Co-captains experiment not a total success but worth another try
In the build-up to yesterday’s game, Chris Robshaw, one of England’s two co-captains, said the captaincy can be perceived from outside as involving Churchillian orations but that the reality was very different. Leadership is really about being there for teammates, showing how one cares.
Robshaw’s perspective shows a modern and practical take on the role. If we are to look beyond the traditional image of the captain as a totemic character barking encouragement, Eddie Jones’s decision to opt for a dual captaincy, shared by Robshaw and George Ford, seemed novel yet logical. When you look at both players’ dispositions, personalities and positions, it made sense. As the architect of the backs’ play, fly-half Ford is the de facto leader there, so why not give him the title?
With Robshaw, considering the humiliating, early elimination from a home World Cup ended his last stint at the England captaincy, it made sense not to load one player with all the responsibility.
Robshaw’s resilience and selfless play added to Ford’s vision and composure seemed like the dream combination for a captain. When it came to the co-captains’ playing performances, it was difficult to argue that either was unencumbered, particularly in the first half. Despite an overall man-of-thematch performance, Ford’s first 40 was far from vintage as his kicking both from hand and tee was not at its clinical best.
He grew into the game, shepherding Alex Lozowski well and making some sumptuous kicks, building a platform for colleagues to score in the second half. You cannot ask more from a captain than to lead by example and show resilience. Back on the openside, Robshaw was doing the dirty work well around the breakdowns, but his attention seemed somewhat wayward when he was intercepted.
Yet being a captain is more than the individual’s performance. If being a good captain is, as Robshaw commented, all about those around you, the co-captains succeeded. Lozowski’s opening try and his crisp passing were testimony both to having a good flyhalf beside him and good leadership. The same could be said for Charlie Ewels, who fudged the kick-off that led to Samoa’s try, but then atoned with a try of his own. That showed resilience and that he was in the encouraging environment that Robshaw had said he was striving to create.
One could view the dynamic of the co-captaincy functioning well when, after Elliot Daly’s first try, Ford was busy lining up a tricky conversion, which he neatly kicked, while Robshaw spoke to the rest of the team in the huddle. England then enjoyed a smart and dominant spell of play.
Less than 10 minutes later, England had scored again through Henry Slade.
As more replacements took to the field, the game became more disjointed, as did the influence of the cocaptains. This could, perhaps, partly be explained by the introduction of regular captain Dylan Hartley.
In the closing minutes, Ford steadied the backs. Robshaw may not have been in the heat of the action for the buildup to the final try via Semesa Rokoduguni, but he had been vocal towards team-mates beforehand.
While the co-captaincy experiment was not perfect, it was an intriguing idea in terms of seeing England’s onfield demeanour, particularly around mindset, resilience and settling in the newer caps.
It is certainly worth trying again.