Five changes deflated England need to make to beat the Boks
There were a lot of predictions flying around before the first Test in Johannesburg, but none that even came close to capturing the madness that was the game at Ellis Park.
England must have felt like they were close to putting South Africa away in the opening 20 minutes, cruising into a 21-point lead and looking as good as they have at any point under Eddie Jones’ stewardship, before a nightmare 40-minute period either side of the interval saw the Springboks roar back into life.
England did produce a late flourish in the final 20 minutes to put the game back into contention – an impressive achievement at altitude – but they ultimately succumbed to a 42-39 loss, in one of the more exhilarating Test matches of recent years.
There were positives for England to take from the result, but also several negatives, not least the fourth – or fifth, if you count the Barbarians game – loss on the spin for Jones and his team.
We take a look at five possible adjustments that England could make this week to help them turn the tables on the Boks in Bloemfontein and level the series going into the final Test in Cape Town.
Promote Brad Shields
It’s clear that Jones wanted to get Shields involved, thus the benching of Nick Isiekwe at the 35-minute mark, and with another week in camp under his belt, this seems as good an opportunity as any to give him his first start.
Chris Robshaw has a lot of credit in the bank with England, he has been unfairly made the poster boy for England’s failings in the past and brings a wealth of experience and leadership, but all that being said, his performances of late have dipped. It’s a long season and maybe now, at 32 years of age, he has hit his wall for the 2017/18 campaign.
No one is advocating Robshaw be cut adrift, but, having fought so hard to bring Shields in, it seems an apt time to give the Wasps-bound flanker an opportunity to stake a claim for the jersey moving forward. Mobility was highlighted by Jones as an issue and Shields brings an upgrade on Robshaw in that area.
Continue reading below…
Bring Alex Lozowski into the XV
There were plenty of promising signs in the game in Johannesburg, so you don’t want to push too many changes on a side that looked lethal at times, but Lozowski finished the season in scintillating form.
We were harder on Henry Slade in our post-match review than most others, especially given how good he looked linking the inside and wider attacks of England in the opening 20 minutes, but his two knock-ons cost England when they were within reach of South Africa and chasing the game late on.
Defensively, it wasn’t a bad performance, but there were moments when wing and full-back were left isolated out wide and a try seemed a foregone conclusion. In that drift-blitz-decision-making regard, filling the shoes of Jonathan Joseph is an immensely difficult task, whose lateral quickness surpasses any of England’s other 13 options, save for perhaps Elliot Daly.
Can Lozowski do a better job? It’s by no means a certainty.
He does, however, have form on his side, as well as a debateable advantage in running hard lines back against the grain, which were the two cases of Slade knocking on late in the second half.
Switch Elliot Daly and Mike Brown
We made the case for why Jones was retaining Brown on the wing whilst he looked to develop Daly at full-back prior to the first Test, but it was a dynamic which didn’t survive first contact with the enemy.
Admittedly, Brown took his try on the wing very well, showing the footwork, fend and power that wings need to finish in a limited amount of space, whilst Daly showed the distribution skills he can bring to the back line from full-back during England’s early dominance.
Things went south after that, though, with the pair caught out positionally on defence, Daly struggling to tune his kicking compass to the challenges of playing at altitude and a lack of defensive chemistry between the pair and Slade at 13.
Switching them positionally would bring more comfort for both parties, with Brown’s reliability at the back and Daly’s acceleration and agility on the wing both valuable security blankets.
Ellis Genge and Danny Cipriani to provide impact
There is still a toothless edge to England’s bench and the replacements Jones can make feel predictable – Isiekwe crooking aside – and offer little game-changing impact.
Joe Marler’s value to England as a starter during their extensive win streak to begin Jones’ tenure was high, but since he has been demoted to the bench with the rise of Mako Vunipola, his ability to change games as a ‘finisher’ is limited. He is strong at the set-piece and influential as a defender, making him the perfect type of player to see out a game, but England are not a good enough team at present to build a bench based upon seeing out games from winning positions.
Likewise, with Piers Francis on the bench, England’s go-to move is to push Owen Farrell inside to fly-half and bring on Francis for George Ford at inside centre. Francis is a fine player, but he doesn’t offer anything too different to what England already have with Ford and Farrell at the positions.
In Genge and Cipriani, England would have two attack-minded players that can provide real impetus from the bench, giving Jones the ability to proactively change his team to chase down opponents, rather than having his best attacking options already on the pitch and resorting to changes purely to provide fresh legs.
Counter Faf de Klerk with Ben Spencer and Ben Earl
There was something mesmerising about the smallest player on the pitch running roughshod over England and dominating them around the fringes in a way which they haven’t been for years.
Starting Spencer over Ben Youngs is a big call and one that has plenty of risks. After all, Youngs has only recently come back into the international set-up after injury and will undoubtedly be better this weekend than he was in Johannesburg. Spencer does, however, bring a little bit more acceleration to the mix and an adept scrambling defence, potentially making him a more effective option to keep de Klerk under wraps.
On the bench, Earl could be an intriguing option. Not only can he cover all three back-row positions, he also brings mobility, something which de Klerk preyed on England’s lack of. If, as we suggest here, Shields joins Tom Curry on the flanks and neither player, nor Youngs or Spencer at nine, can curtail de Klerk’s fringe forays, then Earl is an option from the bench.
