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Welsh great disagrees with Jonny Wilkinson over failed Ford drop goal
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One theme dominates reaction to England chariot grinding to halt
By Ian Cameron
England’s 31-20 defeat at Murrayfield has reignited a familiar criticism of Steve Borthwick’s side: when Plan A stalls, there appears to be little else in the locker.
After a year of progress and 12 wins on the trot, the loss to Scotland is inevitably being viewed by some as a regression.
The English performance was a throwback to the early days of Borthwick’s tenure, dominated by territory and an over-reliance on the boot.
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Former England stand-off Andy Goode argued Borthwick’s side reverted to “kick, kick and kick some more” and had no alternative when their power game failed to dent Scotland’s resistance, even calling for Fin Smith to start at fly-half.
“England made real strides over the last year ball in hand, but that was back to the early Borthwick days of kick, kick and kick some more. Scotland were awesome as they always are against us and England had no plan B when the power game didn’t work. Fin Smith needs to be our 10,” wrote Goode.
Six Nations
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
Scotland
2
1
1
0
6
2
England
2
1
1
0
5
3
France
1
1
0
0
5
4
Italy
2
1
1
0
5
5
Ireland
2
1
1
0
4
6
Wales
1
0
1
0
0
Rob Kearney echoed that concern, suggesting England’s efficient, pressure-based blueprint unravels when they are forced to chase a game rather than control it.
“Yeah, it would make you rethink how good England are,” said Kearney on Virgin Media Sport. “It’s the first time they’ve been properly tested during that run. They’ve gone 12 from 12 and that’s the stat that’s been thrown around, but they haven’t had to play a huge amount of big games away from home. They were in Argentina during the summer and did well, then they were back here in November.
“They looked off. England play a very efficient game plan, you could argue sometimes it’s a little bit boring. It’s a long time since they’ve been 18-nil down after 20 minutes.
“All of a sudden their whole game plan changes because they’re chasing the game, and they’re not particularly good at that. They’re very good at scoreboard pressure, playing territory, putting the opposition down there, picking up a couple of scores and then all of a sudden George Ford has kicked them nine or 12 points into the lead.
“I think that was something they didn’t anticipate having to do.”
It was a sentiment echoed by England fans repeatedly on X: “England were done in the first 20 minutes. The decision-making, body language wasn’t there, it’s like they knew Scotland were going to beat them. There was no plan B and that’s on Borthwick. He seems to be a very one-dimensional coach, which doesn’t win major tournaments,” while another disgruntled supporter said: “Scotland deserved winners, England a total shambles if kick game misfires as it did, no plan B whatsoever… so many handling errors.”
Jonny Gould bemoaned the lack of attacking intent and England continued reliance on kicking, despite the fact that attack coach Lee Blackett is now on board with a remit to do a fix-up job in that department. “Why has England rugby hired in Lee Blackett when Plan A and Plan B is just to kick the ball away? What a waste of his extraordinary talents.”
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