England are stuck playing two-leg rugby in their own half before inevitably kicking the ball out. Photo: David Davies/PA Wire
A few weeks ago, my colleague Gavin Meirs spoke about England manager Steve Borthwick's approach to preparing for the World Cup. Borthwick said, «You get the best out of people when they're happy.» Comparisons have been made to the cricket phenomenon that has come to be known as «Buzzball» and the positive that English cricketers have seen getting excited and succeeding.
It remains to be seen if Fuzzball, the rugby version, can created by Borthwick and his captain, Owen Farrell, to raise their charges to the heights shown by Ben Stokes and his team. What's safe to say is that Saturday's victory over Wales was the bare minimum that any fan should demand as progress.
After the game, Borthwick was keen to emphasize that his team had learned their lessons. after last week's defeat at Cardiff and a win that at one point dropped to 12 players, something showed the team's character. Courtney Laws and Ben Earl struggled hard and Elliot Daly showed up with one twisty run transition. However, some context is needed here.
They were the most experienced team England had ever fielded in a 23-man squad on matchday. With 1,067 caps available, they faced a Welsh side who had 15 substitutions compared to Cardiff and outclassed them from two attempts to one. In light of this, the fact that Wales had looked more runaway for a long time was as puzzling as it was disappointing. The most sobering statistic is that England's record for the last four games is three tries; attempts yielded, 15.
If the goal of Fazball is to win, and win as soon as you can, then it's all right. The only problem is that you have to keep doing this, and only then will you be freed from periods in the games when your ambition is almost non-existent.
Bazball is all about positive desire, not functionality and mechanical prowess. Fazball seems to be playing two-stage rugby in your half of the field and then kicking invariably — intentionality, not ambition. Yes, we are aware of the mania for making successful exits from home territory, but that does not change the fact that the ball is effectively turned over if it is not contested, even if it is 30 meters from the field.
Also, the English kick-and-chase game of Fazball is far from comparable to, say, Ireland in 2018 or the early days of Saracen hegemony in the Premier League. Even when this style of play was outstanding, it is a fact that both the Ireland under Mr. Farrell Sr. and the Saracens under Mr. McCall learned that in order to defeat a more organized defense you must constantly develop your game plan to test them by asking more difficult questions. with the ball in hand.
What's the point of choosing Ollie Lawrence and Henry Arundell if you're not looking to engage them more positively and more often? The fact that we saw another central partnership fail to ignite and then saw Farrell return to that position remains the most egregious selection failure since 2003. Borthwick's fault for this failure is minimal, but it is still a key issue that will continue to undermine any good work achieved in midfield and back three.
Either way, Fazball will have to be postponed as Farrell will almost certainly miss several games due to his red card for yet another dangerous tackle. There are two take on this act and yellow cards for Ellis Jenge and Freddie Steward. You can try to put a positive spin on it by praising the resilience of England, who regained victory despite these obstacles, or you can get angry at self-discipline, which against a team other than a scratch Wales XV would prove fatal. < /p>
Perhaps it would have been better if Farrell had received a harsher sanction for his previous red hi-tack, rather than the equivalent of a naughty step that had to attend World Rugby hi-tack school last January. You know, the consequences and all that.
In contrast to the English post-match positivity, Wales coach Warren Gatland showed some anger. «I'm actually furious, very disappointed,» Gatland said. “Today we learned about several people. But just about some kind of game management where we kept them on their toes but let them off the hook.” He continued by stating, «We were going to take the game down, but unfortunately we shot ourselves in the foot.»
There was more truth to this old-school «negativity». If you want to know the truth, you'd better be able to handle it — maybe England? We'll see next week in Ireland, where we're in for a much tougher test.
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