A series of fundamental errors let England down at Murrayfield. Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
Daily Telegraph late, great, cricket writer Martin Johnson, who said of the 1986–87 England cricket team: «They can't bat, they can't bowl and they can't field.» The plagiarized and adapted headline for this article may seem gratuitous, but it is not entirely inaccurate when it comes to the England rugby team's performance in the Calcutta Cup last Saturday. A match in which they lost to Scotland for the fourth time in a row, and to a team that was far from perfect.
No player intentionally makes mistakes, and mistakes are inevitable to some extent under the intense pressure that comes with Test match encounters. However, acknowledging this is not an excuse that players can legitimately use for failing to use basic skills. Nor should it be used to protect coaches from criticism when the systems they have developed do not work as effectively as they should or do not address fundamental deficiencies.
I acknowledge that there is a partial inaccuracy in the statement of complete incapacity. England's first 10 minutes were very good. Their first try was a well-executed set piece that involved cheating to get Finn Russell out of his defensive shape and then inviting an extra ball-carrier, Elliot Daly, to make a crucial break off the line from which George Furbank scored. /p>
What followed was an inexplicable and, at this level, unforgivable series of management errors and losses that frustrated England's attempts to capitalize on their outstanding start.
You can often make statistics mean what you want, but this time England cannot claim that the following is taken out of context or open to other interpretation. Making 25 handling errors and committing 22 turnovers in a game will not beat any decent Test team.
Scotland's totals of 13 and 14 respectively allow for an alternative estimate. Scotland's nine fielding errors in the first half were largely due to England's effective attacking defence. Errors in England's play were often made within yards of the nearest Scottish defender, and in the first half the majority of these errors were made on or around the Scottish 10-metre line. It meant England could not bear any further pressure on the Scots, who remained on the scoreboard before taking the lead through two tries from the outstanding Doohan van der Merwe.
Moreover, the fact that Scotland made only four more errors showed that they were able to adapt to England's pressure, while the visitors continued to make more errors in the second half. Part of this may be due to scoreboard pressure and lag; too much of it was the same as the first 40 minutes.
I fully admit that I cannot give an exact explanation or solution to the problem of England's extravagance. What practically can you do other than express extreme dissatisfaction and ask the players to take an honest look at their performances and make sure it doesn't happen again? Maro Itoje said the players will hold an honesty meeting on the matter. If so, then good – and it should be bloody. The ultimate disciplinary measure is sending off a player, but England's confidence, whatever the players tell the media, is thin, as their vulnerability under pressure shows.
England struggled to contain Scotsman Doohan van der Merwe. Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images
Coaches can't go out on the field and make plays for players, but they can design systems that give players the best chance to perform. If you read this column regularly, you must be exclaiming by now: «He doesn't talk about carrying the ball anymore, does he?»
I would like to report that England have developed a more complex ball game, who repeatedly challenged the defense in various ways. But I can't do that, and many other, more qualified rugby commentators have repeatedly highlighted this fundamental flaw in England's attack.
In fairness, it doesn't take a rugby genius to point out the numerous instances where players like Ellis Genge are asked to attack defenses on their own, with little or no support from teammates or trap runners. The fact that Scotland made 12 dominant tackles against two Englishmen shows what happens when you beat two set defenders without any trickery. This question was the main topic of discussion for all three BBC post-match pundits John Barclay, Sam Warburton and Hugo Monier.
If it is obvious to them and many others, why does it continue to happen? Either the players are not executing the plan correctly or Richard Wigglesworth, England's attack coach, must take responsibility. Whatever the reason, if England does not improve markedly in this respect, she will suffer from Ireland and France, her remaining opponents.
Still, there may be hope. The England team Johnson joked about won the Ashes series. Perhaps Borthwick and England can achieve equally unlikely results against the Irish and French.
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