Expert Witness: George Chuter on England v Scotland

Colin Newboult
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With another Six Nations upon us, former hooker George Chuter returns to Expert Witness as England’s campaign starts off in historic style as they host Scotland in the 150th anniversary of the first ever game between the two countries.

With both the Autumn Nations Cup and the Six Nations title secured by England in 2020, one would expect that Scotland’s visit to Twickenham on Saturday would be a forgone conclusion. However, Gregor Townsend’s men, catalysed by the impish Finn Russell at fly-half, are a side very much on an upward trajectory.

Fronting up

England go into the match shorn of a few first-choice players through injury, but Chuter, a World Cup finalist in 2007, welcomes the opportunity to see a few new faces get a chance to start.

“We often have remarked about England’s strength in depth, particularly in the front-row, and now it’s time to test those resources,” he said.

“Naturally, I’m relishing the prospect of the front-row battle and I’m delighted that both Ellis Genge and Will Stuart look slated to start.

“Ellis has a real opportunity to make a significant impact on the match; we all know he has the raw materials to be a world-class performer and his scrummaging has improved greatly in recent seasons, with him learning to get his backside a lot lower in engagement to get his power going in a ‘down to up’ vector, which is crucial for a loosehead.

“His open play around the pitch can be outstanding and he’s learning to keep his natural aggression focused. As a carrying asset he allows England another option off phase play and, for a man of 125kgs, he sports a great turn of pace when he gets the opportunity in broken field.

“Will Stuart has also impressed me but in a slightly different way. Whilst he makes some big carries and his tackle count is right up there, what I do like is his technical ability at scrum-time and his commitment to staying legal on the engagement, presenting the referees with a picture of a straight back, straight push and legal bind.

“Scrums are very marginal these days, and half the battle is giving the officials no reason to penalise you at the early stages of the scrum. What happens thereafter can be a lottery, but there’s no excuse at giving away penalties during the engagement process.

“However, the Scottish front-row are no mugs either. Loosehead Rory Sutherland, like Stuart, is a very legal and powerful scrummager, able to roll with the hit and start low, but able to apply pressure through a straight back and an explosive leg drive thereafter. I genuinely believe he’s a Lions Test contender and his contribution to Scotland’s good recent form cannot be underestimated.

“At tighthead, Genge will be up against two wily competitors in WP Nel and Zander Fagerson. Whilst both high quality operators, Nel is a technician, a real student of angles and vectors, whilst Fagerson is more of a power prop. Both are absolute international level props and again, British and Irish Lions contenders.

“However, the one telling factor is, at the time of writing, both of Scotland’s excellent hookers, Stuart McInally and Fraser Brown, look to be unavailable through injury, which will mean a start for Glasgow Warriors’ George Turner, an explosive carrier who will add a lot around the park, but possibly is weaker than McInally and Brown in the set-piece and with his lineout work. It’ll be a great battle up front but one where I expect the experience of Jamie George to tip the odds in the favour of the English scrum.”

Finn flair

“There’s been a lot of rattle in the press with regards to how England nullifies the attack threat of Finn Russell. Some have suggested a man marking job, but I certainly don’t subscribe to that view, although I recognise Finn is a world-class talent,” Chuter said.

“Letting a player like that have room to breathe can work in your favour if he starts to strive for the miracle pass or move, as we’ve seen before. If England keep their back-row and primary defence in shape and structure, then even Russell will struggle to break down England’s blitz and I feel that, if they are aware to the threat of variations such as grubbers and chips, that playing to the normal plan will be enough.

“Equally, Scotland have an exceptional aerial game at the back and will relish returning aimless kicks with interest, from the likes of Stuart Hogg and Duhan van der Merwe. It’s crucial, given England’s propensity to kick, that accuracy is spot on – making them turn to catch or ‘kicking to green’ rather than to hand. They’re a side that love to ‘give it the craic’ and the more metres they make from kick returns, the more their confidence will grow.

“When I look at Scotland overall, I do recognise that they’re on an upslope, but both Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh have had dismal seasons in Europe and I don’t see them coming into the game with much confidence, despite the form of the English Premiership-based lads.”

Work ons

“The Planet Rugby preview this week mentioned that success for England during this 2021 campaign would be measured subjectively by an improvement in attacking ambition, but a championship and preferably a Grand Slam as their objective measurement and I tend to echo that viewpoint,” he added.

“Whilst I really do appreciate Tom Curry and Sam Underhill in partnership and believe, at their best, that they’re world-class, picking them together with Billy Vunipola tells you that England are planning to defend.

“With the openside berth up for grabs, I’ll be interested to see if Eddie Jones goes conservative and picks Mark Wilson at seven or moves Curry across and recalls Courtney Lawes to six. Both of those selections would suggest that defence will be focal. Try scoring is a key ‘work on’ for England and the other way is to pick either Ben Earl or Jack Willis at seven, both of whom add more in attack and try scoring, a key role of a world-class back-rower. Whoever he picks will give you an idea of the intent England are bringing into the game.

“England’s try scoring is the key. We’ve spent a year building an impregnable defence, a pinpoint kicking game and now, rather like a test batsman building an innings, we need to learn to be more expansive and to show our full array of shots. I fully expect George Ford to start at 10, and hopefully we’ll see him utilise the attacking skills of some of the emerging players like Max Malins and Paolo Odogwu, both brilliant broken field and phase runners.

“It’s not only about scoring tries; it’s about where you score from. We need to see a little more out of England in terms of scoring from phase play and open field opportunity; making the right decisions in the chaos of Test rugby to put big points on the board.

“The bottom line is, the England players go in rested, the Scots go in with a higher workload. There’s pros and cons of both, but especially where those Saracens lads are concerned, there’s a fine line between being rested and gathering a bit of rust and I believe the match sharpness Scotland have might just close up any perceived rankings gap between the teams.

“I’m not hedging when I say I feel this will be a tight one, but England have to be the favourites and I’m calling them by eight points in a really committed encounter.”

We thank George for his time and Expert Witness will return next week.

George Chuter, a keen rugby intellect, played a staggering 424 first class matches in the colours of England, Saracens and Leicester Tigers as a hooker, winning 24 caps and playing in the World Cup final in 2007. He won six Premiership titles and two European Championships and remains one of the most decorated players in the sport.

By James While

 

England