There is nothing like a lengthy review process to bury matters. Draw it out, consult as many people as possible – relevant or irrelevant – and then dump a massive 1,000-page report on the table. Indeed, the reviews conducted by the WRU and RFU after a series of disappointing results in the Autumn Nation Series arguably saved the jobs of Warren Gatland in Wales and Steve Borthwick with England.
Nobody does the official report process better than Wales. After three crushing defeats by Fiji, Australia and South Africa, the WRU announced it would be conducting a review into performances, led by its chief executive Abi Tierney.
The outcome was an announcement Gatland would be staying in post, but there would be another review after the Six Nations. That was a bit like wagging a finger and telling the rabbit, ‘you mustn’t eat the lettuce’.
Tierney’s conclusion was ‘Gats’ is still up to the job and able turn around the fortunes of the national team. It could be a long six weeks for the most successful Welsh coach of the professional era after that shattering 43-0 loss in Paris on the opening weekend. There will be another death by a thousand administrative papercuts at the end of the tournament.
Meanwhile Borthwick has been given a target of four wins from five matches in the Six Nations by the Rugby Football Union, even though there is currently more turmoil within the administration than there is out on the field. CEO Bill Sweeney will face a vote of no confidence on 27 March after more than 150 members triggered a special general meeting, calling for his removal.
Among the topics for consideration will be the loss of three professional clubs from the top tier and the Jersey Reds from the Championship, another revival of the eternal debate about promotion-relegation between the two divisions, and the public relations palaver surrounding the reduction of tackle height at community level. It would surprise no one if there is another review scheduled to resolve all the problems.
Borthwick’s remit now means he needs to win all of England’s remaining Six Nations games [three of them at home] to hit his target. It is a tall order but by no means impossible. The Cumbrian’s charges lost 27-22 to Ireland in Dublin after looking to be in control of the match at half-time, when England led 10-5.
England lost the next 34 minutes 22-0 before fighting back with two late tries to give the scoreline a sheen of respectability. In the process they acquired an away bonus point which may yet prove vital in the final reckoning.
The primary point of tactical interest in the build-up was how a suspect England defence would cope after a shaky November, and how a back-row filled with three natural number sevens would operate within it. One of the main ideas would be to pump the ball high into the Dublin air and have an outstanding corps of chasers and ‘repo-men’, featuring Freddie Steward, Tommy Freeman, new cap Cadan Murley and those three scavengers in the back-row, dominate the Irish receivers in the air, or on the ground after the catch. This part of the plan did not work out so well: of 15 contestable kicks launched, England only won four back.
In defence, England decided to call the full-on blitz far more selectively than in the autumn, while relying on their line integrity and the speed of their multiple sevens to cover the ground laterally when the play went wide. In the first half, for the most part the plan worked a treat.
The screenshot illustrates the type of situation England wanted to engineer on defence when Ireland shifted the ball into the far 15m channels: the backline focuses on keeping their cohesion on a drift sideways, and they have four good jackals or counter-ruckers around the ball when the move comes to stop: “1” Tom Curry is already engaged with Caelan Doris at the ruck, Murley “2” is reloading, while “3” Ben Earl and “4” Luke Cowan-Dickie are in close attendance. There are already good prospects for a successful turnover if Earl and Murley commit to the counter-ruck, but in the event the men in white chose to develop their line speed instead.
With pressure at the ruck allowing them ample time to regroup, the England line led by skipper Maro Itoje, is able to tee off on the Irish first receiver Finlay Bealham and create a try for scrum-half Alex Mitchell off the loose ball generated – well, almost.
It was a repeated storyline in the first period.
England’s policy was working. In the first instance Tom Curry is the first forward to arrive along with Cowan-Dickie, and Hugo Keenan cannot prevent him turning the ball over in contact; in the second Ben Curry and Earl are on-ball before any of the Irish cleanout players have time to react.
The problems began to manifest when England could not get back-rowers across in time to protect their passive defensive shape on the edges.
In the first example Tom Curry and Earl are blocked out on the ball behind and cannot recover in time to help Marcus Smith and Mitchell on the left edge of the field. With England holding off, that pair are sitting ducks for attackers with the passing skills of Sam Prendergast and Mack Hansen.
In the second clip, Mitchell is left exposed in a one-on-one with James Lowe, while having to move laterally to make a stop. It is a tough ask with a man of Lowe’s power through contact, and once again Tom Curry is unable to plug the leak in cover.
In the second period, Ireland adjusted their attack to pin down the defending back-rowers in midfield before shifting the focus towards those attractive one-on-ones outside.
The Curry Twindaloo is buried in the ruck and Earl is on the wrong side of the play, and that is Ireland’s trigger to give Bundee Aki a run at Smith and Mitchell down the left touchline.
When Earl and Ben Curry finally left the field, the men in green targeted their replacements quite ruthlessly.
The last remaining open-side [Tom] is on the other side of the play, Tom Willis is pushing up the middle of the ruck, and Chandler Cunningham-South is defending with far too big a gap inside him, with two Irish forwards and Lowe lurking just opposite. It is the kind of close-knit, combined backs-forwards ‘flood’ play Ireland used with such success against South Africa last July, but England seem oblivious to the danger.
When England went to a more orthodox back-row shape with Willis at eight and Cunningham-South at six, they found they could no longer protect their passive shape on the outside of the field.
Both the Smiths [Marcus and Fin] are scattered like chaff in threshing machine by Lowe and Dan Sheehan, and there is no England back-rower in sight to ‘mind’ them.
Probably with a sense of relief and slightly tongue-in-cheek, Borthwick observed wryly after the game:
“We are looking forward to being back at Twickenham next week in front of our supporters. You are starting to see a team who are learning how to really move the ball and develop our attack.
“Ireland are a world-class team and have been for a long time. They have been in the top four consistently. That experience told in the third quarter.”
The attack is not the problem, but achieving the right defensive structure and the best combination in the back-row within it remains the thorniest of issues. Shipping another four tries to reinforce the average from the autumn is ultimately, highly un-English.
England’s defensive strategy was brave, but it is surely an arrangement they cannot repeat against France next weekend. Not against that quicksilver back three. Not against that huge pack of maulers and brawlers.
Gatland will be able to furnish Borthwick with as much information as he needs. For both head coaches, it is a matter of good fortune the profile of off-field problems in England and Wales far surpasses those on the field of play. No need to find any answers, not when you can commission another review.
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