ......

Any decent half backs coming through at other clubs? I know Hull have a young lad they rate. At Bradford we've got a young lad called Adam Brook, been given a full time contract recently and his highly thought of at the club.

Dave Hewitt is the latest Saints academy standoff whose close to breaking through according to Brown. Played for england academy in May, but has another year of 19s left I think. The scrum half in the age group below (Rob Fairclough) has potential too Im told - but theyre a good 5 years away

I'd actually like to see more of an emphasis on touch and tag rugby at younger levels.

A lot of junior teams seem to be focused around "big lads" - early developers who can simply run their way through weaker teams. There is no emphasis on creative play because, frankly, there doesn't need to be.

Touch, which removes that element altogether and puts the emphasis on speed, evasiveness and creativity, is extremely popular in Australia. Perhaps that's part of the story why they regularly produce better half backs?

Yes and maybe if Sinfield had kicked the ball dead and we'd had a minute to rest and get organised Burgess might not have made a high tackle which to me seemed clearly down to fatigue.

widdop and chase it is then?

shame we cant tempt brough back to england!

Widdop, yes, Chase - definitely not.

who else then?

i think chase had a fall out with the coach so might not be in with a chance again.

kev brown?