I really like Wilkin,he's got good hands & i actually think he's been v good when he's played in the halfs on emergency occasions. His only problem is that he's light for a forward & is definately a dry weather,hard ground player. In wet conditions he doesn't make many yards.



Its going to be interesting to see how Tomkins & Eastmond gel together, they're both exciting players but v inexperienced. Sinfield is gonna have to step up. It is refreshing to have a coach who is strong enough to drop big name players. In the past, England/British coaches have been guilty of refusing to drop players who were still getting by on past reputations.

What do people think of Bridge at centre? Is he capable of breaking the line & creating chances for his winger against the Kiwis?

It's not stopped Cunningham playing at dummy half - since his elbow injury his distribution, particularly the flat pass over any sort of distance, has been much less accurate than it was.



Besides, if Sinfield can pass in one direction it puts him one direction ahead of Roby/Higham.

Only if we change our tactics and get the ball out wide.

lulz very good



on that note KC seems to have cut the long passes out thank god.

I hope you watched and learnt last night. Sinfield ran the show with good distribution in both directions. His passing skills put other players regularly into space eg first try and his long pass from the base of the scrum set up Foxes excellent second try (great pass from Eastmond and good running line from Bridge and good finish from Fox) Sinfield made clean breaks, kicked goals and for field position and was top tackler with 30+ In addition he undertook the role of captain on the field and was continually motivating the other players. Whereas Wilkin did........? Remind me just what he did please.

He worked fecking hard for the 15 minutes he was on.



The whole team worked their butts off last night. Without any one of them working hard and trying their best we would not have won. Sinfield made mistakes, as did some others, and played well, as did plenty of others. Sinfield wouldn't have had a ball to pass to Eastmond had our forwards not done their job so superbly.



Go take your childish club rivalry back to the Leeds board. This here board is for [iinternational[/i rugby league.

I suspect there's an element of getting back at the Sinfield haters, of whom there are (or have been) many. I've doubted his ability at this level. Still do as an out-and-out loose/forward/stand off. But with two tryos at halfback it worked quite well.

I'll say this again-how good are our forwards?? Sam Burgess, Gareth Ellis, James Graham etc We are World Class in the forwards....its just a bit dodgy when they run against our backs isn't it. Good tactics to start with 4 front rowers though. I'm praying for rain on Saturday, I fancy us in a battle down the middle. Good luck England!

England have two world class forwards, and it's the first two on that list.



There are some other very good players, but not world class ones.

I have held a question mark over Sinfield's inclusion at international level. Not because I don't rate him, but because I don't think we [ishould[/i need a distibuting 13. However, Smith's system of playing one half back either side of the pitch with Sinfield in the middle means he's thriving, as he did in Smith's Leeds side that played the same system. I also respect he has a big heart and will work and tackle away.



I think now, in tomkins and Eastmond, we have a half back partnership that would be capable of bossing the game and distributing well, so would ideally like to see a return to a bigger, harder 13 being played.



Wilkin played well when he was finally introduced on Sat. I (like others) feel he's a little lightweight for international rugby, but he carted the ball up manfully, tackled away as he does and added an extra dimension with some ball handling out wide.



What people don't see in Wilkin is how well he works for the team in running off the ball to give passers options create gaps for the other receivers - Something our rugby lacks in comparason with the Assuies

If you play a running 13 (Burgess, Ellis?) then you place a heck of a lot of responsibility on Tompkins and Eastmond very early in their careers. Having someone like Sinfield in the side (whether it's at 9 or 13) takes some of that pressure off them and means they can just play what's in front of them.

And perhaps with two such young players at international rugby its necessary this year, but ATEOTD half backs need to be able to do that job. Sinfield doesn't just take [ipressure[/i off them, he stands at 1st reciever and takes [iresponsibility [/ioff them. If we want to consistantly compete at international level, then our half backs need to do their jobs in full.

This time next year, I would expect those two half backs to be able to boss the game between them, and as for pressure, well i don't think either of them suffer unduly with nerves...



Again, this isn't me complaining about Sinfield, i know he's playing well.



[iWith all this in mind before the comp I would've played O'Loughlin at 13.[/i