Eddie Jones: How England stopped Antoine Dupont and rectified the bench struggles in Six Nations victory
France captain Antoine Dupont and an insert of Eddie Jones.
In a Planet Rugby exclusive, Eddie Jones analyses England’s epic 26-25 triumph against France in their Six Nations encounter at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
With England finally turning a corner as they put in their best last-quarter performance under Steve Borthwick, Japan boss Jones gives his expert view on Saturday’s proceedings.
Depth of experience
This was an absolutely fascinating match from a technical standpoint with many subplots unfolding to a climax at the end, but the big headline for me was the difference in the bench impact during the last 20 minutes, something that England have been struggling with from both a mental and physical perspective.
Players like Jamie George, Ollie Chessum and Elliot Daly provided a real depth of experience and calmness of emotion to that final effort and both Chessum and George, alongside Ben Curry and Fin Baxter, gave England a lot more impact than their French counterparts.
George was a crucial figure; England’s lineout wobbled for large parts of the match as France pressured them in competition. Jamie’s basics were outstanding – the accuracy of his throwing is a given but his power in the close carry and the maul were key components of England’s last few plays. Jamie allowed England to bring their maul back into the match – and both of the last two tries came from his precision in the set-play.
Fin Baxter conceded a penalty in his first scrum but he learned quickly. He got under and in on Colombes in his second scrum and won a key penalty which allowed England field position and from the ensuing maul, a perfect throw, Baxter finished what he’d started with a really direct and dynamic short carry.
Pressure wins Tests – and without the scrum penalty, and the Ben Earl jackal penalty that led to the last try, England wouldn’t have had their field position to score – those French errors were purely down to the set-piece and breakdown pressure England applied.
The Daly try was something that will please the coaches in terms of a set move, but I have to single out Elliot’s intelligence in his positioning into the line and his timing onto the pass. He’s such a skillful player and the finish was exceptional off a delightfully timed short pass from Fin Smith running close to the line. Daly beat both French centres down the middle and whilst it looked easy, it was all down to his timing and acceleration to get over.
I also want to single out Tom Curry for his 80 minute effort – a world class player who delivered the key influence on the match with a huge shift in support and defence – exactly what you expect from one of the most abrasive flankers around.
Above all, England thought clearly under the pressure of the moment – experience off the bench brought them the reference points of some 200 caps – that in itself gave England some real belief and resilience. The execution was excellent, but don’t overlook the mental toughness and emotional calm that allowed the players to deliver in ‘close out’ pressure.
Fin Smith simplicity
One of the biggest talking points will be Fin Smith’s performance and for me, his hallmark was the simple things he did well.
England played straighter and more directly than they’ve done for a long time and that was absolutely key.
He brought physical runners off short pops into the game down the middle and he used his Saints relationships, especially with Freeman, in the contestables down the touchline. Tommy really profited from working with his club colleague and used his height and power to win some crucial aerial moments. That’s the way English rugby succeeds – structure and physicality – and Smith played to the strengths and resources around him rather than trying to force plays in wide channels with one off running. Simple, mature and effective game management.
But that doesn’t mean to say Marcus Smith didn’t contribute. Steve Borthwick cleverly placed Earl in the backfield during kicking periods to assisted him with the carry back and that paid dividends, a really intelligent piece of coaching organisation. Earl looked back to his carrying best and Marcus made some killer runs from deep, but he had Ben supporting with him and the back-row to recycle, with Fin available to add continuity to the move.
It is easy to go over the top in praise – this is one game from Fin – but in terms of giving England the shape and the structure they have been missing, he did brilliantly. Players like Ollie Lawrence, Daly and the back-row runners really benefited from his pass timing and simplicity and I think we’ll see him at ten for the rest of the competition.
“Toulouseness” missing
What of France? They were lateral by their standards, perhaps avaricious in their final moments of a move, where we saw them blow three or four run ins, very unlike the French.
Losing three key players that ignite their straight line attacking cannot be underestimated. Romain Ntamack, Gaël Fickou and Charles Ollivon are world class performers with heaps of caps, but they are all key in igniting the direct power running we often see from France at their best.
There was little creation or directness from their midfield, their back-row looked short of the fast, direct carrying Ollivon provides. France are also missing the power of a Jonathan Danty or Virimi Vakatawa to break the gainline consistently.
Ntamack is a key component of the Toulouse-based plays. With Matthieu Jalibert at ten, France attacked wide like Bordeaux rather than the straight lines of Toulouse. He plays more laterally and ‘out the back’ – and that means a wider game down the tramlines, partly due to the way he runs to the line and partly down to England’s defensive press into the French midfield.
What this did for France is absolutely key, as Dupont, who had a relatively quiet game, relies upon those fast, percussive centre field rucks to work his magic.
With the game played wider and with the rucks taking place more often down the touchline than in the middle of the park, he couldn’t get himself or his close runners breaking the fringes of the breakdown.
England pillared those rucks brilliantly too, crucially getting the key defenders one and two out to close down the fringe breaks.
It was telling that when Jalibert went off, France’s one attack down the middle working either side of the carrier saw them score in the corner through Louis Bielle-Biarrey, a classical Toulouse move.
The result of Jalibert’s more lateral game and the defensive pressure meant that we saw little of the darting runs into scramble around the ruck sides that characterises France and Toulouse, and took away Antoine Dupont’s ability to run short lines down the sides, a key component of the outcome of the match.
Lastly, in an environment where referees are often bagged for errors and poor performances, I wanted to single out Nika Amashukeli who had a superb match. He showed real feel, got complex scrum calls spot on and once again delivered a wonderful game under his stewardship. No referee performance is ever perfect but he’s the best in the game at the moment and has a great balance of technical understanding but with feel for flow and ambition.
READ MORE: Fin Smith leads England to shock win over France that blows Six Nations wide open
