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'Nothing about England frightens me as an Irishman'
Former Ireland flanker Alan Quinlan has branded preparations by England for the upcoming Rugby World Cup as a disaster since last December’s sacking of Eddie Jones as head coach. The RFU ousted the Australian from his contract a year before it was due to expire at the end of France 2023, but the desired improvements have yet to materialise under Steve Borthwick.
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England managed to halt a three-game losing streak with last Saturday’s comeback victory over Wales at Twickenham in the Summer Nations Series, but their generally high error count and drab style of play have inflated pessimism that they won’t do well at the World Cup.
They have two more dress rehearsals before they head to France, this Saturday versus Ireland in Dublin and then their August 26 Twickenham meeting with Fiji. Having seen England struggle in recent weeks in their two outings against the Welsh following on from an underwhelming Guinness Six Nations, Quinlan has predicted a comfortable Irish victory at the Aviva Stadium.
“Ireland will batter England; their preparation has been a disaster since Eddie Jones left,” he claimed. “Ireland are 15-20 points better than England. England have dished up two very average performances against Wales. They will get better but need to and quickly. Ireland will have far too much for England in Dublin.
“That is amazing to say when you think about where England should be. Their whole preparation has been a disaster with Eddie Jones going. The Rugby World Cup cycle has been badly managed and run on so many levels by England – and this England side has hit a brick wall for the last two years. Unless they find something out of the ordinary, they are not going to have a successful World Cup.”
Speaking to LuckyBlock.com, Quinlan suggested a change at No10 is needed. “Owen Farrell has to be dropped to inside centre and start (George) Ford or (Marcus) Smith. I would be playing Farrell at 12, not fly-half anyway, and go back to getting some zip and pace at 10. They need it and it is something different from Ford or Smith.
“But have they gone too far with the style? Is it too ingrained to change it now? It is ironic that we have seen England, with their backs against the ball, shake off the shackles. Look at the game against New Zealand last November. But they look shackled.
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“Nothing about England frightens me as an Irishman; there is so much confusion. I’m not sure what game plan they have. They have a lot of good players, but they still seem to be trying to find a flow to their game. Their basic skill execution and inaccuracies are there for everybody to see.
“They kick a lot; they remind me of Ireland in 2019. But the game has moved on so much since then in terms of attack and structure and playing what you see in front of you and maximising the ability of individuals. They are very system-based and it is not working for them when that breaks down.
“We saw that during the Six Nations. They should be playing more attractive, free-flowing rugby because they have that ability. It’s not as if it’s a poor team, but they are playing poorly. At the moment they are not lighting it up in any way.
“Their performances against Wales are worrying. It is not just me saying this, it seems to be a widespread opinion. They are a tough watch. There is no spring in their step, no pace to their game and it must be concerning.
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“In warm-up games you would expect a more free-flowing approach and for them to be under less pressure as regards making a mistake or taking a chance by putting the ball through the hands.
“It is up to Steve Borthwick and his assistants to find more zip in their attack. The warning signs were there in the Six Nations. You would have thought in their reviews they would have looked at their game plan and their attack and looked at some other teams.
“Attack is not just about putting the ball wide to the wings. It is about the whole structure when the game opens up and you get into multi-phase lines of running, tip-on passes and trying to keep the ball alive. England are difficult to watch and so poor at the moment.
“There are very good players in the England squad, but the game plan and the way they play is drab. It doesn’t mean they will be an easy touch and if they eliminate mistakes, they can win big games. But it is so poor at the moment.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 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
4 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 comments