'By moving Farrell out one, he can't have the influence he does when he is in the No10 jersey' - Andy Goode
Eddie Jones has been bold with his selection again but it’s a mistake to revert to the George Ford/Owen Farrell axis against the All Blacks on Saturday.
This is the biggest moment of all of these England players’ careers but for Ford, it feels particularly big as it’s also an opportunity to prove the doubters wrong and show that he can control a game when England aren’t on the front foot the whole time.
Trying to work out what Jones is thinking is impossible but the 10/12/13 combination he picked for last weekend’s quarter-final win over Australia is England’s best and has proven to be so over the course of the past year or so.
Ford has been brought in because of the accuracy of his kicking and England are clearly going to try and turn New Zealand and get in behind them using the boot. Farrell does a good job at inside centre but he should be playing in his best position of fly-half. By moving him out one, he can’t have the influence that he does when he’s in the No10 jersey.
He was impeccable last weekend and you saw the difference, not only in his own performance compared to when he has been at 12 but also between a team with a controlling fly-half that understands how to put pressure on the opposition and a team that didn’t have a clue about game management.
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There is no doubt Ford is brilliant on the front foot and has the capacity to produce magic in attack but England didn’t miss him last week and his selection now detracts from Farrell’s performance and the control that he can offer.
People who haven’t played in those positions just think it’s easy to shift along one but it is a massive difference, especially in terms of a player’s psyche. I can tell you that from experience.
I was moved to 12 a couple of times by Pat Howard at Leicester because he thought I had the physical attributes for it, but it’s a completely different position and as a controlling fly-half your natural instinct is to try to boss everything and get involved too much.
Last time England played New Zealand in a World Cup semi-final it was carnage as the Jonah Lomu-inspired All Blacks ran amok in Cape Town https://t.co/Un6rIm34J7
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 25, 2019
It can become a frustration. Farrell has plenty of experience playing at No12, of course, but I feel he still gets frustrated when he plays there because he isn’t in control as much as he would like to be.
Ford has been one of the standout players when he’s started for England at this World Cup but I can’t think of too many massive knockout games for club or country where he has dominated and led his team to victory, so this is a massive chance for him to show he can do that.
People talk about his tackle success rate being excellent as well in terms of his defence but that doesn’t tell the full story because if you are losing five metres in every one of those soak tackles, you’re losing momentum. I was no stranger to a soak up tackle myself, so I’m not just bagging Ford. But Farrell does give you more in that area.
Courtney Lawes has his say on Brodie Retallick's infamous 2014 gaffe ahead of the England versus All Blacks World Cup showdown https://t.co/Yv721ljUFH
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 25, 2019
Ford’s job will obviously be made easier if England get more than their fair share of front foot ball and that is where the game is likely to be won and lost. New Zealand thrive off quick ball and you have to stop them getting over the gainline to stand a chance of beating them.
It’s a team effort but Tom Curry and Sam Underhill have obviously a huge job on their hands in that respect and it’s fascinating to see Steve Hansen picking Scott Barrett ahead of Sam Cane opposite them.
New Zealand are clearly targeting the lineout, perhaps because of their experience at Twickenham last November, and they will put pods up and contest on England’s ball so it will be a big test of Maro Itoje’s mettle with Barrett, Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock in his face.
Most people thought George Kruis would be brought back to sure up the lineout but Courtney Lawes (or Michael as Retallick likes to call him!) has offered so much around the field and England will need every bit of that physicality. England can’t afford to get too far behind against the All Blacks as they are the masters at frontrunning. They have got to be absolute relentless for 80 minutes and have the belief that they can do it as well.
I’d like to pick out weaknesses in this New Zealand side but they are few and far between. They have only just settled on their midfield combination of Richie Mo’unga, Anton Lienert-Brown and Jack Goodhue, so I’d be looking to target them but I’m clutching at straws.
It’s going to take a Herculean effort and England will have to be smart, pick and choose which breakdowns to compete at and put in some man-and-ball shots to take time and space away from the All Blacks. The World Cup winner is coming from this semi-final and my heart says it’s England – of course it does – but the head is taking over and saying New Zealand by ten.
WATCH: Jim Hamilton breaks down the first of two giant World Cup semi-finals this weekend, England versus New Zealand in Yokohama
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments