Eddie’s Conundrum
England’s lack of ability to adapt when things go wrong
I’ve decided to delay the pain of rewatching the Ireland game, instead choosing to take the opportunity to do some England bashing. Well, not really bashing, but put it this way, I thought rewatching their defeat to Scotland sounded like a more enjoyable Sunday night than reliving Ireland’s performance (though I may have been distracted by the Super Bowl).
A quick aside; plenty has been said recently about player abuse on social media. Needless to say, here at The Spiral we condemn this as strongly as possible and will never engage in abuse when making what we think are valid cricisisms. If anyone ever disagrees with us or thinks we have crossed a line, please do get in touch. Also, to everyone @ing players, coaches and referees on Twitter, just stop it.
Anyway, England’s overall game plan and its execution in their loss to Scotland warrants further discussion. As we all know, under Eddie Jones, they are a power side that utilises an attacking kicking game. It is a plan that has its critics for aesthetic reasons, but you cannot deny its effectiveness - Ireland fans know too well how England can cut sides apart when powering through a defensive line before kicking into space in behind.
It’s a plan that relies on territory; England tend to only send their power runners at you for multiple phases when at the attacking 10m line and beyond. It relies on accurate execution when kicking out of hand, as well as excellent discipline. If one or both of those are missing, it is too easy for the opposition to win the territorial battle - you are either gifting them penalties to kick into your half or space with which to do the same thanks to poor kicks.
This is exactly what happened to England on Saturday. Their discipline was poor (cumulative penalties saw Billy Vunipola binned after only 23 minutes), while their kicking out of hand was even worse. When watching the game back, I counted nine box kicks from Ben Youngs, with only two leading to positive outcomes (these being defined as an opportunity for an aerial contest or an instance of positive yardage made into touch). That’s a return of just over 22% - not ideal. The penalty stats have been raging about all over Twitter, so we don’t need to talk about these too much.
Before going any further, there are a few things to unpack. England don’t just immediately kick when not in the right area. They generally give it a phase or two to break the line, and if that doesn’t happen, then they kick. The frustrating thing from an aesthetic point of view is this lack of patience when it comes to phase play. When they get it right, England’s attacking structure is simple, but very effective.
In the 8th minute against Scotland, they attack from a lineout just outside the 22. Billy Vunipola crashes up in midfield off ten. Mark Wilson provides a latch to help him over the gain line, before dealing with the jackal threat of Zander Fagerson.
The quick ball leads to a carry from Tom Curry off Farrell as England continue to make ground. Ben Youngs then spots a half-gap in the retreating defensive line to snipe and make more yardage.
Curry’s work rate is excellent as he carries a few phases after his initial effort, this time running off nine.
The move does eventually break down when a miscommunication between Youngs and Wilson leads to the ball hitting the deck. The attack doesn’t lead to points, but it is brilliantly constructed. In the three clips above, England send runners off both ten and nine, even throwing in a scrum-half snipe as well. They vary the point of attack effectively, ensuring the defence cannot be sure where the carrying threat is coming from. Combine this with good breakdown resourcing plus quick ball, and you have the ideal attacking situation of running into a disorganised line.
The frustrating thing, from an England point of view, is seeing this type of attacking structure not being utilised more often. I understand the logic behind looking to attack only in certain areas of the pitch, but when your poorly-executed kicking game and ill-discipline prevents you from spending enough time in these areas, then there needs to be a plan B.
Plan B was certainly attempted in the second half, both when Finn Russell was in the bin and during the final stages when England really were chasing the game. The problem was that Scotland were defending much better at that point.
Above, you can see an example of this. Ali Price (9) reads a pass out the back to Farrell well, preventing him from getting the ball wide into space. Farrell instead has to cut back inside.
As well as making good reads, Scotland simply fronted up in the second-half to deal with England’s physical carriers. If you wanted one moment in the match to sum up how Scotland managed to compete so well in the collision, see this double tackle from WP Nel (18) and Dave Cherry (16) on Maro Itoje. Cherry may or may not have wrapped his arms…
The situation we have described looks something like the following: in the first-half, England’s poor kicking and lack of discipline prevented them from consistently securing the field position they wanted to be able to launch their attack. On the few occasions they did have it, they looked pretty dangerous. However in the second 40, while still kicking plenty, they did try to attack from slightly deeper. The problem was, by this stage, Scotland’s defence was performing at a world-class level. It is tempting to say England should have attacked from deeper earlier on when their runners were having gain line success.
