With the Rugby World Cup but a week away, never has expectation been so low around an England rugby side.
But Planet Rugby’s James While believes a few of these are self-inflicted and, if handled better, could have resulted in better outcomes for England’s head coach Steve Borthwick and his team.
Early Squad Announcement
By choosing to name his 33-man squad a month before the required cut-off date, Borthwick’s aim was to remove the press and public speculation and to give his chosen men a chance to perform without pressure.
Ordinarily, with a settled, performing side, this would be a sensible policy, but England are far from settled and far from performing.
This is a case of carrot and stick; how players handle pressure is key to Test rugby, and given the closeness in the selections, that motivation stick through the warm-ups to earn a place may well have driven players to more impressive performances.
It also removed some of the carrots of the fringe players to drive their selection claims, removing the chance for some talented youngsters and French-based players to strut their stuff in front of the selectorial team.
In short, this removed both competition and reason – two crucial factors in a rugby player’s motivation. And in doing so, players selected are always going to be playing within themselves, attempting to keep themselves fit for the tournament ahead.
The policy might have worked for other sides, but in a team as out of form as England, new blood and competition were vital in the lead-up, and the early naming of the squad prevented this from happening.
Taking players with fitness and availability issues
England travel to France with only 28 players available for the first game, given that Tom Curry, Elliot Daly and Kyle Sinckler have fitness clouds over them. In the case of Curry, normally a vital cog in England’s breakdown machine, it’s somewhat ironic that he himself has indeed broken down and hasn’t played a game in anger since the Premiership Final back on May 27th.
Training fitness is one thing, but match fitness at Test level is entirely another, and it would be surprising to see Curry start the vital opener against Argentina despite continued reassurances about his return to fitness.
With Billy Vunipola also unavailable for this game through suspension, that means that England will play without two of their stated first-choice back-row available to them, a ridiculous scenario.
Former England Captain Chris Robshaw told Planet Rugby how important taking 33 available, fit and competitive players are in terms of setting the tone for a campaign, both for onfield performance but also for team morale, advice that appears to have gone unheeded by Borthwick.
With Owen Farrell also suspended until the third pool game against Chile, England are short not only of the five players, but you might argue that four of them are nailed-on starters in the head coach’s planning.
It begs the question if, knowing these men are only usable for part of the tournament, changes should have been made to ensure the competitiveness of the squad.
Proven Test Players
Borthwick has made a big play in terms of stating he’s picked experienced and proven Test players. Well, clearly, he’s not been watching much of England in recent times, as the only thing a few of his squad have proven is big question marks over their ability to deliver at Test level.
In every single choice, Borthwick has gone safety first (with the possible exception of Saracens’ hooker Theo Dan, a stand out in a rather bare cupboard), preferring what he knows rather than what he’s prepared to find out.
Experience has trumped youth or promise, leaving Premiership standouts like Cadan Murley, Fraser Dingwall, James Ramm, Tom Pearson, Val Rapava-Ruskin, Adam Radwan, Chandler Cunningham-South, Alex Coles, Tom Willis (OK, we accept he’s now in France) and Will Joseph kicking their heels back at home.
The issue is further compounded when you consider England’s chances aren’t that great whoever they pick- so why not change things up a little, try new combinations and look to the future?
Sure, there may be question marks over Radwan’s defence, Murley’s experience and Will Joseph’s physicality, but the upside of what they can deliver in attack outweighs the downside, and surely picking just a couple of these outstanding game-changers may have worried opponents more than picking players who are merely good at many things rather than outstanding at one?
Eddie Jones has his critics- many of them- but one thing he was very sure about was the need to regenerate a Test side between World Cups and it’s bizarre that Borthwick has ignored this premise wholly in selecting this team.
Embrace Challenge
In the case of three players, Rapava-Ruskin, Zach Mercer and Henry Slade, it’s no secret that all three players are perhaps challenging in terms of managing them in a squad environment.
All three are game changers and, at their best, could be world-class performers. But it’s well known that in the case of big Val that, he has a rather unique sense of humour and a no less novel approach to hard fitness training. Nevertheless, ignoring a man who conceded three scrum pens, topped virtually every Premiership metric for a prop and is feared by every tighthead in Europe is nonsensical.
Many eyebrows were raised on Mercer’s early jettisoning from the squad, given that he has been the best number eight in the Top 14 for two seasons. It’s rumoured that Borthwick wanted more direct carrying from the back of the scrum, but given where he is with eights right now, the Mercer omission becomes more perplexing by the day.
Slade is a difficult one; nobody questions his raw ability, but his recent performances have been dismal, with wayward passing, ineffective defence and error-strewn kicking littering his game. But at his best, there’s no question he’s the finest passing and running 13 available to England. One can only conclude that his individualism has cost him a place in a structure of dictation rather than imagination.
Too Comfortable
England’s players have looked relaxed and at ease with the squad environment during the warm-ups. They talk about how well-supported they are, how enjoyable their time together is and so on. But is that in itself a good thing?
It goes back to the previous point about embracing challenges. Test players need to be taken out of their comfort zone, to face problems they themselves have to solve on the hoof.
The early announcement, as noted above, took some natural sting out of that training environment, one where players should be bursting to get their hands on the jersey but find themselves told they’ve got it before they’ve really fired a shot in anger.
It’s about taking players to the limit of their ability, physically and mentally, keeping emotions on the edge without ever falling over it, and creating an environment of respect and absolute desire, one where they’re absolutely driven to achieve rather than given a prize for just turning up and participating.
Yes, England’s players are comfortable, but it just might be they’re a little too comfortable.
READ MORE: Two Cents Rugby picks his form World XV heading into the World Cup
The article Five pre-Rugby World Cup blunders from England head coach Steve Borthwick appeared first on Planetrugby.com.
Article courtesy of
Source link
