Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Ben Foden gets the better of Stephen Jones' hit

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Ben Foden gets the better of Stephen Jones' hit

Here's a quick clip of what happened straight from the kickoff in last Friday's RBS 6 Nations opener between Wales and England at the Millennium Stadium. As we know, England won the game 26-19. You can view highlights here.

Foden took a bit of stick after his comments about Wales ahead of the game, but to his credit, he backed up his words with another impressive performance, once again showing that for a relatively small guy, he's got serious upper body strength.

We saw in in the autumn too, where because of his willingness to run the ball from anywhere, he's developed a great offloading game and has become good and retaining possession when taking it into contact.

We've actually got interview time with him later today, so we'll have an interview up on the site on Saturday probably, and hopefully have a few comments from him about this collision, where Stephen Jones came out of nowhere to smash him but got the worse of the two.

In fact Jones didn't look right for some time after that, showing signs that despite being helluva tough, he was perhaps more affected than he let on. For Wales' game this weekend, James Hook has been brought in at number ten, which will no doubt improve their backline formations and attacking threats, which was a major problem against England.

Foden says that England are now a team in form, that others must look to and realise that they're a serious contender for the title. "I think people will have taken notice of that (win). Wales are a good side and to go down there and beat them on their own turf is a good achievement," he said.

Some of you wanted to see this incident again, so here you go. Do you think Jones' technique was poor, Foden's strength did the damage, or it was just one of those freak occurrences?

Time: 01:15

YES FIRST
Haha guess it was ben fodens strength, like he did against that scottish guy last year

By Anonymous, at February 10, 2011 10:06 am
foden stepped to the inside just in time to git jones' head which was at that moment on the wrong side, resulting in the knock.. If he had stepped to the outside or jones' head was to the right, it would probably have been a great tackle..

By Anonymous, at February 10, 2011 10:26 am
The Foden charge on Kellock from last year - Foden vs Kellock

By GMC, at February 10, 2011 10:29 am
Both reasons:

1-Foden seems in good shape
2-Bad technique from jones, he put his head ahead his tackle, so he took Foden body and elbow on it

Bad gestion by the welsh staff? Jones missed 6 crucial pts after that

By Colombes, at February 10, 2011 10:40 am
This wouldn't have happened if Hape bloody straightened. He had a lock and a prop in front of him with Ashton and Foden outside... why pass so early?

By Dozzy_X, at February 10, 2011 10:54 am
I'm guessing Fodens strength didn't help, but to me jones technique looked a bit odd, it looked to me, as if he ran in for a 'massive' hit, but then didn't fully commit...on the more side angle you see his feet and shoulders are similarly aligned even though his back is bent....as if he went in to smash Foden BACK but ended up looking as if he wanted to let Foden roll OVER his shoulder...

Ofcourse the elbow to the swede can't help either...

By (u-p)rick, at February 10, 2011 11:29 am
Poor technique from Jones, you often see people get bounced when tackling if they hit the back foot at all. Added to the fact that Fodens a bit of a tank in contact and it was a predictable outcome.

By Redron, at February 10, 2011 12:09 pm
Foden's awesome isn't he. Arguably England's best player at the moment.

@RD - nice one posting the Foden-Kellock incident again. Brilliant!

@Colombes - 3 points, Hooky missed the other.

@Dozzy_X - absolutely. And not his only mistake of the game either. I don't really get why we're relying on a Kiwi import when there are players like Olly Barkley, Dan Hipkiss, Dom Waldouck and Jon Clarke around.

Barkley, especially, I think would be a far better option at 12. Or play Jonny Wilkinson at 12, he slots in there seamlessly with Toulon when Contepomi and he switch places.

By Von, at February 10, 2011 12:09 pm
Is foden really that small? 14 stone is pretty standard for a back nowadays. And his strength and power are impressive.

and wilkinson at 12! why! he has played there before for england and it didn't work well. I think a centre partnership from the likes of barkley, tuilagi, banahan, armitage (everyone was suggesting him at 13 6 months ago, what has changed)

By Anonymous, at February 10, 2011 1:03 pm
So it isn't just ROG and Cooper that have trouble tackling....it's just a flyhalf thing! (Wilkinson and Carter excluded)

By Anonymous, at February 10, 2011 1:38 pm
shit game full mistakes and no skill

By Anonymous, at February 10, 2011 1:50 pm
foden drops the shoulder at the right time!
SJ is usually a solid tackler an doesn't need a covering flanker like ROG.
as for anonymous saying JW is a good tackler. he might have been ok once but doesn't commit anymore cause of his shoulders. seen SJ steamroller JW more than once.

By mat, at February 10, 2011 1:58 pm
Well done anonymous, excellent grammar and a real cutting insight.

Jones' lower body looks like he's about to smash Foden with his LEFT shoulder - in fact, if he had gone in with the left, he probably would have floored him.

BUT a mixture of a half step by Foden and perhaps a desire from Jones to hit him with his preferred shoulder led to him getting his head all in the wrong place...sit down.

By coops, at February 10, 2011 2:02 pm
Jones used the wrong shoulder to tackle. Dangerous play, line out lifters can get penalised for endangering their own team so why should it be different? I'd like to see him with a 5 week ban to his name

By Citing Commissioner, at February 10, 2011 2:43 pm
If you watched the last 12 mins of the game, Wilko put in some huge hits

By Anonymous, at February 10, 2011 3:30 pm
To put a big hit on Wales playmaker like that was a big psychological boost for england. It might have given Foden the confidence to have a great game as well.
I don't think moving Hook to fly-half is the answer for the world cup. I think Hook should play 10 after SJ retires.
Roberts needs to start performing for wales as well.

