LONG READ England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit

For all the collective brouhaha over Joe Marler’s injudicious words about the Haka pre-game, you could forgive Marler Inc. for invoicing the RFU because his incendiary verdict on the protected sanctity of New Zealand’s rallying war cry sent a pulse of electricity through the 82,000 fans in the seconds before kick-off that threatened the Richter scale, such was the cacophony of sound enveloping the stadium.

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Eighty minutes later, it was quite the opposite. For what seemed like an eternity – but was clocked at two seconds – the air was sucked out of the stadium, as the crowd was transfixed by a rugby ball climbing skywards, end over end, towards the uprights. Within milliseconds a collective groan was audible as the ball sailed metres wide of the target.

Those with their eyes trained on George Ford would have guessed the outcome, as his shoulders drooped and he turned away, turmoil hidden behind those icy blue eyes. Ford, so often England’s saviour, had fluffed his lines.

That was the game. As Marcus Smith had blown the metaphorical roof off Twickenham in March by downing Ireland with the last swipe of his right boot, Ford’s unerring boot left England in the lurch, searching for answers.

Steve Borthwick swept into the post-match presser, and offered his usual platitudes about a ‘great’ New Zealand team and the Herculean efforts of his squad. His usual monotone delivery was tested once when being questioned about England’s decision making late-on and he asked the enquiring journalist exactly he meant by the question. Of course, the real inquisition will be held away from the prying eyes and ears of assembled media in the confines of Pennyhill Park but there is no time to mope about a fourth narrow loss in five Tests, with the Wallabies touching down in London in a matter of hours. Answers are required, and there is no time to lose.

Borthwick won’t have to look hard for questions. Why did he take off a half-back unit that seemed to be finally taking control of the match when England led 22-14? Why was Ellis Genge left isolated for two of New Zealand’s three tries and was the untimely departure of defence coach Felix Jones a factor? Would Fin Smith and not Ford have been a better pick given the latter’s lack of match sharpness?

Indeed, England’s use of their bench pertains to a worrying drop off in impact. In three Tests against the All Blacks, the Red Rose have scored just nine points in the final half-hour – that’s 90 minutes of rugby. There’s blunt tools and there’s England closing out games. Compare and contrast this with Rassie Erasmus’ potent bench and you worry about the visit of the double-World Champions. England’s management would be foolhardy to put up the ‘nothing to see here’ signs, and speak of ‘learnings’. Much like the World Cup winning 2003 squad, who were paraded before the adoring crowd at HQ at half-time, they need to learn the knack of winning close encounters.

England’s backrow performed commendably, with Chandler Cunningham-South’s thunderclap tackling no doubt earning a respectful nod from the watching Courtney Lawes.

It wasn’t all bad. Far from it. England’s backrow performed commendably, with Chandler Cunningham-South’s thunderclap tackling no doubt earning a respectful nod from the watching Courtney Lawes, and Ben Earl going to a points decision in a riproaring battle with Ardie Savea. Levitating in quality above all players on the park, however, was Wallace Sititi. Over the past 12 months, he has taken the baton off Savea as New Zealand’s go-to man, at just 22. His acceleration off the mark, offloading ability – which saw him set up Telea’a first try – and appreciation of space saw him introducing himself on the world stage after a breakthrough season. England had nothing in their ranks to compete.

Rob Valentini may not quite have his skillset of Sititi, but with Will Skelton and Taniela Tupou also in their ranks, the physicality may not let up on Saturday, and England’s defence dare not dip below the 88 per cent tackle success rate achieved against the All Blacks.

Despite them playing with more creativity than 2023, when their kick and chase tactics drew groans of disapproval, there is precious little wriggle room left in 2024 before England are handed their report card. A win over the Wallabies is imperative, and a statement win over the Springboks would atone for the one-point loss during the World Cup, yet while there is hope, confidence is fragile, despite Jamie George’s protestations and enthusiasm to issue a rallying cry. An honest, intelligent individual, George would struggle to win a game of poker, because pain was etched on his face at the final whistle, and in any case, he is not one for making lame excuses. “We’re very close to being a good team but we’ve been saying that for a while now”. Indeed, England are good, but the results are not good enough.

With Marler, who was knocking around the press centre post-game, wearing a flat cap, all black jersey and shorts ensemble, coupled with ankle boots and pink socks, some colour has been lost from the squad, but there is no time to lament the loss of one of England’s biggest characters. Within hours of his announcement then his replacement, Asher Opoku Ford-Sejour was being spirited towards the England camp.

A clearly relieved Scott Barrett suggested post-match that if there was a difference between the sides, it came down to New Zealand wanting to play more of the rugby, and it was hard to disagree.

What is blatantly obvious, is that as much as Borthwick is keeping his ageing lieutenants around to keep order – read Dan Cole, George Ford, Jamie George and Henry Slade – then the inclusion of the coming men in his squad, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Fin Baxter, Cunningham-South and Theo Dan has become more compelling. Cunningham-South and Feyi-Waboso were the one’s geeing the crowd up to get behind the team, and youthful exuberance is infectious.

A clearly relieved Scott Barrett suggested post-match that if there was a difference between the sides, it came down to New Zealand wanting to play more of the rugby, and it was hard to disagree, given they outscored England three tries to one, and trumped England on every attacking metric; they made more line breaks, post contact metres and ball carries. The defensive stats (England made 178 tackles, compared to New Zealand’s 101), also displayed an England side hardly troubling Scott Robertson’s men. For all the attacking weapons England profess to have, the suggestion is that risk-averse pragmatism is never far away.

The form book suggests Joe Schmidt’s men will provide easier fodder. Lampooned at the foot of the Rugby Championship and searching for an identity in a code struggling for relevance in a congested sporting landscape, they will have nowhere to hide over the coming month but if they are within a score of a shaky England with 20 minutes to go, few will blame fans for shifting uneasily in their seats as the clock runs down.

If England can again arouse a genteel Twickenham crowd to build a wall of noise as they did against the All Blacks, then they will have played their part, for there is still much good will still in the tank for Borthwick’s men. They are tantalisingly close to the side they want to be but the Test arena doesn’t dole out cigars for second place and that is where England are more routinely found at the final whistle right now. The excuses have to stop and solutions found because patience is not infinite. No less than a win against the Wallabies will be accepted.