With four weeks to go until the Rugby World Cup kicks off, the pressure is starting to ratchet up. Not in terms of warm-up results per se, but in how teams are looking to attack. This tournament is unlikely to be won by sides simply content to sit back and wait for opponents to make mistakes. On firm, dry pitches a cutting edge of some description, from first phase as well as turnover ball, is going to be essential.
In Australia Eddie Jones has clearly decided his Wallabies need further sharpening. Having dropped the experienced Quade Cooper and Michael Hooper, he has instead gone for youthful exuberance. Too little too late? Or a psychological masterstroke? Either way it is a million miles removed from the era when the World Cup‑winning Australia backline of Nick Farr-Jones, Michael Lynagh, Tim Horan, Jason Little, David Campese et al barely altered from one year to the next.
England, it seems, are stuck somewhere in the middle. They have found scoring tries problematic of late but, on paper at least, still have players capable of lighting up a game. The team to face Wales on Saturday are a perfect example, with Henry Arundell and Ollie Lawrence among the potentially exciting names. The recurring question is how best to get such crowd-pleasing talents to affect the game more consistently.
Last Saturday in Cardiff, albeit with different combinations involved, underlined how even the best of intentions can be frustratingly scuppered. It was a point further reinforced by Owen Farrell, England’s captain, when the topic of England’s “red zone” failings inevitably came up again. “Everyone thinks attack just comes from throwing the ball around but that’s not the case. It’s a lot of things working together.
“It’s about doing your job on the inside, for instance, so the space is preserved. It’s about making good decisions constantly. Where is the space? It can be in the backfield, through them, around them, down the short side, any which way. You can’t go around people all the time, can you? There’s no point simply throwing the ball backwards to get caught behind the gain line.”
Relatively obvious, perhaps but, in the maelstrom of a modern Test match, crystal-clear thinking can make all the difference. Farrell used the word “decisive” and he is absolutely spot-on. Latterly under Jones, England seemed to have so much weighing on their minds they were struggling to see the woods for the trees.
Steve Borthwick has been attempting to simplify things. He and Farrell spoke about encouraging players to “want the ball” and, as a result, create more collective momentum than last week. Farrell reckons the returning Billy Vunipola will be one of them and the pacy Ben Earl, finally starting for England after 15 previous appearances off the bench, will surely be another as the team look for more synergy between backs and forwards.
It certainly looks like a stronger selection for what now feels a bigger game than might previously have been the case. Borthwick also reiterated that, fitness‑wise, everything was primarily aimed – “I know this team is going to get sharper” – at peaking for the opening pool game against Argentina on 9 September. Three times the head coach sidestepped questions about whether his team were out to restore some public faith this weekend, suggesting they were rather more preoccupied with living up to their own internal standards. Which may or may not be uplifting news for Saturday’s Twickenham patrons.
From England’s perspective, however, it is less about razzle‑dazzle for the sake of it than simply showing the best of themselves. “It’s about getting that out there on the field,” Farrell said. “The more time you spend together, the more you’re hoping you’re going to be able to use each other’s strengths and be in sync. If everyone’s running off doing whatever they want it’s also very difficult. We want to have a way of playing but within that you want people to be able to be themselves.”
As he also stressed, there are still four weeks of tinkering time left. “A lot can change in four weeks, a lot can change in a week in sport,” he said. “You’ve all seen it, not just in rugby. But at the same time we want to win Test matches, starting with Wales on Saturday.” While England do not want to unveil their entire World Cup hand now, a touch more attacking fluency this weekend would help on multiple fronts.
