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'I'm sure like a player they improve, they make mistakes and get better. We're expecting Andrew to referee the law'

(Photo by Getty Images)

Struggling England have turned up the heat on referee Andrew Brace ahead of this Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations round four showdown with France at Twickenham, a fixture taking place 14 weeks after the IRFU-affiliated Welshman took charge of the sudden death Autumn Nations Cup final between the same two sides. 

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Brace shipped criticism for his performance in that decider which England eventually won 22-19 in extra-time. The penalty count was 9-16 against the French, Fabien Galthie’s team conceding nine ruck penalties and three at the scrum compared to England giving up six ruck infringements and one more at the scrum. 

It resulted in the official being on the receiving end of some nasty personal abuse on social media and he was even pulled from doing a Heineken Champions Cup match in France the following weekend. 

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Eddie Jones and Owen Farrell set the scene for England’s clash with France

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Eddie Jones and Owen Farrell set the scene for England’s clash with France

Since then, Brace has taken charge of England in their opening Six Nations game where their defeat to Scotland ignited the run of penalties that resulted in Eddie Jones inviting RFU referees Matthew Carley and Wayne Barnes to training this week to iron our some issues. 

England have conceded a total of 41 penalties in their three matches across the tournament, a figure that includes the 15 Brace penalised them for in round one versus the Scots. The penalty count that February Saturday was 15-6 against England, who conceded seven ruck penalties and two more at the scrum compared to Scotland leaking two infringements in each of those sectors of play. 

England boss Eddie Jones said at Thursday’s team announcement: “We have got a referee on Saturday whose job is to enforce the laws of the game and we are hopeful he will enforce the laws of the game as the law books states.”

This theme was warmed to by forwards coach Matt Proudfoot on Friday when asked his thoughts about having Brace on the whistle for a third time in five England matches. “The laws stay the same. The referee is there to referee the law. Like any game, things happen. Andrew is a very good referee. We understand his style, we have had our conversation with him and the messages he is looking for. 

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“Those are the important messages, what he sees and how he interprets it, so the team has taken on that message but the big thing we have spoken about from a referee perspective is what can we control, where are those moments that when we are trying to apply pressure we need to be smarter about, so that has been our big focal point this week about the refereeing.

“We review constantly every performance, areas we have spoken about, and every referee has his plan and we need to understand it. That was the conversation we have had with him and I’m sure like a player they improve, they make mistakes and they get better. We are expecting Andrew to referee the law and what his interpretation of it is. I don’t think anything other than that is applicable.” 

Asked what specifically England need to do to get on the right side of Saturday’s decisions, Proudfoot added: “Being smarter, knowing which are the stupid ones and correcting that. Obviously, if a team is applying pressure and you get caught in the wrong position then that is going to happen in a game but the ones that we release the pressure are the ones we need to be smarter about. 

“We have spent a lot of the week understanding where we are transgressing and had live sessions with referees. We have really addressed that. Players have honed their skills about where they can impart pressure and where is the line.”

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

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.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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