Jones needs top marks in biggest test since World Cup final
Cardiff clash a true measure of side’s progress towards 2023 Coach needs big displays from Farrell, Daly and Vunipola
It might seem an exaggeration to frame England’s visit to Cardiff today as their most important match since the World Cup final, and yet it is hard to think of a more defining contest for Eddie Jones’s side since Yokohama 15 months ago.
The announcement yesterday of the match schedule for the 2023 World Cup only served to underscore the point. We are not only entering the make-or-break weekend of the Guinness Six Nations Championship, but also effectively approaching the midpoint of England’s four-year World Cup cycle.
On both counts, we have more questions than answers about this England side. Which is why the implication of England’s performance and result against a resurgent Wales is likely to reverberate well beyond their title hopes.
The victory over Italy two weeks ago may have represented something of a step forward from the disaster of the Scotland defeat, but the Principality Stadium will provide a truer context for judging England on their own target set at the start of last year: to become the best team of all time.
To that end, Jones, the England head coach, has kept faith with virtually the same side who lined up against South Africa in November 2019. There are 12 in the starting line-up today; the other three, Manu Tuilagi, Sam Underhill and Courtney Lawes, are missing only because of injury.
That was the line-up that famously blitzed the All Blacks in the semi-finals, and yet since then England have failed to come anywhere near to those heights.
Jones has so far steadfastly resisted the introduction of new personnel to the framework of his side, even though some of his experienced players – Owen Farrell, Billy Vunipola and Elliot Daly – have looked far from their best.
Jones will no doubt point to the training data and the credit all three have in the bank, but the ultimate barometer is in the white heat of a Test match. When you consider that Vunipola made just one metre from 10 carries in the games against Scotland and Italy, you realise just how far off the pace the 28-year-old – so often the talisman in supplying England with go-forward ball – has been.
There can be no doubting the world-class attributes of Daly, who wins his 50th cap today. But his best rugby has come on the wing, as he showed for the Lions in 2017, and he has looked out of sorts both in attack and defence at full-back. Farrell’s form has also been nowhere near his
best, even after switching back to inside centre for the Italy game. He knows he must play a key role today in improving the accuracy of England’s execution. Against Italy, there was more width to their attack, but too often it was undone by poor passing, which forced the receiver to check stride.
Four years ago England snatched a dramatic victory in this fixture with a sumptuous counter-attack involving two brilliant passes at full speed, delivered by George Ford and then Farrell, for Daly to finish in the left corner.
That is the standard England need to rediscover against a Wales side emerging from the shadow of Warren Gatland’s departure with a combination of brilliant new talent such as Louis Rees-zammit and Kieran Hardy, the gnarled knowhow of Alun Wyn Jones and Taulupe Faletau, and the nous provided by the return of Jonathan Davies to partner new centurion George North in a thrusting midfield.
Victory for Wales would seal the Triple Crown and set up the prospect of a Grand Slam decider against France on the final weekend.
An emphatic win for England, in contrast, would breathe life into their title hopes. On a personal level it will be an important afternoon for Ford, who can thrust himself into Lions contention with a commanding performance.
Wales have enjoyed some fortune to date, with the red cards to Ireland and Scotland enabling Wayne Pivac’s side some breathing space to find their form after a troubled 2020, and it will be England’s imperative to make their opponents play against 15 men for 80 minutes.
England’s poor discipline was central to their defeat by Scotland, and greater attention must be paid to tackle height and entry around the breakdown, in particular. England’s set-piece, so key to their ability to pressurise opponents, also has to become more dominant. Jones is a king of the maul, and England cannot afford to let him disrupt them.
Poor on-field communication has also contributed to a lack of fluency in England’s attacking game. Everyone has to find their voice, not just the senior players, and what an opportunity it will be for 19 year-old forward George Martin if he is sprung from the bench, despite making just three Premiership starts for Leicester.
Eddie Jones this week highlighted a recent shift in Wales’ tactical approach, returning to a gameplan more akin to that deployed by Gatland.
Yet of more import will be whether England can return to their best game under Jones.