Jack Nowell has called on England to play “brave” rugby against Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday as they aim to stay in the race for the Six Nations title. The penultimate round is in effect an eliminator for both teams after England lost their opener against Scotland and Ireland were beaten by France in round two.
Crossing the try-line is a priority for the two sides that retain realistic hope of overhauling Les Bleus, the grand slam-hunting championship leaders who have three wins out of three.
England know that two bonus-point wins would secure the championship outright, provided they deprive France of a bonus point on the final day. The maximum 10 points now available for Ireland, who will host Scotland in their final match, would likely bring the title if France lose to Wales or England.
“It is about being brave,” Nowell said. “We are being backed by the coaches, if we see that chance to ‘go’, it doesn’t matter where on the field, we want to try and give it a good go. There have been times with England, I think we’d all admit it … where we could have had chances to ‘go’ [but] maybe we’ve just dropped into a kick.”
The Exeter wing added: “It’s just about playing what we’ve got in front of us. Obviously we’re not silly with it. We’re not chucking the ball around and trying to look for something that’s not on.”
There has been much recent talk of a “New England” and an increased emphasis on attack, rather than defence and kick-chase, but Nowell concedes the back line has not yet achieved the fluency they are aiming for.
England were outscored by three tries to one in the 23-19 victory against Wales, relying on Marcus Smith’s 18 points from the kicking tee to get over the line, and Nowell says they are trying to be more clinical.
“We’re looking at all our clips from the Wales game and we realise how much we did leave out there,” he said. “There was a lot of positive stuff … We are running the ball a lot … It’s just now, it’s that next step … We need to be a bit more connected as a team, sometimes. Putting it on the field is our next step, and that’s what we’re working on.”
Nowell, who said he is “desperate” to be involved at next year’s World Cup, added that he was “so angry” after failing a head injury assessment 16 minutes into his long-awaited international comeback against Italy, but also made it clear he understands why the head injury protocol is in place.
“I think any rugby player, when they’re in that situation on the field, they’ll be like: ‘I’m fine, I want to carry on’,” Nowell said. “I could probably be knocked clean out and feel I’d recover in a few seconds to get back on and carry on with it. I think it’s important to take that decision out of our hands.”
