Ben Youngs highlights ‘massive difference’ between wingers and calls for midfield change following ‘inevitable’ loss to Springboks
Ben Youngs has called for Henry Slade to return to the midfield and Tommy Freeman to switch back to the wing
Former England scrum-half Ben Youngs has claimed that the Springboks’ victory on Saturday “felt inevitable” as they steamrolled his former side 45-21 at Ellis Park.
South Africa kicked off their Nations Championship campaign in style, showing England exactly why they have been crowned world champions twice on the bounce.
“The Boks showed they are the number one team in the world,” said Youngs, speaking on his podcast, For The Love Of Rugby. “They ran rampant for the first 15 minutes, and the game was pretty much done by that point. The collisions, the aerial work, the speed, the accuracy. It was one-way traffic.”
England appeared frozen in headlights as the Springboks powered ahead through tries from Thomas du Toit, Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse to take an early 17-0 lead with just 12 minutes on the clock.
“Surely, lads, you knew that this was coming in the first 10/15 minutes,” continued Youngs, exasperated at the lack of response from England.
“I know it’s another thing stopping it, but South Africa dominated the air, dominated the collision and dominated the gainline. You thought they were going to move the ball, play at speed and play at tempo, but they came out and they battered the front door down first.
“They put the ball in the air, and they dominated the aerial battle. Every aerial ball they were getting back. Willemse at the back, the two wingers, Arendse, Kolbe, they were dominant.
“The South African (wingers) aren’t exactly blessed with height, but they have a dynamism and ability to leap in the air and make a contest, and that’s probably the massive difference in those back threes was the aerial skills. It wasn’t the size; it was the ability to get up, have the confidence to go up and disrupt or catch the ball.”
“England’s kick to compete wasn’t there”
South Africa’s kicking was calculated and clearly the result of many hours of practice involving the whole squad, while England’s appeared to show a severe disconnect between the kicker and the chasers.
“England’s kick to compete wasn’t there,” continued Youngs. “I couldn’t work out what the kick strategy was because I was thinking, are they going to kick short like South Africa did? Grant Williams had that on string all night, putting up in the air, allowing those wingers to get in the air and compete.
“I looked at England, and it wasn’t short enough to go up and compete. It then wasn’t long enough to push you as far away downfield as possible.”
England have a plethora of scrum-halves to choose from, but besides Alex Mitchell, none have yet to make their mark at the international level.
“Jack van Poortvliet was given the starting shirt in this Test, but once again failed to make the desired impact. Ben Spencer is probably the most technically sound of all England’s scrum-half options, but he was bizarrely not involved in a match that clearly required his skillset.
“Harry Randall, Raffi Quirke, Charlie Bracken and Archie McParland are banging on the door for selection, but it didn’t look like an individual problem; it looked more systemic. Once again, if there’s a disconnect between the kicker and the chasers, then the aerial battle is lost before the game even begins.”
A change in the midfield
As with the scrum-half debate, a single player change wouldn’t change the outlook of the match. But one area that needs changing, according to Youngs, is the midfield. “The idea of Tommy Freeman playing 13, it is possible, but he is equally our best winger,” Youngs explained.
“We need to look at putting Tommy back on the wing, playing him there with Manny Feyi-Waboso, and Henry Slade is Test-proven; he’s in great form. Saturday would have suited Slade better.”
Slade was not set to be in the matchday 23, but got called up after George Furbank’s late withdrawal due to appendicitis, which required emergency surgery. Slade was a key member of Exeter Chiefs’ impressive Gallagher PREM season, reaching the final at Twickenham and leading the league’s points-scorers list with 193.
He is also a seasoned international with 74 caps already, and is arguably rather unlucky not to have earned himself a British and Irish Lions call-up.
England could benefit from the availability of Benhard Janse van Rensburg ahead of their next match against Fiji on July 11, as he becomes eligible from next Wednesday. Also, with the likes of Max Ojomoh, head coach Steve Borthwick has numerous centres to choose from.
