England's 'finishers' meet their match in Ireland, but defeat keeps feet on the ground
‘Finishers’ is a word that has entered the lexicon of northern-hemisphere rugby since Eddie Jones was appointed England coach in November 2015.
Used by the Australian to describe those players who come off the bench to wrap up a victory, the term has come into common usage over the course of this year’s Six Nations.
But the increased prevalence of the word owes much to England’s reliance on their second-half replacements.
Despite defending their title and equalling New Zealand’s record of 18 consecutive Test victories, England – with the exception of their crushing victory over Scotland – have had to grind out results, or win ugly, on their way to those accolades.
Ben Te’o scored the try that edged England to a 19-16 victory over France after coming on with 12 minutes to play on the opening weekend, before Jones emptied his bench once more to snatch a 21-16 victory in the closing stages in Wales.
Half of England’s six tries then came from the bench as they left it late to overcome Italy’s mischievous no-ruck tactics at Twickenham, winning 36-15.
Even in their 61-21 win over Scotland – a match England dominated from start to finish – four tries were scored by replacements, although one of those did come courtesy of Anthony Watson, who stepped in for the injured Elliot Daly early on.
Over the course of those four matches, 62 per cent of England’s points were scored in the second half of matches – the highest percentage of any team in the championship.
But England’s finishers met their match against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.
Ireland had ended the All Blacks‘ winning run at 18 in November and gave England the same treatment with a tactically astute, defensively robust display, winning 13-9 courtesy of an Iain Henderson try and eight points from the boot of Jonathan Sexton, who had to cope with a series of bone-crunching challenges over the course of the 80 minutes.
Owen Farrell’s nine points kept England in touch but, for once, Jones’ intended match-winners failed to have the desired effect.
Te’o left the field with a head injury seven minutes after entering the fray, while the likes of Jamie George, Danny Care and Jack Nowell had little impact.
England had not lost a Six Nations match since their last trip to the Aviva Stadium in 2015, which – before Saturday – was also the last time they failed to score a try, touching down in 26 consecutive Tests since.
Not the result we wanted, but it still feels pretty good to win back-to-back @SixNationsRugby titles… #WearTheRose pic.twitter.com/VpxW3T2glq
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 18, 2017
And while the defeat should be no cause for alarm – England had already won the championship and equalled a world record, after all – Jones will be eager to ensure the role of his finishers going forward is to see out a win, not to rescue a result from the jaws of defeat.
There is no question that England are one of the finest teams in world rugby today, and their failure to clinch a second successive Grand Slam and 19th Test win on the bounce should not detract from the remarkable work Jones has done in turning his side around since their 2015 Rugby World Cup debacle.
Captain Dylan Hartley conceded after the match that England were “not the finished article” and “not quite there yet as a team”.
This weekend’s Dublin disappointment should help keep feet on the ground and refocus minds as Jones plots his route to World Cup glory in 2019.
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