Originally Posted by I love Ellie:
“Flannery gets a 6 week ban.”
Won't contest it.
Didn't have a leg to stand on, well not a spare one after aiming the kick

.
My first awareness of the England rugby team was, I think, 1975 losing 4-3 to France in a really exciting game (seen bits about it on ESPN Classic recently, would have won if Alastair Hignell didn't have a mare).
Probably really start to recall from a couple of years later.
Beaumont as captain, Cotton & Wheeler in the front row (with Robin Cowling?), Roger Uttley. The back three of Dusty Hare or Dave Caplan, Mike Slemen (great winger) and Peter Squires.
I recall Beaumont saying that if the selectors had not been a bunch of doddery gin swilling idiots England would have had a pretty good team in the late 70's (wasted talents like Andy Ripley, Tony Neary and Tony Dixon for a long time). When they finally got a decent selection crew, who worked on picking the best team, didn't pick or drop players on a whim and were happy to take input from the senior players, they won the Grand Slam. The RFU broke that group up quite quickly.
The only really bad England teams I recall were in the mid 80s before Cooke and Uttley got involved.