English Rugby: Flat and Awful

It is difficult to know where to start with today's performance. In one regard it was the best England could have hoped for—a win in the first match of their six nations campaign.

In the other regard it was one of the worst performances that an England team have put in at Twickenham, and that includes the thrashing at the hands of South Africa in the autumn.

Quite what went so terribly wrong in the application of the supposed gameplan is something that the England management will have to look very carefully at if they have any hope of even challenging Wales in Cardiff next weekend.

This is, of course, assuming that England had any game plan at all. Johnson contended afterwards that the intended structure had gone somewhat awry in the second half.

"We were sometimes going off-plan and doing things we especially said not to do against this team. We didn't want guys picking and going around the edges against Italy because it is an area they defend best.“

If this is the case, and that game-plan was assertively pressed upon the players then why oh why did they revert to rugby-by-numbers pick and go tactics for much of the second half? This in itself would not be a major issue, provided of course that England were actual capable of making it work.

As a tactic it has its merits—it allows teams to control the ball, wind down the clock and secure territory. In tight games this is a fantastic way of slowly closing out the dying minutes and helping ensure a win.

When you are 30 points up against a struggling Italian side this is the last thing you should be doing.

The game was there for the taking at 19-0 but England never really took off. Too often was the ball kicked away—nearly 40 percent—and no chase followed. Instead the English pack were more than content to slowly plod up the field and wait for the Italians to come to them.

In a game where England should have made a real statement of intent for their campaign they instead made a lacklustre and half-hearted attempt at beating a team that most club sides could have dispatched ease. Quite frankly England were dire.

They showed no signs of learning from the autumn and conceded 10 penalties before the hour mark had passed. If this were any other six nations side England would have been comprehensively and humiliatingly outplayed and outclassed.

Noon must be dispatched with the utmost haste. Poor Matthew Tait—what this lad has to do to be recognised is beyond me. He must start at 13 next weekend if England are to have any semblance of attacking play.

Andy Goode demonstrated what we all knew he was, a decent club fly-half and nothing more.

The poor performance of the forwards and a shocking lapse in defence must, once again, be placed squarely on the shoulders of Wells and Ford.

What happens in the transition from impressive club performances to the dire tripe we are subjected to the moment these players don an England shirt can no longer go unpunished.

If they show class and form at their clubs and then this is coached out of them in the England camp then the coaches have to depart. It is far too soon to place the blame on Johnson, but he must have the shrewd nature that he possessed as a player and be rid of these substandard coaches immediately.

England are quickly and embarrassingly becoming the laughing stock of the six nations.

Harry Ellis at least conceded that we need to improve in “almost every area” if we are to be competitive in Cardiff and at least the players had the decency to look dejected as they left the field today, aware that 87,000 people had paid an average of £70 a ticket to watch a dire and flat performance that barely roused an uninterested Swing Low as the game entered its final quarter.

What has to change then? It is all very well making grand statements about the negatives but what can be done to fix it?

Firstly players must be picked on form and talent rather than ‘tried and tested’ history which seems to conveniently forget that they were tried, tested and found wanting. How Goode, Noon and Borthwick were allowed to take the field today is a travesty for those players such as Tait, Simpson-Daniel, Strettle, Paul Hodgson and Olly Morgan.

What these talented individuals must think when the team sheet is released we will never know, but there is a little more than a hint of the ridiculous in drafting in Jamie Noon—initially outside the matchday 22—for Mike Tindall, instead of giving the place to bench replacement Tait demonstrates such a lack of structured thinking.

Paul Hodgson must also feel incredibly short-changed being overlooked for Ellis after Care went down injured in training.

Secondly, and crucially, the coaching staff that has presided over four years of sheer mediocrity and at times absolute humiliation must be ejected as soon as is possible. Wells must go, Ford must go and Callard must also fall victim to the axe.

The fact that England still employ outside consultants in areas that these coaches should be handling demonstrates how poor they are. There is little hope for England as they stumble somewhat ominously to Cardiff and one can easily envision a  sizeable margin in the final scoreline.

Once again England have taken a large backwards step.