Damage Limitation The Order Of The Day For England

After the 37-20 defeat at the hands of New Zealand last Saturday it is difficult to envisage a dramatic fight back in the second test. Rather it seems we will be treated to a defensive game plan designed to limit the points which England concede rather than create the scoring opportunities required to win.

This it would seem is the action of a coaching team and a group of players still directionless after the dismissal of Brian Ashton—who found himself unceremoniously dumped by the RFU. However the problem lies far deeper as England, in their current state, are just not ready to take on the ‘Bad Guys’ as they were affectionately known by Woodward.

It would be a mistake to pin all of England’s problems on the turnstile appointments of head-coaches, and whilst one hopes Johnson will usher in an era of positives for English rugby, it really has to be time to consider abandoning Mike Ford and John Wells. Both these men have survived untouched through the Robinson and Ashton eras, much to the confusion of many England fans. Their mark has been felt on England sides throughout both regimes and their stale thinking and short-comings as professional coaches have carried onto the pitch, none more so than Ford's defence which has leaked an average of Twenty-Five points a game since he took the role.

Perhaps the worst of England's coaching inadequacy comes in the role where they have no coach at all. Incredibly England were allowed to travel to New Zealand without a backs coach, the one area where direction is so sorely needed. Surely even an interim appointment could have marshaled the backs from the shapeless mess they find themselves in into a unit that may have challenged the gain line.

What then of the notion that England are without an out-and-out fly half? Some may point to Danny Cipriani’s absence and Jonny Wilkinson’s—albeit waning—metronomic boot and both points may have merit. It was laid down for all to see against Ireland what a threat England could be with a fly-half who plays close to the gain-line and attempts to spread the ball wide.

However the cruel gods of sport have inflicted a lengthy lay-off for Cipriani, arguably the biggest loss to the England side. And, had it not been for another operation on his shoulder, Jonny’s steadfast defensive efforts at 10 would have at least shored up the almost biblical parting of the defence where Hodgson tackled so poorly. Disappointingly, both are absent from the tour and the soft character of at least one New Zealand try will haunt Mike Ford’s sleep for the remainder of the Autumn.

The selection of Noon and Tindall outside an inexperienced fly-half in Toby Flood was never designed to set the world alight with attacking options. It would therefore appear as if Andrew is attempting to plug the holes in England’s defence rather than to encourage any ambition to out-score and out-play the All Blacks in the second test. This, so often endemic of England’s backline, is evidence of the coaches obsession with defence over attack and many England fans would much rather see an imaginative backline trying to spread the ball wide rather than a staunch defensive effort followed up unimaginative crash-ball plays in attack. It would seem that England fans will be left waiting.

The only area where some positives can be drawn is in the impressive backrow performance from Haskell, Narraway and Rees who made sure that Richie McCaw did not enjoy his usual levels of freedom at the breakdown. However if the backrow performed admirably it was another story for Stevens and Mears; club-mates at Bath but seemingly on a different planet on Saturday. They found themselves embarrassingly out scrummaged and out-played in the loose. These are areas in which, for Bath, they have played some fantastic rugby. In Stevens defence he has shown before that he can be a dangerous scrummager, but it is unfortunate that Mears is under-sized and under-powered for international rugby. David Paice sits on the bench as replacement hooker and if Mears continues to be marginalised throughout the early stages of the second test it would be no surprise he makes way for Paice at half time.

New Zealand have handed out some new caps of their own in the likes of Richard Kahui in the midfield and Adam Thompson on the flank, and one has to assume this is due to the fact that they can afford to juggle the team as England are not going to provide any sudden surprises in their game plan or style of play. The belief being that England’s backs are so devoid of imagination that they shall fail to trouble the New Zealand midfield with anything other than a few miss-passes and the odd crash-ball from a centre pairing that doesn’t appear to have a side-step between them.

This England team, from the sizing up of their selection, is not going on the park to win but rather to limit the damage inflicted upon their already shattered tour.  One doesn’t imagine that Topsy Ojo, who surprised the All-Blacks last weekend, will enjoy the same levels of freedom and luck of the bounce that he did in the first test. A shame therefore that—if given space—he could demonstrate the form he has shown for London Irish. But one can only imagine how barren it shall be for him on the far wing with no real ball-distributing centres playing alongside him. England will find only negatives in the upcoming test, both in the scoreline and in the way they play.

England: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Jamie Noon, 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Danny Care, 8 Luke Narraway, 7 Tom Rees, 6 James Haskell, 5 Steve Borthwick (c), 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 Jason Hobson, 18 Ben Kay, 19 Joe Worsley, 20 Pete Richards, 21 Olly Barkley, 22 David Strettle.

New Zealand: 15 Leon MacDonald, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 10 Rudi Wulf, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Neemia Tialata.
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Tony Woodcock, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Sione Lauaki, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Mils Muliaina.