Weather was atrocious, I made a bad call. I didn’t want to forget
CLIVE WOODWARD relives a horror Scotland trip and tells England how to avoid similar Murrayfield misery
FOR many, many years I had the same image as my laptop screensaver. The picture was of Andy Nicol and his fellow Scotland players celebrating beating my then England side to win the Calcutta Cup in 2000. That defeat in the Murrayfield rain was the worst moment of my coaching career.
Why did I subject myself to seeing it every day? It reminded me to never get too carried away. The image of Nicol and his joyous team-mates brought back so many painful memories from that weekend. It reminded me you have to take the rough with the smooth.
After pre-match gamesmanship, my England team were certainly on the wrong end of things that day as we fell short of what would have been a Grand Slam in the first Six Nations. I think about it constantly. But in a good way.
In 2000, Italy had just joined what was the Five Nations and beat Scotland on the opening weekend. England won their first four games and were on course for a clean sweep. Up until that moment it was one of my favourite campaigns. We played simply incredible rugby.
But I made one very bad selection call for that Scotland game, and the conditions were atrocious. Martin Johnson was available for selection, but I stuck with Garath Archer and Simon Shaw who were playing so well at lock. It was not their fault we lost but in the conditions and a frenzied Murrayfield, Johnson could have proved the difference. We will never know!
Scotland played far better than us despite losing their first four Championship games and won 19-13. In truth, they should have won by more. It was a sobering afternoon. Nicol is one of my favourite players and a fantastic bloke, but I’ll never forgive him for that! After the game, Scotland coach Ian McGeechan said we should both be happy as England had won the Championship title and Scotland had claimed the Calcutta Cup. I looked at him and just laughed. Even I could see the funny side of his comment.
Be happy? For us it was always Grand Slam or nothing. I was devastated at such an awful loss and performance!
That defeat will always stay with me, but I’m fortunate to have other great memories of facing Scotland. That’s the thing about international rugby — it’s all about winning. Win and you’re happy. Lose and it’s the end of the world.
That fine line between success and failure will again be seen today, when England’s class of 2024 face Scotland in Edinburgh.
It will be very, very difficult for England, but I am more confident over their chances now Steve Borthwick has named his team. The decision to drop Freddie Steward and start George Furbank at full back is the first huge call he has made since taking charge.
Well done, Steve. It’s the first time he has caught everyone off guard with a selection. As an international coach you have to have the courage of your convictions. Selection is an art. It’s the most important part of the role at Test level. You live or die by your selection.
Whatever happens in Edinburgh, Borthwick has made the right call. Steward is a fantastic defensive full back. But to beat the top sides and be world No 1 — which must be England’s aim — you have to have a genuine attacking threat and pace to burn in the back field. All the best teams in rugby history have had genuine speed on the wings and at full back.
Borthwick’s decision on Furbank is a surprise. But he is a different player to Steward in that he poses the opposition defence a genuine threat as a line-breaking option.
Steward, for all his qualities under the high ball, doesn’t do that. Last year, I said Steward’s best position for England in the long term could be inside centre. I retain that view. Furbank has also been in sensational form, for Northampton. He will go into the Scotland game a very different player from the one who struggled on debut, against France in 2020.
Furbank is joined by the returning Ollie Lawrence at centre. These are two positive changes. On the back of two wins it would be easy to stick with the same XV, but it is amazing what a new face can bring to a team’s performance. Ellis Genge is back to start at loosehead prop, too. England’s side has pace and power. I like it a lot.
Fraser Dingwall is unlucky to drop out but Lawrence’s form for Bath means he had to play once he recovered from injury. The key for England is to use Lawrence to the best of his ability. Lawrence can be a bash-and-crash centre but that won’t be enough for England. All the best teams can deal with a purely physical threat these days. Lawrence is far, far more than that. He is a brilliant runner in the wide channels. He’s quick.
England need to play in a way that allows him to use his strengths.
When he started his career, Ma’a Nonu was all about physicality. But the great All Black evolved his game to be the only one who came close to Will Greenwood and Mike Tindall as arguably the best all-round centre in international rugby. He had everything.
I wish Manu Tuilagi had done the same in terms of learning new skills. Tuilagi has always been a great carrier. But you need more. Lawrence can do it all so I want to see England play a game that’s not just about looking for contact. Let’s get Lawrence and Furbank in space and see attacking rugby.
Scotland like to attack, too. If England get their new blitz defence wrong, Finn Russell will pick them off in attack. England’s defence need to come up with speed and as a line.
In the wins over Italy and Wales, we’ve seen occasions where England’s defensive line has been disjointed and they’ve been caught out. If that happens today, they’ll pay the price. But if they can marry a strong defence with unleashing Lawrence, victory is achievable.
That would take England to three wins from three and set up a huge clash with Ireland. England are more than capable of victory.
My screensaver is now a picture of my two granddaughters. My hope is that unlike me, Borthwick won’t need to have a motivating image from today’s game on his laptop for as long as I did!