Foot in Touch

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Does Howley’s promotion open the door for Ashton?

April 20, 2012 · Leave a Comment

 

Will Howley stay with Wales when Gatland leads the Lions?

Jack Lewars

The news that Rob Howley will lead Wales’ tour to Australia after Warren Gatland’s recent domestic accident is fairly mundane.  Its wider implications, however, are not.

It is considered all but certain that Gatland will appoint Shaun Edwards and Graham Rowntree as his defence and forwards coaches for next year’s Lions tour.  What is not clear is who will fill the role of attack coach.  While Gatland could take this on himself, he is primarily a forwards coach and strategist, not someone who coaches the technical side of attack.  This leaves an intriguing gap in the Lions coaching make-up.

The obvious candidate is Rob Howley.  He is Wales’ attack guru and was on the 2009 Lions tour along with the three aforementioned coaches.  However, he has already been named as the joint leader (along with Robin McBryde) of the Welsh team in 2013, when Gatland will be on his Lions sabbatical year.  This includes not only the 6 Nations but also the summer tour to Japan, which coincides with the Lions fixtures Down Under.

It is not impossible, of course, that Howley could still travel with the Lions.  Being named as the caretaker of Wales does not prohibit being subsequently named as a Lions coach, and this may be thinking behind Robin McBryde’s joint appointment for the 6 Nations, especially as McBryde took charge of Wales’ 2009 tour to the USA in the absence of Gatland, Edwards and Howley.

If this is the expected progression, however, it seems rather strange that Howley has been given sole charge of Wales’ summer tour to Australia.  This would be a great chance to give McBryde further experience as the head guy, in preparation for his joint and then single custodianship next year.  Although it is firmly in the realms of speculation, it seems to me that Howley’s appointment for the 2012 Australia tour puts his Lions participation in doubt.

Regardless of the lack of certainty here, this gives an intriguing opportunity to muse about alternatives.  The unfortunate truth is that there really aren’t that many.  Scotland can’t buy a try at the moment, which probably discounts Gregor Townsend, although he has fine Lions pedigree as a player.  I’ve got to be honest and say that before researching piece I’d never actually heard of Gert Smal, who seems to be Ireland’s attack coach, so he would be a shock choice as well.

This apparent dearth of candidates adds considerable weight to the position of England attack coach.  After Andy Farrell decided to stay with Saracens (and, although his work on defence during the 6 Nations was outstanding, anyone who saw Sarries plug away at uninspiring plan A against Clermont for 80 minutes won’t be devastated to see him exit the frame), there has been much speculation about the final part of Lancaster’s preferred triumvirate structure.  Waikato Chiefs coach Wayne Smith is the favourite to get the job, especially after masterminding the All Blacks’ World Cup triumph, but he isn’t available until the Autumn.  This necessitates a temporary coach for the South Africa tour and if Stuart Lancaster has demonstrated anything, it’s that possession is nine-tenths of the law in coaching.

If Smith is the RFU and Lancaster’s first choice, it wouldn’t surprise me to see either of Mike Catt or Brian Ashton travel to South Africa.  Catt has international pedigree and is respected by the players, although he is relatively inexperienced and has not coached above club level.  Ashton, meanwhile, was the brain behind England’s unstoppable attack patterns in the Woodward era – something he did so successfully that he became England head coach and led them to a World Cup Final.  In many ways, and still assuming that Howley is unavailable, Ashton would be the most likely person to travel with the Lions, both on ability and pedigree.

Although this is largely speculation and educated guesswork, the thought of a Gatland – Ashton – Edwards – Rowntree coaching team is extremely exciting (not to mention Lancaster – Ashton – Rowntree for England).  There would also be a sense of justice in giving Ashton, a committed servant of the game and a revolutionary attacking thinker, the chance to redeem himself after his appalling treatment at the hands of the RFU in 2008.  Although it remains to seen whether Ashton is willing either to re-enter elite rugby or to talk to the RFU again, he did suggest himself as an interim coach for both the 6 Nations and the South Africa tour in the press.  This suggests that a shot at redemption might just be as appealing to him as it is to the rest of us.

