1
Cultural reason behind divisive England trait explained by ex-Bok coach
By Josh Raisey
It was in the build-up to the World Cup last year that England’s whooping and hollering started to draw a lot of negative attention.
ADVERTISEMENT
It was not that Steve Borthwick’s side had just started doing it – the Saracens contingent in particular had been doing it for years – it was just that the over-exuberant celebrations for knock-ons and minor infringements seemed in stark contrast to the abject displays that the side were producing.
But as England marched on through the World Cup on their way to an agonising semi-final loss to eventual winners South Africa, the criticism of their behaviour – spearheaded by Ben Earl and Maro Itoje – dissipated as it clearly had a galvanising effect and the players in question produced match-winning displays that overshadowed their negatively-received attitude.
But this behaviour has been called into question again by former South Africa captain Jean de Villiers, who wonders if it highlights the difference between England’s mentality and that of the All Blacks or Springboks following England’s narrow 22-24 loss to New Zealand at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.
Speaking on RugbyPass TV’s Boks Office, de Villiers, who was hosting in place of Hanyani Shimange, highlighted two tackles in the match, one by England’s Chandler Cunningham-South and one by the All Blacks’ Patrick Tuipulotu, and their subsequent celebrations, as a difference between the two sides.
Listen to that roar! 🔊
What a tackle from Chandler Cunningham-South! 💪#AutumnNationsSeries | #ENGvNZL pic.twitter.com/jogL1d9Yif
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) November 2, 2024
“The big thing for me, we saw Chandler Cunningham-South make one big hit on Tupou Vaa’i, I think it was the first half, and he kind of celebrated as if they’d won the game,” the former centre said, referring to what some Springboks have labelled ‘plastic energy’.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Whereas Patrick Tuipulotu, massive hit on Furbank in the second half and he just got back up and got in the line. Is that almost the difference between the two?
“Because we saw in the Haka both teams coming closer, but when you do that, you need to back it up with performances, whatever you do. It’s the first time I saw the All Blacks responding in a different way where they actually went forward. But during the game itself, you need to forget about that stuff and you need to stay in the moment and don’t worry about the outside stuff. Was that the difference in the end?”
It is worth noting that the key difference between the two tackles is that Cunningham-South enforced a knock-on while Tuipulotu’s did not, thus there was a break in play after the Englishman’s tackle which gave him an opportunity to celebrate.
But former South Africa coach Nick Mallett, who was a guest on the podcast, believes there is a cultural reason why England “need” to be so vociferous on the pitch, and it is what separates them from New Zealand and South Africa.
ADVERTISEMENT
“With the All Blacks, it matters,” Mallett said. “It really, really matters. For England, they want it to matter. You can see the guys are pushing themselves to try and get to the level of intensity that is required to beat that team.
“We have it because it is innate in South African culture, as it is in New Zealand. For them, they need to high-five whenever they do something physical.”
Louis Rees-Zammit joins Jim Hamilton for the latest episode of Walk the Talk to discuss his move to the NFL. Watch now on RugbyPass TV
It's like eating cards or something sweet, you get a sudden high, followed by a bigger low. That's why they lost to thd Boks in Semi final, Boks were poor on thd night, but England put to much energy in celebrating every little thing, we just got on with it.
They can do what they want, but they put too much emotion into it. Using that emotions for every little thing means that you lift your spirits for the moment but when things go bad, that same emotions drop to the boots. Especially if they are scored against. To lift those spirits higher again, requires a lot of effort. Emotional play makes you miss things on the field. It will cost you in the end. Maybe even the game.
To use a perfect example... The Bulls from South Africa in the URC reached 2 finals, and in both semi finals they played Leinster(effectively the Irish team), not their 2nd team, but all stars, and they beat them both times, once away and once at home. Those games was the Bulls finals. In the actual finals, they lost to the Stormers of SA, and Glasgow Warriors of Scotland. They put everything into those Leinster matches, knowing what would be needed, but it cost them in the finals.
Putting too much energy in silly celebrations, instead of focusing on the task at hand until the final whistle blow is what will give the other team the edge. It's why teams like the Boks and the Irish play 80 min games, not 50-60 min games. It's why they regularly wins. It's why the AB's struggle, because they have the talent, but they don't have 80 min in them yet. When a player gets tired, that's when mistakes slips in and teams like the Boks will punish you for it, even if they play bad, because they are focused. They are saving that energy for when it really matters.
That last 20 minutes is where most games are won or lost and that's where you need to dig deep. Wasting energy on silly celebrations like tackles or a ref decision etc is detrimental. Celebrating tries or points or even penalties, that is understandable. Required even to hype yourself up for about a minute or two, but then it's time to refocus.
Personally don't like it, but, as long as it stops short of taunting and provocation, a team should be allowed to do it.
Whether or not it helps them win is another topic. Jean is probably right, that it distracts when focus and sustained energy is needed.
Imagine how long a game would take if the Boks had to celebrate every tackle PSdT makes with this over the top high fiving and backslapping.
Well e tra 20 plus minutes.
Only really works as a tactic for the teams vibe if that’s their attitude for the whole game.
If they force an error like CCS did, if they keep that energy up when things aren’t going their way, then there is value in it.
But if they’re just going to party up on the other teams mistakes and be church mice when things go bad then it’s kind of a waste of time.
I’m very disappointed watching it as a fan. It’s not needed nor wanted. You win a penalty you move on you don’t celebrate it.
Maybe it is considered an incredible acheivement when an English player make a tackle!
The Saracens players are the ones who brought this habit into the England team and to be fair they rarely lose, they have a very strong winning culture. It is however very embarrassing when you suck.
Agreed.
The childish and embarrasing patting on the back , shouting, the 3,qs running 20 yards to slap the forwards backs is pathetic.
It just show reverence to the better team and a minor success worth shouting about.
If a top, top coach was in charge of England he would put a stop to it ,
Unfortunately , we have Borthwick .
No ones idea of a top coach and no CV to prove it.
He can't even see when his players are on top.
To even think Ford was up to playing against the AB,s shows favouritism gone mad.
Ford was more than rusty.
He wasn't up to the job.
He has now only played another 17 minutes rugby this season and the utterly shambolic effort he gave means he should be sent back to Sale to get some game time and ruddy backbone .
It wasn't though he was up against a flying wing forward like Marcus was when he pulled down Sititi In full flight.
It was one of the smallest guys on the pitch . Pathetic.
At international level to say he can't tackle cuts no ice. Not these days
He doesn't have Owen to cover for him . And it is showing.
It’s embarrassing. Bongi called it “plastic energy”.