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Steve Borthwick names the three things that won it for England
You feared for Steve Borthwick going into Saturday. The underwhelming defeat to Scotland had dented his credentials and devalued the currency of last October’s bronze medal finish at the Rugby World Cup.
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Another dispiriting loss and the increased chance of a fourth successive two-wins-from-five Guinness Six Nations campaign – the second on Borthwick’s watch – would have left him vulnerable to accusations that he doesn’t know what he is doing.
Come full-time at Twickenham, all that negativity had been flushed away. England had sparklingly gone toe-to-toe with the supposed world’s best Irish.
The atmosphere at English rugby HQ was also inspiringly raucous rather than its muted vibe of these past few years. And then came the Hollywood finish, Marcus Smith, the kid with the movie star moves, whisking over the winning drop goal and igniting pandemonium.
What made the difference, Steve? “Three things. One, the intensity that the players had from the first minute to the last minute. I thought that was a step forward and that has got to become something that is a trademark of this team, the intensity with which they play.
“The second thing was tactically, in the middle of the game Ireland adjusted what they did tactically in the middle third and the players needed to attend to that on the grass and they did that really, really well. They had to change how we intended to play.
“It was a different type of game from Ireland, very smart by them what they then did, and it needed a big adjustment for our team led by Jamie (George).
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“And the third thing, I have used this expression a good number of times, is finding a way to win. We’ll improve as a team, we will be better as a team but fundamentally finding yourself in a situation where you find a way to win, that’s important and the team did that again.”
Hang on, a tactical adjustment in the middle third of the game? Tell us more. “Ireland’s attack has been phenomenal. I said this earlier in the week, the way they get out of their half using, in particular James Lowe, is really effective.
“The pressure they put on your ball with the breakdown, their jackal, their blast, it’s excellent. They do choke tackles. Different every time.
“And the third area I talk about is their attack and I talked about how they have got a great passing game. Very few handling errors, create lots of one-on-ones and play a great phase attack.”
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So what exactly happened? “They started kicking less off James Lowe and kicking a bit more off nine, start playing less phase and more contestable kicking and so the middle of the game became a bit more like an arm wrestle.
“Ultimately their tries came from situations where a kick from nine to either a miss by us or giving a penalty away at the next breakdown led to the situation for them to score two tries. It was really smart what they did.
“The guys on the pitch adjusted, had to deal with it, so the game changed from what it looked like in the first 20 to what it looked like then from about 25 to 55. It was a different type of game then.”
Comments on RugbyPass
“Teams would generally have three coaches below their head honcho; attack coach, defence coach, forwards coach” do they? I’m not sure what the NZ set up is tbh, but the other 4 sides top 5 sides all have very different structures to the one outlined in the article! As well as attack, defence, and forwards coaches, SA, Ireland, and France also have specialist scrum coaches. England have a specialist scrum coach too, but arguably don’t have a forwards coach, with that role taken on by Borthwick. SA also have a backs coach in addition to defence and attack, and Ireland and England have fitness coaches, with England also having two skills coaches.
2 Go to commentsWorst article I've read in a while. Trying to disguise a backhand slap as a compliment. The whole article is a bit weird and negative. I think South African men are emotional in general… think Clad le Clos’s father 2012 London Olympics.
2 Go to commentsIreland are going to win the world cup.
9 Go to commentsIt was the strangest result ever. Etzebeth should've been yellow card for his cynical retiring move and a penalty try. Birth second half tries by the Allblacks were fantastic and the TMO operating outside the law to rule out the first try was egregious. Yes, the boks got the win but it was through some bizarre officiating that allowed them to sneak home against 14 men that dominated them. The quieter Bok supporters know and acknowledge the Allblacks were the better and dominant side. Justifying the win because they beat a pre world cup Allblacks selection is silly.
205 Go to commentsA very English thing to do hey Courtney, blerrie kant
4 Go to commentsIt sounds like Andrew is trying to convince himself or has just lost all perspective. The team did look jaded for the last couple of games of the six nations but a few things were wrong there. Italy tackled their hearts out and made Ireland work hard for every try. Outsmarted by Scotland? Huh? Ireland got held up over the line about 4 times. Scotland did nothing on attack the whole game other than one breakaway near the end. A recharge and reset is needed which they hopefully will have had before the SA your.
9 Go to commentsIncluding SA and Argie teams was great for the quality of rugby, but middle of the night games and player travel/ jet lag make that unworkable. I think that SA in Europe and Argie building an American league with USA, Canada etc would be better long term. If Oz can't sustain Rebels then next cab off the rank should be a Japanese team. Keep regional comps to time zones, both club and test rugby. Then existing test windows for test tours plus RWC.
6 Go to commentsMisogynists have feelings too!
2 Go to commentsCrowd sizes of the URC v the Premiership must be a big factor.
1 Go to commentsWell you’ve made a proper tit of yourself, haven’t you! 😂
173 Go to commentsBen it's beyond their comprehension-
205 Go to commentsThanks Sam. Interesting read. Harder or easier for Parling to come into a completely new setup where performance was abysmal last time out? I’d suggest easier to be better but, as you suggest, will be a lot to do with how much latitude he’s granted. Hopefully all he needs. With hybrids like Holloway, Hannigan, Swinton and Leota as options at 6 we have the basics for a strong lineout. BPA returning means we have good options at 2 also with Faessler, Porecki and Uelese, although Jordan is a scrumming beast rather than a dart thrower. I’m typically a pessimist or realist but that’s never applied to the Wallabies
2 Go to commentsMad how this somehow contained absolutely zero information.
4 Go to commentsI’m looking forward to attending the Twickenham match, I don’t think it will have a bearing on the outcome of the grand prize itself but it will tell us more about each teams’ preparation and game plan. It’s hard to look past one of the big four (I’m including Canada) lifting the trophy in 2025 but sport is a curious thing, there will still be twists and turns in road ahead.
2 Go to commentsThe better side seems to be the losing side a lot these days. As far as narrative goes. Must be the big emergent culture of “participation awards” that have emerged in nanny states. ”It looked like New Zealand would take the game from there but lapses in execution let South Africa get back into the game. New Zealand’s goal kickers left five points out there, including a very make-able penalty on the stroke of half”. Sounds like a chronic problem… I wonder how the better team has lapses in concentration and execution? Or are those not important factors in the grand scheme of total performances? In 2023, the ABs at least didn’t give up a lead to lose. They just couldn’t execute to get the points and take the lead. This Baby AB result points to a choke - letting the game slip through your fingers. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby’s dad - “If you’re not 1st you’re last!” Loosely translated - if you didn’t win, you’re a loser.
10 Go to commentsWith Stuart Lancaster at the helm, Racing 92 looks more and more a mercenaries club like Toulon some years ago and they are not even performing despite all the money on offer.
4 Go to commentsCouple of things BS missed: wind was behind the Baby Blacks in the first half. Baby Boks got points from a scrum penalty in the final quarter against this ‘dominant pack’, and left three points on the park after a missed penalty.
10 Go to commentsSensible thoughts on this, Brett. Also worth considering we’ve sold 60k tickets for a game between the Rebels and the Lions next year. Got to be roughly $10m in ticket and game day revenue there.
6 Go to commentsUnsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
9 Go to commentsHis decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
4 Go to comments