Categories: 6 Nations · Australia · British and Irish Lions · Coaches · England · Ireland · Scotland · Wales
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The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Analysis)

February 5, 2012 · Leave a Comment

The Calcutta Cup was won by England, with a performance that offers optimism amidst the need for improvement

England vs Scotland was, for long periods, really quite boring.  It was tense, it was physical and it was committed; but the inability of either side to string phases together or to handle well produced a game that was disjointed and stodgy.  From the perspective of an England fan, it was a predictably mixed bag, as the new regime was subjected to its first public examination.  I have therefore settled on a new and somewhat lazy mode of analysis, looking at the good, the bad and the ugly from a winning start.

The Good

England won.  They won at Murrayfield, which is a famously difficult ground for the Red Rose, and they did so after only two weeks together.  ’A win is a win’ was a mantra that dogged the Johnson era and was ultimately at the heart of a disappointing World Cup campaign, but in this instance it is a reasonable attitude.  Certainly, given that the performance wasn’t exactly champagne rugby, it is better to have played like that and won than to have played like that and lost.

Several individuals played well, most notably Brad Barritt, who was simply outstanding in defence.  He and Farrell lined up as expected in attack, with Farrell in the wider role, but in defence Barritt was handed the responsibility of the outside centre position and he was magnificent there.  His ability to put in big hits will have made the highlights reel, but much more important was his decision-making, as he consistently knew when to step up, when to drift and when to hold the line.  Indeed, his performance was at the heart of another major England positive – their defensive organisation.  Scotland’s inability to convert overlaps was in part due to their poor execution but it also owed a lot to England’s perfectly timed drift defence.  With Barritt reading nearly everything at 13, and Strettle and Ashton both knowing when to blitz inwards and when to stay wide, the defensive line looked as solid as it has since 2003.  This in turn led to much, much better discipline, as England consistently managed to stay on the right side of the law before turning over dangerous attacks legitimately.

In addition, Chris Robshaw showed ample stomach for the fight, and did a reasonable enough job at the breakdown; Foden was solid as a rock at fullback, saving at least two tries with his tackling; and the scrum, an area of concern before the game, actually had the edge over the Scottish set piece.  Owen Farrell was anonymous with ball in hand but he showed great composure in converting his place kicks, and he and Hodgson both tried to play flat on the gain line, which will reap rewards as the continuity increases.  Also refreshing was the kicking from hand, which was by-and-large of good quality.  Indeed, this was an area which was very significant in England’s victory, as Hodgson comfortably outmanoeuvred Parks, declining to give the Scottish back three easy ball with which to counterattack.

The Bad

Principal among the disappointing aspects was a lack of structure.  This is a new squad, not used to playing together, but a team where the 10, 11, 12 and 13 are all from the same club should be able to gel quickly.  Instead, England barely had the ball for most of the game, and when they did they failed to establish any rhythm.  Leaving aside the handling errors (see below), there didn’t seem to be a coherent plan for where and how to attack and, a brief second-half period aside, there was little in the way of incision.  I can barely remember Farrell, an exciting and creative player, having the ball in his hands while he was at 13; and the potentially explosive back three was restricted to very occasional half-chances.  This lack of structure was exacerbated by the wobbly lineout, which needs to be shored up as a matter of urgency.

The other major disappointment was Phil Dowson, who had a game to forget.  As well as dropping a simple restart, which led to Scotland’s first points, he was only noticeable for the wrong reasons.  Much like Haskell last year, he lacks control at the base of the scrum, which puts significant pressure on Youngs and Hodgson.  Indeed, England’s worst and most self-destructive play of the game, when Ashton ran the ball from a scrum inside his own 22 and conceded a penalty, was in fact caused by Dowson’s failure to provide a solid platform – as the ball squirted out of the scrum on the wrong side, Youngs was unable to throw a long pass to Hodgson and so resorted to Ashton, who was preparing to set off after Hodgson’s kick.  This is symptomatic of the difficulty of playing a blindside flanker at number 8, and Ben Morgan will fancy his chances of a start against Italy.

The (Downright) Ugly

While some of England’s imperfections can be put down to inexperience, both individually and as a squad, some were simply inexcusable.  Both sides were guilty of some cringe-worthy handling errors, a factor which killed any chance of momentum and rhythm in attack.  While Scotland’s mistakes were more costly, most notably when Ross Rennie allowed Foden to spoil his try-scoring pass to Mike Blair, England put themselves under pressure by losing the ball in contact and failing to pass accurately enough.  Hodgson’s admirable desire to play very, very flat (something which he has done magnificently for Saracens all season) was undone by uncharacteristically wayward distribution; and, while both side’s culpability does suggest difficult conditions, professionals at this level should set much higher standards.

