Bath lock Dave Attwood looks at how England’s pack can improve
ENGLAND lock Dave Attwood says England must improve efficiency at set-piece and ruck if they are to usurp world champions New Zealand at the top of the rankings.
A statistical analysis of the recent autumn internationals shows that while England matched the All Blacks in areas such as possession, territory, linebreaks and average points per entry into the opposition 22, New Zealand held significant advantages in other key areas.
England averaged just two points from set-pieces inside the opposition’s 22, compared to New Zealand’s 4.7, while the Kiwis were shown to have committed far fewer players to rucks, guaranteeing cleaner, faster ball that makes them such deadly finishers.
Attwood, one of the game’s leading lineout and scrum specialists, believes England are making rapid strides in both areas and that it is only a question of time before a “phenomenal” Red Rose squad gains the necessary experience to overhaul Steve Hansen’s All Blacks. Bath man Attwood told
The Rugby Paper: “There’s a huge drive on developing and when we do overtake New Zealand and take the No.1 spot, it won’t be a case of looking at what everyone else is doing, it will be about what our strengths are and pushing on from there.
“Everyone in the squad believes we can get there and that is a necessary mindset as you go forward, but there are things to improve upon and a lot of it is down to minor detail.
“With set-pieces, if you’re going to execute off first-phase ball you need top quality set-piece delivery. Whether you’re scrumming or it’s lineouts, you need playable ball that impacts on the opposition’s defence, then it’s down to execution under pressure.
“That’s down to clarity of roles and a little bit of that comes with time together and relationships. What you saw in the autumn was a bit more of that as the series went on, which is something New Zealand have had for a long time and we’re starting to show now.
“England have got a phenomenal squad now with great strength-in-depth across the board and it’s important those relationships keep developing. Ultimately, knowing what your partners do will be what makes the difference in becoming the world’s No.1 team.”
Similarities apply at ruck time, where New Zealand commit just two men to half of all breakdowns compared with England’s 36 per cent – a critical difference that enables them to attack in greater numbers and, ultimately, score an average of two tries more per game.
Attwood said: “If you’re really efficient at the breakdown you can commit fewer numbers and secure high quality, quick ball – and that’s always a big attacking focus.
“It’s the execution that counts and in high tempo situations it’s about understanding the lines people are going to run, who’s going to offload, who won’t offload, and as that instinct is refined you get much better at picking the rucks you go into and those you don’t.
“First and foremost, you have to win the ball and retain possession, but committing fewer players to rucks is right up there as a priority and if you get it right an arriving player can actually just play the ball, which is something you see New Zealand doing a lot of.
“That’s the next step for a team like England, but we’re already seeing very good signs.”
Attwood was delighted by his autumn Test recall, albeit his involvement was curtailed by a knee injury which has now cleared
ahead of an important festive period for Bath.
“It’s been nice to be back in the mix,” Attwood said. “Eddie Jones let me know where I stood in the pecking order and was as good as his word when Maro Itoje and George Kruis were injured, so I was grateful for the opportunity to contribute to an excellent autumn.
“Hopefully I did enough to keep myself in Eddie’s thinking further down the line and it’s a good reflection on Bath that Charlie Ewels and I were both involved.”
Bath visit Wasps this Saturday, with Attwood adding: “They’re a huge attacking threat but we’ll almost be at full strength and, having beaten Saracens the other week, if we can sneak a win it will send us into the New Year with a lot of positives to talk about.”