Shields revealed to be just another toiler in team stuck in a time warp

New Zealand-born flanker fails to ease the pressure on Eddie Jones, writes Mick Cleary in Bloemfontein

Down, down, down do England go, gasping for air at altitude and flailing throughout this match, a shattered and spent force. There were new starting faces in Brad Shields and auld acquaintances in Danny Cipriani, but the failings were the same: ill-disciplined play that allowed the Springboks to gather themselves from another dozy start when they conceded two tries, but England had neither the muscle nor the cleverness to take advantage. Instead, Shields revealed himself as no more than another toiler in white while the die was cast long before Cipriani stripped off his tracksuit for his first appearance in three years.

England are stuck in a time warp, approaching the serious World Cup countdown with little identity and a diminishing reputation. It has been a salutary experience for them on the High Veld, where they have been well and truly trumped by what is a raw Springbok side still taking shape.

A chastened England squad gathered themselves in a huddle at the end, but the time for defiant words alone is long past. They need deeds.

Everyone knew it would take more for Shields to feel at home in an England shirt than passing reference to the “teaspoons on the wall and chip butties on a Sunday afternoon” at his grandparents’ houses in Essex and Yorkshire that he claimed as evidence of his bona-fide heritage.

The Hurricanes captain needed to flex some muscle, shed some blood for the cause for him to believe that he truly belonged and for his new teammates to trust him instinctively. A passport will give you name, rank and number: a full-bore, sweat-flecked, no-holds-barred contribution on the pitch brook no doubt about a man’s commitment.

Shields’s parents, Nigel and Danielle, had flown from London to see their son belt out the anthem and go on to do his stuff that he previously had only played out against a New Zealand backdrop. They themselves had returned to their England roots: now their boy was following suit. The only way, though, in which Shields was going to quell the disquiet around his Usain Bolt-type fast-tracking into England colours was to make a statement on his first start.

Shields has perfect claim on qualifying to play, yet the unease is legitimate. Eddie Jones made a point of accommodating him as much for his leadership as for his playing skills. The 27-year-old is a hard-nosed blindside forward, yet no more or no less than a Chris Robshaw in form. The Springbok back row looked different class, Siya Kolisi, the captain, driving Shields back five metres at one point.

At a time when the Rugby Football Union is under duress, with 40 redundancies imminent in the rugby department, there was urgent need for connection to all that England represented. Some of those who had worked hard to develop players through the established pathways would have their reservations about Shields’s arrival in their midst. This performance will have done little to lower those raised eyebrows.

The flanker was denied a moment of glory in the 57th minute, when the ball was knocked from his grasp as he dived through a melee of bodies for what looked initially like a try, only to be ruled out on review. Ten minutes later, he made way for Mark Wilson.

That umbilical cord between player and team-mates, fan and team itself, is of the utmost importance. Allegiance cannot be faked. Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus has realised the value of that. He has unlocked something of real meaning in South African rugby by being true to the pledges made about transformation.

One commentator believes that in just the past fortnight the Springbok coach has done more for the true values of post-apartheid rugby than anyone in the past 26 years.

The celebration of Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira’s 100th cap paid due homage to the fact that he was the first black front-row forward, one of the revered positions in Springbok hardman history, to reach that milestone. Beast did not disappoint.

The Boks looked on-message, an integrated entity, while England appear woebegone and downbeat. One team march forward; the other have lost their way.