Finally, Lancaster himself noted that England were “broken” on several occasions in their one-on-one defence.  As mentioned, their organisation was excellent and they will be pleased to have conceded just 6 points from a 20% deficit in possession.  However, the defensive system has to be supported by good individual tackling and the majority of Scotland’s chances came from simply running straight through an England tackle.  The Welsh, and in particular the French, will not be so profligate, so the white wall of England’s defensive line cannot afford any crumbling bricks.

Categories: 6 Nations · England · Scotland
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6 6 6 – the Devil’s Number?

January 16, 2012 · Leave a Comment

Jack Lewars

The back row has been the most problematic area of England squads since 2003, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to settle down any time soon.  Stuart Lancaster had an opportunity to bring a fresh approach with his first Elite Player Squad but, if anything, his selection has the air of new actors performing the same script.

The make up of England’s back row will only be set in stone when Lancaster announces the team to face Scotland.  However, he has already dramatically reduced his options by including four blindside flankers in his squad, with only one specialist at 7 and 8.  When you take into account the youth and inexperience of those specialists (both are 22, both are uncapped), it raises the genuine prospect of a back row made up of three number 6′s.

Add in the fact that Calum Clark has played the majority of his rugby at blindside for Northampton, which calls into question his credentials as a genuine openside in the first place, and it seems that the most likely starting three are Croft, Robshaw and Dowson.

That team sheet would be a statement of Lancaster’s selection philosophy.   There are essentially two schools of thought when it comes to picking a team in any sport which has clearly defined formations, and by picking so many players with similar skill sets Lancaster appears to be conforming to what I call the ‘maximum talent’ approach.

Using this method, a coach will aim to identify the fifteen (or eleven, thirteen etc.) players of greatest ability and find a way to accommodate them in his tactics and formation.  Wayne Smith, the New Zealand backline guru, said that this philosophy guided the All Blacks’ World Cup squad, ultimately leading to Richard Kahui’s selection on the wing (a decision which was richly rewarded by his performances).  It is also common to see two fly-halves in a team, with one nominally the inside centre, as happened to Jonny Wilkinson at various times during his England and Lions career.

In other sports, the extraordinary formation that Barcelona employed to accommodate Eto’o, Messi, Henry and Ronaldhino is perhaps the most extreme example of getting the most talent possible on the pitch.

The other approach focuses much more on defined roles and the combinations as a path to success.  This holds that, however good your  options at full-back, you still need two genuine wingers to give you the requisite resources for success (defensive positioning, tactical awareness, timing of runs etc.).  The area in which this is paramount is the front row, where no elite team would select two hookers at the expense of a prop, whatever the quality of the hookers.  Those who subscribe strictly to this point of view would always prefer to have a specialist in each position, even if it meant excluding a very good athlete from the starting line-up.

Clearly, neither strategy can be pursued without compromise.  However rich your resources, you would never select four fly-halves in the backline, even if they were Carter, Spencer, Evans and Mehrtens.  Equally, it would have been disadvantageous to exclude one of Josh Lewsey and Jason Robinson in 2003 on the grounds that they were both primarily full-backs.  The constant balancing act of selection is in choosing which approach is right for the players at your disposal, and this is where I start to feel a touch uneasy about the EPS.

Whilst the squad does not necessarily commit Lancaster to either view, it would seem that he is prepared to compromise on having out-and-out back row practitioners (barring the extraordinary selection of both Morgan and Clark).  Although this would clearly not be without precedent, I think it would be a fundamental mistake, for three reasons.

The first is that Lancaster is not being forced to choose between supermen.  If McCaw, Pocock, Warburton and Dusautoir were all English, you could understand the need for flexibility.  However, none of the current flankers has international pedigree except Croft, and he is certainly not undroppable.  Lancaster was not forced to include any of his myriad number 6′s, and I fear he may miss the chance to develop a promising openside into a world class player.

Secondly, it is clear that certain positions are more tolerant of compromise than others.  Most backs can do an adequate job on the wing, provided they have the pace;  inside-centre is such a broadly defined position that both 10′s and 13′s can be trusted there.  However, if the World Cup taught us anything, it’s that number 7 (like prop and hooker) is not one of these roles.  The openside’s skill set is essential to modern rugby, and it cannot easily be mimicked.  Playing with number seven on your back (as Robshaw did for Harlequins this weekend, significantly) does not make you an openside flanker, and the Johnson era, which saw Moody, Wood and Haskell transferred across the back row, provides powerful evidence of the need for expertise.

