Ben Kay: ‘For England to win, they need the crowd in full voice and willing them over the line’

Garry Neil | March 7, 2024 | SIX NATIONS | No Comments

It’s noteworthy that England’s performance against Scotland was the worst they’ve had in a while.There’s a cliche in performance circles that says there are no mistakes, only opportunities to learn. However, England has to pick up on this quickly since they’re playing the world’s finest squad, undoubtedly. Technically speaking, the Springboks are the best side in the world, and I can see why South African supporters would say that “big teams do it when it matters,” but Ireland has few, if any, competitors in terms of consistency over the past several years.

What makes Ireland such a formidable opponent, and does England stand a chance? Felix Jones has put England in a bit of a pickle as they are currently modifying their defensive scheme. Ireland, on the other hand, know each other and their systems so well that they practically have a telepathic sixth sense with or without the ball. This has generated teething problems since it generates reluctance.

As I’ve stated previously in this column, hesitancy is a sign of form because a team that lacks confidence and relies solely on muscle memory will miss opportunities that could come their way and thus give the opponent unexpected opportunities. Consider Duhan van der Merwe’s initial attempt. Slade flew out of the line to attack the backfield alternatives while inside defenders stood tight due to a misread in midfield. In fewer than nine seconds, Sione Tuipulotu fed Huw Jones to take advantage of the opening and pop it up to England’s archenemy. Then came his second try, in which Duhan dashed to further jeopardise England’s prospects as the ball bounced off George Furbank’s chest and into Jones’ hands once more.It’s noteworthy that England’s performance against Scotland was the worst they’ve had in a while.

There’s a cliche in performance circles that says there are no mistakes, only opportunities to learn. However, England has to pick up on this quickly since they’re playing the world’s finest squad, undoubtedly. Technically speaking, the Springboks are the best side in the world, and I can see why South African supporters would say that “big teams do it when it matters,” but Ireland has few, if any, competitors in terms of consistency over the past several years.

I could now see what England was attempting to accomplish. “We’re going to go into this game and play the way no one expects us to do,” Borthwick would have declared. It got off to a great start, and Furbank’s attempt was poetry in action. I was in love with it, but there were times when uncertainty made mistakes appear and England’s confidence wavered. This reluctance has a compounding effect: if a lineout is not executed flawlessly, the No. 9’s pass is not timed precisely, which affects the first receiver’s transfer. The more the ball is moved without this fluidity, the more probable it is that a blatant error will occur. Because nobody likes to make a “error” pass, there hasn’t been much rugby played by England until Murrayfield because of this lack of fluidity. The way the gameplan called for England to play, mistakes started to show more clearly and eventually Ollie Lawrence passed the ball into touch. The team’s mistakes had started to spread.It demonstrated to us that, for the simple reason that they are not prepared, England cannot control the storyline throughout the game. Right now, there is just too much beneath the hood to be done. They didn’t come in with the incorrect strategy, in my opinion, but they lacked the unwavering confidence in their ability to change tactics the way an Irish side would have when things started to go wrong. Although it’s unpleasant for England supporters, that’s where the team is right now.

There need to be a noticeable distinction in their evaluation of how they ought to approach the Ireland match. England is not required to possess the ball. The winning teams kick more often and force more turnovers when Ireland loses, which doesn’t happen very often.

Ireland’s ruck speed needs to be slowed down by England in order to prevent them from building momentum. Carriers like as Andrew Porter and Joe McCarthy have demonstrated a tendency to begin with minor dings. However, Ireland continues to pass the ball since they don’t expect lone runners to win collisions and obtain the ball quickly without putting up a fight. Rather of putting undue pressure on players to make decisions, they will shift the ball with an extra pass and cause hesitancy in the defence rather than the attack, whether it’s in the backline or just between the forwards. They will assess the defense’s actions knowing that their goal is to break through the defense’s core and gain physical dominance. As they did against Wales with Bundee Aki’s disallowed try, they even managed to find a way around a blitz by standing motionless for three passes, finding easy metres and momentum outside of it. It gets really hard to stop. I cannot emphasise sufficiently how England must cut off Ireland at the source.England has to turn the match into a battle in order to win. They must return to the kick-off match with George Ford and hope that Marcus (Smith) would somehow win it when they toss him in for the last quarter. They will likely return to their highly effective aerial style in the middle third of the pitch, where they will kick to contend and try to steal turnovers. Players like Ben Earl, Maro Itoje, and Sam Underhill will be scavenging for turnovers, and even if they don’t succeed, they’ll aim to slow down Gibson-Park’s ball movement to buy the defensive line some time to make a choice. Underhill and Itoje have the potential to spoil because they rank second and third in the Championship in terms of turnovers, respectively, behind Tommy Reffell. In terms of selection, I wouldn’t be shocked if Martin was assigned to the engine room and (Ollie) Chessum to position six.

