OUTTHOUGHT OUTFOUGHT OUTCLASSED
England’s frailties are brutally exposed in Edinburgh mauling
IT ENDED in fitting fashion, with scotland claiming yet another breakdown penalty to halt a long-range English raid, before the visitors’ last pass of a dismal day flew off-target and into touch.
Within an hour, the home players were drinking beer from the Calcutta Cup and their post-match party was well deserved.
This was no ambush victory in a monsoon. It was not a gutsy, goal-kicking upset, in keeping with tradition. Gregor Townsend’s men emphatically outclassed the world’s No 2-ranked nation. England were out-thought, out-fought and beaten fair and square.
As he tried to come to terms with just the second defeat since he took charge of the national team, Eddie Jones delivered gracious tributes to the victors and a don’t-panic message of defiance in relation to his own side.
‘You can start to find shadows in the corners here but I’m not going to say everything is wrong because everything is not wrong,’ said the Australian.
That is undoubtedly fair comment but there have been nagging concerns for some time about England’s stalling progress in terms of the conviction of their performances — and this was the day those doubts were exposed. A fortnight after they failed to score a point in the last hour of their backs-to-thewall win over Wales, this was the day the wheels fell off.
scotland were superior in almost every facet of the game.
In principle, Townsend’s men can go on to challenge for the NatWest 6 Nations title, if they can cure their travel sickness to upset Ireland in Dublin.
A tartan triumph in the Irish capital would in turn revive England’s own title hopes, but Jones will know he has a multitude of issues to address…
INTENSITY
‘WE lacked intensity and we have to find out why,’ said Jones. England’s players are subjected to a relentlessly brutal, uncomfortable training programme and in- camp regime where they are under forensic, nonstop scrutiny. This defeat will lead to concerns that the workload has become excessive, leaving the squad short of energy and spark at the right time, but Chris Robshaw sought to refute that theory.
‘Eddie is big on recovery and that allows us to train like that and feel fresh after,’ he said. ‘I don’t believe it is taking too much out of us.’
England have publicly downplayed the significance of particular fixtures and rivalries, with a ‘just another game’ mantra which could in theory allow opponents to gain an emotional edge over them, but Robshaw was adamant that the message behind the scenes is very different to the one revealed publicly.
BREAKDOWN
ThIs was an area of utter scottish supremacy. home captain John Barclay was lord and master of the ruck battle and was superbly aided and abetted by his fellow flanker hamish Watson. Jones insisted the breakdown requires effective effort from all players but his team’s tormentors-in-chief were the masters in the scotland back row.
England’s lack of ‘fetchers’ was exposed, once again. This was the platform for their ordeal and Mako Vunipola said: ‘We weren’t good enough. I thought Barclay and Watson were very good and we were too slow to react. scotland did a great job at the breakdown, not just in defence but in attack.’
DEFENCE
ENGlAND’s defence has been a primary asset but it unravelled. Jones spoke of trouble with spacing but there were surprising missed tackles, too. Finn Russell’s brilliant, bold distribution allowed scotland to circumvent the visitors’ narrow blitz just as the Welsh had done at Twickenham. The scots were the ones who stifled the opposition with line speed and the aggression to win most of the collisions. home centre huw Jones, whose second try will have infuriated England defence coach Paul Gustard — as Jones was able to blast between Mike Brown and Anthony Watson to score — was asked if he was surprised to find so much space and said: ‘Yeah. When you think of England, you think of their defence and that brick wall that is almost impenetrable at times. It’s always great to get a break like that but you don’t always expect it against England.’
DISCIPLINE
ThIs was a key factor. scotland conceded just seven penalties and England conceded 13 — too many. It wasn’t just the penalty count — or the fact that they lost sam Underhill to the sin bin when they were trying to mount a comeback — it was the nature of the English indiscipline which will concern Jones and Co.
They lost composure under pressure. Jones claimed in the build-up that a single-figure penalty-count is not necessarily the hallmark of a successful team, but regular transgressions are not so much of an issue if they stem from a drive to turn the heat on rivals, by playing on the edge. In this instance, English mis- demeanours were a reflection of how they were scrambling to withstand scottish pressure, at the breakdown in particular.
SET PIECE
TWo weeks ago, England trained with Georgia and engaged in a fullthrottle scrum session with their renowned forwards. Jones hoped it would aid his side’s quest to gain the upper hand at Murrayfield but it didn’t pan out that way. ‘We thought we could get an advantage in the maul and scrum but we didn’t get that,’ said the head coach.
France had exerted so much strain on the scottish scrum that Townsend’s tighthead prop, simon Berghan, dropped to his knees as he struggled against the onslaught. on saturday, he held firm. England were unable to gain an edge there. Parity was enough for scotland.
SKILLS
ThERE was a vast gulf between the teams in this regard and it was encapsulated by Russell — with his master-pass which sent huw Jones clear to set up scotland’s second try. The home No 10 released the ball on a precise, perfect arc over Jonathan Joseph and into a narrow space right in front of his outside centre, on the burst. It was an act of stunning artistry. In contrast, England passed poorly as they toiled for even a shred of attacking cohesion.
SELECTION
FoR All his insistence that the breakdown is a collective responsibility, Jones and his assistants are bound to examine the balance of their back row. Robshaw was the stand-out England player on saturday and must be retained, but he should revert to blindside to clear the way for sam Underhill to return to the No 7 shirt. The three-locks policy is not working and Maro Itoje and Courtney lawes should vie for the right to partner Joe launchbury in the second row.