Slade is back to his best, which causes a problem
Trying to critique a game like England versus Tonga is an almost impossible task. When all is said, you cannot deny that a win in which England scored 69 points and 11 tries is probably all you can ask if you are talking about an international fixture that has any merit. Before Tonga had been dispatched with ease, I doubt whether you would have dared suggest the tier-two team did not deserve to take the field at all.
What can you really learn from a romp like the one we witnessed on Saturday? The first is that none of the England players failed and that is something, if it is the most basic test of all. The second point is that when England were given try-scoring chances, they were good enough to take them. England’s
set-piece functioned well without being the dominant force it might have been. The occasional extra effort produced penalties when needed and they played on the front foot for most of the game. It was not that Tonga did not present a physical challenge; it was that it was pretty much all they did. In days past, when not every player was under a strength and conditioning programme, the Tongan physique was an advantage – it is no more.
This was a game that flowed well at times and not at others. It is not realistic to think that England should have been seamless the first time out. Had they been you would have to then say that the standard of opposition needed changing.
It also did not help that at times the officiating team had much to say about what was going on. I am all for them getting things right, but there are times when materiality is a consideration, especially when nobody is in real physical danger. Every time they have one of their little conferences, they have to understand that the rest of us are sitting, or standing, around doing nothing.
There were good performances from many England regulars – Ellis Genge, Jamie George and Sam Underhill all made significant ground for the team, and Jonny May looked sharp. Henry Slade’s man-of-thematch performance saw him in his best form for some time, but with this came a problem for Eddie Jones and also for fans of Marcus Smith. We know that Manu Tuilagi is always going to play in a Jones team if fit, and so is Owen Farrell, because he is his captain. There are only three slots at 10, 12 and 13 and if Slade continues in this sort of form, it makes it more difficult for Jones to start Smith at outside-half. I fear that Smith from the bench is likely to be the norm after this game, but we really need to see what England look like with him starting at some point in the near future. If Jones does not use this set of games to shuffle his deck, you wonder if he ever will.
Smith played a decent cameo on Saturday, but you can tell from the reaction to everything he did that the majority of England fans want him to be given a proper opportunity – if not now, when?
What comes next for England will be a quantum leap from Tonga, but Jones’s side must replicate the sophistication with which they took the ball into contact at Twickenham. They denied Tonga the chance to line up runners and hit them square on with one or more tacklers. That will be doubly important against Australia on Saturday and South Africa the weekend after.
So that we do not ignore the mismatches that are taking place between the tier-one and tier-two nations, I am now in favour of the autumn internationals moving into a more structured annual tournament.
If the teams involved in their own fixtures over this period were drawn into two pools, with the sides topping both tables meeting in a final, you would have a structure that would guarantee the participation of the tier-two teams and create a marketable property. If you want to give the tier-two sides more exposure still, then create a plate final, open to the two highest-placed tier-two outfits.
One cannot stress too strongly how much more difficult England will find their next two games. They will have to be very sharp when they face Australia and very physical when they play the Springboks in their final game.
More of the same is not a very emphatic message for Jones to impart to his charges and he needs to find something fresh with which to motivate his team. How about signalling a change in thinking by starting with Raffi Quirke and Smith and fashioning their game around these up-andcoming players?