Aussie free spirit can cast spell
Attacking framework will be created by coach Wisemantel – he is key to England’s chances
He is a free-spirited Australian, equally content to be surfing the waves off the New South Wales seaside village of Lennox Head, working as a bricklayer or as a supply teacher at the local high school.
But for the past eight weeks, Scott Wisemantel has been happy to put his bohemian lifestyle on hold for the biggest challenge of his coaching career, providing the attacking framework for England to win the World Cup in Japan.
Tomorrow, at the International Stadium Yokohama, Wisemantel will face his ultimate challenge.
With the All Blacks currently averaging around 20 points per Test match against tier-one sides, England know they will probably have to score at least two tries if they are to stand a chance of recording their first World Cup win over New Zealand, and reaching their first final since 2007.
Wisemantel, who played rugby league for Parramatta Eels and also fly-half in rugby union for the Sydney club Eastwood, already has experience of coaching in two World Cups, with Eddie Jones’s Japan in 2015 and Samoa’s 2011 campaign in New Zealand.
He has also coached at clubs in Japan and France and held a number of roles with the Wallabies, the Warratahs and Australia Under-19s. Most recently he was backs coach for Montpellier.
The England players appear confident that the point of difference he has brought to their attack, since accepting the offer to work again with Jones for the tour of South Africa last year, will pose serious questions of the All Blacks’ defence.
“You can see since Wisey’s come in, the variety of our game,” George Ford, the England fly-half, said. “In terms of different ways in which we can attack, it’s gone through the roof. You need to be able to have the ability to run, to shift the ball via passing and you need to have a kicking game.
“For me as a fly-half, and I’m sure the rest of the team would agree, the way we train and what
Wisey pushes each week has put us in a position where we can do all three of those things. Then it’s about us making decisions on the field to do it, and that is what Wisey and the coaches are brilliant at, putting us in position and situations in training to make those decisions.
“The amount of tries the back three have scored, the wingers have scored recently, whether that is through passing or kicking, speaks for itself. We massively enjoy working with Wisey and the rest of the coaches.”
Last November, after England’s autumn Test series, which included a narrow 16-15 defeat by New Zealand, Wisemantel returned to Lennox Head to work as a labourer.
In September, when England went on their second warmweather training camp in Treviso, he went home to work as a supply teacher, as his contract allowed him to have a couple of weeks back in Australia, and continued his analysis in his spare time.
The variety of moves that he has injected into England’s armoury is seemingly making him an indispensable asset in Jones’s management team. If Jones can be a wisecracking taskmaster, on the training field Wisemantel is a bundle of energy, attending to each player to gee them up and set an upbeat tone for the session. In demand: Scott Wisemantel could join Australia after the World Cup
Jonny May’s first try against Australia in the quarter-final was a classic example of a strike play drawn up by Wisemantel, based on the way the Wallabies defended.
“We adjust each week, so we thought that would work against Australia,” he said afterwards in Oita. “It’s just the way they defend, so the boys were good during the
week and they were the ones who actually said, ‘Yeah let’s give this a go’ and they executed pretty well. Next week’s a new proposition.”
If the players love the fresh perspective he has brought, it seems the feeling is mutual.
“It’s been special,” Wisemantel said of his time with England. “These 31 men – I’ve never had a harder-working group. I’ll stand by that. That’s one of the strengths of the 31. The other thing is probably the togetherness. It’s something that Eddie’s driven and you can see that they get on well socially and mix.
“Finally there’s competition. Eddie drives that. We compete hard on the field, sometimes it gets a bit angsty, but it’s sorted quickly.”
Whatever the outcome tomorrow, Wisemantel’s stock is rising. He has been linked to a job with Australia after his contract as attack consultant expires.
“I’m a consultant here until Nov 2,” he said. “On Nov 6 I’m a schoolteacher. After that I don’t know. But the one bloke I will have a chat to is Eddie Jones, and we’ll chat after that.”