RWC 2011 - England Overview | Thebigtip

RWC 2011 - England Overview

By Ray Murray on Tue, 14/06.2011

 

This 'hot and cold' phenomenon has haunted the English set up in both the long and short term. In the long term, which in this case we'll class as 2003 onwards past their World Cup triumph, its fair to say the team has taken a slow gradation downwards in both their win rate and trophy haul, enough to frustrate even the most patient longing of their followers. Their tournaments have consisted of, in a broad manner, resulted in usually beating Scotland, Italy and surprisingly France, yet losing to Wales every second year, and more often than not getting soundly beaten by Ireland - home and away, that is all but true except when they chose to hammer the Irish at Twickenham in 2008, but as we said, in their hot and cold, up and down approach to the game - its more expected than unexpected, that they can produce the unexpected - that is if that makes sense. One things consistent, they've given France a run for their money as the most inconsistent rugby nation of the European elite.

 

However, that run of inconsistency has appeared to come to a stuttering end, all signaled with a win in Australia - around this time last year to be precise. England recorded a first win in Australia since that faithful day back in that October night in Sydney when English rugby's cylinders were as bright and as efficient as they've ever been. This victory provided much needed respite for the whole organisation, and heralded the start of something new for the nation that has more registered rugby players than any other nation in the rugby world.

 

Not only had England played clinically in that their moves didn't end in knock ons, pointless up and unders, or rather the typical physical dominance England employ when under pressure - which includes indulging in forward dominance in phase after phase of rucks; They had heralds in the form of Ashton and Youngs, who form part of the trio who have heralded a fresh approach in English rugby - the third being Courtney Lawes. One of the most dynamic locks in the game, who has earned this title despite only rising to fame, literally, as a lock in the past two seasons - Playing a role in the backbone of his club team Northampton at the same time, who by which earned a place in the Heineken cup final (their first in a decade) for those who don't follow Northern rugby. Not bad for a team who were in the British second division two seasons ago. Lawes has the dynamism of a backrow forward in the loose, with tremendous pace and power that pushes the meaning of the term a team effort when trying to take him down. Even more surprising is his ability to offload like a seasoned All Black centre.

 

The power of these three can be summarised in the IRPA 2010 Try of the Year where Ashton scored his now famous try against Australia at Twickenham. It involved Youngs grabbing the ball from his rival nine Will Genia for the best nine in the world scalp, who then passed it to Lawes, fixing no less that three Wallabies in the process before a Sonny Bill Williams-esque offload to Ashton - and the rest is history.

 

In short, the arrival of these three could not be cut any closer. To put in it perspective after the Six Nations ended in 2010, Englands odds were based at 1/18 pounds sterling. In todays context, their odds can now be found anywhere between 1/6 to 1/9 depending on the bookmaker. For any betting man, thats a significant cut. The triumvirate have brought with them intensity, something lacking since the days of when Johnson lead the pack and the other Johnny called or took the shots. Not only that - but this intensity has lead to the revival and reaching of potential for new players. Toby Flood appears to have finally stood up and stepped out of the imperious Wilkinsons footsteps.

 

The once boring and one dimensional England have become invigorated, with the ability to score try's at will almost, sticking a Cricket score against Italy, flattering a 'second best side in the world' Australia by leading at a length of 20 points at one stage - and all the while taking French and Welsh scalps in the process. Offloading - a word that would of been whispered with discontent in the England camps of a few years back has been implemented to the full.

 

What does all that mean? It means you can forget about the England team that could bore the blind with their style of rugby, you can forget about the team that would stutter along in a match and could be put to the sword and swept aside with relative ease. You can in the mean time indulge in the fact that they have retained their bullish forward approach with one of the harshest packs in the game, they have a lineout back to the standards of Johnson and Co, and now have the backs to do a job on any team they set their sites on.

 

That entails that team's could get a shock reaction when they face up to this England team. Instead of preparing for the usual physical onslaught, England have the option to finally spread the ball wide. Its often said that a team will get nowhere without the set piece. In Englands case over the past few years, they've always had  the set piece, its the other parts of the game that they're lacking in. It also gives England the gameplan adaptability few teams can afford, to play a full blown out and out attack gameplan with the lines of Ashton and Foden in their back three (What team would be weakened with these two threats in the backs?) or their choice to put a game to bed through strangling the opposition of possession with set piece dominance.

 

As good as it sounds, there's reason to believe the English war machine can fall apart at pivotal times. The Irish have shown us, as England went on the run for their first grand slam since that fateful year of 2003. The worrying ache it provided the English coach's isn't just that they lost a potential grand slam as it slipped from their hands in a heart aching game - They lost in such a manner in all area's that its going to provide a long lasting headache. You could analyze the game for weeks and still not find an area were dominant in, or looked even remotely close to competing on an equal basis with Ireland.

 

Now the a few trains of thoughts exist. Either Ireland finally hit their potential and clicked, which many rumoured they would, and finally employed the Leinster gameplan. That is playing at a high intensity most teams can't cope with and running from anywhere when possible and offloading in smart fashion to keep going forward. Its either that or this English team is over hyped as some people have suggested, however, thats a fairly vague assessment with little claim after one poor performance in an otherwise impressive array of scalps in the recent past. What it does most likely suggest is that this England team seems to lack the leadership that teams need to collect grand slams and World Cup medals.

 

The way in which England heads sunk in Lansdowne road after 15 minutes summarised this.Again this was personified in the Millennium stadium. England 'leaders' Ashton, Foden, Lawes and Hartley all looked like missing sheep when a resurgent Leinster team scored 27 unanswered points in the Heineken Cup final. A worrying sign. Thats two big finals that these 'core' players have failed to put their mark on and stand up for the full 80 minutes in the space of no more than 2 months.

 

This should leave fans skeptical. England finally have the potential, but in getting this potential experience was lost as the old brigade of Vickery, Borthwick and the likes were dropped. England line up alongside Scotland and Argentina in their pool in what promises to be the one of two groups of death. All teams are supremely gifted in the forward ranks, and England fans will hope the new backs will come of age and show their prowess on the world stage. If they don't its literally backs to the wall stuff, and in that scenario, England always have their second forward based gameplan. An encouraging thought in an otherwise bleak area of England rugby.