Borthwick has to ditch the Smith/Farrell axis - Andy Goode
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results and Steve Borthwick has to ditch the Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell combination this week.
Eddie Jones hung his hat on the axis in the latter part of his reign but they’ve won just four of the nine Tests they’ve started alongside one another, most of which have been at Twickenham, and there just aren’t enough signs that suggest it can work.
In fact, it’s the exact opposite and, while there are always going to be flashes of quality, there are far more examples of one or other looking completely lost and I’m not sure how anybody can make the case that they dovetail well.
Ironically, the best bit of play England produced in attack for Max Malins’ second try didn’t involve either Smith or Farrell and we need to be seeing so much more from them because there’s no doubt in my mind that Kevin Sinfield’s job as defence coach is harder with them both there.
Farrell was at fault for the first try when he flew out of the line to try to get Finn Russell, who wasn’t his man, and then he and Joe Marchant just stood there after the initial kick chase for Duhan van der Merwe’s wonder try.
This isn’t a criticism of Farrell’s defence, though, because we all know he can defend but he just isn’t comfortable with the role and it’s as clear as day to me that Farrell is not a number 12 with the way the game is being played at the moment.
He’s a fly half, that’s where he plays for his club and that’s where he should play for his country. Of course, he is capable of playing centre but I don’t think he’s had a really top drawer game in the position in this World Cup cycle.
Farrell is never going to say it publicly but I would hope he’s having honest conversations with the coaches behind the scenes and telling them he believes he should have the number 10 on his back.
He would be so much more comfortable there, there’s no doubt he wants to play there and if he’s the character that we all think he is, then I don’t see any issue with him challenging the coaches and I’d expect him to be doing so as long as it’s in the right manner.
It’s not that it can never work playing two fly halves together, and it did work a bit better with George Ford and Farrell for a while because of the relationship they’ve had from an early age and because Ford is happy for Farrell to take the lead.
However, France tried it and scrapped it pretty quickly with Matthieu Jalibert and Romain Ntamack recently and it’s just so difficult with the personalities that these players often are and the fact they’re used to being the fulcrum at their clubs and then end up playing a bit part at times during games.
You see it a lot with Smith where he wants to be taking the lead but Farrell has stepped in and he’s never really stood in the 12 channel before and there are endless examples of him or Farrell looking uncomfortable in phase attack, whereas Russell was martialling his troops around the field and looking happy going through his options.
It might not have been at the same level but I had it with Sam Vesty at Leicester a little bit and Joe Carlisle at Worcester and it just didn’t work. We were both playing as a fly half and you need the clarity of one person leading from that position.
Clarity was one of the watchwords for the England coaching staff in the build-up to the game against Scotland and Borthwick has spoken a lot about playing to players’ strengths so I think he has to back those words up with actions this week.
There is no way that this is playing to either Smith or Farrell’s strengths and, while there are injuries with the likes of Dan Kelly and Henry Slade out, there are natural options at centre ready and raring to go.
I’d go with Ollie Lawrence because he was on the bench on Saturday so is the next cab off the rank, and only got four minutes to prove himself at the end, and bring Manu Tuilagi back in among the replacements.
England had 57% of the possession and an enormous 71% territory but they had just 2 linebreaks. They did score three tries but from 11 visits to the opposition 22 and it was like they were attacking with 14 a lot of the time because one of Smith or Farrell looked so lost.
As well as there being greater clarity in attack, it’d have a massive impact on England’s defence and Sinfield’s job this week to have a natural centre wearing number 12.
You can’t say it cost England the game but it had a major impact on a couple of the tries conceded and people can say that it’s just a case of defending one position out but Farrell doesn’t do that week in, week out and it makes a huge difference.
Watching what Italy did to France on Sunday, England can’t afford to persist with an experiment that so far just hasn’t borne fruit and they just haven’t worked in tandem thus far.
Farrell looked good at times when he was at first receiver and he is the most in-form of the two players, while Borthwick has also boxed himself into a corner to some extent by naming him captain, so the Saracens man should be the one to get the nod at fly half.
They say a cat has nine lives and Smith and Farrell have used up their nine lives together at international level for me, giving them a 10th Test in unison and expecting dramatically different results going forwards would be the definition of madness.
Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
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1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
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6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
29 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
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2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
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