>> Guscott: Eddie has to play Saracens way
“England have areas to work hard on, but if they do they should win this series against the Springboks”
ENGLAND’S defeat by the Barbarians will have only a marginal effect on their upcoming tour of South Africa, and it would be the same story if their destination this summer was New Zealand or Australia.
It is fortuitous in some respects that England had the opportunity to have a run out against the Barbarians to start getting things together before the tour, but with the Saracens and Exeter players out of the picture because of the Premiership final it had limitations.
Saracens bring cohesion to England, and without their contingent there was always the possibility that the scratch team that faced the Barbarians would find it hard to sync. The main downside is that it is not great for confidence to be on the end of four defeats in a row, especially when there was the chance to draw a line under the losing run.
The big question for Eddie Jones is how he turns things around, because the feelgood factor from what he achieved in his first two seasons with England has only a limited lifespan – and now they have to move on.
The main thing that has to change is the breakdown, where it has been far too easy to shut England down this season. They are simply not proficient or explosive enough in the contest for possession, and if you disrupt at source, which is what happened to England in the Six Nations, then like any team they become vulnerable.
Anybody should understand that if you can upset England at the breakdown the easiest way to beat them is through high-speed rugby. New Zealand can do it in their sleep, and Ireland can do it because of the intensity they bring.
To add to the problems England are not as comfortable these days when they are defending. They are not like Ireland, or Saracens, in terms of the pressure their defence puts on opponents, and in attack the sustained phase play they favour does not seem to carry the threat it did two seasons ago.
Eddie Jones has shown that he wants England to play in a particular way, and he has been pretty stubborn in sticking to it. However, where most national teams reflect what is going on in their domestic leagues – with Scotland playing predominantly the way Glasgow do, Ireland like Leinster, and Wales like the Scarlets – England do not.
I couldn’t tell you what style England play now, but it is not like Saracens or Exeter. They use the same diamond shape in attack as Saracens and Wasps, with a decoy line and the ball often passed behind it, but the difference is that they have to get to a certain stage before they implement it.
If they wanted to play that way they could do worse than look at the Premiership semi-final where Saracens annihilated Wasps at the breakdown, and then showed similar intensity and intent last weekend in beating Exeter. Saracens are now the Premiership’s all-court side, because they have more attacking options than Exeter and an intensity that Wasps do not.
England had that intensity in 20162017, but since then there has been a disconnect – and they need to put it right to get a result in South Africa against a side who have been struggling for quite some time.
Statistically, England got into the opposition 22 more than any other side in the Six Nations, but then they could not execute. That is about attention to detail, and it suggests to me that England players probably need more of a say in what they do – rather than being told by Eddie Jones, who has the reputa tion of being too controlling.
The ready-made model for England is Saracens, and I cannot see any England player not wanting to be part of the way they play. Wasps players would like to add the substance Saracens have to their style, because it is probably the only way in which they will win a Premiership title.
The Saracens route seems to be common sense. The way to go has to be to pick the strongest club style and then add to it at international level, and when you have the spine of the Saracens team in your national squad it seems obvious that you should tap into that excellence.
In broad terms England relied on a bit of bludgeon, real intensity, and excellent execution to be successful in 2016, but the England way is no longer clear under Jones – and part of the reason is that they have not built a consistent attack.
If they do not win in South Africa they will get even more criticism, and then the England camp will not be a happy place. They need a series victory to validate what they are doing.
England are trying to find that place where the magic comes back – and again, maybe that is a bit of what Saracens had to do this season after their dip.
In good Test teams you get players who played consistently well, and England have not had that in the Autumn or the Six Nations. It is taken players a long time to rediscover their intensity – but if the Saracens performances in the Premiership semi-finals and final is anything to go by it could be returning.
When you lose at international level it can be strange because you are still trying as hard and training as hard as you were when you are winning. The difference is that you are probably more tense because you are over-analysing and over-thinking.
That is why sometimes you have to bring it back to the most obvious things – like why you are not producing quick ball at the breakdown. Two of the basics are protecting the ball in contact and bringing huge intensity to clearing out or challenging for turn-overs.
That lack of intensity can also be reflected in attack, where, rather than arriving like steam-trains, players are too flat and arrive to take the ball with no acceleration.
For once, I am not sure what to expect in South Africa. In the past you knew you would be facing a stampeding herd of buffalo up front, and two massive centres – but will they still play with that physicality?
I don’t worry too much about a non-cap England side shipping 60 points at Twickenham, although Paul Gustard will not feel the same way because it is his reputation on the line.
England conceded only four tries in the whole 2016 Six Nations, but in this campaign Scotland coach Gregor Townsend knew that if his side kept hold of the ball and attacked England on the outside they would be uncomfortable. The Scots scored three tries out of an overall nine conceded by England in the 2018 tournament.
This is because England’s defence has become a little rigid, formulaic, and slow, because that is the template for most Premiership clubs. Scotland stretched them, and so did the Barbarians, and England did not respond well enough. Their heads were not in the game, with some players not concentrating and missing tackles.
England have areas to work hard on, but if they do they should win this series against the Springboks.