PROBYN COLUMN
Eddie Jones was at fault in Cardiff for not putting faith in George Ford
“Jones had Robson and Ford sat on the bench, both of whom are renowned for their running game”
It’s so predictable how quickly the knives are out for the England players just because they lost a game. Admittedly it was probably the most important game they faced before the World Cup and against a possible quarter-final rival, but a game that in the scheme of things may turn out to be irrelevant.
With two games to go in this year’s Six Nations there is still all to play for and a real possibility that England, with two home games, could still win it. Before the game everyone was singing the praises of the team and the captain Owen Farrell and how well he had controlled the team and the games, only to blame him when the team failed to adapt their tactics during the game.
While the jibes were to be expected from the numerous Welsh members of the rugby media, I was a bit taken aback by the number of English ex-players who also jumped on the band wagon.
Particularly as everyone knows one of the main changes that has happened in the game in recent years is the ability of coaches off the field to control how the game is played on it. With constant updates to the players relayed by the endless stream of water carriers who are in radio contact with the coaches and the eight replacements (more than half the team) who the coach can bring on and change everything.
The tactics England had employed in the first two games were very similar to how the All Backs played in the late 90’s. Kicking for position and pressuring the opposition into mistakes and kicking the subsequent penalties for points, heaping more pressure on the opposition to open up the game.
Given the tactics history, Wales coach Warren Gatland would have been more than aware of how England intended to play and knew just how to counter it, which should have been obvious if not to Eddie Jones, certainly to our own friendly New Zealander, John Mitchell.
Knowing Gatland had put a kicking emphasis on his back three in training to reduce the likelihood of England’s dominance they had against Ireland and France, Jones could have prepared the team differently.
The thing about a kicking game is it’s not as Farrell said about having space to kick into, it’s about how good your chasers are, as they rely on the ball being in the air long enough for them to reach it.
In a game with so many cheap shots, the one area where England’s players should take a measure of responsibility was in the failure to keep on the right side of referee Jaco Peyper, and they paid the price with a penalty count three times that of Wales.
Despite the fact England’s bench was suitably mixed to be able to make the necessary tactical changes if the coach chose to use them, there were limited changes and most were too late.
Kyle Sinckler, who seemed to have a suicidal wish for a yellow card, was the first player to be changed after 57 minutes with the next, George Kruis, after 64 minutes – but it was in the backs where the game needed to be changed.
With the kicking game failing, England badly needed to change the focus of their attack particularly in the backs and yet only one back substitute was made, Joe Cokanasiga after 70 minutes of the game.
With just ten minutes to go it would have been virtually impossible for one player to change England’s attacking fortunes, particularly from the wing.
Jones had Dan Robson and George Ford, both of whom are renowned for their running game and could have brought Cokanasiga more into play, possible through the middle of the field.
All in all, there are any number of excuses and theories as to why England lost a game that on paper they should have won.
The lessons learned from last week and the need to be more adept in the use of the substitutes to change the game plan, should be a wake-up call for Eddie Jones and his coaches if they want to win this Six Nations let alone the World Cup.
Nick Cain wrote last week that clubs are handicapped by helping England – but the clubs don’t care! I was on the RFU committee when the Premiership were offered the chance of a break in the league season while the internationals were taking place. They refused the idea of using those dates as an opportunity to develop young players while the internationals were away, opting instead to extend the season with the play-offs.
The clubs said that any break in the season would have a damaging impact on the weekly support and that they needed to have games every week to maintain the income necessary for survival.
When it was argued that not breaking undermined the integrity of the league season because of the disadvantage to clubs with international players, it was proposed that the play-off when all players were available, would balance it out.
Nick’s suggestion that the Premiership A sides play the Championship was very much along the lines suggested back then and rejected.
In truth, playing the extended season does nobody any favours (RFU, PRL and certainly not the players) but every time a change is suggested, it’s rejected unless it’s to extend the season even further.