Accuracy, balance, variety: I’ve rarely seen a team play better than Jones’ men did
These two teams looked worlds apart. I’ve rarely seen England look better, and they have clearly learnt the lessons of their games against Wales to get to a stage where they look fullyloaded and ready for the World Cup. Ireland, on the other hand, looked off the pace, heavy-legged and undercooked. They appear to be two games and two weeks behind England, and the sheer scale of this defeat will have been an unwelcome wake-up call for Joe Schmidt, especially as they need to hit the ground running in Japan for their opening game against Scotland. It has been many years since I have seen Ireland so ineffective, and their games against Wales will now take on huge and unexpected significance.
But this game was not about how poor Ireland were, it was all about how spectacularly good England were. Their accuracy, balance and variety were all outstanding, and in this form any team in the world could have taken a tanking off them at Twickenham, although the 57-15 thrashing will have comfortably exceeded Schmidt’s worst nightmares.
Eddie Jones has at last played what looks like his first-choice team. There could be small tweaks, with Henry Slade coming in at 13 and Owen Farrell moving to 10, Mako Vunipola starting, and Willi Heinz possibly at scrum-half instead of Ben Youngs. But in virtually all the areas that really matter, Eddie has absolutely nailed it.
The most obvious takeaway from this performance was the contribution of the back row in general and the new combination of flankers Sam Underhill and Tom Curry, in particular.
At the breakdown, England were utterly dominant. The reason for that was the way that Curry and Underhill combined, which reminded me of the way in Richard Hill and Neil Back once worked in tandem for England.
The way the two opensides
combined at the breakdown was the key. If Ireland had possession, both were expert at slowing down their ball, with the result that Ireland had no momentum at any stage and often lost the ball, conceding a remarkable 19 turnovers. But when England had the ball, it was recycled phenomenally slickly and quickly, ensuring that the Irish were kept on the back foot.
George Kruis was vital, especially at the line-out where his work on the Irish throw was of the highest order and was yet another reason why the visitors were totally unable to build up a head of steam. With Kruis leading the way, England turned over seven or eight Irish line-outs, several in dangerous positions for England. It was appropriate that the last action of the game was Maro Itoje stealing Irish line-out ball.
The other major building block in England’s World Cup challenge looks like being Manu Tuilagi. He was unplayable against Ireland. He typified what made England so impressive with the ball, which was big men, running fast and direct, and offloading beautifully.
They offloaded 16 times during the match. With his powerful charges, not to mention his breakdown work in the wide channels, Tuilagi was central to the way England wanted to play the game.
The Elliot Daly try encapsulated what Eddie Jones has been trying to do, with a succession of powerful ballcarrying runs, followed by good hands out wide. Tuilagi also helped to create a try for Joe Cockanasiga when his welltimed run took the cover away and gave the wing room to go over.
Tuilagi gives England the opportunity to vary the way they play, either at 13 alongside Farrell, or they can bring in Slade and move Farrell to 10. Against Ireland. both Farrell and Ford mixed it up well. When there was nothing on, they were happy to put boot to ball and make Ireland try and attack from deep. It helped that when Ireland had the ball, England put huge pressure on them, forcing an unseemly amount of turnovers for a Schmidt side. Ireland will learn from this. I’d be tempted to move Iain Henderson into their back row to give them an infusion of power. Schmidt will try to keep this result in perspective, with Ireland at a different stage of their preparation to England.
As for Eddie Jones, he knows that every unit in his side delivered for him yesterday. But he, too, will keep this win in perspective. After all, four years ago, England monstered Wales in a pre-World Cup warm-up game – and we all know what happened next.
But today, he will be one happy man.