I wouldn't give up hope quite yet. Your injury problems are in the backline but with the state of the England tight five, the scrum is where this game will be won and lost. Youngs can't hook (sic - although since the ball is mostly fed into the second row these days that's an intermittent problem), Cole has been totally anonymous for months, and Marler was boring in all Friday evening because he's got a lightweight lock behind him. Note how that problem disappeared as soon as Launchberry came on. Furthermore, if rumours are true and Faz-Barritt-Burgess play 10-12-13 we'll be playing into the Welsh hands with whatever ball we do get. Not to mention that Bread and Tipuric will have a field day. Plan A: Bosh. Plan B: Bosh. Plan C: Bosh. Your biggest worry will be the last 20 minutes where England's depth will come through. But on the day? With some of the decisions Bomber is making, this one is wide open.

Edited by sydtheeagle (23 Sep 2015 10.38am)

Sydenham by birth. Selhurst by the Grace of God.

A wild guess: You've never tried playing two rugby internationals in four days?

Sydenham by birth. Selhurst by the Grace of God.

Japs looked tired and made loads of handling errors.

Still very plucky performance and were right in it at halftime.

Scoreline flattered the Jocks.

A great match spoiled by abjectly stupid scheduling. The reality is that there have to be 4 or 6 teams in a group so everyone can play on a full week's rest. That's what the nature of rugby requires; it's a physical sport and recovery time is critical. Japan might have lost on a full week's rest anyway but today they lost entirely due to fatigue after the 50 minute mark. That's robbed everyone of what was set to be a classic match and, indeed, was shaping up to be one until the hour mark. Another example of sports officialdom doing fokol to deliver what's best for the sport.

Sydenham by birth. Selhurst by the Grace of God.

The really worrying thing is that Bomber seems to have no idea what he's doing. You prepare for, and start, a World Cup with an out-half who has an expansive style and you build your strategy around that then, one game in, you throw it completely out of the window and replace him with Faz, who is Ford's complete opposite tactically. If, indeed, the rumoured selection is true then it reeks of a coach who's second guessing himself and that will be a great source of confidence for Wales. As for Burgess, you won't even need your first choice back-line to find gaps. Looks at the way the inexperienced (but more experienced than Burgess) Jessie Kriel was exposed in the Bokke-Japan game. Sure, he went tearing into their 10 in a play that looked impressive to non-rugby followers but by doing so doing he left a yawning gulf (twice) through which Japan went to score tries. The notion that Burgess can defend at international level is frightening. If Bomber thinks Barritt's organisational capabilities will compensate, well, good luck with that.

I won't make a prediction yet but if the Faz-Barritt-Burgess midfield is true then I am for the first time inclining towards Wales.

Edited by sydtheeagle (23 Sep 2015 5.53pm)

Sydenham by birth. Selhurst by the Grace of God.

This cannot be so. Defending as a 13 takes years of experience to sharpen your instincts. It's all about covering space, not directly about making tackles or spectacular plays. As I noted earlier, if you spin out of position to make what appears to be a sensational hit and thereby open up your channel, the effect is devastating if your opponent manages an offload, wiped out or not. Simply by knowing your position you stunt the opponents ability to execute in a particular space, without even having to make a tackle. What cannot be so is that a Welsh midfield composed of players who've Union experience since minis so they simply know what to do by instinct would be a good match for someone who's played the game for all of eight months and, on top of that, isn't even being used in his club position. Playing Burgess simply gifts Wales a focal point to attack. It's a complete mismatch, whoever plays 13 for Wales.

Edited by sydtheeagle (23 Sep 2015 8.35pm)

Sydenham by birth. Selhurst by the Grace of God.