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England flanker Brad Shields cops it on social media after pear-shaped offload attempt

Brad Shield's over-head offload attempt went pear-shaped at a critical moment in the Springboks test.

Ex-Hurricanes and new England flanker Brad Shields has copped the wrath of English fans for attempting an offload that went pear-shaped, slipping from his grasp and flying metres forward into the in-goal.

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Shields’ mistake came as he broke away down the right sideline as England searched for a go-ahead score, trailing 11-9 with less than 10 minutes remaining.

Luckily for Shields, England won a penalty from the ensuing scrum that Owen Farrell kicked to re-take the lead 12-11, which was the final score of the match.

Shields – picked over a number of local prospects – start to his international career hasn’t been up to the level expected of an England recruit according to many fans.

https://twitter.com/alexh_williams/status/1058770365579698177

Shields had a mixed performance against South Africa, winning two turnovers and making 10 tackles, but he also conceding a penalty and making the crucial offloading mistake, which the commentatory team labeled ‘awful’.

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“Brad Shields has to keep hold of this ball,” they said.

“Step infield, control it, not the moment to throw that speculative pass. That’s awful.”

If retained in the starting lineup next week, Brad Shields will face off against the All Blacks for the first time with a point to prove.

England fans will be hoping he at least shelves the offload for the occasion.

In other news:

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Upnorth-taniwha 39 minutes ago
New Zealanders may not understand, but in France Test rugby is the 'B movie'

So with all that's been said, France sending a b team, top 14 so strong, we support ab’s, they support top 14 and WC and six nations. It is what it is, but do you think that the results of this tour have matched the outcry? Like the first test against a so called b side? Yes we won, just. The second test was better, but against a lesser team apparently. And the third test we will experiment, to a degree. But we are still not thrashing them. One would expect if the teams they are sending are so bad, then why aren't we holding them scoreless and why aren't we putting 50-60 points on them every week? We put all our emphasis on international rugby, yet the show isn't what one would think it would be considering all the facts. I don't know, but I was really expecting the ABS to come out in the first test and show France how pissed off they were that they had sent a mediocre test team. Send them home thrashed and with their Tails between there legs, but I don't know. I think they would go home confident that even if they put the b side in, they can compete against a power house AB team. Not good for us, more so for them. As we all know, the mental side of international rugby is huge. Players confidence can set there path for their careers. So I think it was a perfect chance to absolutely dent the confidence of these up and comers, so when they faced us again in the future, they wouldnt be so keen! And if the ABs had really smashed this team and any other team that done the same, then it would be a message to all international sides. That if you do so, you do so at your own risk and at the expense of the growth of your players going forwards. I get what everyone is saying in regards to all the other stuff. Yes we have a lot to work on. But firstly we need to win, and win big. Otherwise these complaints of b sides, look rather silly. Yes we are 2 nil up. The second test against a much weeker side was better-ish. But C'mon, if they want to send b sides, we should treat them like that, and really be smashing them. Confidence in any player, can be changed for the entirety of their careers. Maybe if we did this, they would realise the effects and send stronger teams. But I don't think that so far this series, any player would feel like they wouldn't want another go at the ABs and can face up to them. Just a thought

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