Even when they lose England’s cricketers are making everyone sit up and pay attention. Their one-run second Test defeat in New Zealand after enforcing the follow-on is merely the latest compelling example of their determination, win or lose, to make things happen. How good it is to watch international players exhibiting so little fear, trusting their instincts and, where possible, having some fun.
In rugby union, the same is presently true of Finn Russell and the now-injured Ange Capuozzo but not a whole heap of others. The orthodoxy, as underlined by the Wales v England game in Cardiff on Saturday, is that moving the ball in your own half is mostly a mug’s game. Stick it in the air – as both sides sought to do repeatedly – and maybe something will happen. Ambitious or groundbreaking it was not.
To be clear, this is not to say that all kicking is bad. It is a vital area of the modern game. Done well, it can almost be an art form. Sometimes, too, a lot can depend on your vantage point. What looks dull on television becomes slightly more understandable when you are sitting at pitch level and can appreciate the pace of the onrushing defence and the frequent lack of scope for anything overly poetic.
It is one of the reasons why the opinions of armchair viewers and participants can often differ markedly. Yes, ticket-holders want more bang for their now inflated buck. But, as those of us lucky enough to be privy to Kyle Sinckler’s post-game thoughts in Cardiff on Saturday night were once again reminded, rugby is essentially still a players’ game. If it is cold or wet or you need victory more than anything else in the world, the ends justify the means.
Things change, however, when you are aspiring to be the best in the world. Ultimately you have to aim a little bit higher. Simply copying what everybody else is doing is not going to cut it. Imagine if such great innovators as Galileo, Newton or Faraday had just stuck to the accepted script? There is a thin line between sticking to the tried and tested and remaining stuck in the dark ages.
It is not necessarily an insult to suggest a good deal of rugby thinking remains formulaic. Trying to keep 23 people simultaneously on the same wavelength will always demand a certain amount of structure and organisation. There is not much new under the sun either. Too often, though, this can encourage a conservative – small “c” – mindset and a growing aversion to risk and ambition. Other factors are clearly at play in Welsh rugby just now but their failure to vary the attacking script against England was almost painful at times.
If you want to beat this English rugby team, leathering it endlessly skywards towards Freddie Steward, their aerially commanding full-back, is not the best way to do it. Where was the deception, the unexpected, the footwork or the left-field variety? England, on occasions, were similarly guileless. Owen Farrell played flatter to the line but two or three times chose the simple one-out pass to a contact-seeking runner rather than pulling it back to the second wave of runners when there was potential space on the outside. The first and third visiting tries were very nicely taken but, on review, clear opportunities existed for more.
On Saturday it mattered not. If England want to unnerve France and Ireland, however, they need to accept the world’s best teams are those who can find the right balance between risk and reward. Ireland were a tough side to beat under Joe Schmidt’s painstakingly detailed tutelage but they have ascended to another level since placing more faith in wingers such as Mack Hansen and James Lowe who, along with the excellent Hugo Keenan at full-back, have a footballers’ instinct for timing and attacking space.
Italy’s Kieran Crowley accurately used the word “finesse” to describe the difference between the two sides in Rome. Scotland – and how good was the elusive Huw Jones in Paris? – are similarly mindful of the direction in which the game is going. If Russell fractionally overplayed his hand on occasions, the Scots are visibly benefitting from taking the tactical high road. If everything sticks at this autumn’s World Cup, there will be all kinds of chaos in their well-stocked pool.
Which brings us back to England. They arguably had two generational attacking talents in their matchday squad in Cardiff. Neither were given more than 15 seconds off the bench. You strongly suspect that if England’s cricketing head coach Brendon McCullum were coaching rugby – and he was good enough as an 18-year-old to be selected ahead of Dan Carter at fly-half for the South Island Secondary Schools side – both Henry Arundell and Marcus Smith would start for England sooner rather than later.
As the Test in Wellington showed, ambition also has to be matched by execution. Russell, clearly, would have preferred not to have conceded a crucial interception try to France’s Thomas Ramos last weekend. Hopefully, though, the occasional misjudgment will not stop him and others from giving the wheel a calculated spin the next time it feels right to do so. He who dares does not always win but sport is rarely the loser.
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