State of the Nation: England
With the Six Nations done and dusted for another year, we look at the state of affairs in each of the competing nations. Last up, England.
Successive titles but the English fell one game short of back-to-back Grand Slams in 2017, something that might be a blessing in disguise.
The class of 2003 stressed that they learned a great deal more from their defeats than they did victories along the way to becoming world champions and with their unbeaten streak finally coming to an end on 18 matches, the next stage of Eddie Jones’ plan must now gain wheels.
Squad depth has definitely been achieved in the pack especially, as despite injuries having hit Mako Vunipola, George Kruis, Chris Robshaw and Billy Vunipola they still looked a strong unit, as Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes in particular stepped up with superb performances.
Ben Youngs, George Ford and Owen Farrell continue to mature as decision makers while Elliot Daly, Anthony Watson and Jack Nowell all offer plenty out wide. Having Daly’s long-range boot on the field is another bullet in the gun for England, which will regularly prove effective.
Daly’s missiles from around the halfway line came to the fore in England’s opening fixture against France at Twickenham, a game they edged 19-16 thanks to a late try from replacement centre Ben Te’o. It wasn’t pretty and there were several critics of that first-up performance.
Winning ugly is a great trait to have though and England moved on to Cardiff where they again claimed a narrow victory, this time beating Wales 21-16.
Once again we saw the “finishers” tag used in reference to the replacements bench as the English came from behind to prevail, although Farrell’s fine pass and Daly’s finish on 75 minutes proved decisive.
Following the mid-tournament break it was expected England would steamroll Italy at Twickenham but thus followed a contest that will live long in the memory, for odd reasons. Outfoxed in terms of the offside rule, Jones’ men were perplexed by Italy’s ploy and were trailing until the 47th minute before eventually cutting loose, running out 36-15 winners to make it three victories from three. Cue the media fallout with Jones clearly irked with Conor O’Shea’s tactics.
Once the dust had settled it was Round 4 and a match that in many respects saw everything click for England. They dominated Scotland from the outset at Twickenham as the backline shone, with Jonathan Joseph sublime in midfield. The 61-21 win threw down a marker to the world.
Indeed they were now on the cusp of breaking New Zealand’s record of 18 Test wins in Tier 1 rugby if they could win in Dublin.
Hitting magic number 19 was outweighed by the prospect of back-to-back Grand Slams of course but they would have been foolish to underestimate Ireland at home.
Ireland were wounded after Cardiff and duly stepped up despite England’s best efforts as the Slam slipped through their grasp.
The Six Nations title was already safely secured however in a positive campaign, which is another phase completed in Jones’ plan for the end-game, Rugby World Cup 2019. They’re definitely on the right path.