Stuart Barnes looks at what England have learnt from their autumn campaign
Monday 1 December 2014 16:09, UK
The verdict in the aftermath of England’s win against Australia was clear enough. England’s pack and George Ford came out on top of the superior Australian back line. In English ranks there was a feeling of relief rather than ecstasy.
It had not been the triumphant march through the month Stuart Lancaster had hoped for. In the end England were desperate and happy enough for the second win, never mind the three wins Lancaster said was a minimum prior to the month.
As a self-contained series of matches November has proved a disappointment but as a part of the development towards the World Cup, it could yet prove most beneficial. England should now know what they can and cannot do against the best teams in the world.
They cannot expect to beat the All Blacks by emulating their style of attack and for over a year England’s attacking shape has born a similar resemblance to that of New Zealand. The pod of forwards and the second wave of backs; the late and subtle passes or the sweeping waves of attacking play behind those forwards, doing their maximum damage in the wider parts of the field.
England do not have the requisite individual skill in terms of the forwards or the sheer ability (born of a mastery of the basics it has to be admitted) in the backs. Lancaster’s team has to narrow its ambitions quite literally. Clive Woodward’s team tested themselves to the limit between World Cups and got a lot further from the middle ground than this team has but they had a host of the world’s best players, or certainly contenders.
It is understandable they were capable of a more advanced game. The test for the management between now and the World Cup is: a) to get back to regular winning ways and b) to strip their style back to the one with the best chance of winning the World Cup.
If that means several steps backwards from where they at times were a year ago then take those several steps.....I digress briefly....just been interrupted by the window cleaner who says it was good to beat the Aussies but we’ll never be as good as the All Blacks....and that’s the point.
Never might be strong but for the foreseeable future trading punch for punch is a dumb idea. The scrum, the line out and the sheer running power of the pack with a back line picked to complement the forwards...well, that might yet be another matter. Who knows? Slammin’ Sam may yet be the saviour. But he won’t save a team playing wide rugby without the artillery to strike wide.
Game plan
The first try at the weekend was classic England. Strong scrum and bruising if unsubtle running line from the midfield and two forwards running hard, narrow channels through the Wallaby defence; this was the game plan that had the All Blacks wobbling in Dunedin before England expanded their ambitions and lost their way.
With a fly-half capable of putting the pack in the right parts of the field to do maximum damage and a pack able to deliver a platform for the half-backs (Ben Youngs kicked extremely well too), England don’t have to be the prettiest team in the world to have a shot of glory. They do have to be dynamic and territorial.
On Saturday they showed more than a glimpse; they revealed the way they have to play. Stop worrying about the backs, make them chasers of kicks (Johnny May was exemplary), tacklers and potent straight runners.
On the evidence of this month, make them more like Ireland. Joe Schmidt’s team were second best, like England, against the Australians in the open field but their tactics were terrific around the breakdown (chapeaus off to Chris
