TURN DOWN THE NOISE
After all the chat, bickering and sniping England need a victory over Scotland to...
ENGLAND’S task today is to turn down the volume — in the Murrayfield stands and far beyond. There is suddenly a lot of noise around the national team and they need to banish the ringing in their ears.
Today’s instalment of the Calcutta Cup rivalry with Scotland could be entitled War and Peace. The visitors have talked about war, but they will be craving peace soon enough.
Just two games on from the World Cup final, England are being forced to evade heavy sniper fire. The acclaim of the autumn has given way to a winter of discontent.
Eddie Jones and his squad are being assailed by criticism, ranging from the entirely justified to the wildly excessive. The head coach has been forced to defend himself against accusations that he has lost the plot as a selector and gone overboard with the mind games. A week ago, he made several strong declarations of English intent to inflict brutality on France, only for his own side to be brutalised by a young, fired-up home team in their Six Nations opener in Paris.
In the aftermath, Lewis Ludlam lit the fuse for another volatile occasion by talking about ‘war’ and mutual ‘hate’ when England and Scotland lock horns.
The Northampton flanker has been castigated for employing terminology which has been synonymous with these cross-border contests since long before any of today’s protagonists were born.
It is unfair to expect a 24-yearold to avoid rhetoric which is a staple of grudge matches such as this one.
Interestingly, Scotland centre Sam Johnson delivered his own antagonistic message north of the border and appeared to avoid any criticism at all.
There are no weapons involved, but a sporting battle is certainly in store. That is not a reckless way to describe this afternoon’s encounter. It will be extremely physical and aggressive. At times it will be brutal — bordering on violent. That is rugby in its current guise and there may be an appetite to change that, but denial is pointless. Acknowledging the ferocity involved is not akin to inciting an on-field riot.
The trouble with bold, jarring soundbites is when they are not backed up by appropriate action, as was the case for England in Paris. This afternoon, they will strive to walk the walk after talking the talk. But let’s not outlaw such talk. Let’s be honest about what this is. The Six Nations is founded on tribal hostility and engrained cross-border tensions.
That is an inescapable truth, even in this polished age of brand image and rampant commercialism, when satisfying sponsors and broadcasters is often the primary objective.
All of the so-called ‘stakeholders’ involved in this tournament appreciate the timeless appeal of the product and it relies upon a regular stirring of the us-againstthem pot. Former Scotland captain John Barclay spoke candidly in these pages earlier in the week about the need to embrace fierce neighbourly rivalry and the antipathy that goes with it.
Barclay led the Scots to a 25-13 victory over the Auld Enemy in Edinburgh two years ago, after a pre-match tussle in the tunnel between Ryan Wilson and Owen Farrell. He was not the only one to regard that episode as a storm in a teacup.
There is another storm coming this weekend — both meteorologically and metaphorically. While
Ciara is expected to unleash 80mph winds tonight and tomorrow morning, Jones and his men are already stuck in a tempestuous predicament.
Another defeat would increase the noise raging around them.
Following the loss to France, ex-England scrum-half Kyran Bracken claimed that Jones should have been removed from his post after the World Cup, to make way for a home-grown successor.
Really? Even putting aside the absence of English contenders
with a suitable c. v, that is premature in the extreme.
The regime- change call came two games after an England demolition of New Zealand, which was heralded as the greatest result in the country’s rugby history. Remember that? It wasn’t so long ago and it took England into a World Cup final.
That does not entitle them to immunity from criticism, of course, but the condemnation stampede has been startling.
However, some of the reservations expressed have been more justified. Jones’s decision to switch Tom Curry to No 8 seems ill-advised, especially given the presence of fine domestic contenders to fill the void created by Billy Vunipola’s injury.
But it is only reasonable to take stock once the Sale flanker has had a few goes at operating out of position. The same applies to George Furbank at full-back. One poor performance is not an accurate gauge.
There are areas of nagging concern. The lack of evolution at scrum-half is one of them and the lack of capacity to adapt on the hoof is another recurring flaw.
Captain Farrell and the visitors’ other leading men must finally demonstrate that they can solve problems while the game is going on, rather than with the benefit of hindsight and super slow-motion replays.
England need to win today for all manner of reasons. They need to get the Calcutta Cup back, after losing it at Murrayfield in 2018 and carelessly letting it slip from their grasp last year at Twickenham, when a 31-0 lead was surrendered and a chaotic epic finished in a 38-38 draw.
They also need to win to maintain hope of a first Six Nations title since 2017.
Most of all, Jones’s side need to win to banish the noise. They know it, too. There has been a mood of edge and angst around the camp all week.
Scotland have Hamish Watson, Huw Jones and other symbols of their 2018 triumph on duty again. But — and it’s a big but — there is no Finn Russell to cast spells on the men in white and this English line-up possesses a mobile back row with technique and tenacity to deny the Scots total control of the breakdown.
There will be a plan to target and unsettle No 10 Adam Hastings, and a conviction that the set-piece can be a launchpad to victory.
It is impossible to imagine an England team sent out by Jones playing so badly two weeks running.
This is a dangerous occasion, make no mistake, but they have it in them to come through it and turn the volume down.