Nick Easter’s five keys for English success at World Cup

Adam Kyriacou

With England’s World Cup campaign launching in earnest on Sunday, Planet Rugby dropped in on a veteran of three tournaments, former England and Harlequins number eight Nick Easter, to discuss the five keys to success for the Red Rose in Japan.

Workload management

Players have already spent something like six months in conditioning and preparation for the tournament. Whilst they’re in peak condition now, the challenge is to keep them that way, both mentally and physically for the next eight weeks.

England have an uneven break schedule between the games, sometimes at worst six days and at best 10 days. In theory, you’d want to play your matchday 23 in each of these games but reality in terms of knocks, niggles and fatigue dictates this isn’t always possible.

The challenge of Tonga and the USA is always one of physicality and there’s a chance there will be a few sore bodies after those fixtures. These need managing properly.

Eddie Jones has been very shrewd in his build-up to the tournament. His mantra has been to create a system that players fit into, rather than fitting a system around the players. We’ve seen mixed sides in every one of the warm-up games and this was a deliberate ploy to allow the system to remain when personnel are changes.

Resilience

Whilst I’ve alluded to the physical challenge above which is always an obvious issue, there’s also the question of mental resilience. As a group, you’re on the road together for an extended period and managing the mental pressure is equally as tough as the fitness management.

There’s no respite from the media spotlight; everything you do is recorded, analysed and reported. In Japan, a tour-de-force of social media and a country that has already become enchanted by the World Cup, there will be no hiding place, as evidenced already with incidents surrounding the Welsh camp. Journalists covering the tournament often are not sporting specialists but rather generalists, and they’re far more interested about what goes on the front page of the tabloids than the back page.

Similarly, Japan is a crowded and sometimes bewildering place. Accommodation tends to be tiny and simple things like trying to find your way from place to place can be really disorientating as there’s few visual cues to assist you.

Keeping the lads in good spirit during these down times is essential.

Playing to plan

In mentioning Eddie’s plan of using a structure for players to fit into rather than the other way around allows us to look at the tactics that may work in Japan.

From day one, he’s hung his coat on power and size. Big men hitting the gainline hard running either side off the nine or 10. Factor in then the offloading skills of England’s front five and you realise just how effective this plan is.

Japan has a massive range of climatic conditions; the one that will surprise you is the amount of greasy dew that tends to fall towards the end of the day. It’s remarkable just how greasy the ball and underfoot conditions get and sides will look to pop and offload rather than making big long high risk passes early on in the game.

Playing to plan is also about adaptability; it’s about the team having a small arsenal of weapons, whether that be possession based, defence based or territory based, and then having the intellect to use the right tool for the job in hand.

At all times it’s essential to stick to your plan. England are at their very worst when they get drawn into playing how the opposition want to play – this was evidenced by the Calcutta Cup game last year when Scotland somehow conned England into a deconstructed game when the Red Rose needed to keep it tight and real up front.

Play the English brand, stick with it and above all, react to change on the pitch before it’s too late.

The big five

If you look at England’s schedule, you have to assume that they’ll win the opening two Tests. However, once that’s done, it’s almost knockout rugby for five consecutive games. One loss and it’s almost a certainty you’re back on the plane of shame.

In simple terms it’s like having to win a Grand Slam in a month, with the big three of the Southern Hemisphere suddenly part of the tournament – a massive ask whichever way you look at it.

Yes, you simply must focus on the next game and that alone, but the backroom staff will also be planning selection around the whole run in – that may mean we adopt a horses for courses approach with, as an example, Anthony Watson used when a running threat is needed at 15, or Elliot Daly being utilised in games where we know the scoreboard is going to be tight and we need to own every point.

But don’t underestimate that ‘big five challenge’. Any side that beats five of the top 10 ranked sides in a month of rugby will be deserved champions.

Have fun

Starting where we left off and close to the topic of resilience is the simple need to have fun. It sounds quite childish, but there’s a danger you get so internalised about winning the Cup that you forget to embrace the culture and people of the country you’re visiting.

It’s key for the management to make sure the team are happy, create a fun environment and encourage the players to self-manage that – rarely is anyone happy by order – it comes from within and both winning and enjoying the environment around conspire to that happiness.

Nick Easter played 281 times for Harlequins, 54 times for England including a World Cup final in 2007 and scored 13 Test tries, including two hat-tricks, one in the his final appearance for England in the 2015 World Cup. A skillful number eight with cricketer’s hands, his offloading and distribution are hallmarks of a rounded game.

by James While

 

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