I would have taken a 5th six naitons title in 11 years before the tournament started.
Saying that after the brilliant win in France the players and management will put this championship down as failure to secure a grand slam.
Hard to put a finger on it but the performances slowly got worse after the France game. A ruthless team would have put 40 on wales and scotland.
So many things went wrong in the England game and yet they were still so close to holding on.
Scrum was solid but Lineout again after the French game was a major issue.
Crowley did fine and will only get better
A replacement for Keenan when injured and who is the back up 10 are the key issues
Hansen was a big loss.
Another issue is the likes of Healy & Murray still being picked. Surely Farrell has to draw a line under both and give the others a chance. Think he'll stick with POM a bit longer but you could argue with the likes of Baird, Ahern and Beirne who can play 6 we may have seen the last of POM too.
With only 2 tests in south Africa I cant see more than 26 players travelling so we probably wont see much change from the six nations squad but with 4 tests in November we need to see some of the fringe players getting a shot
Saying that after the brilliant win in France the players and management will put this championship down as failure to secure a grand slam.
Hard to put a finger on it but the performances slowly got worse after the France game. A ruthless team would have put 40 on wales and scotland.
So many things went wrong in the England game and yet they were still so close to holding on.
Scrum was solid but Lineout again after the French game was a major issue.
Crowley did fine and will only get better
A replacement for Keenan when injured and who is the back up 10 are the key issues
Hansen was a big loss.
Another issue is the likes of Healy & Murray still being picked. Surely Farrell has to draw a line under both and give the others a chance. Think he'll stick with POM a bit longer but you could argue with the likes of Baird, Ahern and Beirne who can play 6 we may have seen the last of POM too.
With only 2 tests in south Africa I cant see more than 26 players travelling so we probably wont see much change from the six nations squad but with 4 tests in November we need to see some of the fringe players getting a shot