Lastly, the danger with shifting players around is that you don’t get the best out of them.  Asking Haskell to play like an 8 in New Zealand may have utilised his running power, but it exposed his lack of control at the base of the scrum.  Equally, putting Mike Brown on the wing would surely waste his ability to arrive late into the line, as he does so effectively for Harlequins.  If, as seems probable, Robshaw plays at 7, he will be forced to change the approach that has brought so much success at club level.  Unless he turns out to be exceptionally versatile, this feels like turning a potentially great player in a good one.

The early evidence of Lancaster’s regime brings much cause for optimism – a very different squad, a new coaching team, a new training base and a new culture.  However, with a tricky fixture list, a number of injury concerns over the few experienced players in the squad and the possibility of the Devil’s number in the back row, this could prove to be a difficult spring for the Red Rose.

Categories: 6 Nations · England · Players · Scotland
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The Lions – what next?

November 7, 2011 · 1 Comment

Jack Lewars and Chris Gollop

The next in our ‘what next’ series takes a look at the British and Irish Lions.  It’s worth pointing out right at the start, of course, that the chances of this being the actual Lions’ team are incredibly slim – even forgetting form and fitness, two years is a long time in international rugby.  To give an illustrative example, a proposed Lions team at the end of the 2007 World Cup would never have included Jamie Roberts, a recent Osprey’s debutant, and he was Man of the Series in 2009.  It would also have been a brave man who put money on Simon Shaw making the tour, let alone giving one of the greatest ever performances at lock in the second test.

With those caveats in mind, however, we thought it’d be interesting (not to mention fun) to have a stab at a Lions squad, based on World Cup form and pedigree.  We have also included some speculative possibilities, so that we’ll look brilliant if we’re right.

The Coach

A slightly tricky one, here.  Sir Ian McGeechan can basically have the job whenever he wants but he has categorically ruled out a return to the Lions fold.  Assuming this wasn’t another Steve Redgrave moment, the leading candidate at the moment would be Warren Gatland, given Wales’ glittering World Cup.  With uncertainty over Johnson’s position at England, there is always the chance that someone could take over there and impress in the next two seasons, and the currently-unemployed trio of Jake White, Nick Mallett and (most especially) Graham Henry would all be in the frame.  Henry is the coach with the greatest current standing, but he also managed to lose a Lions test series in 2001 that really, really should have been won.

Front Row – Cian Healey, Matthew Rees, Adam Jones

Probably a slightly easier area to predict than most, given that ‘Prop rockets to stardom’ is a fairly rare headline.  Adam Jones remains the best tighthead prop in the world, and has Lions pedigree, so you’d back him to be starting.  On the other side, the two leading lights at present are Gethin Jenkins and the much-improved Cian Healey.  Although Jenkins has Lions experience, we fancy Healey as the younger man.  The hooker position is uncertain, with no one making an irrefutable claim, but Matthew Rees is a fine player and will want his Wales captaincy back as he returns from injury.   In terms of up-and-coming candidates, any of Dan Cole,  Matt Stevens and the versatile Alex Corbisiero could stake a claim, and Ross Ford might be the dark horse at hooker.

Locks – Luke Charteris, Richie Gray

Luke Charteris’ performances at the recent World Cup set just about everyone purring with admiration, so he’s straight on the current team sheet.  Richie Gray has consistently been one of Scotland’s best performers and his mobility in the loose would be well-suited to Australia’s faster pitches.  If Courtney Lawes can rediscover the form of last Autumn, he will be one of the best second-rows in the world, but he hasn’t looked settled since the Six Nations, and his thumping defence is starting to look a little more like Henry Tuilagi’s than Jonny Wilkinson’s (he was yellow-carded on his return to Northampton last week).  With Ireland and England both looking to refresh their aged packs, however, new players could well emerge here in the next season.

