Kevin Sinfield has a lot of work to do on England's defense ahead of the World Cup starting in two weeks. Photo: Getty Images/David Rogers
While we were worried about solving problems, a bigger and more significant problem remained in sight.
England are still sluggish and inaccurate while in possession of the ball. However, it was their protection that became a major concern; and not only during the historic, humiliating defeat against Fiji, which angered a small crowd at Twickenham.
This part of the game, above all, should be a mirror of the soul of the team. ; their coordination and their commitment to each other. One should not question the latter and actually condemn the character without hard evidence. But England, whose defense has been overseen by Kevin Sinfield since the beginning of this year, has remained hopelessly weak.
We can look at the three attempts they missed on Saturday despite difficult driving conditions and the absence of a lineout in Fiji. Also absent were Levani Botia and Joshua Tuisova. But first of all, it should be emphasized that glaring omissions were made in the Six Nations, in particular, the defeat by Scotland and the humiliation that France endured, having won half a century.
Saturday's kaleidoscope of errors derailed England, and it was quite remarkable to see a team of objectively good defenders — Courtney Lowes, Maro Itohe and Jack Willis all on the same team — looking equally disjointed or unable to apply pressure. At the half hour mark, a warning shot rang out.
In heavy rain, Fiji overcame eight stages of the scrum close to the halfway line, without breaking more than five meters. At this point, Ellis Genge noticed the breakdown and crashed into it, rather than bending around it. In short, he lost his patience. This is the isolated Ollie Chessum spotted by the flamboyant Celestino Ravutaumada.
Celestino Ravutaumada and his Fiji teammates were constantly asking: England's defense questions they hesitated to answer. Photo: Getty Images/David Rogers
Standing at the first receiver, the right flank rushed against the grain. In full stretch, Chessum could not lasso Ravutaumad and his inside shoulder was not covered. Vaisea Nayakalevu followed him and went under the posts, but the try was canceled due to a forward pass. England went to half-time with an 8-3 lead, but soon faced new challenges.
A common theme of the Steve Borthwick era was how opponents could beat tackles head-to-head. behind the pay line, so that relatively harmless situations quickly escalate. One such example came in the 43rd minute when Eroni Mavi's yellow card reduced the number of Fiji players to 14.
From a frankly dirty corridor, without any momentum, Semi Raddradra picked up a shaking ball and made a speculative pass to Ravutaumadu. That was all that was required. Ravutaumada stumbled, sped up and pushed a slipped Johnny May, wanting to avenge his opponent's first-half attempt. And again, Nayakaleva lagged behind and was able to collect a diving unloading. This time, Fiji will not refuse.
Number two suggested that Vinaya Habosi addressed the ball from an offside position, but due to more sleepiness around the ruck. In the post-fight stage, Ben Earl turned his attention away from the breakdown. The one thing Fiji has that England doesn't have is the athleticism that can be capitalized on when the game gets broken. As soon as Haboshi got out of the empty seats, he was able to stretch his legs and easily get ahead of Freddie Steward.
Of course, a weak defense leaves less room for error elsewhere because this team just can't take the pressure. After England cut the deficit to 23-22, Danny Care's strike revived Fiji. Earl flipped on the floor before Ford missed. Simione Curuvoli waltzed on the back of two more Ravutaumada carries, the second of which was supplemented by a load.
of the many challenges England will have to face just two weeks before the first World Cup match against Argentina. Photo: PA/David Davis
In truth, the attempts were just one aspect of what went wrong in Sinfield's defense. The English scavengers did not have the same influence as the people of Fiji, such as Northampton Saints prostitute Sam Matavesi. Willis was arrested for an illegal jackal even before Caleb Muntz scored the second penalty. Jaco Peiper tried to recall the flanker from the open side.
Rough decisions by defenders, such as unnecessary and panicked offsides, sometimes reflect a lack of trust in both the system and teammates. This is exacerbated for England at the present time by technical shortcomings. Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola have already been suspended for the World Pool Championship decider against Argentina. Fiji asked Peiper to study a hard tackle in the first half, and the referee's microphone picked up a joke that the same challenge would have resulted in a 10-week ban for a developing country player.
Joe Marler was very lucky in the second period, that the television referee of the match could not find another point of view on Albert Tuizyu. He could still be prosecuted and punished. Later, Alex Mitchell remained upright, covering Ravutaumadada and converting a rudimentary penalty.
Bortwick made it clear that he continues to believe in Sinfield, who most recently, in 2021, was transferred to Leicester Tigers from rugby league, stressing that he has «very confidence in all the people involved in the team». However, missing 30 attempts in nine matches is a sign that the team is suffering from numerous shortcomings that are not easy to fix.
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