England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks
While many will still be in disbelief that England were trailing come the final play of the match against the All Blacks given the position of strength they were in 20 minutes before, they nevertheless had a good chance to win the match at the death.
Despite having a scrum just metres from the 14-man All Blacks’ line, England fluffed their lines considerably, which resulted in replacement fly-half George Ford attempting a somewhat scrappy drop goal from 30 metres out only a few phases later.
This, former England scrum-half Ben Youngs believes, was a “very easy situation” which England somehow overcomplicated.
Speaking on his podcast For the Love of Rugby a day after result, England’s most-capped player explained how he thinks England’s back line should have set up to exploit their man advantage with All Blacks centre Anton Lienert-Brown in the sin bin.
Youngs was, however, still in disbelief that England ever found themselves in that position in the first place having held a 22-14 lead in the final quarter, though this is now becoming a habit of Steve Borthwick’s side to find new ways to blow a lead.
“In my opinion, England should have never been at that point,” the Leicester Tigers scrum-half said. “At no point with 12 minutes to go, if you paused the game and said to everyone that it’s going to come down to a moment at the end, a five-metre scrum and a drop goal to win it, everyone would have gone ‘Nah, England will see this out.’ It should never have got to that point.
“Anyway, it did. The scrum, Anton Lienert-Brown is in the sin bin, so they’d lost a back, which means New Zealand had to defend it very differently. There was an overlap on either side, but England totally overcomplicated it and there was just no need. So what they did, they went for the scrum in the middle, you couldn’t ask for a better attacking position. We set up with George Ford and George Furbank behind the scrum, directly behind the scrum, and then we had the others on either side. It just didn’t need to be that complicated. What we should have done is stack on the left-hand side and have two players on the right side.
“As the scrum’s gone backwards, and it was a mess, Harry Randall’s done the right thing, he’s just trying to get the ball out. But as he’s got the ball, he bounces right, which would have been the easy thing because if it went backwards, we were stacked on the right and the left, he could have just picked them up. The winger couldn’t be there, Anton Lienert-Brown’s in the sin bin, you just throw it over the top for a try in the corner. But because we’re stacked behind, Rands swings right, Fordy and Furbank have swung left, he doesn’t realise that, he’s then got to pirouette. He then chucks it to George, but by that point, the defence had flown up and we got shut down. Great teams score there, good teams score there, it’s simple.
“Set up on the right, set up on the left, and just pick them off because they were down a man down. As soon as we lost momentum there, we only ever looked like we were going for a drop goal. The best time to take a drop goal is when you’ve got momentum, speed of ball and no one’s expecting you to hit it. Everyone knew the drop goal was coming in this scenario. The management of that last moment, for me, shouldn’t have come to that point but equally we overcomplicated what is a very easy situation.
Youngs was joined by his Leicester and former England team-mate Anthony Watson on the podcast, who disagreed with his analysis.
While the winger was also staggered that England collapsed in the way they did, he believes the set-up behind the scrum was correct in the final play, but it was the platform provided by the pack that scuppered England’s plans.
While the execution of the final minutes was chaotic by the hosts, it started to unravel in the scrum, as the All Blacks came very close to winning a penalty. This meant Randall and his team-mates were immediately on the back foot, and were never able to regain the ascendency.
“Having George Ford and Furbank stacked in behind I think was important,” Watson sad. “I think the miscommunication with Rands, combined with the pressure in the scrum, forced what appeared to be overcomplication. I actually think if they had been able to execute their play with a decent platform, it would have been a walk-in.
“When you’ve got those two guys in behind the scrum swinging round one way or the other, especially when they’re down a centre, they’re going to have to fly from the inside. That’s when it just opens up for the over-the-top. You give Manny [Immanuel Feyi-Waboso] or [Tommy] Freeman five metres either side of their winger, five metres out, they’re scoring.
“So I think the setup was actually the right option. The platform and the lack of potential communication across the board in that position probably didn’t help. If they had a solid set piece and were able to get the ball to George, I think it would have been a pretty straightforward scenario. I understand if they had just split the forwards left and right they could have just gone to it, but I just feel in that position, New Zealand would have come with so much line speed
“I know it’s definitely not an area that England will be at all happy with.”
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Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?
Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.
On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.
Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.
On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.
Anyway, there is always another Saturday.
NZ had to score 9 points in that final 12 mins. Got the 3 from the penalty ( England indiscretion ) then scored when there was no way they should have. Then came THAT kick to win the game. Exceptional comeback from NZ and England blew the opportunities NZ gave them. Abs scored 10 in those last 12 mins, mainly down to Dmac who scored 5 of those points himself and set up that last try with his run/pass decision.
I think the best thing that happened was BB had to leave the field and that left 1 10 out there being the General. Generally the coach leaves the 10 there as he brings the replacement 10 on for a winger and then they get in each others way.
I rather think that if NZ had scored the 2 or 3 sitters they left on the field this discussion wouldn't be had....
England just got “All Blacked”. Lost count of how many times this used to happen to the Boks over the years.. It’s what NZ do. They keep playing till the final whistle, whether they’re winning and especially if they’re losing.
Half the problem I think. Complacency.
You don't win anything if you don't back yourself. If a South African said that, people would just accept it as their psyche. I think you'd expect Ben to bring that to a team with his experience. England lacked the experience and the bench to close out the match. IMO anyway.