Back row – Sean O’Brien, Sam Warburton, Toby Faletau

There is an absolute abundance of riches here, and balance will be the key in 2009.  We considered and rejected Tom Croft, who was awesome for the 2009 Lions, James Haskell, who has serious potential at 6 or 8, and Stephen Ferris, who is easily the best blindside flanker in the home nations.  The controversy will of course be in selecting Sean O’Brien out of position – a different coach might want specialists in every position, in which case there is the mother of shoot-outs between Warburton and O’Brien at 7.  Either way, it is a fearsomely physical back row, one which can carry, tackle all day and smash the breakdown to pieces.  Faletau is one of the finds of the year, and it is difficult to envisage anyone surging ahead of him.

Half-backs – Mike Phillips, Rhys Priestland

Phillips on form is the best number 9 in the world – better than Du Preez and better than Genia.  He is physical in attack and defence, a good distributor and a great runner, as he showed with some crucial solo tries in the World Cup.  He will need to stay on form to fend off Ben Youngs and Rory Lawson, but he would be favourite at the moment.  He will also consider Danny Care a threat, who was in superb form before injury curtailed his summer.  Our pick for the unexpected contender would be Joe Simpson, however – he is absolutely blisteringly quick, far more so than Youngs or Care, both of whom can turn on the afterburners.  If England use him correctly, he could be what Genia is to Australia, but the word is that it’d need a change in management for his intuitive style to be valued.

At fly-half, Sexton and Hook are both possibilities, but the former has question-marks over his kicking and the latter will be lucky to get a decent run in the position.  Rhys Priestland has been integral to Wales’ resurgence, and has a lovely mix of tactical kicking and flat, threatening distribution.  He also plays with Phillips and Roberts (see below) for Wales, which advances his claim.

Centres – Jamie Roberts, Manu Tuilagi

Roberts showed in 2009 what he can do to defences, and he rediscovered his best form just in time for the World Cup.  He is a brutal runner who creates space for those around him and is the closest thing to a Ma’a Nonu in the Northern Hemisphere (although he can’t pass or kick, yet – it probably doesn’t come up too often when you’re over 17 stone).  Outside him, Tuilagi’s pace and power would be utterly destructive.  He was one of England’s only success stories, and a broken cheek bone won’t keep him from adding tries and caps to his tally.  It is difficult to see anyone else ousting these two if their form continues as it is currently.  There is always the possibility that Tuilagi will have beheaded some unsuspecting opponent, however, in which case Jonathan Davies might sneak into the test team.

Back three – George North, Leigh Halfpenny, Ben Foden

This is the most volatile of the selections, as your wingers in particular are selected mainly on form.  North has had just about every superlative in the book thrown at him in the last two months, although we feel he has yet to prove his pedigree against the top teams.  He would still be starting, however, if the first test was tomorrow.  The other wing could be any number of people – Keith Earls, Ugo Monye and Tommy Bowe were on the 2009 tour; Christian Wade and Charlie Sharples continue to light up the Premiership; and Max Evans has a serious turn of pace for Scotland.  Sticking strictly to current form, Leigh Halfpenny had an excellent World Cup and was just one foot short of kicking Wales into the final, with his 2009 experience and versatility in his favour.  If we’re honest, though, Chris Ashton’s dip in form is largely because England have forgotten how to break the gain line – there’s no one like him for finishing a half-break, and he could run riot with Tuilagi and Roberts creating gaps inside him.  Despite his and England’s poor showing at the World Cup, Ashton still finished as the joint highest try-scorer in the tournament, which is truly astonishing.

At full-back, James Hook is again unlucky to be excluded, but Ben Foden has quietly been one of the most consistent full-backs in the world for two years – rock solid defence, a good decision-maker, very quick and capable of simply smashing players into oblivion when he runs into them.  His try against France was a reminder of his class, and he would complete an exciting and threatening back three.

 

So there you go – a bloody good fifteen.  Particularly exciting is the quality in key positions, such as the back row,the  scrum-half and the centres, although Priestland is not yet a world-class number 10.  Feel free to add your thoughts, challenges and corrections, or simply post your alternative XV.

Categories: Australia · British and Irish Lions · England · Ireland · Scotland · Wales
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England vs. Scotland – a tactical view

October 1, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Jack Lewars

Saturday morning saw Scotland effectively depart the World Cup, barring a remarkable performance by Georgia against Argentina, but England’s relief at avoiding an early exit will be tempered by their continuing problems on the pitch.

England have a limited game-plan, based around generating momentum on the fringes and in the midfield in order to create space for their dangerous back three.  They are not, and will never be, a team that throw the ball wide straight away to create opportunities – and, indeed, they probably shouldn’t be.  The two international teams who most use their backs to attack from first phase are Australia and Wales and both have consistently come unstuck against well-organised defences, most notably Australia against Ireland a fortnight ago.

