[ad_1]
Now we are all completely clear on how England will play.
England were facing a second tier team, but the team was still determined to dominate forward and face their own schemes as if they were playing in South Africa.
My concern is: what happens when this isn’t effective? England broke through on a few occasions.
It’s not that much of a problem when you play Georgia. You can stammer and hesitate and get away with it.
Ireland next weekend will be a very different proposition. But I’d still like to think England can play like that throughout the Autumn Nations Cup and feel good.
My concern for the future is if you have a replay of the 2019 World Cup final. There are few teams in the world that will have dominance over England forward, but South Africa did and they won.
If England continues to dominate the pack, they will always have opportunities for conversion.
You will not win the World Cup by beating Georgia. Against the best teams in the world you may have three opportunities in the game.
You have to convert those opportunities. They may be in the attacking pack, but if you get dusted into the fray, what else will you do about it?
People have also expressed concern that England’s style is not pleasant to watch for fans, but I’m not sure that’s what the fans would say.
Are fans really interested in England’s style of rugby? They like that physicality, dominance and grind, then little flashes of brilliance.
The DNA of English rugby has always been like this and England fans have made a good turn over the decades.
I’ve never been worried and I don’t think I’ll ever have the mindset that I want to be entertained. I want to win.
“Farrell was out of rhythm”
The English forwards dominated Georgia, but the baseline lacked a clinical advantage.
Captain Owen Farrell was by no means at his best playing mid-flight. He just mentally looked a couple of percent off the pace and that was reflected in the bottom line.
England’s usual ten starters George Ford has missed his last two games through injury, so Farrell has moved from inside the center.
There is such a difference between them. Ford has an incredible vision of delivery, putting people through the gaps.
Farrell is a tactical wizard. It will give you the right positions and give good passes, but not in Ford’s snappy way.
When you move Farrell mid-flight, you are actually interpreting a very different style of organization.
In the last two games the bottom line has been very lateral. It seems like it’s an afterthought to go overboard.
It might be better to take 10 more and get Farrell back at 12.
‘A fan debut is a different adrenaline rush’
Jack Willis made his England debut at an empty Twickenham.
Thinking back to my first chapter, you think about your childhood games that you saw on TV. You absorbed the atmosphere, heard the crowd cheering, singing the national anthem.
Having fans is a significant part of the dream and, later, of the memory.
It is still a great emotion to take the field with the England shirt and sing the national anthem. Willis will never have that feeling again.
But when he goes out and does it with a full crowd, it’s going to be a different adrenaline rush.
Team of the week
Here is my team of the week from all games of the Autumn Nations Cup. I also had to throw some Argentine players there after theirs historic victory against New Zealand in the rugby league.
Matt Dawson was talking to Becky Gray of BBC Sport.
Source link
