Style doesn't matter if England win – Andy Goode
Momentum is huge in sport and, after a rare positive week for Steve Borthwick as England head coach, all that matters is the result this weekend. The coaching staff and players will tell us they have had lots of good weeks over the past nine months or so, but the feeling from outside the camp inevitably has an effect on the environment and it’s vital they keep that positivity going.
They are starting from a low base as England look to win back-to-back games for just the second time under Borthwick and continue to rebuild after things fell apart towards the end of the Eddie Jones era, so style can come later as long as they are winning.
Of course, fans and pundits will be clamouring for England to show more in attack and score more tries after they have managed just eight in total across their last seven games but that is always the last piece of the puzzle and Borthwick won’t be bothered about it at this stage.
Defence and game management were impeccable against Argentina and the team has been tweaked for the specific challenge of Japan, but the bulk of the starting XV has been retained and there is no way anyone will be taking this one lightly.
Japan aren’t the side they once were and didn’t set the world alight against Chile but Borthwick knows quite a few of their players well from his time with them at the 2015 World Cup and will be wary of their ability to pull off a shock.
There may be some ageing legs in there but they are still more dangerous in the loose than they are in the tight, which explains why Kyle Sinckler comes in for Dan Cole in the front row despite the fact the Leicester man did a job on his clubmate Julian Montoya against the Pumas.
That is why Lewis Ludlam gets the nod over Billy Vunipola at number eight as well. Ludlam made an impressive 11 tackles in his quarter of an hour on the pitch last week and is rewarded for that but his selection is more about the fact that mobility over bulk is what is needed against Japan.
The way the game has gone now back rowers are multi-skilled and we will probably see Ben Earl packing down at number eight in attack at times, so the fact that Ludlam has never started there for his country before shouldn’t be an issue.
Ludlam’s tackle count and England’s energy and work rate in general does suggest that Aled Walters is correct when he said the players were being worked very hard in training during the Summer Nations Series fixtures in order to be physically ready come World Cup time.
That shouldn’t completely excuse the poor performances and results we saw but the head of strength and conditioning has won a World Cup with a Springboks side that was in ridiculous shape, so he does know what he is doing.
There were never likely to be too many team changes for this one with England still needing to build cohesion, not just in attack, and the opposition being one of the two best sides they will face in the pool stages but we are guaranteed to see more ahead of next week.
That Chile game coincides with the return of Owen Farrell from his suspension and you can bet your bottom dollar we will have a week of chat about the possibility of him playing alongside George Ford once more.
We are unlikely to see it against Chile but if Ford has as good a game against Japan as he did against Argentina, he surely can’t be dropped for the clash with Samoa and the knockout stages.
I suspect we will see Joe Marchant miss out and Manu Tuilagi alongside Ford and Farrell when that time comes but there is a bit of water to go under the bridge before then.
The incredible stat that has Steve Borthwick believing in his blunt England attack. #EnglandRugby #ENGvJPN #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/o79Ry7fiTK
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 17, 2023
The tries will follow against Chile, and I suspect a few will come late on against Japan, but there is no doubt Borthwick would take a 6-3 win now and move on and I can’t see England’s game plan changing too much.
It might have been the perfect storm last week with a red card after a couple of minutes, but England kicked a massive 93 per cent of their possession away. I’m sure that percentage won’t be quite as high in this one against Japan but it is very much the way under Borthwick.
Ford is the perfect man to put his plan into action, his confidence will be as high as it’s been for a while after last week and, while England still won’t play much rugby in their own half, he has the passing game to exploit the gaps when they do start to appear.
There aren’t many more detailed and diligent coaches than Borthwick and he will have prepared his team for the power and offloading ability of Amato Fakatava, the ball-carrying threat of the returning Kazuki Himeno and the pace and footwork of Kotaro Matsushima, Jone Naikabula and Semisi Masirewa out wide but I don’t think they should be overly worried.
