OLD ‘Mud Face’ himself, Fran Cotton, said of his Coventry, England and British Lions’ teammate, the late, great David Duckham, never seemed to get the ball.
He said it was a source of frustration that one of the finest talents ever in English rugby was starved of the ball he could be so devastating with, at a time when the national team’s fortunes were in the doldrums.
Fast forward to 2023 and exciting debutant Duckham’s successor in the 11 jersey, Ollie Hassell-Collins, was starved of the ball at Twickenham, in what head coach Steve Borthwick promised would be a new, exciting era. Anyone who has seen any of his bullocking, mazy runs for London Irish knows that Hassell-Collins needs only half a chance, an inch or two of pace and he’s creating opportunities.
So why did this new era begin with one of the most exciting talents effectively muzzled in the Calcutta Cup?
What about Max Malins, a shrewd footballer, on the opposite wing? He dotted down a well-worked kick for a try, and it was his footwork, when a Scottish kick fell short of him, that he nearly managed to conjure some magic with, at first aided, then frustrated, by the bounce of the ball.
But a run in space? I must have missed it.
Joe Marchant, recalled to the 13 jersey with a lot of excited whispers about how he could ignite this new era, handled the ball a couple of times, always dogged by blue shirts.
Let’s be clear. Scotland showed more attacking intent, more desire and more courage in their passing and running of the ball. Scotland the Brave? Absolutely.
And defence coach Kevin Sinfield might have a few nightmares after seeing his English charges run ragged in defence. In all fairness, Duhan Van Der Merve’s excellent try was made by the failings of the white wall. It reminded me of those lovely videos that occasionally go viral on social media of a poorly kid having his dreams come true by scoring a try for his favourite team, as players fall over and miss tackles on purpose.
Poor. At this level, where players are paid fortunes to step out on the rugby field, fans can expect better.
But it is not so much the defensive frailties that concern me, it’s the lack of attacking punch. Rugby, even today, is played by the best teams at pace. Win the ruck, get quick ball out, maybe another breakdown, and repeat, until you’ve sucked in the defenders and you have a two on one situation, or, in the case of England’s wingers a one on two, because in Hassell-Collins, Malins, Anthony Waston, the unrequired Caden Murley, the jettisoned Jack Nowell and Johnny May, are players who can score against two defenders. It’s what they do. Henry Arundell, coming back from injury, Joe Cockinasiga, Adam Radwan, the case for any and all is there when it comes to attack. They just need the ball. At full back, Freddie Steward did have a few good runs, but in spite of, rather than thanks to any perceivable game plan.
So what’s the problem?
For me, it’s simple – and multi-faceted. The Marcus Smith-Owen Farrell combination does not work. I prefer Smith for his ability to conjure up acres of space for colleagues, but Farrell has been in fine form for Saracens this season – at 10. As Jeremy Guscott said in a Rugby Paper podcast this week, Farrell is not a 12.
Yet he often goes into the first receiver as a number 10, which essentially leaves Smith redundant, a spare part on the pitch, nullifying his attacking threat and leaving us, in that phase of play, a man short.
There is another issue, too, which has been dogging this England team for as long as they have deemed Farrell not good enough at 10. The scrum half conundrum. Today, Jack Van Poortvliet appeared to be waiting for the ball to be offered up on a plate for him. It used to happen with Ben Youngs, too, although he was much quicker with his distribution when he came on against Scotland today.
Anyone looking at the other scrum halves in the competition will see how they try to get the ball into hands and the attack going again as soon as possible. Not trying anything too risky, but keeping the attack on the front foot. Van Poortvliet didn’t do much of that and Scotland were able to reset their defence time and time again.
Sticking with scrum half. Box kicks. When are England going to abandon aimless kicking? Or when will they adopt a box kick plan like that of France, perhaps, or Ireland? Or South Africa? Watch any of those teams box kick and they challenge for it. When we kick, the opposition eats it up with plenty of space to counter.
When we do get quick ball, good ball, we tend to muddle the thinking by keeping it in the forwards. Now, while I have a lot of admiration for the old ‘stick it up yer jumper’ tactic, it needs to be used sparingly, to help reset an attack, to pull defenders in and create space out wide – see above. Constantly keeping the ball in a narrow channel is easy to defend against. It allows a defending side a chance to breathe in, recharge and feel confident that their line isn’t being breached. Pull the defenders left and right, out wide, back in and out wide again and what might happen? Well, we know, because Scotland did that today against England. Those missed tackles aside, the line broke. Time and time again. Because Scotland got the ball out to their speedsters and stretched it, bludgeoned a hole with their big men before the ball made it out to the flanks again. It works. Watch South Africa, New Zealand, Ireland…their wingers all get decent opportunities.
The other issue about the forwards is work load. They already do so much, asking them to work as centres is a bit much, in my opinion, especially when the gifted Marchant doesn’t get a look in.
Back to ball in hand. Why so much aimless kicking? Why don’t England have the same confidence as, say, Scotland to run at oppositions with the ball in hand? It works. As a kid I was told ‘let the ball do the work’, meaning that a ball could travel over ground quicker than your little feet could go. Run, pass, run pass, run pass. In the 1973 edition of the Five Nations, the Coventry trio of Peter Preece, Geoff Evans and Duckham all ran with purpose, straight, powerful, and created tries. It remains the glorious style of rugby we championed when Johnny May scored at HQ against the All Blacks in 2012. We all love a great try, which is why Van Der Merve’s first effort today will be talked about for years. It’s why, we still talk about Gareth Edwards’ try from 50 years ago for the Baa Baas against the All Blacks. It is what every serious rugby team should aspire to.
So, it is simple. Get the ball out to the wings. Pick two proper centres. Stop box kicking at every opportunity. Stop table tennis kicking from full back to full back and give the forwards a breather and stop asking them to be everywhere.
The old days were so much simpler. Have a look from 2.23 minutes in, Evans, Preece and Duckham letting the ball do the work. The principle still holds good today. Create space, stretch the defence and let your speedsters do the rest. Scotland certainly got that one right today.
mark a forster 