The boos in Nice and three other post-Japan England talking points
England chalked up back-to-back wins for only the second time in the Steve Borthwick era when they eventually got the better of Japan 34-12 on Sunday night in Nice.
In contrast to the joyous outpouring that accompanied their 14-man underdogs win over Argentina in Marseille, the cheers on this occasion were muted as the English attack failed to impress on an evening they were expected to show improvement. Here are four RugbyPass takeaways:
Ignoring the boos
There was a moment during England’s questions-in-three-languages post-game media briefing where you incredulously felt something had gotten lost in translation.
There was Steve Borthwick chirping on that he had seen growth in the English attack, a jolting claim that left you feeling he had been at a different match than the one that had just unfolded at Stade de Nice.
So fed up did the large contingent of England fans become with the kick-heavy approach that loud boos were heard around 10 minutes into the second period when possession was thumped away cheaply in a very lame fashion by Alex Mitchell.
Why the scrum-half kicked into the Japanese 22 rather than move the ball through the hands around halfway was a mystery given that no England player was within an ass’ roar of contesting for the ball.
It wasn’t the first dominant boo either as the much earlier decision to have George Ford pot at the posts for 3-0 rather than create something from a five-metre penalty also generated some howls of derision.
We fully get it that England swear by the usefulness of kicking points in cup tie rugby; the clinical way they dismantled Argentina a man short eight days previously was immensely impressive.
However, what people wanted to see against the Japanese was a shaft of hope that they do have more going for them at this tournament than the boot of Ford.
Admittedly, the out-half did deserve some kudos for his persistence, his sweet left-footed kick finding the scoring Freddie Steward with 16 minutes remaining. But a single, beautifully executed moment can’t excuse the general poverty of their creativity.
So intent was Ford in sticking it repeatedly in the air – he kicked from the hand 18 times with Mitchell doing so 14 times – that Manu Tuilagi was denied nourishment to get him into the contest in an encouraging way.
The centre made just three runs for a 12-metre gain during his 69-minute contribution, a lack of involvement reflective of the game-limiting decision-making going on around him.
The shackles were there for everyone to see so for Borthwick to insist “you have seen growth now in our attack” was far-fetched on an evening when the game’s defining try came courtesy of a headed assist from Joe Marler, a fortunate intervention that definitely wasn’t the result of hours of reps on the training field at their Le Touquet-Paris-Plage base camp.
The other incredulous line Borthwick spun post-game was “those supporters out there were outstanding, outstanding”. They weren’t, Steve. They were annoyed.
Quite a few had a grievous hump with the boring England way and even after four tries were scored, the comments overheard on the tram back into Nice Ville included some expletives about how their team just wasn’t any good.
It was another worrying example of the disconnect that exists between the bubble world of Borthwick and the England supporters who wanted to see a far more entertaining spectacle and get some bang for their buck here in France.
Latest curious Borthwick stat
Borthwick likes his deflective statistics. Having thrown in the ring on Friday night how the England teams of 2003 and 2007 (cup winners and beaten finalists) scored only four tries in their eight fixtures at those finals versus tier-one opposition, he was quick to highlight two nights later that Japan had kicked on 37 occasions from the hand in Nice, a figure that was just five kicks fewer than the 42 England had registered.
Here’s the rub, though. Whereas England’s type of kicking rubbed their fans up the wrong way, what Japan were doing even found an admirer in Borthwick. “The Japan team played what I thought was incredibly smart and orthodox rugby,” he appreciated.
“The use of the attacking kicks, kicks over the ruck, kicks behind the defensive line, I have not seen Japan use it to that extent and I thought they did that tremendously well. It is an immense credit to them and there were a couple of bounces of the ball that we had to fight very hard for. That was a very good Japanese team that is clearly well coached.”
When will people ever be able to say the same thing about Borthwick’s England?
Over-egging the humidity excuse
Despite all the recent card trouble, England had been at pains to insist they did not have a discipline problem. There were just seven penalties given up against Argentina, a figure that dropped to six versus Japan. Thirteen penalties in two outings is great going, so it’s a thumbs up for their training ground work in this particular area.
Less worthy of merit was the repeated mixed zone excuse put forward for their handling errors. Yes, the near 80 per cent humidity was stultifying, but did no one read the forecast and have the foresight to wet the balls at Le Touquet-Paris-Plage with washing up liquid in water to replicate handling a greasy ball?
Having been in the south of France the previous weekend, deploying methods to handle the Nice conditions should have been on their to-do list. Instead, judging by the post-game player chat, it sounded as if what they encountered caught them unawares.
What to do with Faz back
The big narrative heading into next weekend versus Chile in Lille will be where will Owen Farrell fit back into the mix following his four-game suspension. His absence enabled Ford, who hadn’t started a match for England since March 2021, to suddenly become the No10 for four consecutive matches, a selection that rammed home how Borthwick no longer fancies Marcus Smith at out-half.