What is the solution to this? The answer is: I don’t know. If I did, I would be paid a lot more to work in a different job in rugby. What I do know is that the solution doesn’t lie in kicking away incredibly rare, and therefore valuable, attacking opportunities. This photo below has been doing the rounds on the Twittersphere.
England are losing, playing with a man advantage with Russell in the bin, and here Farrell is presented with a 6 on 2 overlap. Look at who he has outside him: Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence, Elliot Daly, Anthony Watson, Jonny May, heck, even Jamie George. Essentially all of England’s liveliest carrying threats are in acres of space with only Stuart Hogg in the backfield to beat. Farrell inexplicably kicks it away. You could argue that he thinks the best chance to use those runners is to kick in behind for them to regather, but if this is the case, he couldn’t be more wrong. If this is true and therefore he simply did not see Hogg patrolling the backfield, then it is a worrying display of an inability to read the game.
Instead, I think it is a case of, to paraphrase Eoin Toolan in the tweet above, existing in a culture that is so kicking dominated. To be perfectly clear, this type of kick is a different issue to the poor execution of box kicks or garryowens. Farrell has kicked here for his runners to regather and score, not for territory. The problem is that the kick is definitely not the way to score here, for the reasons outlined above.
Farrell did essentially the same thing in the 64th minute.
Again, Farrell has dangerous runners outside him in space, but once more, the backfield is well covered by Hogg out of picture. The full-back gratefully accepts a poorly-executed left-footed grubber, before duly launching a bomb of his own downfield. It was one of a number of world-class touch finders by the man who will be the Lions starting 15 (if the tour happens!).
To be fair to England, they did show a willingness to attack from deep once. Here, after winning a free-kick off a scrum inside their own half, Youngs and Farrell both have the instinct to throw the ball wide. With Russell still in the bin, it proves to be a good decision as Slade makes plenty of ground running at an undermanned line.
You can probably guess what happens after the break. Farrell kicks it away when space was on the outside (this was our first example shown above).
This issue of poor kicking manifests itself in two different ways, but they both have an effect on each other. Firstly, when kicking for territory isn’t working due to poor execution and discipline, you need leaders to step up and admit this. I’m not asking you to throw the ball around inside your own 22 (though this worked for Finn Russell and Cam Redpath), but you can definitely utilise your carrying threats more often. Ollie Lawrence at 12 didn’t carry until the 63rd minute, Anthony Watson, a test Lion, didn’t touch it until the 60th and even this was only when mopping up scrappy ball off a scrum in the England 22.
The second issue is being so used to kicking in general that you fail to utilise the space out wide. England do score plenty of tries from kicks in behind, but they also should score plenty more by getting the ball wide into space when it is on, especially considering the personnel they have. It is a case of a slavish dedication to a game plan that is not working, plus a failure of leadership to identify that fact. This is not the first time we have said this about Youngs and Farrell, England’s primary game managers. England win more often than not, so the plan is effective. That being said, when things go wrong in big games, Farrell in particular has not shown an ability to problem solve and adapt on the pitch - kicking away chances for scores out wide on Saturday was an extreme example of this.
However, the greater responsibility lies with the coach. Eddie Jones is ultimately responsible for the plan on the park. He comes from a club in Australia called Randwick, one that is famed for its attacking prowess. His Japan side also attacked brilliantly and was a joy to watch, so I don’t entirely understand this shift. Jones has recently spoken about how the international game cycles between trends of attacking and defensive rugby. Believing we are in a defensive cycle at the moment, he wants to wait until next year to develop his attack. I’ll be made to look foolish if, in two years’ time, England are attacking brilliantly and win a World Cup, but my point still stands. I do not understand the motivation behind delaying certain tactics and therefore hindering progress and losing games. This side is already excellent, but it can be so much better. For some reason, that progression is being delayed. If I were an England fan, I wouldn’t think this is good enough.