Time for England to stick and unleash attack - Andy Goode
England have shown heart, fight and dogged defence but now it’s time to unleash the attack and stick rather than twist in terms of selection.
If Sam Underhill’s try hadn’t been disallowed and England had beaten the All Blacks last week, I think more front line players would’ve got a rest this week but momentum is huge in sport and Eddie Jones wants to make a statement so I don’t think there’ll be as many changes as people might have been expecting.
There will be some players rested because four high intensity Test matches in as many weeks is a tough ask but I don’t think there’ll be as many changes as there might have been in previous years for a game such as this one because of the injury list and where England are at right now.
I’d like to see Alex Lozowski come straight back in and start now that he’s available again. He might have been banned for the past four weeks but if Ben Te’o can start against South Africa after half an hour of Premiership rugby this season, he’s more than ready to go from the first whistle.
I think having a second ball player at inside centre, as well as Henry Slade at outside centre, would really help the fluency of England’s attack and Lozowski’s relationship with Owen Farrell at club level counts in his favour as well so I hope he’s given an opportunity.
If Manu Tuilagi was 100 per cent fit I’d have him back in and starting but there’s no point risking him against Japan if he’s not quite right.
Jamie George got some stick after losing five lineouts last week but there’s more to that than meets the eye. Most were more to do with the calls than his accuracy, so it’d be good to see him given the chance to show what he can do again from the start.
Starting four weeks in a row at tighthead is tough and Nick Schonert has been called into the 30-man squad named earlier in the week, so I’d give Kyle Sinckler the week off. His bank manager might not be too happy about it but that’s a different story.
I think Maro Itoje would’ve been rested if it hadn’t been for George Kruis’ injury but there needs to be some consistency in the engine room so I think he’ll be rolled out again alongside Courtney Lawes and then maybe brought off early.
Sam Underhill was phenomenal last week and Mark Wilson has been a standout performer in both of the first two games so they should continue and it was strange to see Zach Mercer left out completely against the All Blacks after such a good debut so I think he comes back in at number eight.
There are some players who can afford to be rested, such as Jonny May, who has been brilliant recently and can be wrapped up in cotton wool for next week. However, other front line players need to start in order to ensure that England keep progressing and building on what they’ve done in the past couple of weeks.
Eddie Jones is a big fan of Joe Cokanasiga and he could make a big impact with his size and speed between now and the World Cup, so I’d like to see him given a chance but probably from the bench because Jack Nowell and Chris Ashton deserve starting places.
Andy Goode’s England team to face Japan
15 Elliot Daly
14 Jack Nowell
13 Henry Slade
12 Alex Lozowski
11 Chris Ashton
10 Owen Farrell
9 Danny Care
1 Ben Moon
2 Jamie George
3 Harry Williams
4 Maro Itoje
5 Courtney Lawes
6 Mark Wilson
7 Sam Underhill
8 Zach Mercer
16 Dylan Hartley
17 Alec Hepburn
18 Nick Schonert
19 Charlie Ewels
20 Brad Shields
21 Ben Youngs
22 George Ford
23 Joe Cokanasiga
There’s no getting away from it, 2018 has been a poor year for England but the performances of the past couple of weeks against two of the best teams in the world have shown real heart, bottle and a return to the intensity that the side was showing when they won 18 games in a row.
John Mitchell’s come in and we’ve defended with aggression, line speed and intensity. He deserves credit for that but raising your game to face the top two teams in the world has something to do with it as well.
From what I hear from speaking to those around the camp, the level of intensity at training has dropped at times so that the players have a bit more energy and bite when it comes to Saturday afternoon.
In the Six Nations earlier in the year England players looked low on energy and it almost appeared like they were struggling with the physicality because they’d clearly been overtrained. That’s changed this autumn and it’s showing in the ability to repeat intense defensive sets against the best teams in the world.
Clearly, it’ll be a different prospect against Japan but it’s often tricky when you’re expected to rack up a load of points against a team so England need to keep their heads, not force things, focus on performance and put their plans into action. The tries and the result will come.
The foundations have been laid with defence and intensity and now It’s time for England’s attack to shine. They scored some great tries under Scott Wisemantel on tour in South Africa in the summer and they managed a couple against the number one team in the world last week but they also failed to score a point after the 25th minute.
Everyone’s craving a performance in attack that sees the shackles taken off and players able to go and express themselves, the kind of display we haven’t really seen from England since they put 61 points on Scotland in 2017. Saturday should provide the perfect opportunity to show they still have that ability in their locker.
Comments on RugbyPass
Pick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
15 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
15 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
15 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
15 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
15 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
15 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
15 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to comments