It’s just not good enough. This is not a team of novices
Fans have grown tired of hearing about England building, learning lessons and going on a journey
THE REVIEW and repair operation will be thorough, no doubt, but after this calamity at Murrayfield, it is hard to see how England can find quick fixes before Ireland come to Twickenham with another Slam in their sights.
Realistically, this latest defeat against Scotland has ended their Six Nations title hopes. Realistically, they are stumbling towards a potential campaign return of two wins from five games. Again.
That is perhaps an unfairly early assumption, but the Irish will believe that England are there for the taking on March 9, even if they keep 15 men on the field this time — and France will be marginal favourites in Lyon a week later, despite their own unconvincing form in this tournament.
One phrase leapt out as England tried to make initial sense of what happened in Edinburgh — having deservedly led 10-0 before unravelling. ‘ Growing pains’. Their performance exposed a tortuous bid for expansion away from the relative comfort of the kick-and- stifle game which took them to within a few minutes of reaching the World Cup final. They appear torn between two — or more — ways of playing. English minds became utterly scrambled when the loose off-loading began.
Steve Borthwick is caught in a stick-or-twist dilemma in terms of selection and strategy. There is a need for stability to create cohesion, but also a need to make urgent changes when best-laid plans backfire, as was the case at Murrayfield on Saturday.
This was not a team of novices. Up front, captain Jamie George, Dan Cole, Ellis Genge, Maro Itoje and Sam Underhill have all been around the Six Nations block several times over many years. Behind them, the same can be said for Danny Care and George Ford, Henry Slade and Elliot Daly. Combinations need to be honed, but there was plenty of nous in the ranks — enough to problem-solve on the hoof, which didn’t happen.
Instead, the wheels came off to such an extent that Borthwick will have to consider major selection surgery, amid an unavoidable Catch-22 situation. He could start with Ben Spencer at scrum-half — but where does that leave the stability and cohesion quest? He could thrust Fin Smith into the No 10 shirt for a first start, but is a game against Ireland the right time for that? Probably not.
Freddie Steward may return at full back in place of George Furbank — who blew so hot and cold — but that wouldn’t fit with the back-line balance argument which was cited as the reason to replace Steward last weekend. Either Ollie Lawrence or Manu Tuilagi are bound to be deployed at inside centre, so the balancing act remains more or less the same.
It was shocking to see players who came into the England camp in supreme form, full of confidence, make such glaring errors. They seemed to lose all belief in their ability to execute and perhaps in the plan, too. It became chaotic and messy.
Long before the end, there was writing all over the walls. England resorted to crossing fingers and throwing on their bench rookies. At least Immanuel Feyi-Waboso looks to have the goods. The Exeter wing scored a stunning try and was a threat every time he touched the ball. Naturally, that leads to an argument that he should start, but that might further disrupt the cohesion mission.
On the one hand, England are in a state of flux in so many areas due to problems inherited by this regime. But, even allowing for the wider context of the years of drift and decay between 2020-2023, the national team should still be better. If they had a week to get ready, they should still be better. Fans are weary of the talk about building and journeys and lessons. They have every right to expect some basic fluency from a national team who have spent weeks in a highperformance environment.
At times, the suspicion is that there is simply too much detail. Felix Jones, England’s new defence guru, had supposedly prepared by watching 1,000 Scottish lineouts, but that didn’t spare his blitz’s blushes. Players can appear mentally cluttered. A fascinating experiment would be to allow no meetings and no damn game plan. Let the players play it as they see it and feel it. It would be intriguing to see what they did.
To counter the development takes-an-age argument, Ireland have integrated a new fly-half who is not part of their dominant Leinster contingent — Jack Crowley of Munster — and he has barely missed a beat. Wales have lost three games but some of their untried newcomers are already slotting in well. It really doesn’t have to take years.
England’s early try was a firstphase beauty, but that made what followed even more astounding. From such a compelling start, the visitors unravelled and ended up running around in ever-decreasing circles of error-strewn disarray.
For Scotland, Duhan van der Merwe was rampant in scoring three tries, Rory Darge was prominent at the breakdown as the home pack took charge and a laidback Finn Russell laughed his way to another Calcutta Cup success.
Gregor Townsend’s side were organised, well-coached, confident and instinctive. After the deception which led to Van der Merwe’s first try — with Sione Tuipulotu at first receiver to release Huw Jones as the lurking Russell diverted attention — his second and third came from slick opportunism.
Van der Merwe pounced after Ford’s high pass bounced back off Furbank — going round Ben Earl and Slade to charge over in the left corner. Then Cameron Redpath left Lawrence and Underhill flailing in his wake and Scotland seized another broken- field chance, with Russell’s cross-kick teeing up the hat-trick strike.
The scoreline didn’t do superior Scotland justice. They will have savoured this record- equalling fourth successive win over their ‘auld enemy’ but lamented again the disallowed late try which denied them victory over France a fortnight earlier. With that, they would be off to Rome next week with their eyes on a Slam shot.
Instead, they should win in round four and could head to Dublin on Super Saturday with a possibility of a first title since the Five became Six. England could be in that mix too, but that will take a staggering turn of events in the next 12 days.