Peter Bills: Eddie's Master Plan To Beat All Blacks Lost At Allianz Park
If Eddie Jones really does have a blueprint to defeat the All Blacks he hasn’t shared it with any Premiership teams, Peter Bills writes after watching Saracens and Wasps batter each other for 80 minutes last weekend.
In his own indomitable style, Eddie Jones tells us that England won’t be copying the All Blacks. “We will come up with our own game and beat them” vows the cheery Aussie.
I wonder what that master plan might be. Perhaps Jones’s England intend to lure the New Zealanders to Twickenham, order half a dozen large pots of Super Glue and spread them all over their dressing room floor. Hey presto, they wouldn’t even run out for the game, they were so scared of Eddie’s white tornadoes.
Or maybe Jones has identified fifteen unheralded rugby men in the Fijian islands who are all 7ft 6ins, weigh 125 kilos each and all have British grandmothers. They’ll change the game as we know it.
One thing is for sure. On the evidence of last weekend’s Aviva Premiership top of the table match between Saracens and Wasps, Jones is going to have to alter a lot of mind sets if England are to avoid the impression that rugby union has morphed into a version of chess with massive physical attributes.
For sure, there was plenty of physical aggression on display. A truck full of it. Players were smashed the moment they received the ball and hammered back metres. In a desperate attempt to avoid the on-rushing hordes of defenders, both sets of backlines stood even deeper and used a slanting attacking line. Only trouble was, when the rapacious defenders got to them, frequently they were 15 or 20 metres behind the gain line. Then they often lost the ball.
Was this Eddie’s ‘new way’ being trialled? Lure the opposition onto you all the way back to your own line, then chip over the hordes and hit them on the counter attack in the style of Leicester City in the English Premiership?
All we can be certain of is that England’s players won’t have a hope in hell of getting anywhere near the ball skills of the New Zealanders if they continue to play the game in this ‘grab and bash’ style. A friendly cat strolling down the touchline would have had more grace and finesse than this lot put together.
Internationals were out in force for both sides but few had the opportunity to showcase their skills. Defenders overwhelmed everyone and everything. It left no doubt in the mind that defence continues to be the No. 1 priority in English rugby, certainly at club level. If players had spent as much time finessing their attacking attributes as they have focusing on a defensive mantra in professional rugby, there wouldn’t be a club ground in the country big enough to accommodate all the people who would want to turn up.
Instead, we are offered a physical fight to the end, a dearth of ball skills and an 80 minute slog-fest. Nothing much else. If you’re lucky, you might see some rugby in the final 20 minutes of the match when fatigue appears. But not always then.
If you want to see constant off-loading of the ball so as to maintain an attack, the clever use of fast feet to bewitch a defender or some real attacking verve with large dollops of sustained high intensity thrown in, then look far beyond English club rugby. To Super Rugby, principally.
Rugby at this level in England largely remains in the Dark Ages compared to a country like New Zealand. So should we worry?
Well, the fact is, Eddie Jones has to draw his England players from this morass. Getting them to instantly switch styles as soon as they join up with the national squad may not be the easiest thing in the world. You can’t just throw a switch from a defensive mind set to all-out attacking philosophies. You actually need to practise an attacking style. Constantly.
All England’s club players seem to practise is coming up fast in a line, smashing into people and slowing down the game. So unless Eddie Jones really does have a new masterplan, I’m not sure how much use those current habits will be to the England coach.
Comments on RugbyPass
Very unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to commentsIt’s the massive value he brings with regard team culture/values, preparation, etc. Can’t buy that. I’m hoping to see the young locks get their chance in the big games though.
10 Go to commentsAll good, Gregor, except that you neglected to mention Sam Darry amongst that talented pool of locks. In fact, given Hannah’s inexperience and the fact that Holland won’t be eligible until next year, Lord and Darry might be the frontrunners this year, to join Barrett, Tuipoluto, Va’ii and possibly Whitelock. In fact there might be room for all of them if Barrett played 6 (like Ollie Chessum).
10 Go to comments