Opinion: England have ‘found themselves’ but ‘serious contenders’ to the Springboks’ World Cup crown they are not
England players during their Autumn Nations Series win over Argentina and Red Rose head coach Steve Borthwick (inset).
At the end there were countless reasons not to get carried away by England’s first unbeaten autumn since life returned to normal after the pandemic.
Chief amongst those was that a week after outclassing New Zealand in a win they will remember a long time, Maro Itoje’s side came uncomfortably close to undoing all that good work by losing to Argentina.
A reputation built across victories over Australia, Fiji and the All Blacks for finishing stronger than their opponents was damaged as a 17-0 lead came and went with Los Pumas winning the battle of the bench.
Roberto Isgro pounced to make it a one-score game in the final minute and, with time up, Santi Carreras took his team the length of the field to set alarm bells off all around.
As time stood still it seemed England’s 10-match winning record would fall. Argentina were a lineout and drive away from avenging the 2-0 home series defeat they suffered in July and they had all the momentum.
What followed will not convince South Africans that England are serious contenders to deny the Springboks an unprecedented World Cup title hat-trick two years from now.
England stayed calm despite pressure from Argentina
But Charlie Ewels keeping his focus to disrupt the lineout for Ben Earl to claim the winning turnover, actually said an awful lot about the progress England have made these past 12 months.
We all remember last autumn: England could not buy a win. If there was a way of cocking up they found it. They missed two late shots at goal to lose to the All Blacks, coughed up the final restart to gift victory to Australia then twice surrendered leads to the Boks.
“Not far off a crisis,” was the verdict of former Red Rose star Ugo Monye. “One out of four this autumn, that’s awful. Four out of 10 this year. This is so sub-standard for where we expect our team to be.”
That 2024 night at Allianz Stadium they would have given their right eye for the doubts that ran into them at the final whistle like a Tom Curry tackle on Juan Cruz Mallia.
No doubt, this is a reality check for Steve Borthwick’s side. The Pom Squad failed to lift a tired team the way they had in previous weeks. Conceding 16 unanswered points in 25 minutes either side of half-time was unimpressive.
When the contest needed the stars to shine, it was Carreras, Isgro, Pablo Matera and Joaquin Oviedo who caught the eye. And yet in this results business England prevailed.
For the 11th time in 12 matches this calendar year a squad previously ill-equipped to turn narrow defeats into wins did so again. And they uncovered a midfield gem in the process.
Max Ojomoh shows his class
Max Ojomoh was starting his second Test match, his first on home soil, only because Fraser Dingwall pulled out injured on the eve of the match. He was partnered with Henry Slade, a stranger to England action since breaking his hand in Argentina in the summer.
Ojomoh grabbed his opportunity with both hands, reacting fastest to poach the first try of the afternoon, delivering a sublime kick into the lap of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso for England’s second, then popping the ball out of the tackle for Slade to claim the third.
The Bath man made 129 metres on 10 carries and was named player of the match. “I have been waiting for this opportunity for so long,” he said afterwards. “I understood what my role was. I was waiting for the chance to take it.”
It has been feature of England’s year that Borthwick has been unafraid to dip into his chorus line and been rewarded with headline performers. In the spring it was Fin Smith and Henry Pollock, in the summer Guy Pepper and Seb Atkinson.
“Domestic rugby in England gets a bad rap,” said Earl. “It is no coincidence Max Ojomoh, who has been churning out good performances for Bath, steps up at the Allianz and performs. The league is breeding good players.”
This is the sort of positivity England will hone in on before breaking camp and returning to their clubs ahead of a Six Nations opener against Wales on the second Saturday of February.
They will leave the ifs and buts, could haves and should haves, to others. Celebrate the impact Lee Blackett has brought as attack coach, the belief garnered from finally working out how best to utilise their replacements.
This time last year Courtney Lawes stood on the Twickenham turf and lamented the lack of cohesion in the England team.
“We’ve got the talent in England, we just have to get it out,” he said. “We have to find the team, we have to find our DNA. At the minute we’re not seeing that.”
That was then. 12 months on, even allowing for a scare in the final minute of the final game of the year, England have found themselves.
READ MORE: England player ratings: Max Ojomoh’s ‘debut to remember’ while Lions star has ‘poor’ return