So there is every reason to respect England’s brand of rugby, which seems to marry exciting players like Chris Ashton and Ben Foden with a pragmatic approach to winning rugby games, abiding by the oft-quoted adage that you must ‘earn the right to go wide’.  The problem is that they are simply not executing this game plan well enough.

First, their indiscipline kills them in attack as much as it does in defence.  When England strung phases together against Scotland, they looked dangerous – indeed, in their best period of the first half they forced three kickable penalties in just five minutes (although Wilkinson missed all of them).  However, for the vast majority of the game, England seemed completely unable to avoid coughing up possession, most often through penalties and free kicks.  They lost four scrums against the head, three of which were turned over by infringements, and their supporters were driven mad by the amount of good ball which was surrendered by a mindless act at an attacking ruck.  Scoring tries by smashing it up and then going wide depends on stringing together at least three phases, and more usually between seven and ten.  If you can’t go more than five without a forward flying off their feet, you are bound to struggle.

The second major area for concern is the decision-making axis of the team.  The absolutely crucial players in England’s simple approach are the scrum-half and fly-half.  They are the ones who must decide when enough momentum has been generated, who must identify the moment when a defence is vulnerable.  In international rugby sides are rarely disorganised for long, and so realising when a drive has left the defence off-balance and striking at that exact moment is vital.  The players who do this most effectively are invariably the most valuable players in world rugby – Genia, du Preez, Dan Carter, James Hook.

England’s decision-makers seriously struggled against Scotland.  Ben Youngs had his poorest game in an England shirt, consistently failing to move the ball away quickly when the attack was short of numbers or when England’s control was slipping – indeed, he gifted the Scots three points when he left the ball in a solid defensive scrum and Cole then slipped on the wet pitch, losing his binding.  He also dallied with his passing, with was itself inaccurate, and he threw a dreadful interception on a rare England attack near the Scotland 22.

Wilkinson also had a poor game, mixing the brilliant with the misguided.  His place-kicking radar was wayward, but he did nail important kicks in the second half; he hit a fantastic right-footed drop-goal to claw England back into the game, but missed an absolute sitter when England really needed the points in the first half.  In particular, his desire to keep the scoreboard ticking over meant that he barely threw a wide pass in the first hour.  The missed drop-goal was a shocker in itself, but the decision even to take it was questionable, given that England had momentum and quick ball in the Scotland 22.  Had Wilkinson been on the pitch, I doubt England would have scored their try (the only time, incidentally, that the game-plan was executed to perfection) – he wouldn’t have kicked to the corner, and he wouldn’t have fixed the defence and thrown a wide pass to Ashton, as Flood did.

With both half-backs struggling, England were never going to be able to open Scotland up.  The idea was to hit hard in the centre of the pitch, twice or three times; for Youngs to decide that the ball was quick enough to cause problems and bullet it to Wilkinson; and for Jonny to distribute it to Foden, Ashton and Armitage.  Instead, the hit was often wasted by an infringement; Youngs dallied, crabbed sideways and passed badly; and Wilkinson didn’t spread the ball even when it was on.  There was and is a good team struggling to get out when this England squad play a match, and when they get it right it results in scores like the decisive-try this morning.  As things stand, however, all they can be happy with is that they just keep winning.

Categories: England · RWC 2011 · Scotland
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England 16 – 12 Scotland

October 1, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Ashton's 77th-minute score saw England progress at Scotland's expense

England 16

Tries: Ashton; Conversions: Flood; Penalties: Wilkinson (2); Drop-goal: Wilkinson

Scotland 12

Penalties: Patterson (2), Parks; Drop-goal: Parks

A late Chris Ashton try was enough to seal England’s place in the World Cup quarter finals in a dreadful game against Scotland at Eden Park.  Defeat means that Scotland are almost certain to exit the competition, but England will take little from an error-strewn performance that lacked continuity and rhythm.

The game began in poor conditions, with both sides struggling to keep a greasy ball in hand but both looking to put width on the ball.  Scotland had the better of the opening exchanges as England’s familiar indiscipline surfaced, allowing Chris Patterson to open the scoring with an eighth-minute penalty.  Dan Parks (a fourth-minute substitute for the hamstrung Ruaridh Jackson) then added another three points after Dan Cole was harshly penalised for not rolling away, the TMO confirming that the kick had just crept over the bar.