The issue with England at the moment is that, if they create a turnover and move from defence to attack, they seldom ever follow through. Usually, it’s given to a one-on-one runner to break things up, but they should, in my opinion, take advantage of that chance to stretch a defence by making at least a few passes to get out of the opposition’s comfort zone. I would be gathering stardust like Feyi-Waboso if it were up to me. was excellent, in my opinion, when he entered. Even though he’s a little raw, I still want England to choose him based more on his strengths than his weaknesses. With his X-factor, he can gain as much involvement off his wing as possible and take advantage of any leaden-footed Irish defenders. Although Elliot Daly has a wealth of experience, England hasn’t exactly played flawless defence. Manny is used to using Exeter’s system, which is essentially the same as the new one. He’ll manage, because Slade inside him is communicating. He might even be more at ease than the seasoned players who are still getting used to it!

Catty is an expert at passing detail and has given his boys the courage to take chances. They’ll attempt passes that teams in the North Atlantic overthink, but if they’re backed to go, they won’t analyse twice about it.However, Ireland always seems to have the means to find a workaround for any issue you resolve. They can create openings in the middle with a forward drive if you split the defensive line wide. They are quite astute tactically. With ten to fifteen minutes remaining, England just needs to be in it, and the Twickenham crowd—who isn’t anticipating a home victory—will contribute. If England had a lead with ten minutes remaining, I think I would be more concerned because I don’t think they would have the confidence to hold on while Ireland closed the gap. England needs to be leading and the crowd to be cheering them on as they cross the finish line in order for them to win.

It’s astounding to watch how well the former England coaches have performed when it comes to managing Ireland. Mike Catt has significantly improved Ireland’s defensive line. He’s a modest, amiable guy who is well-liked by all. He’s got a lot of strings to his bow, but Stuart Lancaster’s coaching at Leinster surely helped him. He’d known Lanny since his days in England, and they had similar sharp rugby minds. They, Wig (Rowntree) at Munster, and Faz (Andy Farrell) are all in agreement. Catty is an expert at passing detail and has given his boys the courage to take chances. They’ll attempt passes that teams in the North Atlantic overthink, but if they’re backed to go, they won’t analyse twice about it. This “I’ll get a bollocking if it doesn’t come off” mentality is nonexistent. Catty is totally confident in their abilities.

In terms of Andy Farrell, he is a man who inspires faith. I’m speculating here, but if England could choose their ideal coaching staff—which is unlikely given a variety of factors—they would most likely appoint Farrell as Director of Rugby, Borthwick as head coach overseeing the forwards, and Shaun Edwards as coach of defence. He has more victories over New Zealand than any other player because of the confidence he instills in his team. Now that fate has changed, Borthwick is a legitimate No 1. I believe he won’t return to a No. 2, and for good reason—he deserves a chance. Despite the fact that the two individuals are so different in terms of their psyches and skill sets, I believe their complementary qualities would make a great team.

The main task facing Borthers right now is to infuse this Ireland team with whatever it is that Andy Farrell brings to make them global beaters. England has to start somewhere, and all it takes is a few sparks of creativity to ignite a renaissance. Unlike Leicester, who were losing games and Borthers, who spoke of being on a journey but ultimately overachieved by winning the Premiership, Test rugby presents a challenge since players do not have the opportunity to establish foundations and build reputations.

Farrell is a natural in front of the camera, and people like him for who he is as a person. You get the impression that the public hasn’t really embraced Borthers just yet; he hasn’t experienced a pivotal event that has cemented his legend.

The RFU will, I believe, support Steve Borthwick; nevertheless, they have little control over the volume of noise generated by supporters and the press. Speaking with others about their displeasure with their training methods in the changing room earlier in the week wasn’t great.

In light of this, Farrell does a fantastic job working with the media, and people find him to be likeable. You get the impression that the public hasn’t really embraced Borthers just yet; he hasn’t experienced a pivotal event that has cemented his legend. The fact that he appears to be treating the media as a duty to be completed swiftly without truly saying anything noteworthy doesn’t help either. It’s not his purse. Say that, due of Jamie George’s genuineness and likeability in front of the camera, replacing Owen Farrell was a brilliant move, even though he will never be able to change that about his personality. The story around the side will benefit from that appointment.

In summary, fans want to see growth, and following Scotland’s performance, we haven’t seen it yet, even with two games remaining. Playing Ireland is going to be really difficult. The coaches and players may find it enjoyable that they are the underdogs and that nobody is giving them a chance. Even though England might put on their best performance of the competition, if Ireland’s offence strikes three or four times, the game could finish in a crushing defeat, at which point everyone will write England off and heap scorn on them. England has a slim chance to travel to France and triumph in Lyon if they maintain a point differential. For the first time since 2016, they have a real chance to win away in France, but there are no guarantees. We will learn a lot about this England squad over the coming four weekends.

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