England Vs The Ba Ba's - Review

I was a bit disappointed with intensity levels of the game today, I have certainly seen better ba ba matches. I suppose it didnt help having 18 players missing for the AP final. The game was very broken up and i am not sure how many of englands tries would have been scored against a better organised defense, so its difficult to know what you can take from the performance.

Generally I thought England were clearly the better side and were far more organised in defense, despite some lapses. Other positives were, restarts (an often undervalued facet of the game), the rolling maul, breakdown and discipline. The maul brought 1 try and was a good go to tactic, the breakdown and discipline really go together and england were good, the pack are very mobile and put in a good shift although the baba's loose style probably helped. Lets not forget also that england did score plenty of tries and the outside backs showed good ability with ball in hand.

On the negative side, I was disappointed with the set piece, although not awful, it was very inconsistant. Several lineouts went astray and england came under a fair bit of pressure in the scrum particularly towards the end of the game.The set piece will need to be a lot tighter if england are to have a chance in SA this summer. But the major negatives of the england performance today were in the backs, the crucial positions 10 to 13. The kicking game was average and they lacked creativity and the tactical nouse to pull off set moves.

Looking at the individuals Farrell was shocking at centre but much more comfortable at 10 where technical deficiencies in his attacking game are masked by the ability to fall back on his kicking. Barritt was anonymous in attack which i suppose would be ok if he can make the hits and help set a platform for those around him to be creative but then hodgeson was distinctly average. Hodgeson didnt do anything seriously wrong but failed to have enough impact on the game, Farrell did more in the short time he had at 10.
Flood should be strong favourite to start the first test in SA.

Ashton deserved man of the match he was mostly excellant, big positive for the summer tour. Hartley was also excellant, the lineout did go astray a couple of times but everything else he did was top notch, he really is head and shoulders above the competition in his position. Botha impressed me again (he never lets anyone down in an england shirt) and the final standout player in a good pack performance was Phil Dowson, for me, I know some people would highlight Johnson. I hope Dowson is ok, he was an influencial leader today and he could be an important player this summer.

Also I just want to mention Wade and Joseph who showed plenty of skill and ability, they are both players that I cant wait to see more of in England shirts. The final point I want to make is with regard to fullback. Foden is an excellant player but there is no doubt his form for england has dipped slightly and with Brown and today Goode playing so well, well lets say I dont want the fact that he is the man in possession to be too big a consideration in his selection.

Difficult to know how solid any of these conclusions are, given the nature of the game but:

Set piece was ok, and Stevens actually had a good game. The scrum seemed to struggle when Mullan came on, so maybe the coaching staff deserve more credit than I gave them.

Broken field play was excellent for the first time since the start of 2011. The backrow did pretty well I thought (Johnson to start at 6 for me in two week's time) and Botha had a brilliant game. Goode, Wade and JJ impressed, and you can see how good a side England will probably become in a couple of years with a Ford or a Burns at FH and Twelvetrees at IC.

In the meantime, I'd only allow Farrell to play at 10 and definitely not in the centres. I'd also seriously consider playing JJ at 13 and moving Tuilagi to the left-wing. This is obviously controversial, and is very unlikely to happen, but Barritt's limitations as a distributor were there again, Tuilagi isn't in great form and even at his best is a limited passer, and our most likely 10 in the 1st Test, Farrell, isn't a great distributor either. I don't see how the back 3 players, an area of strength for England, are going to get the ball in structured play unless we change something. JJ has pace, a step and decent basics.

One other thought - although the execution was sometimes poor (thanks to the issues at 10, 12, 13) I actually thought England looked a bit better in attack today, like there was some sort of plan. Obviously it was only the Barbarians, but hopefully this is Catt starting to have an influence.

I am sad about it to mention that executing the attack in international game is all about time and space to make the skills. Barbarians were not much defensive pressure and give a lot of time and space. But still was sloppy with the passing and not clinical. Some player can't just make the same skill work at faster pace with pressure and not much is teaching by watching this kind of game. Treat like entertainment and enjoying it is best and not read the meaning of life in it.

anotherworldofpain wrote:Treat like entertainment and enjoying it is best and not read the meaning of life in it.

That is pretty sound advice whatever you do in life to be honest!