Stung by these early concessions, and conscious that Scotland were closing in on the eight point margin that would put them into the quarter finals, England finally began to exert pressure, winning a penalty at the ruck on the left hand side.  Despite the acute angle, Wilkinson opted to go for the points but missed his attempt, the first of three misses within five minutes.  Although England’s pack was making good inroads, and the outstanding Manu Tuilagi was causing huge problems for the Scottish midfield, they had nothing to show for it on the half-hour mark, trailing 6-0.

Scotland continued to threaten with ball in hand but England’s cover defence stayed strong and forced Parks into a missed drop goal, before Wilkinson’s charitable mood eventually expired.  After Scotland entered the ruck illegally on 34 minutes, England’s record points scorer finally reduced the deficit to three points with a successful strike.  There was still time for Parks to slot a drop-goal, however, and England were six points adrift at half time.

The start of the second half saw much greater urgency and penetration from England, with Tuilagi the stand-out player.  Almost straight from the restart, the Leicester centre flew out of the defensive line to sack Sean Lamont, turned the ball over and fed the lively Delon Armitage for a surge down the wing.  England were still struggling to get points, however, and their plight was summed up when Wilkinson somehow missed a drop goal from just 15m out, bang in front of the posts.

Emboldened, Scotland again gained ground and spread the ball to winger Danielli, who kicked ahead.  As the ball bobbled, Ben Foden did brilliantly to spoil Danielli’s own chase, only for the chasing De Luca to knock-on with the try line at his mercy.  Wilkinson did arrive to make the cover-tackle (indeed, his scramble defence was the only part of his game that was fully firing) but De Luca’s frustration was obvious as a golden chance went begging.  From the resulting scrum, however, Patterson was able extend the lead to 12-3 after England’s front row collapsed.  For the first time, Scotland held a crucial nine point lead and England were heading for an early exit.

The England response was immediate – indeed, their ability to respond to necessity will be the biggest positive they take from the game.  First Wilkinson shrugged off his earlier woes to slot a 30m drop-goal, and he then cut the gap to 12-9 after Scotland collapsed a maul.  As Scotland chased the game, England controlled possession and won a line-out in the Scottish 22.  The forwards drove on, Tuilagi crashed the ball up and Flood’s wide pass found Ashton with enough space to scamper over.  England continued to squeeze the life from the Scottish players, finally controlling possession and territory, and they finished the game in the ascendency.

Although England will be pleased to win the game, especially from 12-3 down, they were still light years from the exciting team of last Autumn.  England have a game-plan that doesn’t revolve around flinging the ball wide, which is fine, but they just could not build momentum in the first half as penalties, free kicks and handling errors continually turned the ball over.  For Scotland, meanwhile, a performance of great heart should not hide the brutal truths of this campaign, which has again shown their inability to cross the try-line.  The real knockout blow was delivered by Argentina last week, and Andy Robinson must build a team capable of closing out a game, something which they failed to do in each of their crucial pool matches.

While Scottish hearts were broken, the Auld Enemy stumbles on; but England will have much to work on before next week’s meeting with France.

Categories: England · RWC 2011 · Scotland
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Pick ‘n’ Mix

September 23, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Jack Lewars in Cloud Cuckoo Land

Can someone please check the drinking water in New Zealand, preferably as a matter of urgency?  I only ask because there must be some reason why half the coaches in the tournament seem to have gone stir crazy with their selections this week.

First up, we’ve got France.  Now in many ways this is the least surprising one, given that Lievremont has form here.  As a mate of mine said recently, you never play for France, you just play one game for them.  Then there’s every chance you’ll be out of the squad the next week and captain in a fortnight.  Even given the truth in this, however, the French coach has gone properly overboard this time.  This is one of the biggest games of the tournament, certainly the crunch match of Pool A, and Lievremont has dropped Trinh-Duc, his established fly-half.  Oh well, you say, England have changed like that effectively in the past.  Well, yes, they have, but they did usually replace the dropped player with another fly-half.  Lievremont has put Morgan Parra there, a man with 35 minutes of test rugby in that position.  Ever.  And twenty minutes of those were against Japan.  Can you imagine what David Skrela must have said? 

