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Player-led change gets thumbs up but jury out on selection: Andy Goode
By Andy Goode
Steve Borthwick is talking a good game but some of his selections are leaving everyone scratching their heads yet again.
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England played with much more attacking intent against Italy, evidenced by the fact they beat more defenders than they have in any other Six Nations game for half a dozen years, and the head coach says he wants more of the same in Cardiff.
He believes they can still win the tournament by “playing fast and getting the ball to our players with strength, pace and athleticism” but two players who fit that description and have been in good form in Ollie Sleightholme and Tom Willis have been dropped.
The balance is always tricky when you go into a game needing a bonus point, putting to one side the favour they need from Scotland, but I think it’s right to go out there chasing tries right from the off as it’s the only way they can realistically win the competition.
I’ve no doubt Ireland are going to beat Italy with a bonus point and by a decent margin, so England will have to get a bonus point of their own before grabbing their tartan scarves and hoping for an unlikely French slip up.
Having been on the bench for the defeat in Dublin, Willis has played a big role in the last three wins on the bounce in terms of getting his team on the front foot and Sleightholme has scored six tries in his last six Tests.
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I do understand the thinking behind Borthwick going for Tom Roebuck, who has had to wait very patiently for his first start, and picking the back row he has but I’m not sure what it says to the two players he’s left out and I think he’s guilty of looking at the opposition too much.
Wales have lost their last 16 Tests, this is statistically the worst Welsh side ever, so I think England should be backing their best starting XV according to the identity they’re looking to build rather than tailoring selection to whoever is wearing red.
I am excited by seeing Tommy Freeman wear the England number 13 jersey for the first time, albeit only because of injuries to others, as he has real game-breaking ability and hasn’t got his hands on the ball as much as anyone would have liked from the wing.
It’s a backline that can obviously cause a lot of damage but it’s telling that Alex Mitchell is the only player in it who started in the same position against Ireland in Round 1 as Borthwick continues to struggle to find the combinations he likes best behind the scrum.
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Whatever state Wales are in, it’ll be harder to beat 36 defenders in the cauldron of Cardiff than it was against the Italians at home but it was a start and I heard that the change in approach was player-led to a large extent.
If that is the case, then hopefully coach and players are all brave enough to stick with it and both come up with a strategy that allows the freedom to express themselves and then play heads up rugby when the opportunity arises rather than going back into their shells.
Wales’ biggest weakness over the last couple of games, despite the improvement they’ve shown, has been in the wide channels so Borthwick is right to be talking about getting quick ball and playing with width but the proof will be in the pudding.
I hope we don’t see an early injury in the backs or the second row either as I just don’t get the balance of the bench at all with no locks and George Ford on there even though two fly-halves are starting the game.
Ford will be one away from a century of caps after Saturday, but any one of Oscar Beard, Max Ojomoh, Alex Lozowski or even Sleightholme would’ve offered England far greater flexibility and however good a player Ben Earl is, I don’t fancy him playing inside centre for too long.
It’s great to see Henry Pollock making his international debut at the age of just 20 and he looks like a star of the future, who is certain to get game time in Argentina this summer in the same way the Curry brothers did in 2017.
However, you have to spare a thought for Ted Hill, who has been consistently excellent for the Premiership leaders Bath and can cover both second and back row as a replacement yet has been discarded again after getting a grand total of 11 minutes over two spells last week.
It’s absolutely Borthwick’s prerogative to pick who he wants for each specific match and he does seem to be a fan of horses for courses selections, but I think it’s fair to question his management of players in the same way Eddie Jones was questioned for his.
Nothing would give the Welsh players, coaches and fans greater pleasure than snapping their longest ever losing streak against their biggest rival on home turf and the last thing England want is to get into an arm wrestle with a desperate opponent.
You can debate certain selections, but Borthwick is saying all the right things. Now it’s time to practice what he’s preaching and if they do, I fully expect England to win by eight points.
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“I heard that the change in approach was player-led to a large extent”
Andy Goode led the campaign to get Borthwick installed as England coach in 2022, and has then spent the next two years implausibly arguing that everything good about England has been driven by the players, not the coaches.
If Goode is right about Borthwick being useless then that just discredits his own previous support of him, but it is noteworthy that Goode has never presented any evidence in support of the narrative of player-revolt. Notably those who have much greater access behind-the-scenes in the England camp (e.g. For the Love of Rugby) never seem to share Goode’s interpretation of the goings on there.
At this point though, whatever you think of Borthwick, or the style of rugby he plays, I hope we can all agree that Goode’s opinions aren’t worth the paper they’re written on (which is to say - given they aren’t written on paper - that they’re worth less than £0).
It’s the same line I heard presented about the teams play last year, from the 6N or July tours. You think he’s beating an old drum?
Have to agree I’ve suspected him as being the typical author on this site though
Yeah agree with a lot of this. Borthwick is saying the right things but unfortunately I think he can encourage the players to express themselves but intrinsically he's uber conservative and he's coaching them to play a very rigid game plan and the two things aren't compatible so England look muddled with no identity. It's no good having an incredibly rigid structure in place and then telling your players to express themselves.
I agree that Borthwick's selections are too cute. We're supposed to be favourites for this match and we've got a much changed team with no ball carriers. We should be picking our best players and imposing ourselves on Wales not picking 3 opensides to try and counter whatever they're doing. We've lost Lawrence and then we drop Willis too? Odd. Alex Mitchell the only back in the same shirt as the first match. How are we going into this match with a less settled backline than Wales? That's poor.
The bench selection is weirdest of all. The back selection makes no sense. We've got two flyhalves already, absolutely no need for a third. JVP may be an ok option for a starting 9 (if you like that sort of thing) but he adds no impact and will reduce the tempo when he comes on as he did against Italy, we should have been putting them to the sword and we started box kicking. As for Ted Hill being dropped with no second row cover, absolutely befuddling.
That’s probably the only time a top 5 team should encourage players to express themselves.
By ‘rigged’ I suspect you mean like narrow and without thought of consequences (scoreline wise it looks a risky decision by SB, though he may have had no control over it?)?
Sleighthome has scored tries by finishing a move but he simply looks lost with ball in hand 50 metres out. Added to that his defence is poor as is his chase of kicks. Roebuck, I expect, will be more industrious and creative. As for Ford, it beggars belief that he has been chosen.
Sleightholme has been ok. Not surprised to see him dropped. He's got potential I think but maybe needs to come back in a year with some added hunger. Roebuck looks a better prospect right now, expect him to spend a lot of time chasing kicks. He's been brought in to provide kick chase in place of Freeman.