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Comments on RugbyPass
“upon leaving said establishment I tripped over a stool knocking some bottles into the air and as I fell I accidently dislodged a police officer’s teaser who was passing by on an unrelated matter there by landing on said taser which caused it to discharge 50,000 watts into me. Out of shock I shouted Ireland are going to win the world cup. Upon waking up I apologised for the distress caused by my Ireland comment. The matter is closed. If you wish to pursue this matter may I remind you what I told Wayne Barnes when he sent me off. I AM A BIG ASS MAN”. Or was it “I AM A BIG ASS, MAN” or was it “I AM A BIG ASSMAN”?
1 Go to commentsThe only championship the Boks hold are: Great value for the incompetence of referees during the RWC Moaning endlessly and champions of spewing utterly ignorant 💩 at all times. Displaying the dangers of a third world education End of.
28 Go to commentsSouth Africa and Rassie do a phenomenal job of treating the 4 years in between World Cups as nothing more than a training exercise to build squad depth. The Six Nations money that keeps Irish rugby afloat is unfortunately too important to allow the same approach, and basic population size means we'll never get close to matching the depth of South Africa, England and France. That being said, Irish rugby is in a relatively good place and slowly improving inch by inch. If the other three provinces can pull the finger out and actually develop some players it'd be even better.
28 Go to commentsGood on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
28 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
1 Go to commentsThe Irish are tired and the Boks are old. The test series won't confirm who is best in the world, it will confirm which team needs to pursue the task of rebuilding with the most urgency.
28 Go to commentsGrant, the first time I have seen an article written by you. Maybe I have missed your previous stuff. These days all professional players effectively play a common season so all top players are equally tired, or rested. That is the job of the coaching ticket to build squad depth and juggle resources so players are ‘ fresh’ when the big games come. Possibly Ireland are less inclined to juggle squad compared to Rassie, who is prepared to take the risk to rest players as well as build depth throughout the year so come WC he has a full squad, experienced and rested enough to win 7 games. After all, to win WC you need to get through the tournament and then win the final big 3 games. Ireland should try and build a bit so come final 3 they are ready. So far only played final 1(QF). I am so looking forward to the Irish tour. Hopefully Rassie has enough time to align his guys, as he draws them from across the globe, and not from 2 sides locally( eg Leinster, Munster). No excuses, going to be exciting.
28 Go to commentsIn football, teams get fined and sometimes docked points for deliberately fielding weakened teams yet Leinster can pretty much do as they please with no comebacks. Could it be because Ireland run the URC? Could it be that Ireland run the ERC? Whichever it is, it stinks!!
6 Go to commentsIreland are only the People’s Champions in Irish eyes. The rest of the world do not care for them very much because of attitudes of people like Gordon, Ferris, Best, Jackman…I could go on!!
28 Go to commentsNot sure how Karl Dickson can ever ref a Quins game, he played for the club for 8 years as understudy to Care and is still close friends with half the team
3 Go to commentsAre bookies taking bets on how many times Vunipola's eventual statement will use the term “elders"? My money is on at least 4 times.
4 Go to commentsSo Ireland will be tired, despite having the most rested test squad in the world. They only play tests, champions cup and urc play off games ffs! Case in point; Leinster sent a B squad to SA for their last two games while their first xv rested up and trained at their leisure for the sf vs Saints at the so called ‘neutral venue’ of Croke Park. So tired? Do me a favour… And as for “people’s champions”? Seriously??? Outside of Ireland they are respected for their ability to win 6N. And of course plenty of inconsequential test friendlies without any real pressure. WC ko games when the pressure is white hot? Not so much…
28 Go to commentsSurprising how standing down or benching a player can do wonders for their motivation. Several players this week in that category.
2 Go to commentsHaha lads lads lads, that’s how you have a holiday In Majorca
4 Go to commentshit on Lynagh was defo late and card-worthy. The other 2 are bang on OK. Hurts you at Test level if youre timing is off and the nostrils are flared. Jerry C knew when to lean in on one, Finau just needs to keep his discipline and head straight.
7 Go to commentsSlade was exceptional against Gloucester. Not only was he doing the classic Slade stuff of running amazing lines and timing passes to perfection to put his wingers into space, he was kicking goals, flying off the line smashing people and crashing into rucks like a flanker… his hair even looked on point. 😍
1 Go to commentsThat’s really sad, hope everyone involved is ok. At least he had pants on.
4 Go to commentsTo be fair it was nowhere bear the Leinster first team (for which, btw, Leinster copped nothing like the outrage that Jake White did for sending a rotated team to the UK). But it’s fun to watch the Stormers doing their thing. They are attracting big, diverse crowds of young fans, and deservedly so. Great to see.
1 Go to commentsIt might be legal but he’s sailing pretty close to the wind. Not a lot needs to go wrong for Finau to end up in the bin. Was it late? Not quite, but borderline. High? A couple of CM within the laws, no room for error with that one. Did he wrap the arms? There was a token effort to wrap one arm, the intent was clearly to hit with the shoulder. So yeah, it’s legal, just. But as we all know, a very slight change in the dynamics could easily have him seeing red. Hopefully not when it really matters.
7 Go to comments