DS: ’You’re doing what?’
ML: [shrug] ’We’re going with Parra.’
DS: ‘Yes, you said.  I just wanted to know who’s playing fly-half?’
ML: ‘Parra.’
DS: ‘I see.  In that case, can I start at prop please?’
ML: ‘I was thinking more water boy.’

Now the New Zealand press have gone to town on this, as tabloids over there are wont to do (thank goodness ours are so down to earth - today’s Mail led with ‘Staring Down the Barrel of Economic Disaster’).  They have claimed that this is match-fixing, as France want to end up in the quarter-final draw with England, Wales and Ireland – the half of the draw that the IRB officially renamed on Sunday as the ’easy route to the final where the All Blacks will crush you’ half.  The media have further pointed out that people who bought a £241 ticket for the game are unlikely to be too happy about it, leading Lievremont to tell a reporter “I will speak to the players to see what they decide. Perhaps they will decide to give up if it’s easier for us afterward.”  Ah, the old ‘tell the truth sarcastically enough and people won’t realise’ trick.  How wiley.

Imanol Harinordoquy was a bit more direct, saying that the idea of the French deliberately losing the game is preposterous - a cunning line to take, as it distracted attention from the French squad and selectors, who are dead keen on deliberately losing the game.  He added, “I feel like telling them that I’ve bought four tickets at 250 euros (£217) each, and I’m not complaining.”  In fairness, he probably bought them in case Lievremont dropped him in favour of Carla Bruni.  Let’s hope he at least gives one to David Skrela.

Next up on our carousel of bafflingness is Andy Robinson, a man normally associated with stolid predictability.  This week, however, faced by an absolutely crucial game against Argentina, he decided to spring a tactical surprise.  Unfortunately, the only surprising thing he could dream up was to drop his captain, Alistair Kellock – it was that or tell them to wear odd socks, and the Argentinians haven’t fallen for that one since the Falklands.  Now I am a bit cautious about taking on a man who was assistant coach of the immortal 2003 England side, but I think we can be pretty sure that he wasn’t much involved in selection back then.  “I know Martin Johnson’s good, but have you considered Iain Balshaw for the final?” “Just wait outside and watch for eavesdroppers Andy, like we agreed.  Leave the socks.”

On the subject of England, they are (predictably) the one rock of solidity in a sea of surprises.  After resting several key players against Georgia – a reasonable enough decision, even if it did backfire a little when England weren’t very good – Johnson has named the team that he hopes will take England to the final, minus the unavailable Stevens, Easter and Lawes.  Thank goodness – some sanity.  Sorry what’s that?  They’re doing what?  That’s right folks – the Romanians are putting out a second XV.  They’ve made 11 changes since the Argentina game?  Of course they have.

Now hold on a minute.  Clearly while the rest of the rugby-watching world turned to the man on their left and went ‘there really aren’t any minnows in this tournament, you know’, they had all forgotten the one glaring exception: England.  Thank heavens the Romanians are here to remind us what a pushover the English are.  After all, their World Cup form since 2002 does read played 16, won 14, lost 2.  Many of you will no doubt read this and say ‘they’re obviously resting players for Georgia’, which seems fair, until you realise that the Georgia game is undoubtedly the last one they’ll play in the tournament.  Surely their players can lift themselves for the only winnable game they’ll get in the group, especially as it’ll be ‘one last push’ time?  And anyway, what are they resting them for?  God forbid that, after two games in four days, the Romanians won’t be fit for their next match, the always-crucial European Nations Cup Division 1A tie against Portugal in February.  I’m not trying to be rude about developmental rugby, but Romanian players live to play in World Cups, and they only get four games every four years.  So why not give who deserve to start the chance to play the most successful Northern Hemisphere team?

I may, of course, be wrong on all of this.  It could all be genius.  Scotland may win convincingly, thus securing the quarter-final spots for themselves and England, in turn allowing Johnson and Robinson to pick their teams solely on height for next week’s meeting; Romania may lose heroically, discovering a new generation of young superstars who will sweep to glory in 2015; and France may thrash New Zealand, with Parra scoring 80 unanswered points and breaking both the New Zealand backline and Dan Carter’s sense of self-worth at the same time.  But I doubt it.  So perhaps someone could spare a thought for the real losers in all these shenanigans, who are the players.  After all, they don’t go out there just to get in a bit of dwarf-throwing.

Categories: All Blacks · Argentina · England · France · Romania · RWC 2011 · Scotland
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