State of the Nation: England lack rugby logic

Adam Kyriacou

With the Six Nations done and dusted for another year, we look at the state of affairs in each of the competing nations. Next up, England.

Four years ago, England leapt into a Rugby World Cup campaign on the back of one of the most thrilling games of rugby, defeating France 55-35 in a Twickenham try-fest. Hopes were buoyant, indeed optimistic, that Stuart Lancaster’s men would bring the Cup home, but England choked and the rest is history.

Wind the clock forward to 2019, and they again go into the competition after a thrilling game, but this time, for all the wrong reasons as Scotland‘s self-belief produced the greatest fightback seen at Twickenham for many a year in Saturday’s 38-38 draw.

To judge England after this is remarkably difficult. All Test sides use two methods of measurement: objective – measurement of task completion like power, pace and so on; subjective – the esoteric – how strong are they mentally? How does the player react under pressure etc? Do they lead?

And there’s the nub. On objective measurement, England are one of the most powerful and pacey sides ever to play the game. The speed and handling ability of the front-row alone would put many international backlines to shame; the power of the team from one to 23 is remarkable, able to dominate the very best. But subjectively? Well bluntly, England are not at the races. Their mental fragility is obvious after the showings in Cardiff and also against Scotland at home. Their decisioning is based upon emotion, hope and passion rather than rugby logic and their leadership is ridiculously under-developed, with a deep misapprehension that number of caps is more important than demeanour and captaincy skill.

At the core of this is the maverick Eddie Jones. Why maverick? Well it’s almost a self-styled nomenclature, one that he tries his damndest to live up to with garrulous one liners to the press, obtuse throwaway lines before Tests and at times, entrenched selections.

The key there is ‘self-styled’. Jones is his own brand and that’s where he wants to stay mentally. From day one, there’s a feeling inside him that says “you poms need me ‘cos we Aussies understand the game better than you,” and on that basis, he’s remained an outsider from the team with an air of superiority that says “it’s my way or the highway”.

This culture will not bring leadership – far from it. It will bring reliance on the Jones way, simply because the players cannot own Eddie’s exclusive ideas; by definition they’re his, not theirs.

During this season, Jones has been brutally honest at press conferences; “I didn’t coach well enough; I didn’t prepare the tactics as I should have.” Sorry, that’s hogwash. You cannot micromanage 80 minutes of a rugby match from the stands. A modern player makes something along the lines of 20 micro decisions a minute in a match. Allowing for 40 minutes of ‘ball in play’ time, that’s circa 800-1000 decisions a match, some 15,000 across the whole side. This shows why great coaches like Warren Gatland and Steve Hansen aim to coach empowerment, context and decision making under pressure, the exact opposite of the micro-planning England are exhibiting.

On leadership, Dylan Hartley’s newly found cool head is sorely missed. He brings steel to the thinking of the side and makes very good on field decisions. He’s found the emotional detachment to the situation that Owen Farrell cannot seem to achieve.

On the playing side, there are some huge positives; England have three options in virtually every position (although eight and nine are not quite as well developed as it could be). The handling and power needs to be seen to be believed and providing some key players remain fit, England have no personnel issues of note.

Tactically, they’ve a long way to go and key to this is ‘owning the scoreboard’, something they’re not very good at, evidenced by the opposition’s ability to come back against some big scorelines over the last 12-18 months. There’s a time when you kick for the corner, but there’s many more times when you kick for goal and England haven’t yet refined their thinking on this. The drop goal, a central part of the 1995, 1999 and 2003 campaigns, appears to have gone, despite its simplicity and impossibility to defend against. In basic terms, England need to own that scoreboard for every minute of the game to succeed and need to learn when to settle for three points rather than botch seven.

On balance, their World Cup build-up will be scarred by the events of Twickenham and Cardiff. The key is how deep that scar goes and whether or not the tissue can heal completely before September. It is not a technical, pace or power issue, but one of absolute mental fragility that clouds decision making under pressure. It can be done. But it relies upon Jones letting go tactically, but, paradoxically, deepening his cultural attachment to the team. Do this, keep key players fit and look to own the scoreboard and England could go all the way to the final and beyond.

Fail to address this issues and England will still go all the way – but in this instance, all the way home.

by James While