Muzzled England attack are all bark and no bite
ENGLAND’S attack remains on furlough post-Covid, in need of an urgent bailout after their try-less showing against Scotland.
Yesterday’s match was the 150th anniversary of Tests against Scotland and, to flip a Victorian phrase on its head, England’s backs were heard but not seen at Twickenham.
Throughout, Owen Farrell led the chorus of noise — screaming ‘hit it’, ‘smash’ and other variations on that theme when England defended — but there was no reason to shout about what he and his backs could produce when they had the ball.
Ollie Lawrence was picked as their big ball carrier, but he did not carry the ball once until the 63rd minute. When he did, he made no gain and was turned over.
Anthony Watson was left unused until Farrell threw him a hurried pass a metre from his own goalline an hour in. There were mitigating factors, as Eddie Jones explained afterwards.
‘In the first half we had 25 per
cent possession,’ said Jones. ‘I haven’t seen the second-half stats but I don’t think it’ll be much higher than that (it was 41 per cent).
‘ We had no ball. So when you’re playing 10 with no ball it’s difficult.
‘ If you’ve only got 25 per cent possession, and some of that is deep in your 22, which it was, and if you’ve got numbers 10-15 on your back it’s very difficult to get the ball.
‘That was a very traditional EnglandScotland game. It was about setpieces, winning the small battles around the gainline. It was about winning the ball in the air when it was kicked, and we got beaten in all of those areas.
‘The backs in that situation become almost secondary.’
As England managed their lowest points total at home since 2009, it continued a recent theme.
Jones has a plethora of attacking talents at his disposal that he cannot seem to find a way to unleash.
In the autumn, Jones dismissed the term ‘playmaker’ to describe those in the 10, 12 and 13 shirts, hirts, saying: ‘Playmakers play y in dinner suits.
‘None of( George) Ford, Farrell or (Henry) Slade play in dinner suits. They all run and get tackled. The whole word playmaker suggests t hey make plays. They have got to run, they have to kick, k, they have to tackle.’
That quotation mayy tell a tale. England kicked the ball 29 times on Saturday, only running it 65 times, often when they seemed to have numbers out wide. They maintain they kick to score, but that did not work against Scotland. Which frustrates fans no end. They want to see England shining in their dinner suits, not just roaring and kicking within straight jackets. Engla England have two of the thre three back-three players wh who tore New Zealand ap apart on the Lions tour of o 2017. The other is J Jonny May, the most prolific try-scorer in the land. Full-back Elliot Daly i s one of t he most ta talented sportsmen in the country, but has not show showcased those talents for a w while now. Slade rarely hits his club heights, too. England’s first priority is to start becoming more, not less, than the sum of their backline parts — or their Six Nations challenge will be over, all bar the shouting.