Why England can count on Malins to cut out costly errors
Bristol full-back has skills to make a difference as he steps in after Daly’s fumbles sapped momentum against Wales
The past three iterations of “Le Crunch” have featured a total of 257 kicks from hand in open play. Even accounting for the fact that the Autumn Nations Cup final last December went to extra time, that is a very large number.
Kicking is a central pillar of both teams’ approach, with Fabien Galthie following the lead of Eddie Jones in that regard. France’s patience, and the excellence of fullback Brice Dulin, frustrated England during their most recent meeting.
Expect Max Malins to receive a thorough evaluation of his aerial prowess and positioning on his maiden Test start, then. Antoine Dupont is a blockbuster scrum-half; but he box-kicks a lot. Although he takes on would-be tacklers when mismatches arise, France fly-half Matthieu Jalibert will plug corners as well. Waiting on the bench, Romain Ntamack possesses an armoury of midfield chips and dinks.
Wales demonstrated how to trouble England in the kicking exchanges. They targeted Elliot Daly intelligently, flooding both wings and full-back Liam Williams down the same flank. That drew England’s wide defenders flatter and isolated Daly in the back field. The tactic paid off for Williams’s controversial try, with Josh Adams’s grubber sliding into a pocket of space for Louis Rees-zammit to chase. Although the finish should have been chalked off for a knockon, the approach exposed England’s vulnerability.
Later on, Daly spilt a high ball and Mako Vunipola coughed up a penalty for playing the ricochet from an offside position. In the final quarter, Dan Robson crystallised England’s lack of confidence in their back three.
The replacement stepped across to obstruct Rees-zammit after Wales scrum-half Kieran Hardy had gone to the air.
Whether or not Malins stands up to the inevitable examination, he should at least enhance the attacking efforts of Jones’s team. Put frankly, Daly’s handling errors proved costly in Cardiff. Around the half-hour mark, for instance, England borrowed the same wraparound strike-play that led to Stuart Hogg’s first try for Scotland against Wales. It went smoothly.
Ben Youngs found Owen Farrell, who fed George Ford behind Henry Slade’s decoy run. Liam Williams was coaxed up to cover Rees-zammit’s right shoulder. There was an opportunity to thread the ball through for Jonny May, but Daly fumbled. A half-chance slipped away.
In the second period, following a couple of promising phases, another England attack was derailed by a Daly drop after Ford attempted to send his full-back between George North and Rees-zammit. It was a mark of how effective England were with the ball in hand that they managed to haul Wales back to 24-24 despite these momentumsapping setbacks.
Malins joined Bristol Bears on loan from Saracens last summer to maintain his push for Test honours, which had been stalled by injuries. Predictably, he has thrived under Pat Lam. His try-scoring performance in this season’s Champions Cup loss to Clermont, six days after spurring England from the bench in the Autumn Nations Cup decider, was breathtaking. The following week, a gorgeous take-and-give released Piers O’conor for a long-rage breakaway in Connacht. You can tell Alex Goode, another former flyhalf and perhaps the most consistent and classy playmaker in England over the past decade, has been a mentor.
There has been scant opportunity for Malins to impose himself over six brief bench cameos for England since last November. That said, he has looked assertive and undoubtedly possesses the skills to link with Anthony Watson and Jonny May.
A recurring problem for England has been the ability to exploit the space manufactured by bullying forwards. In Cardiff, their most impressive passages yielded three-pointers rather than sets of five or seven.
Before heading to Ashton Gate, while Goode was recovering from injury, Malins continued to develop a burgeoning on-field relationship with Farrell as a second playmaker for Saracens. More evidence of that cohesion should translate to an intrepid England performance.
One lingering concern would be that England’s back line lacks balance. In Ford, Farrell, Slade and Malins, there are four distributors. An underrated aspect of their attacking performance against Wales was the unselfish carrying of Farrell, who beat four defenders – second only to Billy Vunipola.
Ollie Lawrence is on the bench this weekend to offer a midfield change-up and Luke Cowan-dickie’s bustle at hooker, in harness with Kyle Sinckler and the Vunipola brothers, should generate quick ball. Malins is the man to help
England capitalise.