How Georgia can disrupt favourites

Three tactics underdogs can use to unsettle England

Win the waiting game

Part of the reason England kept putting boot to ball in Rome two weeks ago was that Italy were content to return kicks. They kicked 31 times themselves, and with good reason – England are at their most effective when opponents dally in possession around the halfway line and further back.

Think of the spell against Ireland in

February when Sam Underhill, Tom Curry and Maro Itoje were storming off the line, swarming the visitors and smashing carriers backwards. Think of the final stages of the 2019 World Cup semi-final when New Zealand were suffocated by a series of two-man tackles.

Kicking, long and often, takes those opportunities away from England. Although Jonathan

Joseph has been shifted to the wing from midfield, he is excellent in the air. More prudent than hoisting high balls would be for Georgia’s half-backs, Gela Aprasidze and Tedo Abzhandadze, to test patience and willingness to run the ball back.

Muscle up

Ruffling a rival’s totem to instil doubt in their team-mates is a tale as old as time. Remember how Tonga openside flanker Zane Kapeli levelled Billy

Vunipola from a line-out in Sapporo? That set a stuttering tone for England.

Georgia can learn from how South African scrum-half Faf de Klerk shoots up from a sweeping position to pressurise playmakers – something which ruffled Owen Farrell in the World Cup final.

Without the line-out work of Itoje and the explosive carrying of Manu Tuilagi,

England could have been embarrassed.

Nigel Owens, the referee today, tends to give the benefit of the doubt to jackallers. As well as being aggressive elsewhere on the field, committing bodies to defensive breakdowns could help Georgia frustrate their hosts.

Throw a spanner Italy’s no-ruck defending in 2017 was a fantastic example of an underdog implementing an innovative strategy that flummoxed the favourites. Defence coach Brendan Venter deserved all the credit that came his way, even if the law book was swiftly amended.

Another defensive tactic that could upset England might be the one-man rushing that South Africa scrum-half

Faf de Klerk has perfected (see diagram left). In the absence of George Ford, Owen Farrell is likely to direct most of England’s phase play. So there is an obvious target.

If there is an Achilles heel in the starting pack selected by Eddie Jones, it is a lack of speed. Quick changes of direction in phase play can confound heavier opponents.