Argentina lost their heads, England need to keep theirs - Andy Goode
Argentina lost their heads against England on Saturday and England will need to keep theirs if they are to achieve their goal and make it to Yokohama on November 2.
It was supposed to be the first of five real Tests against top tier one opponents that England would have to win if they wanted to get their hands on the William Webb Ellis trophy but it didn’t turn out like that and I think it’s a blessing that they weren’t tested as much as expected.
It was still a physical game but won’t have taken as much out of them as it could’ve done and mentally it wasn’t as testing either so I think Eddie Jones will have been delighted with the way it unfolded.
It’s always going to be an intense and passionate game when Argentina face England because of the historical and political context and the Argentinians are a hugely passionate nation anyway.
However, sometimes that spills over into something negative and I think that’s what happened. They spoke about it being a war in the build-up to the game and they also knew that essentially it was a knockout game for them but I think they lost control.
For me, the Pumas got things massively wrong prior to the World Cup by not picking Facundo Isa, Santiago Cordero and maybe a couple of others. They then drop Nicolas Sanchez from the 23 for the England game and go with Benjamin Urdapilleta at fly half and it just seemed like they completely changed tack.
In terms of the game itself, the emotion clearly did spill over and I don’t have any sympathy at all for Tomas Lavanini to be honest. The laws and the high tackle framework is there and you have to adjust.
People say it ruined the game but it was a red card every day of the week. There can be no debate about it really. It’s all very well having passion and commitment and talking about making it a war but if you lose your head, you aren’t going to win the war.
It’s not like it’s the first time Lavanini has been in trouble with referees either and people in England will get to see that more this season as he heads to Leicester now a bit earlier than he would’ve liked.
There have now been five red cards at this World Cup and that’s more than at any previous World Cup, despite the fact that we’re only just over halfway through it. It is having an effect on the tournament but the only people to blame are the players and coaches.
There are ways of tackling aggressively but low and not in a dangerous manner and you only have to look at Sam Underhill or Tom Curry to see evidence of that. Even Owen Farrell seems to have adjusted but there’s always a chance that his technique could still be an issue.
Manu Tuilagi’s tackle at the weekend was just a timing issue but I do think Kyle Sinckler was very lucky to get away without being yellow-carded. Both will be pulled up in the review this week, though, and good coaches will be reminding players to keep their head or it could cost their team.
England lost a bit of rhythm in the second half and it is difficult when people expect you to rack up score after score because you’re playing against 14 men but they stuck to the clear plan of kicking a lot of possession away and putting Argentina under pressure that way.
Sometimes that can be frowned upon but historically New Zealand kick more than any other international team and people don’t think they’re boring, so I think Eddie has looked at that and it’s something he’s trying to implement.
Perhaps that’s why he’s gone back to using George Ford alongside Owen Farrell so much, as well as the attacking threat he poses. There will always be question marks over whether he can boss a game when England aren’t on the front foot until he does it consistently.
But, Fingers crossed his pack continue to be dominant and that doesn’t have to raise its head as there’s no doubt he’s in good form at the moment and it does look like that’s Eddie’s preferred option even with Henry Slade back now.
Everything is looking good for England but Billy Vunipola’s ankle injury is the one concern. I don’t expect him to play against France this weekend and it’s a good opportunity to see Mark Wilson at number eight but Billy is close to irreplaceable.
If his ankle is ok, though, England are actually in a better position injury-wise than they were at the start of the tournament with Slade, Mako Vunipola and Jack Nowell coming back and the latter looking really sharp. Not many teams can say that.
I think Nowell has to be in the match day 23 for the big games and I’d be starting him. Elliot Daly is surely going to be picked at full back because nobody else has really been given a run there in the past year or so and he had a good game on Saturday.
Two into three on the wing doesn’t go and Jonny May does look a shoo-in for one of those spots. I think Eddie might like him on the bench because of his versatility but he has to start in my opinion.
There will still be surprises but England now know who they’re going to face if they beat France this weekend. It’ll be Australia in a quarter-final, followed by New Zealand in a semi-final and then South Africa, Wales or even Ireland in the final if they get that far.
That’s potentially three titanic clashes in the knockout stages, as you’d expect, so any ever so slightly easier ride they got against Argentina has to be a bonus.
Who knows which French side will turn up this weekend, and that won’t be the last time you hear that cliché this week, but England will be confident of winning and keeping the momentum going.
They’ll want to win because of that but they’re through to the quarter-finals anyway and are going to have to beat the best in three straight games to win a World Cup anyway, so the result isn’t that important. Game one of five negotiated, onto the next one.
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments