Four England talking points as Wales make Twickenham Six Nations visit
Steve Borthwick has developed a reputation during his time in charge of England for being a tinkerman when it comes to team selection. He sure likes upping the ante from week to week with his alterations but his 18th game in charge – this Saturday’s round two match versus Wales in London – has unusually seen him stick rather than twist with his choices.
Consistently rolling the dice hasn’t been a habit exclusive to Borthwick, as you have go to back to the 2019 Rugby World Cup final to find the last time that England named an unchanged team from one to game the next with Eddie Jones at the helm.
Borthwick’s no-change approach following his team’s three-point win away to Italy is quite the contrast to Wales, who have named a side that contains seven changes from their XV that narrowly lost to Scotland.
Here are the RugbyPass talking points with England looking to go two wins from two at the start of the Guinness Six Nations for the first time since 2019:
Load-sharing stat hints ambition
There has been a quiet air of confidence surrounding England in this build-up. The party line coming out of Stadio Olimpico was a level of satisfaction despite the three-point margin of victory worryingly being their narrowest ever against Italy, but what has been said since has souped up expectations that they are going in the right direction as they look to widen their playbook.
We’ll soon know if that optimism is on the money or gibberish akin to what was uttered during last year’s underwhelming Six Nations and Summer Series campaigns.
Rome admittedly wasn’t built in a day – and neither will this new England defence under Felix Jones, nor the Richard Wigglesworth attack now that the 2023 handbrake has loosened.
England losing the try count 3-2 to Italy was concerning, as was their repeated inability to break the Italian line in attack. That’s the sort of stuff Wales will take great heart from coming to Twickenham looking for a first Six Nations win in London since 2012, but that doesn’t mean the hosts shouldn’t be somewhat hopeful about achieving round two success.
A round-one statistic that caught the eye on the official Six Nations website was the list of the top 30 ball carriers from the three opening weekend matches.
England had a chart-topping eight players included compared to six from Wales and Ireland, five Italians, three Scots and two French.
It was no surprise to see Ben Earl top the category with 16 carries given his Test career-making Rugby World Cup but having Freddie Steward chip in with 11, Joe Marler, Will Stuart and Ethan Roots with nine each and then Henry Slade, Maro Itoje and Tommy Freeman all on eight hinted at an English willingness to spread the load by putting the ball through more hands than previously was the case.
Half-backs George Ford and Alex Mitchell were credited with 30 and 60 passes respectively. Now, of course, we have to factor in that unfancied Italy were the opposition but against South Africa in last October’s Rugby World Cup semi-final, Owen Farrell and Mitchell managed only a respective five and 19 passes despite their team having 56 per cent possession, the same percentage as England had in Rome.
There is a welcome ambition for change, it seems. Its delivery, though, needs a quickly improved end product.
Sport is entertainment, Steve!
The Twickenham atmosphere will be of huge interest. The once fortress venue has seen that reputation obliterated in recent times, the Jones era wrapping up with just one win in his last five outings and the Borthwick ‘improvement’ has been marginal with two wins from five home games in 2023.
Last August’s most recent loss in that combined sequence of just three wins in 10 was most damning. The upper tier at Twickenham was fully closed due to lack of home support and the grouping of Fijians in a lower tier corner were the ones that made the racket below.
With the rugby not going well, Twickenham has essentially become an outdoor pub where the fan interest is on getting the next round in rather than waiting for the next box kick and hoping it can spark a sudden change in England’s fortunes.
The fans are easy targets for criticism from the likes of Clive Woodward, the ex-England coach, but with ticket prices so high, they are well entitled to do what they want on their afternoon out.
It’s up to Borthwick’s team on the pitch to grab their attention and keep it away from the beer queues. The calibre of rugby produced in recent times had too often been dire.
Sport is entertainment, Steve. Give the fans what they want and they will row in with their support, but don’t expect them to cheer for no good reason.
Don’t react, just ignore the trolls
You have to wonder what the game of rugby has become when a Test head coach is asked if he considered standing down a player due to the fear he could be exposed to social media abuse. That is exactly the query put to Borthwick on Thursday about his inclusion of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso as England’s 23rd man.
What has the faceless keyboard warriors up in arms about the 21-year-old is that he is Cardiff-born and reared, going on to represent Wales at age-grade level before joining up with Rob Baxter’s Exeter post the Wasps debacle and deciding to use the England eligibility secured through a grandmother to play for Borthwick’s team.
Wales can’t have sour grapes, surely. They had just as much an opportunity to bring Feyi-Waboso into their Test set-up as England did, but they lost out and should just suck it up. International allegiance these days is a fluid thing, anyway. Look at how former England prop Henry Thomas switched to the Welsh last year. You win some, you lose some…
The attention garnered by these ruthless online rugby pile-ons is extraordinary judging by how such attacks impacted last year on Owen Farrell and Tom Curry. The country-flipping Feyi-Waboso is now potentially their latest target, but he shouldn’t be.
