Five reasons why England can win the World Cup
WILL GREENWOOD
1
Manu is back
Manu Tuilagi’s performance against Ireland at Twickenham last month was overshadowed by the extraordinary innings of Ben Stokes at Headingley, but it was a significant moment nonetheless.
Tuilagi is a sportsman in the same mould as Stokes, someone with an ability to dominate the best in the world. To have him back in that type of form is a massive boost.
He has only 35 caps to his name after eight years as an England player – that kind of record makes me look durable – but there are no signs of the lower leg problems that have dogged him. We have seen clearly what England have been missing: the ability to accelerate on to the ball, take impact, have his speed go down to almost zero and then explode again out of tackles.
His power game and explosiveness tells you that there is no sign of any mental worry about his body. The ability to use him as a carrier or decoy now becomes lethal.
2
Hitting the line-out
England have always known they have a world-class line-out. It would be tough not to when you have Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Courtney Lawes on the bench and Joe Launchbury not even in the 23. And a hooker, Jamie George, who regularly throws to two of them, Itoje and Kruis, 30 weeks of the year. The line-out work from England against Ireland was perfect on their own throw and they then dismantled their opponents when it was their ball. No sides are better equipped in the secondrow department than England
– no sides have four players of such high quality.
3
A proper power-game
The squad look strong and dynamic. Jonny May can bounce people off. Joe Cokanasiga has the frame of a bull and runs like a train. Billy Vunipola, Kyle Sinckler, Sam Underhill, George Kruis and Jamie George all take some stopping. Owen Farrell was running hard lines like a classic modern-day 12 against Ireland, not just playing like a second receiver.
The desire of the whole team to get the ball in their hands, run hard, take the space and dominate the contact made them unbeatable in that particular game.
From the bench or in the 10 jersey, George Ford is wonderful at feeding this beast. Ford is not gung-ho when it comes to option-taking. He has an
inherent methodology and desire about him to attack first and kick later. He has his head up and asks: “What is in front of me, how can I manipulate the defence, and where is the space?” Helping him is the fact that there are lads who want the ball in play and trust the team to bail them out if things go wrong. But England are now keen to explore at pace.
4
Upskilled forwards
This has been taking place at club as well as national level, where coaches have identified areas for players to improve their game.
Combined with a boldness of selection, this has allowed Eddie Jones to get a wonderful blend of players in the smaller numbers one to eight who do not just want to carry through brick walls.
They are happy to explore the fringes, to move the point of contact, and they are comfortable with the offload.
When England dipped in form after Jones’s wonder start, the ability and balance of the pack – in some cases due to injuries and lack of availability – was lopsided in its bulk without being able to counterbalance their threat with subtlety.
The pack was onedimensional – too eager to bully and steamroller. The size was there but if you only attack one way, opponents soon nullify you at the highest level and you end up struggling for form and confidence.
5
Options and fluidity
The only way you can win World Cups is by having options. England now look to have them.
Against
Ireland, now the
No1 team in the in the world, England were virtually unplayable.
They could have beaten any team in the world on that day. Ireland could not slow the ball down or get dominant hits and try to wrap the ball up, because they could not get close enough to the ball for long enough.
A great example of this was Elliot Daly’s first try. At the beginning of the passage of play, Kyle Sinckler received the pill, used his feet and hips to get out of the attacking channel he was in and attacked the gap between two defenders, opening up space on the inside. He popped the ball to Billy Vunipola, who stepped and got in behind the defender, now desperately trying to cover the gap
that Sinckler’s feet had created.
Vunipola, in control in the contact, offloaded to Maro Itoje, who used the alternative option, exploding through two defenders, getting his arms free of the tackle and delivering the ball back to Sinckler. We saw three passes, from big, big men, within the confines of a badminton court, all of the lads were going straight towards the opposition goal line and impacting about seven Irish defenders. Not one of them allowed a front-on hit – instead they were using feet to get to the edges or, once the half gaps were there, explode between two defenders. The ball was slipped and popped, lifted and given early. The runners came from behind the ball, allowing the attacker to take on the defender on either side before lifting the ball back into the space the attacker had vacated. It was class and England were away and playing. The backs then added some real power, with Jonny May up the left and Manu Tuilagi up the middle. The ball kept moving. George Kruis picked one up off his toes like a centre and Vunipola had another big carry but, more importantly, another offload at the end of the carry, so there was no time for Ireland to regroup and create a breakdown. The Irish eventually ran out of numbers. A defensive gamble from Jacob Stockdale, a catch and pass from Tom Curry off his left hand – that is always worth mentioning when you remember the handling of forwards 10 years ago – and Daly was able to stroll in.
It was magic.