England are vowing to play more exciting rugby this Six Nations
England’s players are ready to change, on and off the field. In a fascinating chat during a break in pre-Six Nations training in Spain, the new captain Jamie George makes this plain. They heard the booing during the Rugby World Cup in September and October, and they know it was not all about Owen Farrell.
“The style of play probably had an implication on why there was booing,” says George, “so that is something that is definitely in conversation.”
This conversation among the players started during mini-camps earlier this month, and has continued since they arrived in sunny Girona last Tuesday. They have reflected on the best atmospheres they have played in – George quoted a visit by his Saracens club side to face the Bulls in Pretoria this season – and they are pushing recommendations to the Rugby Football Union on “fan engagement”, such as lengthening the players’ walk-in to matches at Twickenham and using players’ own suggestions for music between the action, with Ben Earl and Chandler Cunningham-South drawing up a playlist.
Scrum-half Danny Care likes the idea of a kiss-cam. George says they are aware ticket prices at Twickenham are high, and the crowd is not particularly diverse, but the players will do what they can to broaden the reach.
They want to enjoy each other’s company, and the head coach, Steve Borthwick, wants fans to be happy and engaged too.
So how does the playing style fit in? It would be easy to forget amid the recent focus on Farrell giving up Test rugby that England as a team were getting the bird every time they kicked during the win over Argentina in Paris to secure third place in the World Cup. There was bored derision on occasions in earlier matches too.
Borthwick made no bones about the basic game plan – he blamed it on the limited time available. A harsher description would be England’s main aim was making sure not to lose. The contrast with the intensity and clever problem-solving of South Africa, France, New Zealand and Ireland was stark.
Take the kicking debate first. In simple terms, a team kicks either when they are in control and choose it as the best option, or when they forced to do so, as there is no clear alternative to carry or pass. The deeper nuance is how much a team is pre-conditioned not even to try to create those clear carries and passes.
Yes, England fought like crazy and pushed South Africa hard in the 16-15 semi-final. But at one point in the World Cup, England were behind Chile, Japan, Uruguay, Namibia and Romania for offloads, and had half of those by Portugal and Samoa, while having more drop-goals than the other 19 teams put together.
“I’m not necessarily saying you will see drastic changes and we turn into the Harlem Globetrotters,” George says.
Even so, the players have been talking about “how do we get people off their seat. People want to see tries”. They are speaking to assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth “about how excited we can get around our attack”.
As for the new defence coach, Felix Jones, “the intensity that he wants us to defend at, I think, will get people off their seat,” says George. “How aggressive and physical we can be with our line speed. If I wasn’t playing, that’s what I would want to see as an England rugby fan.”
The long search for a big No 12 other than the currently injured Manu Tuilagi has gone nowhere, and Ollie Lawrence is also out now. Could Freddie Steward make a shift from full-back? It might provide that fulcrum enjoyed by fly-half Marcus Smith with Andre Esterhuizen at Harlequins.
George says “work is being encouraged”, by which he means the kind of shift used by Saracens 18 months ago when they realised teams were packing the backfield against them, so if they grafted hard “to get back and be in a position to go”, they could exploit the numerical advantage in the frontline.
England could try leaning on Northampton, who have lit up this season’s Premiership in their transition from defence to attack; the Saints’ backs Alex Mitchell, Fin Smith, Fraser Dingwall, Tommy Freeman and George Furbank are all in the training squad.
No one is saying everything can be done with a click of the fingers by Borthwick, Wigglesworth, Jones, and contact-area consultant Andrew Strawbridge. It is nevertheless a huge relief to know England are thinking differently at least.