D. Care v B. Youngs

After yesterday's match between Quins and Tigers surely there can be absolutely no doubt as to who the best attacking scrum-half in England is right now. Care scored one try and created another. Quins win by 4 tries to zip. In contrast Youngs looked slow and ponderous as was substituted early in the second half. Care played the whole 80 mins. Maybe if England want to play 10 man rugby and just want their 9 to box kick to touch then Youngs is the man. If they want to play a fast attacking game there is only one name in the frame. Danny Care.

Care, for a long time, has been far better than Youngs.

Apart from the autumn internationals.....

I would have Danny Care in the starting XV. And it would be close Between B youngs, Lee Dickson, And joe Simpson. IMO.

majesticimperialman wrote:I would have Danny Care in the starting XV. And it would be close Between B youngs, Lee Dickson, And joe Simpson. IMO.

Not been impressed by Dickson when he has got on the pitch for England, and plenty of people say that Simpson has not got the full set of skills. Youngs has had some terrific international performances, but last year Care was a good deal better than anyone else. There seems to be plenty of talent on the horizon in most positions, but do we have any really good scrum halves coming through?

Dan Robson could be the one I reckon after the world cup

lostinwales wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:I would have Danny Care in the starting XV. And it would be close Between B youngs, Lee Dickson, And joe Simpson. IMO.

Not been impressed by Dickson when he has got on the pitch for England, and plenty of people say that Simpson has not got the full set of skills. Youngs has had some terrific international performances, but last year Care was a good deal better than anyone else. There seems to be plenty of talent on the horizon in most positions, but do we have any really good scrum halves coming through?

Dickson is a Saints player, we don't go for flashy or stand out players, we go for effective ones. Dickson puts pace on the game, is the eyes and ears of the rolling maul, always directing it, moving players around. He doesn't do the Youngs and sometimes Care thing of standing over the ball at the back a ruck, letting the defence organise, he gets it out quickly usually to a lump driving forward at pace.

It is the key to Saints game and their ability to make space out wide. That is why they are the top try scorers in the AP.

Dickson is also one of the best defensive 9s in the country, his covering is exceptional and his box kicking better than either Care or Youngs. Saints get very disappointed if they cannot get someone up to challenge for a box kick; they are not disappointed often, Foden, North and Pisi are all excelent at getting up to challange for the kick.

He might not have the pace of Care or Youngs, but he has other attributes and is not so slow that he can't keep a defence honest.

That is good, but last year's match vs France the moment I thought we were going to lose was when Care was subbed for Dickson.

I have an open mind. Maybe its just down to what the team are used to, and players are not offering themselves the way that he is used to, but I am yet to be convinced

For me Care is the best English scrum half by a fair distance although admittedly he wasn't at his best in the autumn. Youngs isn't a bad player at all but for me he seems to make less breaks than he used to, while not necessarily improving his previously weak areas.

Dickson doesn't work that well with Farrell I don't think, 2 solid players together means we are lacking a bit of spark at half back.

Care for me. Annoying little git he is. ASk the other nationalities who they least want to play against and care would be it I think.

Care is the best this week and village the next, inconsistent and sometimes plain awful. How is Wrigglesworth doing?

Care is the best one week and village the next, inconsistent and sometimes plain awful. But with Farrell at 10 he is sometimes the difference between England looking lethargic and fizzing around the breakdown.

How is Wrigglesworth doing?

I would like to see Care and Ford - then we can expect to see the team try and attack with the ball.

What I dread is Care being selected then being asked to kick the ball as the primary tactic.

BamBam wrote:Dan Robson could be the one I reckon after the world cup

Just a pity that Humphreys has insisted on playing Laidlaw so much. With more exposure he might be in the mix.

Sadly Humphreys pretty much picked a team at the start of the season and told players he was not going to change it based on form in order to get consistency. In light of that it is nor surprising to see him leave.

Care is the best attacking 9 in the league and has been for a few seasons, he's also right up there in all the other scrum half skills, yes even kicking! On Saturday he took all the pressure off the returning Ben Botica, and it wasn't coincidence that Bot's also had one of his best games for us too, that's after a few months out injured and a run of really poor form before that. If we need someone to help Ford in his first run of starts for country then he'd do it best IMO.

But...

England's game plan at present means he has to kick a lot more and is limited in his running opportunities, and when he does break there's little to no support. Likewise in attack when he moves sideways to open space for a runner switching with him the rest of the team aren't ready for it, or if he taps and goes then it's highly likely the rest of the team (bar Robshaw) will be stood around watching him. These little things add up and in the end make for poor performances.

In this regard Dickson and Youngs may be better for England, both run less but can kick more so will suit England's style (if it stays the same as the AI's, which it may not going by the last 6N's) but both will allow opposition defences to drift to cover the backline which'll cause us more problems going forward.