By Anonymous, at February 10, 2011 5:44 pm
Dozzy... spot on. Stop it 5 seconds in and ask what would NZ do? Ashton is guilty of passing too early too but you'll forgive a winger.

Von... why Hape and not those players? Because Barkley should never be allowed within 100ft of an England shirt, and the others all play 13... with Waldouck having been horribly out of form since returning from injury and Hipkiss offering very little. Wilkinson has been shown up at 12 before at international level.

So who else? Billy Twelvetrees isn't ready. Jordan Turner-Hall hasn't had the best season. Brad Barritt is very limited (and a saffa really anyway)... any suggestions anyone?

By Hackney Griffin, at February 10, 2011 5:45 pm
..just out of interest, i'd like to see banahan at 13...

...he needs to improve his tackling/passing/handling...

...(i know he tackles hard but he needs to be careful as he gets pinged every now and again for it..)

as for handling he seems to have an issue retaining the ball i noticed...

By (u-p)rick, at February 10, 2011 6:37 pm
Foden really is one of the most exciting prospects i've seen for England at FB since Jason Robinson I'm Scottish btw). He has pace, strength and appears to have a good rugby brain.

I didn't think England were actually that good while beating Wales at the weekend (thenagain they didn't need to be!), but Foden would definitely make it into my 6N team based on last weekends performances only.

Out of interest, my full team would be:

15. Foden
14. Ashton
13. Ansboro
12. Mermoz
11. Medard
10. Trihn-Duc
9. Parra
8. Harinordiquay
7.
6.
5. Kellock
4. Gray
3. Castrogiovanni
2. Servat
1. Domingo

Mostly France as can be expected. Foden the only stand-out for England, although Ashton deserves a place for his tries (and there were no real other contenders there). Ansboro i thought was by far the most exciting 13. About the only Scot who outplayed his opposite number v France and Dricco, Tindall etc were pretty anonymous in their games. Toby Flood was good, but loses out mainly to trihn-Duc's flair, while Castrogiovanni, as always, but maybe a little unfairly makes the sole Italian representation breaking up the awesome French front row. The Scottish locks, Gray particularly, definitley deserve their place, while i am unsure about 6 & 7. Prob should go to the French, but i don't really remember how the others in the other teams played so have left them blank. Any thoughts?

By Believer, at February 10, 2011 9:59 pm
Stephen jones is actually a very solid defender. But yeah he did get his head on the wrong side and Foden has a great habit of smashing people one on one like that.

I feel kind of sorry for him that hook is taking chance on saturday, hopefully it'll force bring back his A game. He's never been a flashy player has Jones, but when he's on form he seems to do everything very well indeed.

By David, at February 10, 2011 11:14 pm
mat said...
as for anonymous saying JW is a good tackler. he might have been ok once but doesn't commit anymore cause of his shoulders. seen SJ steamroller JW more than once.
Excluding the AB skills thread, this is the most ridiculous comment I've read on here in a long time. Might have been ok once?? One of the best tacklers to have played the game. Did you see him when he came on against Wales the other day? Suddenly there were Welsh blokes being smashed backwards all over the park. He put in several great tackles and really helped turn the screw.

By Von, at February 10, 2011 11:22 pm
@Hackney Griffin - what's wrong with Barkley? He seems to be a bit gobby and I understand he doesn't get on with Johnno on a personal level and he spends too much time on Twitter. But he's creative, a good kicker, good tackler and has a good rugby brain.

The only time I remember Wilkinson playing inside centre for England was alongside Danny Cipriani and I thought he went quite well.

By Von, at February 10, 2011 11:34 pm
2nd worst defender after ronan o'gara

By Chris Boy, at February 11, 2011 12:56 am
Bad technique. He had his head in the wrong position.
But it happens sometimes to all players.

By Tom, at February 11, 2011 2:17 am
Von, did you check out that England v Wales video that was posted just before the Eng wales game this year, the one where a welsh guy scores and ruins englands day?

I think JW was playing inside centre in that game...12, or 13, cant remember now..

I dont know if the entire thing was posted, but i know there is a...oh wait...you posted the link to the rest of the game...and ruined the suprise lol...

By (u-p)rick, at February 11, 2011 6:07 am
Mate, that was 12 years ago!!
Look at the more recent evidence and I think it tells a very different story.

Yeah, I know, I spoiled the surprise. What a bastard. You know that old bloke with the beard who comes down your chimney with a sack of presents......

By Von, at February 11, 2011 8:14 am
Lol, I wasn't having a dig, I was just saying that's probably one of the only other times I saw him play centre.... I think JW is a bit of a utility back, prob too slow for wing and a bit misused if stuck at 15 but 10,12,13 or 15 and I think he'd perform...

...an yeh? What about Santa?

By (u-p)rick, at February 11, 2011 2:02 pm
"foden drops the shoulder at the right time!" by mat

agreed, I think he leaned on to him with the perfect timing.

stephen jones bad posture didnt help too, if he was lower with the back straight it would have been a clean tackle

By Anonymous, at February 13, 2011 2:37 pm