GREGOR’S ALERT TO ‘OFFSIDE’ ENGLAND
CALCUTTA CUP hostilities kicked off in earnest yesterday — as Gregor Townsend flagged up England’s suspiciously offsidelooking defensive line ahead of Saturday’s Murrayfield clash. With a member of the England coaching staff openly declaring his team’s intent to force rookie Scotland prop Simon Berghan on to his knees in search of scrum penalties, Townsend addressed the famed ‘line speed’ of Eddie Jones’ side. And he is likely to raise the issue with match referee Nigel Owens ahead of the Six Nations clash on Saturday evening. After naming an unchanged starting line-up, Townsend was asked about an England defence that had looked particularly sharp off the mark in the win against Wales last time out, saying: ‘It’s definitely something we have highlighted to our players. It will be interesting to see if they stay
onside. We watched the game last year and we’ve watched their games over the last few weeks. And, to generate that line speed, especially off first phase, you have to make sure you stay ten metres back off line-outs before the ball is delivered — and you don’t get beyond the back foot of the ruck in phase play. ‘If they are able to do that and still generate line speed, then we have to deal with that, with the way we structure our attack.’ Asked if he thought England were actively offside, Townsend said: ‘You would need to look at their last few games to see whether they do come offside. ‘That’s down to the refereeing team this week, to see if it does happen.’ Admitting that he had not decided whether to follow up his public questioning of English tactics by including it in his pre-match chat with Owens, Townsend added: ‘We’ll meet on Friday. So we’ll see what we’re going to talk about over the next few days.’ Jones names his England team today and is likely to bite back in the best traditions of a major sporting rivalry. And at least one member of his backroom team already started picking away at the Scot, with scrum coach Neal Hatley pointing the finger at Berghan’s alleged tendency to drop to his knees during the big shove. Hatley said he would not expect his players to spend the game chirping at Owens — but will hope they force Berghan to bend the knee, explaining: ‘We’ll leave the ref alone. Nigel’s a good ref. ‘The first scrum could be 31 minutes in to the game. We’re not going to say: “Can you please go and stand on that side to make sure he stays off his knees?” ‘The process will involve people like Coley (prop Dan Cole) and people like Harry Williams. ‘We have to engage well and, if he’s got a tendency to drop, you’ve got to force him down to his knees to make it clear to the ref. If he picks it up, he’ll pick it up.’