Super-size Nathan can get to grips with Scots back row
PREVIEW... Scotland v England Saturday February 24. Kick-off 4.45pm, Murrayfield NICK CAIN says Nathan Hughes can frighten the Scots if he has enough fitness in the tank
“In training, Jones never lets players rest, let alone sit. He is constantly on the move”
IT’S a good thing Nathan Hughes has broad shoulders. He is going to need them given the load he could be asked to carry against Scotland. Hughes is the latest England No.8 to re-emerge from the casualty ward, but with Sam Simmonds replacing him on the sick list with a banged-up shoulder, the big Wasp is not exactly a like-for-like swap.
Hughes has been out of action for two months – unable to run for four weeks with his injured knee in a brace after surgery – and has had just 23 minutes of match-action since his return to Six Nations contention, coming off the bench in the Wasps victory over Harlequins last weekend.
Not surprisingly, Hughes was soon blowing hard against Quins. He is a genuine heavyweight at 6ft 4ins, and, according to the England programme from his last outing in the autumn win against Australia, weighs in at 18st 1lb (115kg).
Whether that remains the case only the England and Wasps strength and conditioning crews know, because he appears to fluctuate wildly. Hughes was listed at a gargantuan 20st (128kg) in last season’s Premiership media guide, yet a relatively sylphlike 17st 4lb (110kg) in this season’s European Cup equivalent, while a respected rugby website has him at 19st 5lb (123kg).
Whatever Hughes’ weight, by comparison the 6ft Simmonds is a mere stripling of a No.8 at just over 16st (103kg). Yet, the Exeter man was England’s find of the season until the injury he sustained against Wales. He is a fast, dynamic back row athlete whose speed and agility made him ideally equipped to scupper the hightempo game the Scots marauders will employ to leave the Red Rose heavy brigade winded at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Although he is no slouch, Hughes cannot match Simmonds for pace, and a lack of speed is a long-standing shortcoming with the England back row. However, Eddie Jones is clever at covering the cracks.
The England head coach will seek to limit the damage the mobile Scottish pack can do by dominating territory through the field-kicking of George Ford and Owen Farrell and making yardage and monopolising the ball through carrying power – which is where Hughes comes into his own.
Ask Hughes if he is frustrated at seeing Simmonds lauded and he goes to the PR text book: “Not really. You can see the depth we have in England, one person injured means someone covering. The depth we have is really good and we challenge each other to fight for the spot. There are no position haters here: we just work hard to push and help each other.”
However, with Simmonds on the sidelines, the question at England’s open training session at Twickenham on Friday, which was watched by 10,000 fans, was whether Jones truly believed he could get the Fijian-born No.8 up to running speed in time.
The signs are that Hughes will win his 13th cap against Scotland because, although Jones also ran Chris Robshaw and James Haskell at No.8 in training, it is unlikely he is considering either as a starter in such a specialist position.
The Wasps No.8 is strong off the scrum base and impressed against the Wallabies on his last outing, whereas neither Haskell nor Robshaw are anything other than very occasional stop-gap No.8s for their clubs.
The conventional view is that big units like Hughes always take much longer to get match-fit than their leaner counterparts – but the England coach likes nothing better than challenging convention.
Jones’ training methods are a prime example. First, he is hands-on in a way most of his predecessors as England coach have not been.
He is on the pitch pushing his squad all the time to replicate international match intensity. He keeps swapping players around from one group to another, and will have the occasional word with most of them. All the while he watches them like a hawk.
There is no comfort zone. Jones never lets the players rest, let alone sit. He is constantly on the move, watching them when they are not aware, and assessing their body language when they have been pushed to the limits – seeing who is willing to go again despite the burning lungs and lactic acid.
