Rugby ‘a mix of NFL and soccer’
Eddie Jones believes test rugby has evolved into a hybrid of American football and soccer over the past 12 months, a trend he believes will place a great onus on pace, power and tactical kicking at the Rugby World Cup.
Such a shift, comprising longer passages of ‘‘unstructured’’ play, has contributed to selection reassessments in certain positions over the latter part of this four-year cycle. Prioritising the speed of Elliot Daly and Anthony Watson at fullback over the experience of Mike Brown has been one result of the England head coach’s logic.
‘‘Brown is a great fullback.’’ Jones said. ‘‘He is a great defensive fullback, but we feel, the way we want to play, we need a fullback who can attack and with pace. Fortunately for us, Daly and Watson are our best options.
‘‘The game keeps on changing. I see this game now where it is basically a mixture of NFL and soccer. You have got the first three phases that are basically all power and precision. Then you have the kick-return game which then becomes football.
‘‘That sort of analogy for us became clear in the last 12 months and that’s why we’ve gone to having a more X-factor type fullback who can be more commanding in that more unstructured rugby.’’
One of those X-factor fullbacks, Daly, estimated that the international game was now at a split of ‘‘65 per cent unstructured to 35 per cent structured’’. While there are generally fewer opportunities to launch firstphase moves, a set-piece platform remains so valuable that choreographed shapes are drilled meticulously.
Jones also highlighted the influence of centre Henry Slade – ‘‘a 13 who can kick, run and pass’’ – as England aim to manipulate back-field defences and find space by putting boot to ball. Grubbers, dinks and chips were prominent weapons as they amassed 24 tries during this year’s Six Nations.
The composition of England’s back row is another interesting consideration. The candidates are undoubtedly working hard. Jones revealed that Billy Vunipola had ‘‘run 300 metres further than he ever has in a game’’ during the 33-19 win over Wales at Twickenham last Monday.
Confirming that Tom Curry and Courtney Lawes would be seen as potential blindside flankers in Japan, but Maro Itoje would remain at lock, Jones suggested the back row would be altered according to England’s opponents. Teaming up Curry and Sam Underhill, for example, might be problematic against a team with more than two specialist lineout jumpers.
‘‘We played against Wales the last four years and we averaged five lineouts a game, so the lineout it is not a significant factor against them. But when we played New Zealand in November they schooled us in the second half in the lineout. They had [Scott] Barrett, [Kieran] Read, [Sam] Whitelock, [Brodie] Retallick and we couldn’t win the ball. They had four jumpers and I think we lost five lineouts and it probably cost us the game. Against New Zealand we have to have a jumping back rower. They are a huge kicking team.’’
Speaking of the All Blacks, Jones is convinced that Steve Hansen’s world champions have room to improve following an indifferent Rugby Championship that produced a sole win from three matches. Combining Richie Mo’unga and Beauden Barrett in the same backline, for instance, may bring benefits down the line
‘‘Look at [their results] before they won the [2011 and 2015] World Cups,’’ Jones said. ‘‘Before, they would go absolutely balls out in the Tri-Nations.
‘‘Now they have learnt this period is about crafting a game and crafting your players to have the discipline to play a number of ways.
‘‘When you get to a World Cup, you can’t just play one way. With the analysis that goes into a World Cup, if you are really good at playing one way you will get it taken away from you. So, you have got to be able to adapt and these games are about adapting.’’
There is still time for England to add variety.
In naming his 31-man squad around a month before World Rugby’s deadline of September 8, Jones has aimed to ‘‘minimise the noise’’, adding that external distractions may have been possible because ‘‘the media is more powerful [in England] than anywhere else in the world’’.
Having said that, first fiveeighth George Ford hinted that humid weather conditions expected in Japan, and simulated during England’s training camp in Italy, could actually enhance the value of a strong kick-chase.
‘‘The thing we noticed most in Treviso was how the humidity affected the sweatiness and the greasiness of the ball,’’ Ford said. ‘‘It was like playing in wet weather sometimes, and sometimes in wet weather you are better off without the ball.
‘‘You’ve got to quickly understand when it is going to be like that and how difficult it is potentially going to be to keep the ball yourself. Again, that might bring the kicking game into play more and having a really, really strong defence.’’
On the verge of his third World Cup to follow personally disappointing editions in 2011 and 2015, halfback Ben Youngs pinpointed the rise of ‘‘unforgiving’’ and aggressive defences as a chief development of the past eight years.
‘‘Every side is tactically sound and defences are so good that you need moments in games where an individual does something special. You need people like Jonny [May] and Ant Watson to create that spark and make something out of nothing.’’
For Youngs, clarity is essential. And if that means falling back on an uncomplicated game plan, so be it. ‘‘It’s easy to think ‘We need to improve in this area or that area’. Actually, some bits of our game are really good and we want to continue to grow that. Our set-piece is fantastic – our scrum, our maul dominance, our kick-chase, how we squeeze teams defensively. And we can get even better at that. We want to be worldleading in those areas.
‘‘We can play with the ball, there’s no doubt about that, but I think we are very good at getting it in the right areas before we do that.’’