Six Nations 2018 Preview - England
England come into the 2018 Six Nations bidding to win their third-straight championship, a feat that has not been achieved since France did so in 1988, albeit with Les Bleus sharing the title with Scotland and Wales in two of those three years.
If England were to finish top of the log this year, they would become the first team to win the tournament outright for three-straight years in its 135-year history. No pressure, huh?
Whilst the form of the English clubs individually has been debated ad nauseam in recent weeks, the form of the national team remains strong, with Eddie Jones’ side seeing off Argentina, Australia and Samoa in the autumn, after a successful summer in Argentina, recording a 2-0 series win over the Pumas.
Injuries have robbed England of their two preferred No 8s in Billy Vunipola and Nathan Hughes and wing Elliot Daly, but aside from that, Jones’ regular starting XV looks in decent shape, giving England little to no excuses going into the tournament. Mike Brown and Chris Robshaw are possible fitness concerns for the opener against Italy, but most of England’s injuries have afflicted their bench and/or depth options.
Strengths
Efficient and versatile lineout – For all the bellyaching that goes on about Dylan Hartley’s inclusion in the England XV, what his presence over the last two and a half seasons has done is create a very clinical lineout. The lineout is such a big part of the game these days, not only for controlling territory and possession, but also for launching strike moves that often lead to tries after a further phase or two. The availability of well-rounded jumpers like Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Courtney Lawes and Nick Isiekwe give England plenty of options at attacking and defensive lineouts.
Plethora of playmakers – Whilst some teams struggle to find one playmaker skilled and composed enough to pull the strings at Test level, England have a cupboard that is overflowing. The partnership of George Ford and Owen Farrell not only takes the pressure off of Ford at 10 to do everything himself, but it also allows for England to split their back line at scrums, always have a proper ball-handler at first receiver in multiple phases and gives them multiple kicking options. There is also dynamic depth, with Alex Lozowski, Henry Slade and apprentice Marcus Smith to call upon if required.
Weaknesses
Scrum – It has been a while since England had the kind of dominant scrum that they were once known for. The decision to go with Mako Vunipola over Joe Marler and pick second rows with plenty of value in the loose has been one which has seen England become a more proficient “all-court” team, but at the detriment of their scrummaging ability. It has not cost England yet, but it is clearly a concern for Jones, who has brought in Marc dal Maso to help turn the unit around, as well as the Australian pondering a trip to Georgia, to help fine-tune the set-piece. Both Ireland and France will expect they can get the better of England in this area.
Front-foot ball – With no Vunipola available and Hughes out until at least the later rounds, getting front-foot ball could be an issue for England, who’ve shown that to get the best out of Jonathan Joseph at 13 and their talented back-three, they need to be moving forward. Sam Simmonds and Zach Mercer are capable of providing it, albeit in different fashion to Vunipola and Hughes, but they are unproven at Test level. The likes of Itoje, Lawes, Hartley and Mako Vunipola are going to have to stand up as carriers in the tight.
Key Players
Owen Farrell – Perhaps no player is as important to England as Farrell. The growth in his game over the last few years has been remarkable, and he has taken his seat amongst the very best players in the world. Obviously, his kicking at goal and defence will be significant contributors to England over the next two months, but perhaps most importantly will be his ability to read opposition defences and execute ways of cutting them apart as a ball-handler.
Maro Itoje – The onus for more carrying from the England forwards in the absence of their two preferred No 8s is going to fall heavily on Itoje’s shoulders. It’s probably the one area of his game where he is not as prominent as a senior player, as he was when he was playing in the age-grades. If Jones picks three locks and deploys Itoje on the blindside, there’s a good chance he’ll have the freedom to roam a little more and possibly involve himself more as ball-carrier in the open spaces.
Bench – A bit of a cheat, with the bench obviously accounting for eight players, but again, harking back to the lack of Vunipola and Hughes, Jones is going to want to see his pack bust a gut for 50-60 minutes and give England that front-foot ball they crave. A dynamic bench, potentially featuring players like Mercer, Jamie George and Alec Hepburn will go a long way towards winning the constant battle with the gain-line late in the game.
New Talent – Zach Mercer
Mercer has lost the asterisk next to his name in the England team list and is no longer considered an apprentice.
His form has been excellent for Bath and though he lacks the bulk of Vunipola or Hughes, he delivers front-foot ball with the acceleration and power he has, not to mention that he likes to run at space and is always shifting the point of contact, making him a nightmare for defenders to bring down one-on-one.
He will probably have to be patient behind Simmonds, who has been equally impressive in the Premiership and Champions Cup, but he offers a dynamism off the bench that could cause a lot of problems for tired defences.
Prediction
England may only have two home games this season, but crucially one of those two home games is against Ireland, arguably their biggest challenger for the title. They also entertain Wales at Twickenham, who they are on a three-game win streak against under Jones.
Italy and France away will not be easy fixtures, but based on recent form, they will be games England will be confident about winning. Scotland at Murrayfield will be an interesting contest given their improving fortunes but it is not a place England fear, having not lost there since 2008.
The matches with Ireland and Scotland are dangerous games and could well prevent an English Grand Slam, but with a favourable schedule, a first XV largely unaffected by injury and key players playing well, England look good value to make history and win a third-straight title.
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