Rather than inflame the situation by asking Borthwick about it and giving it publicity, rugby should just ignore the squabbling and not react. Let the authorities deal with the stuff that crosses the line rather than get personally involved.
Look at football’s Premier League and the greater noise of its army of online trolls. Football players seem to have a greater robustness/aloofness, ignoring the nonsense and just getting on with business. There’s a lesson in that for rugby and the way it is drawn into the commotion rather than steering well clear.
"My agent was just looking for something for me in a professional environment… I didn’t really have the opportunity to do that in NZ" @heagneyl ??? talks to Chandler Cunningham-South about England, London Irish and finding a new club https://t.co/uoc521tdZS
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 25, 2023
Meteoric-rising Cunningham-South
Ethan Roots was the rookie hoisted on a pedestal last weekend, the blindside’s all-round debut game resulting in him pocketing the official player of the match reward. Thing is, his meteoric rise could be trumped in the long run by what fellow newcomer Chandler Cunningham-South has to offer the England back row.
It was October 2022 when Declan Kidney first suggested the world was Cunningham-South’s oyster. The English-born forward had moved to New Zealand aged four but a London Irish academy deal tempted him back to the land of his birth and he was soon fast-tracked into the first team.
“Chandler is an intelligent young man and is more than aware of how much growth there is left in him to get to where he could go. He is a cheery, jolly fella. He brings a good atmosphere to the changing room. He’s a good lad, good company.”
Kidney’s description was spot on, Cunningham-South being the perfect interviewee when RugbyPass sat down with him in Cape Town last June at the U20s World Cup. At the time, his switch to Harlequins had just been confirmed following the stressful few weeks after the collapse of the Exiles and his ambitions in the game were clear.
“If you are going to make the trip over (from New Zealand), it’s a 27-hour flight, I wasn’t coming to mess around or anything, I was coming to do something, to make a big change. I felt like it worked,” he said about his accelerated progress.
“I do have a lot to do in my game to get to where I want to be. I want to play international rugby, for sure, and I want to do well for my club as well and I want to win Premierships, I want to win European titles. That is sort of my goal. I just want to participate, to really achieve stuff in my career.”
There was no hint of arrogance. Asked to rate his pace, passing and tackling out of 100, he respectively answered: “I’ll be humble, I’ll say 68; That’s not bad, I’d say 74; 82.”
Eight months later, the 20-year-old’s numbers can easily be revised upwards following his energetic effort off last week’s bench and his potential to be a round-two game-changer.
Just ask Sam Warburton who is already touting him to be the British and Irish Lions’ Test blindside next year.
Comments on RugbyPass
Good summation Ned. Agree the Canes were out-muscled for once (except at the scrum!) by a focused Brumbies outfit. Tua deserves consideration for higher honors after the way he humbled Jordie and the Canes defense. Thankfully, his lack of eligibility for Oz keeps him from Joe’s plans. While I also agree the injuries affected the Canes performance, some players seemed to lack focus and intensity for this match. Perhaps after the Blues demolished the Brumbies, they thought it was going to be easy? A good reminder that any slip up in preparation can have a big affect on the result. Brumbies deserved that win.
1 Go to commentsKarl Dixon should never have been appointed this fixture, absolute disgrace, He’s not much of a referee anyway, didn't have the balls to send his mate care off
5 Go to commentsBrilliant article! Harry of 8/9
1 Go to comments‘UK athletes' have been in the NFL from the start.
1 Go to commentsIt’s going to be Scott Barrett. He’s the coaches mate and captain of a previously elite team. Ardie a great option but scooter has worked with the coach and Ardie still as big a leader as needed.
23 Go to commentsI commend Colin Scotts bio All Balls. He was the first Aussie to make it to NFL. But he was poached and did a full apprenticeship at the University of Hawaii. He was 130kgs surfed played 1st grade cricket etc. big guy by normal but not NFL standards and a top athlete. Even then the nfl were picking up Tongans and Samoans for their natural size and explosive power. They want explosive power not cardio from the big boys so a guy like Taniela Tupou would have been good if picked up young enough. He has fast twitch and they’d bulk the little lad up and give him something to do. soccer teams set up academies and look for Over Sara’s talent eg Messi was at Barcelona since a teenager and harry kewell went to Leeds as a teenager like 16 or something.
11 Go to commentsThe article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
23 Go to commentsI guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
45 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
5 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
45 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
45 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
5 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
8 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
8 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
5 Go to comments