The hefty ban Farrell faces and three other England talking points
England finally snapped their three-game losing streak under Steve Borthwick, their 19-17 comeback win over Wales at Twickenham giving them their first W since February.
It was also just their third Test win at RFU HQ in nine outings with the new head coach or Eddie Jones, his predecessor, at the helm and its importance can’t be underestimated given the cloud they have operated under in recent years.
Even Saturday looked set to end in disaster. Whatever game plan England were trying to play to wasn’t enjoying good reward and their late comeback owed more to ramped-up players on the pitch fighting situational adversity than something which Borthwick and co had them prepared for.
They essentially winged it and won, the type of victory that could be invaluable in steeling team morale.
What it says about the coaching staff and the rugby they are designing, the jury will remain out on that for another four weeks yet as the Rugby World Cup result versus Argentina is all that ultimately matters.
For now, here are four RugbyPass takeaways from Saturday’s Summer Nations Series win:
Repeat offender Farrell in real jeopardy
Call it karma. Last Monday, just on the pitch by the Twickenham tunnel, Owen Farrell was the butt of numerous good-natured England jibes when asked by his squad’s media team to take a Rugby World Cup squad selfie. He stood up from his chair, took the snap, tossed the phone back to its owner with a giggle and sat back down to huge slagging from his teammates.
Five days later, it was no laughing matter when he was forced to take up a seat literally yards away from where he had been happily sat at the start of the week. He was facing in the opposite direction, looking out onto the pitch rather than facing the stands, and it wasn’t a time for a selfie with Freddie Steward and Ellis Genge glumly sat alongside him in a three-man sin bin.
Steward and Genge were left stewing for just the 10 minutes, both getting back onto the field to play their part in a stirring comeback that saw England overcome a 16-17 deficit to win it with a George Ford penalty kick coming down the finishing straight.
In contrast, Farrell was told his yellow card for driving his shoulder into the head of Taine Basham had been upgraded to red and he now faces the disastrous prospect of missing – at a minimum – his team’s Rugby World Cup opener versus Argentina. You can’t see much if any mitigation being granted for Farrell at his upcoming midweek disciplinary hearing.
Last January, when cited for a similar shoulder-to-head contact after Saracens’ win at Gloucester in the Gallagher Premiership, Farrell’s reckless offence was given a six-game mid-range entry point when it came to sanction. That was reduced to four games when mitigation was applied, Farrell’s remorse/apology and good conduct at the hearing getting taken into account.
He was also offered the chance to attend tackle school, the World Rugby coaching intervention programme which, if successfully completed, would scratch the last game on his ban. Farrell went to school, came through the initiative and had his suspension cut to three games, freeing him to be selected by England for their Guinness Six Nations opener versus Scotland on February 4.
The issue now, though, is that he is listed on the disciplinary record as a “repeat offender” and mitigation will surely be difficult to secure if a mid-range six-game entry point is applied to his latest foul play.
Six games would be a disaster for the England skipper as it would mean he would miss his team’s entire World Cup pool programme (all four matches in France against Argentina, Japan, Chile and Samoa on top of the remaining August warm-ups versus Ireland and Fiji).
That type of lengthy suspension would make him unavailable until the mid-October quarter-finals and leave England reliant on George Ford/Marcus Smith to guide them through their RWC games in Marseille, Nice and Lille (two matches).
It’s a brutal situation for Farrell to now have to defend himself in, but there was a whiff of Steve Borthwick smugness at the England post-game briefing on Saturday night when he reminded everyone that this was why he felt compelled to select three players in each specialist position in his RWC squad (out-half, scrum-half, and all three front row positions).
“I said to you previously when I discussed the make-up of the 33 that having three players in key positions was very, very important in those specialist positions, so we always worked on the depth in those positions.” He has quickly been proven right, but not in the way that anyone would have imagined.
England repeatedly bad boys? Take a hike…
Borthwick fielded questions on Farrell in a number of different ways on Saturday night, but he refused to comment every single time, deflecting his answers away from the specifics of the red-carded.
Even when asked if Farrell had addressed the dressing room in the wake of his red card, the head coach explained that the only post-game commotion was a happy one – that the family of Ellis Genge had been allowed into the dressing room to see him presented with a silver cap on the occasion of his 50th England appearance.
Borthwick also dismissed a query on the potential for the yellow-carded Steward getting cited in the coming days for his collision with Wales’ Josh Adams. “I don’t comment on situations like that,” he insisted.
What he did get exercised about was the suggestion that England had a serious disciplinary problem having suffered three yellow cards and a red. He wasn’t having that. “One of the simple generalisations is to say cards. If you look at each one they were unique to the other one. Everyone one of them was absolutely separate. We will look at each of them independently.
“In terms of the discipline of the England team, it has improved over the last period of time. Last week we gave away six penalties; the last count I saw (on Saturday) was 12 which is exactly the same as Wales and last week they were eight. The England team is actually improving discipline considerably.”
What unfolded in the Six Nations backed up his defence, England conceding the second-fewest of the six teams across that tournament. England’s concession of 47 penalties in their five matches was only bettered by champions Ireland who had 44. France were worse off on 53, Scotland and Italy were on 54 with Wales the most indisciplined on 63.
In terms of cards, Ireland had none, England had one yellow and a red card that was rescinded at a follow-up disciplinary, Scotland had one yellow and a red, France two yellows and a red, Wales three yellows and Italy five.
Try famine, yet booed kick was ultimately crucial
England are making for tough viewing with their inability to turn pressure into tries. They finished the Six Nations with just a single try in each of their matches versus France and Ireland and the struggle continued over successive Saturdays against Wales with Maro Itoje’s 68th-minute maul try their only five-point in 160 Summer Nations Series minutes.
That’s four straight matches now in which they have been eclipsed on the try count and yet it ultimately was their final first-half decision to ignore the opportunity to fashion a try which won them the game. Rather than go to the corner for a lineout drive or take a tapped penalty five metres out from the Welsh line, Farrell decided to go for the posts to put England 6-0 up.
A chorus of boos reverberated around Twickenham over this decision but it can’t be denied that in a match that England ultimately won by two points on a 19-17 scoreline, the skipper’s unpopular decision to go for the sticks was vital.
Without it, George Ford’s 75th-minute kick wouldn’t have been for the lead. What Farrell did was a good example of England playing cup rugby ahead of the RWC, taking points when they are offered up to you on a plate in front of the posts.
Sluggish Billy V has a way to go yet
Billy Vunipola has been hyped by Borthwick as a must-pick England player now that Alex Dombrandt has been dumped at No8. The claim has been that the coach has never seen the seasoned Saracens back-rower as fit as he is now, but he was sluggish on Saturday in is first Test appearance in 2023. Normally if he was at the top of his game, he would be topping his team’s ball-carrying chart in the forwards but he finished down the list.
He was credited for 22 metres from nine carries, less than Ben Earl who had 46 metres from 13 runs and Jamie George who was 35/11. Even Maro Itoje was prominent, making 14 metres from eight carries. Admittedly, Earl, George and Itoje played the whole 80 minutes compared to Vunipola’s 61 but much more was expected than what he delivered.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 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
4 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 comments