England facing alarming issues as World Cup looms
In the bowels of the Stade de France late on Saturday night, Eddie Jones revealed for the first time that England’s second successive defeat in the Natwest Six Nations had raised more serious issues than the concession of the title to Ireland.
Those issues would still have been as thorny today even if England had managed to show more composure and made more of the two attacking line-outs they were gifted by France in the final minute, following a late revival that included a try by Jonny May.
Jones would not go so far as to say that the defeats by Scotland and France, which ended hopes of winning a record third successive title, would force him to rip up his blueprint for the World Cup.
And yet it has thrown up an alarming number of questions at a time when England were expected instead to be fine-tuning their selection and strategies to cement their status as the serious rivals to New Zealand in Japan next year.
Jones highlighted England’s failings at the breakdown as central to his concerns, but in many ways his side’s inability to dominate such a critical facet of the game against Scotland and now France has shone a light on other structural areas.
The George Ford/owen Farrell pairing was once deemed a stopgap measure because of Manu Tuilagi’s injuries and then Luther Burrell’s loss of form, but during the remarkable winning streak of the past two years it grew into a partnership that looked capable of spearheading England’s attack in Japan. Yet, twice now, it has looked glaringly ineffective when the side were deprived of front-foot ball.
“Our attack has not fired as we would have liked for whatever reasons,” admitted England scrumhalf Danny Care.
“The big thing is our physicality and breakdown, and if you don’t get that it is very hard to cause teams problems. It is about ways of unlocking them and maybe, as No9s and 10s, we held on to the ball too much when we could have put it behind them.”
For Jones, England’s attacking bluntness has started with the speed of the ball they have been winning. “When you’re a No10 and you’re getting slow ball, it’s difficult because they’ve got more numbers on their feet, they’re coming at you and it’s a difficult situation at 10,” Jones said. “You don’t have much time and space.”
Yet with Jones also flagging up his side’s lack of power on Saturday, one wonders if the tour to South Africa in June will give him the chance to look properly at starting Farrell at fly-half, with a fitagain Tuilagi and
Ben Te’o in a wrecking-ball midfield, or complemented with the speed and guile of Jonathan Joseph or Elliot Daly at 13.
The absence of the brilliant ball-carrying of Billy Vunipola, one of the star performers of the past two seasons, has also turned the spotlight on to the make-up of the back five, particularly the three-lock policy and lack of a genuine openside such as a Sam Underhill or Tom Curry. “International rugby is dramatically different now from where it was 12 months ago,” said James Haskell. “It’s a lot more of a power game, with more physicality around the breakdown.” Without the go-forward ball, it was impossible, too, to make proper judgments of whether the decision to finally start an all-pace back three of Daly, May and Anthony Watson has real legs. Jamie George also failed to deliver the type of performance to put real pressure on injured captain Dylan Hartley. Yet whether it is Hartley or Farrell captaining the side, the last two defeats have also flagged up a sense that England cannot adapt quickly enough to the unfolding challenges.
Jones, for now, appears to be putting his faith in the notion that addressing the breakdown woes will go a long way to fixing the other parts of England’s game that have come unstuck.
On Saturday, England conceded at least six penalties for holding on from a total of 16 and that ended any hopes of Farrell and Daly making France chase the game by kicking a lead and, then, handed Les Bleus all the match-winning momentum in the second half.
Maxime Machenaud kicked four penalties and Lionel Beauxis one, while Watson’s high tackle on Benjamin Fall, one of three penalties conceded by England in the same move, led to the decisive penalty try.
One interpretation is that the law changes brought in last season have led Premiership teams to contest the breakdown less vigorously because of the defending side’s fear of conceding penalties.
“We’re coming from the Premiership, where no one competes at the breakdown, into the Six Nations where every team is throwing lots of people into it,” said Haskell.
“We haven’t been quick enough to adjust to that. It’s a very hard place to adapt to.”
The problem for England is that champions Ireland will do all in their power to underscore English failings in their pursuit of the Grand Slam at Twickenham on Saturday.
And yet such a white-hot challenge also offers England, in many ways, the best platform to begin the search for some solutions.