England V Scotland
I left after 15 mins of the second half as the whole match ground into a frustrating mess.

Mr J Wilkinson needs to teach Flood to kick and be bought onto the bench or coaches team. He is laclustre and not pivotal in anything that England does anymore - just a tattered memory. Martin Johnson is a massive case of far better player than manager. England has a great pool of retired characters full of fighting spirit (Dallaglio to name but one) who would make great managers so why go with someone who cannot even inspire a desent performance from the backs. V frustrating as we have the depth and talent to be sparky, inventive and fresh.

Have to agree with you. JW is way past his prime (hopefully his injury will keep him out next week) and much as I admire Johnson as a player, to be made England head coach as your 1st appoitment ever was a huge mistake by the RFU. I only saw the 2nd half, but there was no dynamism, no free-thinking, no nouse whatsoever. Flood and Foden I thought made a difference when they came on, but it still wasn't enough.
Having said all that, we'll probably pull off a scrappy win against the French, thereby giving Johnson and his cronies a stay of execution.

If we scraped a draw against Scotland and lost to Ireland, how do we stand a chance against France? Close to impossible I'd say.

Awful match at the weekend between the old enemies.

I went to the same school as the man of the match though.

Then again, we beat them soundly last year and who the hell expected us to get the WRC final in 2007? Is the kind of nonsense result that England seem to come up with now and again.

And men in England now abed will hold their manhoods cheap when hear of us that .... etc.

I'm actually quite chuffed with Ireland - they sure as hell weren 't going to win back-to-back grand slams but a potential triple crown is looking good at the moment, they will have to fight for it though.

Missed this headline from yesterday:

"England captain Steve Borthwick a doubt for RBS Six Nations match against France"

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle7064084.ece

Sadly, what this means is that he will be replaced, along with other team members and we'll have a blinder against France.

The results?

Headlines from Johnson saying that England are on track in their development and they need more time... hhmmm where did I see that before... Oh yes, in last year's 6N...

Next match, Borthwick back in the team, all the old hands back in the team, and another dreadful series of internationals in the autumn... Will our suffering never end?

I've never understood the logic behind naming Johnson as trainer. I didn't follow it but the Irish do this kind of bull as well - try find some figure with recognition value hoping that charisma works. It did with Kidney (auch ein blindes Hun findet ein Korn) but look at the sorry state the football team was pre and post Charlton pre Trap. It shows a terrible provincialism in the organisational ranks.

Wilkinson dropped and other changes...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rug...nce-clash.html

Nice to see Foden in, seemed to make a difference when he came on.

My biggest fear?

That England play the French off the pitch. Next match - all the "replacements" back on the bench and the old guard back on the pitch.

Oh don't. You just *know* that's going to happen

And where, where, where have England got this whole "kick the ball the whole sodding time" strategy from? Can't they see it's doing them no favours?

they got it from Italy, it looks like we suddendly remember that we actually handle the ball only with 7 mins left in the game...

btw, I'm absolutely gutted I'll be up in the air during the Wales-Italy this w/end... given the shape of the 2 teams it may even be a balanced match

Well we didn't do it as much against the Irish, still didn't get us anywhere, but at least we were close.

LOL - are you cross with me or the team?

England at the mo are a classic case of a team that talks the talk, but just doesn't walk the walk.

Interviews before and after are all about "could have - should have - would have", but performances on the pitch don't change. I really just don't get it. As for the coaches, referring back to HTD

I never understood why Johnson stuck with the same coaching staff that just didn't work prior to his arrival. Bringing Smith in had the same effect of papering over the cracks, i.e. cosmetic change that really didn't change much fundamentally.

I was tempted to say bring back Sir Clive, but then remembered what a tosser he is and the shambles of a Lion's tour when he was head coach

The team, of course

This weekend's going to be a trial. I can think of only one way to get over it -