Will Greenwood Five key issues Jones’ men must fix
Losing the aerial war
The first high ball Romain Ntamack sent into the skies in Paris last weekend bounced. My immediate reaction was to rewind the tape and understand why.
Bouncing rugby balls mean a team are not there defensively. There are usually two main reasons: you lose the contact and need to keep more in the defensive line; or you were slow to react to what the fly-half was looking to do. But whatever the reason, you should never let an oval ball bounce.
Even when players did compete, the battle of the skies was won by France, who were also victorious in the second touches and in snaffling the loose ball.
England kicked way too long and with no real contest or terrifying kick-chase in the first half. Anthony Bouthier looked a 20-cap veteran on his opening night at the back.
Handling under pressure
England’s handling fell apart under pressure from France’s line speed, and there was also poor control in contact.
Owen Farrell and George Furbank had no men in their “zone” when balls went to deck, which is often an indicator that minds are on the next job before the ball has even been caught. That is always a sign of pressure.
Tom Curry and Kyle Sinckler also spilt balls under pressure in the wet, when men were in their grille.
England need to understand when to drop a little deeper in order to pick up a little bit of time.
Energy deficit
This belonged to France. True, the energy is often owned by the home team, and even more so when the home team are the underdogs.
England were so good in patches at the World Cup that we began to focus on the “processes”. We hear that word so often that we sometimes forget that the game is feral. Maintaining that feral style to your game, while being spot on tactically, is what has set the All Blacks apart from the rest for so long. They can handle, they can play, they are aware of space. But they also never forget to smash you up, to go straight and hard if you do not get in front of them.
Forget the fancy stuff. They throw playbooks out of the window if there is no one in front of them. It is super tough to maintain that balance.
Discipline
England were not terrible in this regard, but they did offer too many easy outs.
When you are under the pump on the scoreboard you must make it hard for sides to exit. Not listening to a referee or sticking your hand in a ruck or picking the ball up in a position that, deep down, you know must be wrong is still proving a temptation too strong for some.
Penalties happen.
Daft ones, however, kill you.
No 8 issue
The selection call was wrong. Controlling the ball at the back of the scrum is crucial, and it all went to pot for England.
It would be unfair to criticise Curry (right) for this. He was strong again away from the scrum, but he is not a No8 and he could not manage the ball at the base. Antoine Dupont could sense it and was all over him.
It is more than one man’s job, however, and the gap between Curry and Sam Underhill was way too big. Curry – not the tallest man – was binding in the traditional No8 slot. Underhill, meanwhile, was looking to drive through Joe Marler or Ellis Genge on the left-hand side of the scrum. Underhill’s hips were away from the scrum and the aerial shot was damning. As the ball was hooked into this gap, one of two things happened: it was exposed and deemed out, or in the panic to cover it, the chain was broken and the ball was not under control (as in the example below, with the ball circled). It happened later with Lewis Ludlam on the left-hand side of the scrum, when England had France under their posts with 4½ minutes to go. The scrum was in complete control, but the ball squirted out. The gap between the flanker and the No8 was not clever.