by With England about to start an Autumn Nations Series that includes tests against the southern hemisphere’s traditional three rugby giants, we caught up with regular Planet Rugby columnist David Campese, who believes this season will be a great one for Steve Borthwick and his protégés is of crucial importance.
honesty
“From where I sit, England need to start being completely honest about where they are and what their recent shortcomings are,” Campese said.
“Of course they won bronze at the World Cup, but let’s be honest, they didn’t face a team from the top group until their penultimate game against South Africa in the semi-final, so I can’t read too much into that campaign.
“The simple truth is that England have literally won a game against their best four or five opponents – against Ireland last season. “They got close to France, New Zealand and Bosnia-Herzegovina in this semi-final but each time they just didn’t have the resources to deliver the decisive blow,” the Wallaby star explained.
“Believe me – if you repeatedly fail to finish these games, nervousness and self-doubt spread through the team. Under the pressure of the last 20 minutes, you find yourself lacking the ability to think clearly, and the sheer anticipation turns into devastating disappointment as you find yourself, once again, agonizingly behind.
“You can talk about a narrow defeat all you want, but they don’t give any odds. The only thing you remember as a Test player is winning and, to be honest, England are constantly losing games at the moment that they have a chance of winning. We saw it in Lyon, Auckland and Dunedin in three of their last four Tests – with the New Zealand games golden opportunities for famous victories that they failed to capitalize on.”
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Smith the key
“For me, England are too focused on building a defensive team. They are obsessed with being hard to beat and not easy to lose and that is largely due to the lack of ambition in selection,” he continued.
“A simple example: If you look at the reasons why Henry Slade, a man who played almost 70 Tests and delivered very little in those matches, was fast-tracked, the narrative is that he was the blitz defence leads. His pathetic pass completion and lack of pace to break through a good defense are not taken into account.
“England have traditionally played most of their rugby with two playmakers – 10 and 12. Now, due to availability reasons, they don’t have the options there that they once had, so we’re seeing the top 13 shuffle down to 12 in the Premiership ..” play an unnatural game and then ignore young offensive talents like Lennox Anyanwu or Luke Northmore because they are obsessed with a defensive wing center. “I just don’t understand,” Campese exclaimed.
authorization
“England were absolutely boring in the World Cup and the Six Nations.
“In elite Test rugby you need unpredictability, creativity and the ability to act opportunistically – the qualities we have seen regularly in the last 12 months from the likes of France, New Zealand and even South Africa.” The only way to achieve this , is to give Marcus Smith the keys at ten o’clock and tell him he’s in for the duration of the season and to go out and wreak havoc.
“For Smith to run the show, he needs the strength and the best players around him to deliver an unpredictable game of rugby. England have this problem at 12 and 13 and see great logic in bringing Alex Lozowski, a man who can act as a second playmaker, into centre-half to free up world-class player Ollie Lawrence to be the best version of himself , in his preferred position.
“We know England will be kicking a lot, especially with Ben Spencer playing at nine. The fact that Tommy Freeman, an excellent athlete in the air, sits on the wing helps create a target to win back the high ball. If that happens, removing rugby at nine and 10 from break-field situations will become a real option.”
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Fill in the gaps
“England is not helping itself with the general ban on French players,” said Campese.
“You could pick another XV from the boys over there, with some world-class players plying their trade in France. Jack Willis, Henry Arundell, Joe Marchant, David Ribbans, Lewis Ludlam… the list goes on. These guys are all proven performers and it’s ridiculous that England are inflicting a real wound on themselves to protect the viability of the Premier League by ignoring these talents.
“Courtney Lawes is now also retired and in France. England are truly faced with a conundrum as to how to fill their large presence at the age of six. The best Test teams these days have some really great back rows – players like Pieter-Steph du Toit, Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera, Charles Ollivon and even Ireland with Ryan Baird and Tadhg Beirne, both important options. The blueprint is bigger locks in the line and lineout athletes in the back row, and Lawes is virtually irreplaceable in that regard, especially now that the only guy who could have done that, Ollie Chessum, is injured,” Campese explained.
“I cannot for the life of me understand why the outstanding candidate for this role, Tom Willis, was once again not considered despite his outstanding form for Saracens. He has rugby smarts, is a lineout option and can get through contact like no one else. Sure, England have Chandler Cunningham-South, but he is currently a 50-minute Test player and an injury to him unbalances all of England’s potential in the second row.”
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The final analysis
“For me, however, it is the bigger picture – the conclusion of the tight game against world-class teams – that needs to be addressed. England should be confident with two games out of four in November as they face chaotic Wallabies and an average Japanese side. But that doesn’t tell us anything about progress.
“If they are unable to knock out New Zealand or South Africa and make progress based on results rather than excuses, I fear for their prospects of developing, with all their resources, into the side they should be.”
“It is time for England to reflect the style and excitement of the Premiership and that is based on ambition, unpredictability and pace, something that is a far cry from what we have seen from Steve Borthwick.”
“Can they do this? I think so, but it will take courage in selection and tactics to take this team from rock bottom in 2023/24 to a new beginning in the next Rugby World Cup cycle.”
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