Scotlands half backs are better than the French!

Hang on a minute....
With 90 seconds to go in the world-cup semi-final, rather than kick the ball into touch (he was 10m from the touchline) Sinfield decided to loop the ball perfectly so the NZ full back could launch a counter attack. He then managed to jump out of the line like a schoolboy, allowing Shaun Johnson to waltz through a massive hole to score the winning try.
I thought Sinfield was a fantastic player and probably the most consistent in the SL era. But to claim he would have made a difference given his prior performance against NZ doesn't make sense.

Had to have a little laugh to myself there. Saw the title of the thread and immediately knew that it was the hypothetical Frenchman that started it!

Also France are rubbish...

Apart from that, he's been class for England


Seriously though, he was never an international standard HB, even Leeds only played him in the halves as if they were short and he wasnn't quite big enough to be an England L/F

As I said, a great captain for Leeds but not an England HB

I'm sorry, Leeds only played him in the halves if they were short? What?
He had many great games for England. He was never making 50m breaks etc but that wasn't his game

Give over man, Sinfield was never International class!... thank goodness he is no longer keeping the likes of Brown, Widdop and Gale out of the team

His was is built on an astute kicking game and managing the players on the field and not around having a burst of pace or having guile and trickery to open up the opposition defence.

As far as being a class half back, he couldn't lace Andy Gregory's boots although, sadly, we haven't had anyone of his standard in an England (or GB shirt) for the best part of 30 years.

How ever good he was for Leeds and he is certainly one of their all time greats, he is not and was not and England (or GB) great.

It's conveniently forgotten that he was one of England's top performers in that game. Shaun Johnson has waltzed around most NRL players at some point so I wouldn't say that incident is necessarily a barometer of Sinfield's performance that day.

Yes, he has. Including Greg Inglis, who you just *don't* waltz round.

All the more reason, then, not to jump out of the line at him, as a player of Sinfield's experience should have known.

Maybe, but the post I responded to suggested that his game management and kicking game could have seen England home against NZ in October.
I simply pointed out that when it really mattered, his shocking last-play kick gave NZ the platform from which to launch the winning attack if the game. I almost understand his desire to shut Johnson down before he could attack the line (even though it was an awful decision for a seasoned professional) but I have no idea what he was thinking when he decided to keep the ball alive in the last minute when England were clinging on.

I think the fact Sinfield playing at halfback for England for so long summed up the awful options we had and still have at halfback. But they're better than the Frenchies.