With the way things have gone the past few months, you can see the head coach reviving the World Cup 2019 Eddie Jones tactic of Ford at 10 with a midfield combination of Farrell and Tuilagi. Borthwick observed this bludgeon use at close quarters as a Jones assistant at the last finals and it would be no surprise to see this selection back in favour.
As for Smith, he has shown chutzpah in continuing to use his limited minutes with great enthusiasm. There were 11 in Nice, six more than in Marseille, but his talent is being dreadfully wasted by this repeated lack of use and the fears is it might only be a matter of time before it unfortunately affects his confidence.
He needs more than these little windows of token opportunity as he has so much more to offer. Let him loose on this tournament.
Comments on RugbyPass
Son, whith just " raw athlete “ , you are able to beat “ better rugby players “ by 74 points…. May be England should recruit in athletics….
1 Go to commentsPffft. It’s not a one-way street bud and Irish teams don’t seem to have had an issue taking kiwi players previously.
6 Go to commentsParticularly great to have captain Scott Barrett back after going off last week for the Crusaders. Codie Taylor a real leader and mighty Tamaiti Williams join Fletcher Newell in the front row. Those 2 will make a big difference. Great bench with the likes of Tom Christie, Jamie Hannah etc who are playing well. Should be a great derby.
1 Go to commentsDoes a blitz defence not have a weekness against a well-placed grubber kick, perhaps angled cleverly. All the defence is up and the full-back can only cover so much ground. Thoughts?
28 Go to commentsWhile Iose is destructive in the Canes set-up, he is not big for an international 8 and could struggle against the top teams. With his speed, he could be developed into a seven but, as Ben points out, he doesn’t show a scavenging game with the Canes or make dominating tackles. Sotutu has shown a step up this year and attitude plus motivation seems to be the big areas of growth. Deserves another AB shot imo.
3 Go to commentsNaholo is my only question mark for this side. He wasn’t the only one who had a forgettable game against the Brumbies but he was passive, defensively poor and generally lacked energy. Needs to get a whole lot busier for me. I would have liked to see Sullivan on that wing with Higgins on the bench (if staying with a 6-2 as BeegMike points out on here!)
3 Go to commentsWell, I am sure that Eben said exactly what he meant to say, exactly how he meant to say it. Does he strike you as a man that doesn't know arrogance when he sees it. He should know it because he has shaken the arrogance out of many foes before.
132 Go to commentsPls get it into your thick arrogant heads that the final was played by two Southern Hemisphere teams. The best against the best and that Argentina was just unlucky otherwise non of the Northetn Hemisphere teams would have seen the light of day.
132 Go to commentsAs long as New Zealand youth are involved in sport they are passionate for, and are well supported, it’s all good. I love league as well as rugby. NRL clubs have long since scouted the First 15 competitions, the NH and Japan scout super rugby and NPC. It’s a miracle there’s any players left for the all blacks to pick from.
4 Go to commentsI'm a Bok fan, so I don't say this lightly, but he is one of my all time favourite players. I am really going to miss watching him play. Thanks for many great memories. You are a true legend of the game.
3 Go to commentsBest way to deal with all of this is to play another game.
132 Go to commentsIt’s 12-15 games Luke. Ringrose has barely played in 2024 and Henshaw and Keenan have also been out for spells in the same time period. There are always injuries and for younger players to play with the likes of Barrett will be great for them. It’s just looking for negatives where there are none.
6 Go to commentsAndy Goode pushing his own agenda with very dubious considerations on refereeing performances. Luke Pearce speaking a bit of French doesn’t make him a good and adequate referee for the Champions Cup final; his latest refereeing performance in particular was not so great.
4 Go to commentsJordie knows that he has to earn the right to put on the jersey, whatever that jersey might be.
6 Go to commentsThe best outside centre in the world at one point. He will be greatly missed.
3 Go to commentsYip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to commentsOne that will start to come up from now on is penalties for back pushes during kick chase scrambles. Very difficult to detect. In Croke Park if you replay the Hendy NH try, you will see Furbank push Porter in the back, who collides with Larmour knocking the ball across into Hendy’s path to dot down. A more significant example was in the RWC QTR final where Arendse pushes Fickou into two other French players for the ball to spill into Arendse’s path for him to gather and run in to score SAs first try. Not cheating if you are not caught and very difficult to spot but with kicking becoming so critical I feel its an area that will referreeed/TMO-ed more.
4 Go to commentsWhat a pathetic little twit Andy Goode is, as if we care what he thinks…..😂
132 Go to commentsFoxy has been a wonderful player for the Scarlets and Wales.
3 Go to commentsNika the Georgian is the best referee in the world at the moment. Luckily we will be spared the shite SH refs and Barnes will hopefully remain retired given how shite and embarrassing he was at the RWC.
4 Go to comments