I think i said in another post that Burrow should have played against the aussies.
he makes the opposition have to think and draws players out with the way he attacks the line.
which Chase doesnt do, not often enough.
Burrow should start every game IMO

Agree 100% with S-O & onedon Burrow made a difference !

I was right first time by mistake.
lol

It raised a smile with me when I saw the result!

And me a big smile

What did anyone think of Englands performance last night.
I wasn't that impressed thought we made too many mistakes in dangerous areas.

Won't get away with that next week we need a big improvement.
But i hope we do improve and get the win to reach the final.

I hope mcnamara picks the right team i can't understand some of his selections
he doesn't seem to favour Widdop or Ablett for some reason?

England made some basic errors in attack which we need to sort out for next week.

I thought we missed the pace of Rob Burrow in the game against France. I wonder if Mr McNamara is afraid that the better sides will target Robbie when they attack us, and Robbie's lack of size could be a problem?

I think the coach likes the McIlorum / Roby combination at hooker which could leave Robbie side-lined.

We've got the quality in the forwards to win next weekend. We need to improve on the execution as chances will be at a premium and we can't afford to be below our best or else we'll get punished.

I thought James Graham was outstanding on Saturday and should have clearly been man of the match.

Good luck to the lads for next weekend.

J Graham definately MOTM

i would also have Burrow in

McIlorum might be decent at domestic level, but he offers nothing at international level.
Burrow is a must, we are not going to win anything by being safe and ordinary.

When you look at NZ and Australia we are third rate.
Never mind that we pressed the Aussies in the first game, they just get better and better the more they play together ... we don't.
Expect a NZ vs Convicts final.
I only hope NZ can win it.

It was the first time during the WC that I'd managed to get to an England game as opposed to watching on TV (I've seen the Kiwi's three times including the Keepmoat match). I thought that in the main we were pedestrian at best and made too many errors. On that form we won't get within 20 points of NZ although clearly we are a little better than we showed at Wigan.

We are a percentages team, and nothing else. All our chances only come at the end of periods of sustained pressure when we have completed consecutive sets.

Playing the percentages is all well and good, and even admirable, but only really works when you're playing teams worse than yourself. Against the better sides periods of pressure are shorter and fewer, and when they arise a bit more craft is needed. Look at the French for a good example, for the second half they played the percentage s better and were camped in our half but couldn't get through (one big positive was the England defence in that case).

We need to create our own breaks from this point on, or we are out. Chase has been pedestrian for me and needs to step up, I can only 3 half chances he created in the France game, a stand off should be doing 5 or 6 a half. He is not totally at fault there though, we are essentially playing with only one half back (Sinfield is not a 7) so it's easy to see where the ball is going to go. I'd be tempted to play Widdup in the next game, just because it won't be as obvious.

The shame is, we probably have the most exciting three quarters since Offiah, Connely, Newlove, Robinson playing in front of a fantastic attacking fullback; and easily one of the best packs we've had for a long time, I'd argue the best at the tournament. But this has coincided with the most defensive minded coach we could have got our hands on who doesn't know how to link the two up, and a situation where we have 1 recognised ball player on the pitch.

we need Widdop and Burrow at the halves

Chase doesn't do enough for me
and i agree with jemmos last staement

Noticed in the RL Express that Dave Scott is wrongly labelled a Fev player still.

Didn't someone post somewhere that as his contract with them has not yet expired it is technically true? (or at least was when the squads were announced)

Its to do with the changeover date of his contract, which was the 1st November.