Joe Marchant is one of only four players to retain his place in the England starting line-up. Photo: Getty Images
As they return to Twickenham for the first game after their humiliating defeat to France, England must put on a convincing performance to jump-start their World Cup campaign and win fans over.
The 20-9 defeat in Wales was largely tasteless and error-ridden. The good news is that the only way is up for several reasons. Firstly, eight players on Matchday 23 for Cardiff were not included in the official World Cup squad, with Steve Borthwick opting for a much stronger, more balanced and dynamic squad. Secondly, it seemed that England arrived at the Principality Stadium with a deliberately truncated strategy. Although it is difficult for coaches to predict elementary mistakes, they deliberately make basic approaches look uglier.
Before facing Ireland next Saturday, who will be determined to avenge the 2019 warm-up massacre, they need a guaranteed performance. To do this, they must develop. With a couple of adjustments and a win, the outlook will improve significantly.
Forwarders play the ball
When offensive teams move their point of contact, their attack becomes harder to contain. England strikers made just 24 passes on Saturday, according to Opta. This is the lowest result of Steve Borthwick's regime so far and especially miserable considering that the team as a whole has managed 110 balls in possession:
Steve Borthwick
In contrast, Irish forwards completed 47 passes against Italy on Saturday night (0.4 out of 117 balls). The Wales strikers made 33 passes out of the 99 balls they owned.
The English figure of 24 passes includes ball passes within the lineout. There were 10 of them, and four more cases when the attackers went to the half of the bout to serve the breakdown. Thus, in 80 minutes there were only 11 passes from the forwards in the phase game. Alex Dombrandt registered four of them, including this pivotal pass to Marcus Smith before Joe Marchand's break…
England 22s 6
…and another link to Freddie Steward after Ellis Genge sent him through the planned phase sequence:
England 22s 8
These were rare turning points for England. And because their forwards weren't constantly threatening to sell, the Wales defense wasn't under as much stress as it could have been. Take this moment towards the end of the first quarter. After throwing an unconvincing dummy, Ellis Genge undresses Aaron Wainwright:
Wainwright undresses Jenge
Late passes on the scoring line will be valuable currency in the upcoming World Cup. New Zealand recently put up their first attempt at a 41-12 thrashing of Argentina.
Aaron Smith feeds a group of three forwards led by Shannon Frizell, with Dane Cowles to his right. and Scott Barrett to his left:
Frizell passes the ball to Barrett, who just pierces the line of reinforcement enough to free his hands and pass them to Coles:
New Zealand striker synergy
England have amassed these triples often, but only once, with this inside pass from Jamie Blamir at Jenga, an attacker made a flat pass to another attacker from this scheme:
Blamir inside pass
There were also only three kickbacks, one from Tom Pearson, one from Dombrandt and this one from Kyle Sinclair, who threatened to overwhelm Wales before Freddie Steward spilled:
Sinclair backed down
Now we know what is appreciated in England transfer of forwards. That try against Ireland four years ago, completed by Tom Curry, is reminiscent of the one Coles scored for the All Blacks against Argentina a month ago. Sinclair prompts Sam Underhill, who contacts his fellow rower in outer space:
With our own documentary series, This Rose, we even have evidence that the strikers played each other during practice this summer. See how Maro Itohe demands an inside pass from Johnny Hill and breaks through him:
Notoriously the first route in Cardiff to be broken by errors anyway, should be extended this weekend with more tips, inside passes and kickbacks. Courtney Lowes is especially good here, and Billy Vunipola is a great passer. England will look much better as a result.
Variety of kicks
England kicked 20 times at the Principality Stadium. Wales did it 34 times. On first viewing, it seemed like England were constantly hitting the ball due to the ponderous way these kicking plans were implemented.
Conversely, the hosts kicked with variety and ingenuity. Sam Costelow found Aaron Wainwright with a pass across the field before Gareth Davis' attempt. Dan Biggar's flimsy chip was restored, leading George North to joke.
Even when clearing his own half, Wales created problems with some degree of cheating by faking a kick before moving away from Steward to the Wings of England :
Expect teams to do it in England over the next few months. Set up for a boxing kick towards Freddie Steward (out of sight closer to the sideline), but flew off in the opposite direction and hit the controversial winger towards the open flank. Taking attackers out of the game. pic.twitter.com/g3WM89lgZA
— Charlie Morgan (@CharlieFelix) Aug 8, 2023
For a team that talked about the importance of shot variety, England offered very little. There were 14 boxing punches between Danny Care and Jack van Purtvliet. It was one hit behind the middle line:
Marcus Smith landed four kicks, three bottoms in a row and that blocked stump; clumsy moment that came closest to England coming up with an attacking kick:
Marcus Smith blocked the ripper
Max Malins landed one kick after he announced the mark and England's only other kick was struck by Joe Marchant, who cut through the loose ball.
The return of Elliot Daly offers a left foot entry into the backline and one must think that England's kicks were deliberately straight in their first kick. More variety will mean more pressure on Wales.
Designated roamers
While they played around with some options, mixing drive with peeling and other standards, England's line-up was another area where bugs went off the rails. Wales traditionally kicked on the field to deprive them of that platform.
Last weekend, the guests had 15 corridors — there are plenty of opportunities. But they lost five shots on either side of Theo Dan's submission. Increasing this success rate will be top priority for the returning Itohé.
However, this last section is all about phase play and the tactics that England hinted at in Cardiff. Note Lewis Ludlam's position, as Gareth Davis explains here:
The ball hits Freddie Steward, who starts to counterattack. Ludlam rushes to the far touchline:
Moments later, after the ball is accurately passed to him, the back rower rushes to 22:
Ludlam is far away
B Tome Curry, Bene Erle and Ludlam England have strikers who can stay on the edge. Theo Dan could be another player to stay on the sidelines when he joins the weekend fray.
Earl, after winning his first start for England, himself spoke of Richard Wigglesworth «telling me where he wanted me to attack and telling me how he thought I was better to use everything.» «. Expect the Saracen to migrate into the 15m channels, keeping Henry Arundell company while his fellow strikers take over the middle.
Tactical wrinkles should start to form immediately. Steve Borthwick won't panic, and there's no point in straining now. Despite this, with only 240 minutes left before the game against Argentina, it is imperative that England achieve significant success.
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