England’s lack of power and physicality is cause for concern – Andy Goode
Champion teams win the physical battle and Saracens epitomised that at the weekend, while England were found wanting.
A power game and physicality are now a necessity if you want to achieve success at the top level and the weekend laid bare how reliant England are on the Vunipola brothers for that.
The game is all about the gainline, getting over it in attack and stopping the opposition getting over it in defence. While Saracens were doing a perfect job in that area against Exeter at the weekend, England were missing 36 tackles against the Barbarians.
Billy and Mako made 38 tackles between them without missing a single one, whereas Chris Robshaw and George Ford made 15 tackles between them and missed 12.
Defensively, it wasn’t even as if England were making lots of system errors, it was just a case of simple missed tackles. You can’t legislate for that.
One of the best defence coaches I ever had, if not the best, Brad Davis was always shouting defend the ball. It sounds simple, as a mantra, but England didn’t do it and they didn’t make enough gang tackles as well as missing one on one tackles.
If you do that against the likes of Semi Radradra, Josua Tuisova, Malakai Fekitoa, Victor Vito and co, they’ll destroy you. You have to have more energy and stay alive in defence but the intensity wasn’t there.
Maro Itoje, who carried hard and was a menace at the breakdown, Owen Farrell and others playing in the Premiership final will make a big difference coming into camp ahead of the tour to South Africa as well but there should’ve been enough experience and quality in that England team at the weekend to put in a much better performance than they did.
Radradra is one of the best players in the world and is a hard, hard runner but he ran straight through Robshaw after the ball came off the top of a lineout and if your back row can’t tackle him, who is going to tackle him.
It’s interesting reading quotes about this England squad and the new players coming into it and the senior players showing them what the standards are and what’s expected of them at this level. The two players that missed the most tackles were the co-captains though.
It wasn’t the inexperienced players that let them down. Tom Curry, the least experienced player, won three turnovers and was one of the best England players on the field.
Nathan Hughes is going on tour now after Jack Willis was ruled out through injury, with Don Armand still being overlooked, but there aren’t too many options at openside in that squad so I’d start Curry in that first Test in South Africa.
I think he’s up to the test physically and offers that out and out openside option that England have been missing, so I’d put him in alongside Brad Shields at blindside and Billy Vunipola at number eight.
Ford had some really nice touches in attack but teams always go looking for him and to beat South Africa you’re going to have to be physical. It’s a real shame that Ben Te’o has been ruled out because I think Owen Farrell at fly half with him at inside centre would’ve been the best combination for this tour. Piers Francis and Jason Woodward have been drafted in but they aren’t like for like replacements at all.
Elliot Daly, Alex Lozowski and Henry Slade are all good options at outside centre but Eddie Jones has got to get that midfield axis and balance right and there are lot of questions that need to be answered before the opening match against South Africa in Johannesburg.
I don’t think co-captains work either and I didn’t see anyone taking the game by the scruff of the neck and showing leadership at Twickenham on Sunday. Farrell will make a big difference in that regard and Saracens’ England contingent are all leaders and show that week in, week out in the way that they lift those around them.
Mako, Billy and Maro will have a huge effect on England’s physicality in South Africa but there’s no denying how worrying it was to see how much they were lacking in that area without them and it does suggest the depth isn’t there to win a World Cup, which is what Eddie Jones wants to be judged on.
England are at a huge crossroads for me and he needs to look at different players now because some have been churning out ok performances for too long. There are players in that England team that definitely shouldn’t be there on form.
The alarm bells are there and as phenomenal as Saracens were on Saturday, Billy Vunipola aside, their England stars played in the three straight Six Nations defeats a few months ago so the problems aren’t all going to vanish into thin air as they come back into the fold.
England need to raise their physicality and get a power game that worries oppositions. Fixing that issue as quickly as possible is the task in hand and there’s no greater physical test than a tour to South Africa, where they’ve never won a series, so the proof of the pudding will be in the eating next month.
Comments on RugbyPass
Except for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
33 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
33 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
33 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
33 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
33 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
33 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
33 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to comments