Hughes, whose left knee was heavily strapped when he came straight off the training pitch to be interviewed on Friday, says he has pushed through the pain barrier over the last fortnight in a bid to be fit for the rest of the Six Nations. “My main focus when they called me in was to work hard and try to get to match fitness again. It has been very tough – but it has been good for the body, which has coped. I can now go home and have a small rest with the family before coming back and putting the hand up for selection. The most important thing is recovery for me – to try and get my body as good as possible and get the legs ready to go next week.” Hughes, 26, will need them to go like the clappers because the breakdown is not an area where England excel, especially when compared to New Zealand, the team they are trying to chase down. There is barely a tackle where the All Blacks can be described as passive. At every breakdown they are urgency incarnate, with the back row leading the assault. They compete for the ball like fiends, using every trick in the book to win a turn-over through a steal, a counter-ruck, or a no-release penalty – or, at the very least, mess with the opposition ball and slow it down to the point where the receiver is at a disadvantage. England are lax by comparison. With the notable exception of Sam Underhill they have no offensive turnover tacklers, and so rely much more heavily on their impressive defensive press to force opponents into coughing
We have been working on speed off the deck to give options to Ford and Farrell and the 9s”
p ball through handling errors than hey do winning it through breakdown elligerence and skill. The refereeing in the Premiership as not encouraged England to develop hat breakdown hard edge mainly ecause, apart from no-release penalies, the attacking side is virtually uaranteed possession. Where many teams continue competng for breakdown ball until it is leared, England back off too easily. What compounds the shortfall is that hen they do attempt a steal, frequenty through tighthead Dan Cole, the trike rate seems to be multiple penalies conceded for every success. When Scotland are at their best they re more like New Zealand at the breakown than England – and it is what ould give them the upset they are so esperate for following last season’s mbarrassing rout at Twickenham. Scotland have not come close in the irst two rounds of the Six Nations to he incisiveness they showed in their arrow 22-17 autumn defeat against New Zealand, and nor has their back row of captain John Barclay, Hamish Watson, and Ryan Wilson been at its best.
However, Watson and Barclay competed superbly at the breakdown against New Zealand and fractured their rhythm. This led to an uncharacteristically high penalty count from the All Blacks, who conceded seven in the opening half-hour.
England can expect similar breakdown pressure on Saturday, and they will put their third successive win of the tournament in jeopardy if they concede penalties at the rate they did at home against the Welsh. The tally finished England 10, Wales 2, and that sort of discrepancy could see Greig Laidlaw – whose goal-kicking was on the money against France – make them pay.
Hughes says that England recognise that the battle for supremacy at the tackle will be decisive against Scotland, and that Jones has tailored the preparation to eradicating the shortcomings against Wales.
“We started well (against Wales), and it was tight at the end. Everyone was happy with the win, but it was not the perfect performance and there is a lot to work on. This week we analysed and identified, and we will take it into Scotland. As a team, we need to improve most at the breakdown. Scotland have got threats in the back row over the ball, and it will be vital for us if we want to keep the ball for a long period of time. We have to look after the breakdown really well.”
He added: “It is hard to win quick ball because there is the two-man tackle now, one going for the ball. We have got to be squeaky clean with how we clear out and ensure we get good clean ball for the 9s and 10s.”
Hughes claims England are playing at a higher pace due to the up-tempo training. “Everyone was breathing heavily. Eddie does not set specific targets: it is the amount of involvements you get and the speed off the ground. That’s what we have been working on, speed off the deck to give options to Ford and Farrell and the 9s.”
He explained how England intend to frustrate the Scots in the loose. “They have got threats across the board and their back row loves to go over the ball. We have prepared well this week with the second and third man in so we protect our ball really well. We have focused on what we can do better from Wales to take to Murrayfield.”
Hughes intends to be part of the improvement. “I can add another ballcarrying player to help out Mako (Vunipola), Maro (Itoje) and Courtney (Lawes). Simmonds did a great job against Italy and Wales, and I add another person to it.”
Should Hughes be selected as England’s starting No.8 it will be his first trip to Murrayfield, and he says he is looking forward to it despite the hostility. He has first-hand experience of the ‘everybody hates the English mentality’ thanks to watching the Wales game with his South African team-mates at Wasps.
“I watched the game with Wasps team-mates, who were going for Wales, while I was for England and cheering the boys on. I was watching it with the South Africans, Willie le Roux and Juan de Jongh, so they don’t like England – although they will be supporting the Wasps boys if we get involved against Scotland.”
A word of warning. Banter between Wasps team-mates is one thing, a Scottish side roared on by a Murrayfield crowd that senses a sniff of an upset is another. The trick for Hughes, and England, is not to give them that sniff.