@thepaulwilliams It’s even harder when your first hit out together as a group is against a side with the quality of the Puma’s. They aren’t your average warm up side at all
@thepaulwilliams I once sat behind the sticks at Franklins Gardens with Rob Horne attacking down the channel I was opposite. I couldn’t tell from the stands where he was going to go, what it was like trying to defend against I can only imagine. Fans have no idea what defenders have to deal with
@Otto_English That’s over the top. If you are consistently late then yes, there is an issue to resolve. If you are late once due to a factor that’s out of your control then that’s unfortunate and you would hope an organisation would show a level of common sense and understanding.
@TightFive_Rugby I prefer an out and out 15 at the moment. I think at the moment M.Smith may be more effective off the bench when the game starts to open up.
@IamAustinHealey think there is any merit in starting with F.Smith and then M.Smith taking over towards the end when defences are more tired? M.Smith doesn’t seem to get the best out of his centres for England and does it more himself?
@TomShanklin@flatsandshanks@davidflatman Marcus Smith is obviously high class, but does he get the best of the England back line and would one of the other fly halves perhaps get more out of them?
@RuckedOver But if he has dropped to his knees, he’s on his knees? On this occasion he has got his technique wrong. He’s got lower than he can to make a legal tackle and given the penalty.
@RuckedOver No, it’s the laws being correctly applied - it’s an illegal tackle. If he’s on his knees he’s off his feet and it’s a penalty, whether people agree with that or not. People don’t mind when there is a high shot that’s only noticed when a player decides 2 roll around on the floor
@RuckedOver Sorry don’t agree. Can’t complain if it was spotted due to the injury, it still happened and it’s still against the laws of the game. Not reffing by outcome as it was still a penalty offence. The issue there would in fact be that it is not refereed properly on other occasions
@FreddieBurns I guess he went too low which means his technique was wrong and gave a tackle that is illegal? Similar to getting technique wrong and inadvertently going high?