Gustard must adapt and fast, insists Ellis
ENGLAND defence coach Paul Gustard must up his game if Eddie Jones’ side are to achieve their aim of being world rugby’s No.1 team, according to defence specialist Dave Ellis.
England’s defensive record looks respectable set against other leading nations in 2016, but 17 tries conceded in six games before yesterday’s clash with Australia mean alarm bells are ringing.
Jones flew in top Rugby League coach Jason Ryles ahead of the autumn Tests in order to bring a harder, more brutal defensive edge, but soft tries conceded to South Africa and Fiji, plus two more against Argentina last week, have betrayed underlying weaknesses.
Ellis, the former Gloucester and France defence guru now working at Top 14 side Lyon, believes Gustard must come to terms with the fact he no longer coach adjusting es Saracens. Ellis told The
Rugby Paper: “Paul Gustard’s come in and he has tried to transplant the Saracens defence into the England set-up, but he’s got his backside between two chairs at the moment and he’s finding out, as I did, that international rugby is a different game.
“The problem is that while he’s been successful with his plan at Saracens, Saracens play a restricted game where the percentage system works quite well.
“In contrast, though, Eddie Jones wants to play an expansive game and Gustard’s got to look at things.
“He hasn’t got the big, robust backline with England that he had at Saracens. He’s got a few of the Saracens forwards, who cement the wall of England’s defence, but George Ford, Owen Farrell and Jonathan Joseph are a pretty lightweight backline these days.
“Ford’s not a great tackler, Farrell hasn’t played a lot this season and has been missing a few tackles, while JJ has always been a more passive tackler who prefers to give people the outside and cut them down there, so Gustard has to change things and adapt to that.
“He must realise that what he did at club level won’t always work at international level and the warning signs are there because of the tries England have conceded. “Argentina played themselves out of last week’s game by being so indisciplined, South Africa haven’t provided worthy opposition to anyone and Fiji was always going to be comfortable, yet England conceded seven tries in those matches and it could have been more.” Ellis believes Ben Te’o, below, may provide an answer, with Farrell switching back into the fly-half role ahead of Ford on account of his superior goal-kicking. Ellis added: “I saw a lot of Te’o in Rugby League and for Leinster and he would make England more solid in defence at 12. But where do you put Farrell? You’ve got to find a place for him because Ford seems to struggle with his goal-kicking when the pressure’s on. “Either way, England’s defence must improve if they are to catch New Zealand.”