Okay, so my expectations for the England/USA game turned out to be a little on the optimistic side. Let's face it, England put in a pretty dismal performance against a largely amateur side. However, I think the referee has to take some of the blame for what was a scrappy, occasionally ill-disciplined game. Kaplan was pretty awful, bottling decisions and missing blatant infringements. Still, that doesn't excuse Phil Vickery's silly trip, which has rightly earned him a two week ban (and ironically allowed the superior Stevens to play). Good to see Paul Emerick on the receiving end of a lengthy ban for his spear tackle on Olly Barkley as well.
Now we face much stiffer opposition in the Springboks, without a proven fly-half. Will the 'great experiment' that is Andy Farrell pay off? As a fan of English rugby I sincerely hope so, but realistically I think that the team could be in for a very difficult evening.
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