I was lurking in the North stand today and although we were at lower strenght from a well deserved day off by the internationals that partook in the AP final yesterday i could see the differences between 6N and todays performance. Catt seems to be beginning to make a difference in the back row, and it was good to see Ashton back on form AND seeing some service - and young Wade seemed very hungry to make sure that he sees the 11 shirt again. Some of the set peices weren't quite pulled off, but seeing as Catt probabley hasn't had time to work with this team that much at the moment, that can be forgiven for now ... but not so much further into the summer tour.

We were missing the work rate of Robshaw no doubt, and some of the defense was a touch lacking if i am to be critical - although, as mentioned, stevens was having a good game which almost made me fall out my chair - i'm not usually an advocate of him at all. All in all a good day out, and i definatley get the impression that England are moving forwards from the 6N campaign and building on that start. The next month will be very interesting!

you're never going to get the intensity in a Baa Baas game as you would in a test.

There s less structure, less communication and poorly organised defence systems from a Baa Baas team who has little time to prepare.

You saw on the weekend how england with turn over ball could get in for a try as defences were poorly organised.

Difficult to take a lot from a game like that.

It took Dowson to show Farrell et al how to draw a defender and release a colleague on the overlap......alround skills of Farrell and mid-field were very poor. This issue could undermine all our efforts to develop this England team.

That was one poor quality game - It's difficult to draw too many conclusions other than Farrell for all his well rehearsed qualities is not an intelligent and dynamic player. England can't be held too responsible and should not be criticised as the Baa Bas were woeful IMO and the break up of the game lead to a degenrative match all round with some fairly simple walk in trys. Difficult to draw too many conclusions but I'm sure a nice day out all the same, just not for me

Glad I went to the other game at Twickers that weekend instead. Nice to get Wade etc involved. I think there is genuine pressure on every position except 8, wherever Robshaw plays, 3 and probably Hooker. In a good way

As others have said, you can't really draw many solid conclusions from that match. It was nice for them all to get a run out, and as Ashton said in interview it helps from an attacking perspective getting used to each other's positioning/calls etc...

What I did note was that nearly all the Sarries players, bar Stevens put in pretty below par performances. This was a chance for Farrell and Barritt both to cut loose and show that they can attack and distribute, but they did neither. Farrell was absolutely woeful and as i've said before his distribution hasn't caught up to his temperament and kicking levels yet. A very off day.

Hartley looked revitalised for having a bit of a break from rugby for once. Stevens played well at LH, and will keep his bench spot after Mullan or PDJ showed little.

Tom Johnson was outstanding in many areas of the pitch, ran well and clearly some good passing. But even in that heat at 65/70 mins he was counter-rucking and snagging at the breakdown. Very good game.

Botha and Palmer did pretty well, but will be too lightweight in SA for my liking. Outside of that, it's just Ashton who had a good tracking game and has sealed his spot, Wade deserves more of an opportunity and i'd feel better about him being there than Strettle.

Just thought I'd give some of the stats for a couple of those I felt put in more notable displays.


Botha hasn't been one of my starting picks this last year or so, but thought he had a pretty impressive game and really got involved in all facets. 34m, 3 clean breaks, 1 defender beaten, 2 offloads.

Johnson got around a decent amount and looked a strong contender for the test match squad. 64m, 1 clean break, 1 defender beaten, 3 offloads.

Ashton definitely had his tail back up. 3 tries, 127m, 6 clean breaks, 2 defenders beaten, 1 offload.

Joseph remains the young player I'd most like to see break into the senior side. In only 30mins, 2 tries, 85m, 3 clean breaks, 2 defenders beaten, 1 offload.


Aside from those, thought Hartley made a good return and was key to a lot of good things the forwards were doing. Dowson was a similarily good leader and influence around the park. Wade made a couple of minor errors but did relatively well overall for a first game and am keen to see more from him in the midweek side, the size concerns definitely didn't seem an issue (1 try, 89m, 2CB, 1DB). Dickson remains behind Care & Youngs for me, but thought he kept things ticking over quite nicely (68m, 2CB, 2DB).


I would have liked to have seen more from Fearns in the loose, he's capable of more there. That said, I felt he was doing a fair bit of the unseen work around the breakdown and was joint top tackler with Palmer (9, at least double that of the other forwards).

PDJ failed to stake a claim for the test squad as well, confirming that I'd probably go Cole, Corbisero & Marler, backing Cole to last the full 80 and risking Corbisero to cover TH if Cole does get injured. Very happy to see the 8 man bench come in after the summer.

With regards to Fearns...with Botha and Johnson prominent in the loose I felt Fearns put in a good shift in the tight. He seemed to be in every ruck etc...making a nuisance....and the tackle count is good aswell...