Time for England to reveal plan B?
England win again, their 27th consecutive victory, but the cracks are beginning to show. Against a dogged and determined France the Red Roses finally looked fallible but had enough in the tank to see out the game.
If there’s been a lingering criticism of England Women over the past couple of years it has been their lack of a plan B. Why worry about that when plan A works so well is often the reply and for 26 games that argument held up. Now, finally, it looks like teams are finding a way to counter the relentless power of the Red Roses.
All the statistics point to domination by the Red Roses. They enjoyed 68 per cent of possession and 70 per cent of territory. France had to make three times as many tackles as their opponents (237 compared to 79) but England had a slightly higher completion rate. The Red Roses had double the meters run of Les Bleus too… But for all that the numbers were in their favour they failed time and again to capitalise on them.
It’s a point not lost on head coach Simon Middleton. “We need to be clinical, take our chances when they are presented. I think if we had done that the scoreboard probably would have looked a bit different. You can do as much as you want on the training ground, but when you get into a game like that, when you are under absolute pressure, that is when you are tested to the max and there are the things that you can then really analyse.”
What was most startling in Whangarei was that a team blessed with talent seemed unable to come up with an alternate way to play the game. In fact, when Sarah Hunter was substituted for Poppy Cleall, the team seemed to forget how to play at all as tempers flared.
The good news for Middleton and his coaches is that they have the resources at their disposal to change things up. Tatyana Heard has yet to be deployed in the tournament, but her hard-running through the midfield will help the team punch holes against teams who can (almost) match them for power. The return to fitness of Abby Dow is key too, surely she will be given a shot to start in the next game?
"Tonight was all about the team, and getting that win over France" 🏉
Team-first mentality from @sarah_hunter8 who's more focused on the victory than equalling the @EnglandRugby all-time caps record with @RockyClark_1 🤩#RWC2021 | #FRAvENG pic.twitter.com/cnuwyAROFZ
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) October 15, 2022
Zoe Harrison has matured into the clear first choice at fly-half and with Leanne Infante she forms a pragmatic, game-managing half-back unit. They’re both excellent players but it’s a combination that lacks the magic to break a game wide open. With Mo Hunt left at home the best option to really change things up is to give Helena Rowland a start at 10 and see what she can do with the quick ball Infante provides.
The peerless Emily Scarratt has been a bit off-colour at this World Cup to date, but even if she isn’t firing on all cylinders Scaz is still world-class and the fact she was responsible for all the Red Roses points against France highlights that perfectly.
Perhaps the most important thing for England is trusting their on-field leaders. With Hunter off the field Scarratt and Ward were the experienced heads but neither seemed capable of resetting the team mentality as France pulled them into a battle.
Despite all this though, their win secured them a spot in the quarter finals, not that the team were aware of that according to Hunter. “I didn’t know that if we won that was the quarter-final spot so I just found out that. Obviously we’ve got one more game and we want to finish as high a seed as possible but it certainly adds a little bit extra spice to a pool game.”
Next up England face South Africa and it’s likely none of this really matters too much, as they should win comfortably. The Red Roses will have half an eye on the later stages of the tournament though, where the Black Ferns, Canada and Les Bleus all wait for the opportunity to finally end that streak.
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful 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 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 comments