England put 50 points on Japan in the autumn, despite having less possession than their opponents, forcing a few scrum penalties and kicking the ball 37 times in open play. It might have been Jones rather than Borthwick in charge back then but the template is there.
I expect the tries to come and I’m going for an England win by 18 points but this is the World Cup and the victory is all that matters, English fans finally have something to shout about and the players just need to keep the ball rolling.
Comments on RugbyPass
Couple 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.
8 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.
5 Go to commentsUnsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
4 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.
3 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
3 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
4 Go to commentsThe Irish side is good. They have lost 2 games in the last 23 tests. In the last 12 months they have have a 60% win rate against the top 5 sides in the world. Over the same period south africa have a 67% win rate against the top 5 teams, and New Zealand are at 40%.
4 Go to commentsOnly 1247 days until RWC 2027 starts Bin Smuth🤣Can’t wait to see how unhinged you’re still gonna get between now & then
200 Go to commentsany chance either team will improve on their u20 world cup performances this time around? I assume both sides will be deeply disappointed with how things went.
6 Go to commentsAnother poor articles by a poor journo, nothing new from Ben, at least you are consistently bad lol, geez I will try and watch the match later, clearly Benny was only looking to one end of the pitch, hard to tell whom the Baby Blacks were playing if it wasn’t in the header 😄😄
8 Go to commentsNz should have won. I didn't watch the game, but the ref was at fault and the bounce of the ball and the Bokke used the Bomb squad and the Bokke slow the game down and the Bokke scrum. They should remove the scrum. The Bokke are to strong. Not fair. Nz should have won
8 Go to commentsProbably the worst article on a rugby match I have ever read
200 Go to commentsWho hurt this man.. LoL 😭
200 Go to commentsIt unfortunate for the Jaguares that they became formidable just as super rugby as we knew came to an end. However, the idea of bringing them back is nonsensical. While I enjoyed the Jaguares and the South African flavour of the comp, a selling point of this incarnation of super rugby is that all games are on a decent time for an Aussie audience.
5 Go to commentslol that’s your opinion Ben, All Blacks benefited from a forward pass try, SA played 77 min without a recognised hooker, missed a no try conversion and a penalty could have would have but didn’t
200 Go to commentsBrett, from my distant perspective, I hope you get to keep the Rebels. Any ideas of teams from Japan or Argentina are just crazy. Won’t happen. If you look at logistics, it is much easier to get to LA from Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney than to Buenos Aires. All with direct non-stop daily flights. You may even get some “gringos” to watch the games, with some younger players compared to Giteau and Nonu who still “play” in the area. I think it is virtually impossible to get a competitive Argie team for SR. All Pumas are in Europe, almost all second tier players are also in Europe. Fringe players are in South American pro rugby tournament (and many still in the MLR!) but these players who might be most interested in joining a new Jaguares do not have the skills to compete. As I have been saying since the Jaguares joined, they should have had TWO teams to make logistics for visiting teams better and Argie player development improved as well. Jaguares/Pumas was not ideal. But this is where Pichot and his cronies did not think long enough. Further the country with he new president “No hay Plata” Milei is in a very difficult situation. Galperin, the richest man in Argentina owns the Miami franchise of MLR. I don’t think you can get him to invest in Argentina. Actually, he played rugby himself. He was a fly half. He is worth around $6 billion!
5 Go to commentsWell done Baby Boks we will take the Draw. No 9 senseless long passes in those conditions. let’s move on and hope for some good weather
8 Go to commentsHow did it end a draw. South Africa didn’t score any points as far as I can see
8 Go to commentsNo doubt this will be a fantastic occasion and I plan to be there, but I think the bean counters have won out over the rugby brains. In my opinion, it is foolhardy to give the Black Ferns the experience of playing in front of 60,000+ at Twickenham a year before they might be playing there in a World Cup Final. Better to play France at Twickenham and Black Ferns at Kingsholm. The difference in takings would be miniscule.
1 Go to comments