England must make changes now - and fast
England find themselves in an extremely tough position now after three defeats on the bounce and no game to rectify the situation until the tour of South Africa in June. As a player every time you lose you are so gutted that you are just desperate to play the next one and redeem yourself.
Eddie Jones dropped five players for this game yet it was more of the same and now the head coach really must show he is worth what he is paid.
In a way he is fortunate that England are playing the Springboks this summer because they really aren’t very good at the moment and England should be victorious. Everything that happens between now and the World Cup is all about Eddie Jones; how he prepares the side, who he selects and in what position.
We have to ask whether Billy Vunipola makes that much of a difference that he can change the way this team are playing. We saw with Owen Farrell yesterday how he tried to do everything for the team but then because he did so much – almost too much at times – it’s hard for other players to get involved.
But this for me is not about the players now. It is all about the coach because he makes the big decisions and in this year’s Six Nations he’s been found wanting. Selection is the most crucial factor, that’s why he was bought out of his contract with the Stormers in 2015 and brought into the England set-up, tasked with turning around the Stuart Lancaster side and making them into a cohesive outfit that can challenge the All Blacks.
The run of 23 wins from 24 masked deficiencies in the side, hugely so in terms of the back row in light of the recent law changes at the breakdown. That has made it more difficult around the fringes, but what it doesn’t make more difficult is the basic intensity and energy that you should have.
Scotland played with higher intensity; unbelievably, so did France, and Ireland played with so much more energy England looked flat. It’s a massive area for Eddie to look at and he can answer with as many statistics as he wants, but what it comes down to is how well do you know your players? At the moment he doesn’t know them well enough.
He has the coaches he has selected, but still insists on not having an attack coach which is bizarre to me especially when Ben Te’o is picked as a powerful bruising No.12 but hardly utilised. So whatever tactics he is trying in training are not being seen in the game I’m watching. So what’s the point of Te’o being there? Similarly we have the quickest back three in the Championship yet we don’t see them. You might as well pick three props out there the amount they are being used in attack.
Jones, like his team, has been smashed backwards. Expectation goes down now and they will win in South
“You just cannot win without your pack dominating the collisions”
Africa but they have to energise themselves. Pick the right players with the right frame of mind and right energy levels to play a high-octane game of rugby. Even if there is no huge skill set, if you play with energy you will win the collision. Without energy you’ll lose them.
At Twickenham we saw an Irish side that is so much better drilled than England. Ireland don’t play with any massive flair or any individual who sidesteps, swerves and dummies his way over. They score through clever plays which accentuate what rugby is about, a team game, not individual.
Ireland will come unstuck when they play a team that is energised and can defend time and again and force them to go sideways because they’ve got no individual to turn a game through individual brilliance.
England, weirdly, have that in Elliot Daly and Anthony Watson, who can produce some magic when it’s needed. But what Ireland have is a huge collective. Like Saracens and Exeter, they don’t have unbelievable individuals but as a unit they are super special. England have about 18 Tests until the World Cup and I expect them to win in South Africa in the summer to set up a huge autumn series. But it will be key that they don’t get above their station by beating a poor South African side as they have the big game against New Zealand on the horizon.
Beat them and they know they can win a World Cup and this year’s Six Nations is not important. But if they don’t beat New Zealand at home it’s safe to say nobody will expect England to win the World Cup.
Expectation seems to have done a funny thing to this side mentally.
Energy and wherewithal are missing. If Eddie wants to play robots, they have to be incredibly well programmed, like Ireland. If they aren’t finely tuned, like England, they will play like individuals. But the thing is Ireland aren’t robots, they have a programme that works. England have a virus at the moment within their forwards.
You just cannot win without your forwards dominating the collisions. Throughout this Six Nations England’s pack has been slow, stodgy and second best. They sometimes win those collisions but then make stupid errors and poor decisions around the breakdown and what to do after that. It’s no coincidence that they have no attack coach. Instead they rely on Farrell and George Ford to be players and coaches. Sorry but that can’t happen.
Jones is under a lot of pressure. He must come up with a solution and I look forward to seeing what it is.