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The England weak spot the Boks will expose again - Andy Goode
By Andy Goode
The difference between the English and Springbok bench tells a story and Steve Borthwick’s use of his replacements needs to improve drastically if England are to salvage their autumn.
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Let’s make no bones about it, coming away with only a win over Japan from four Autumn Nations Series fixtures would be a major failure and it is Borthwick’s in-game coaching that has been the biggest contributing factor in the two narrow defeats so far.
Nobody is talking about him losing his job, and I’m certainly not calling for his head, but he has to take accountability for his shortcomings and there will be understandable question marks over whether he’s the right man if a loss to South Africa and underwhelming victory over Japan are forthcoming.
Front row substitutions are one thing and a common denominator among pretty much all coaches, although I do still think Borthwick could use a bit more feel together with his data driven approach, but some of his other replacements have been really poor.
The reaction to George Ford being brought on last week was a reflection on the coach rather than the player but he’s on the bench once more so there’s every chance we’ll see a similar response from the crowd against the Boks.
Ford does have to accept some criticism himself because he’s come on to do a specific job and hasn’t managed to do it in either of the past two games, with the play he called that ended in Andrew Kellaway’s interception against Australia particularly bad.
However, it’s Borthwick putting him in that position that is the problem. There’s no way Marcus Smith should be getting taken off or moved to full back in the final quarter and I’d have had Fin Smith on the bench for this one.
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You have to feel for Ben Spencer too because going from England’s starting scrum half, a position he has truly earned with his club form over the past few years, to not even getting a place in the match day 23 seems incredibly harsh.
I do get the thinking behind having Harry Randall among the replacements to inject pace but that hasn’t worked out well in the opening two fixtures this autumn and he might not have set the world alight but I don’t think Spencer has done a lot wrong.
In fact, the game has been lost on both occasions in the final 20 minutes after he had been taken off so he must be scratching his head as much as some of us on the outside have been watching the timing and nature of Borthwick’s substitutions.
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It feels a bit like he and George Furbank, who has also been bombed out of the match day 23 altogether, are the scapegoats when the losses to the All Blacks and Wallabies have had precious little to do with either of them.
I’m pleased for Freddie Steward, who’s a top player and person and has been playing well for Leicester, and it’ll be considered a masterstroke if England topple the world champions but it isn’t a very positive alteration.
Furbank’s attacking game was one of the keys to England’s one recent big success against Ireland, and he’s been a huge element of their general offensive development, so this is definitely a sign that Borthwick is going to revert a bit more to the World Cup game plan in an attempt to beat the Boks.
The weather played a massive part in England coming so close to winning that semi-final against South Africa in Paris, together with an excellent execution of the limited game plan, and I just think you’re going to need more in attack than that to win this one.
Other coaches have gone after Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse aerially plenty of times in the past and it hasn’t had the desired results so making it part of the strategy is fine but Smith has to be given licence to unlock the Bok defence with his passing and running game too.
I’m sure England will look to go after Grant Williams and Manie Libbok at halfback too. Both are really exciting players but they don’t have the experience of Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard and the men in white need to get them on the back foot where they don’t want to be.
When it comes to discussing how England might go about exploiting the back-to-back World Cup winners and coming up with a blueprint to beat them, the mind boggles as to how Felix Jones’ intelligence and experience is allowed to go untapped when the RFU are paying him.
Whether that is due to stubbornness on Borthwick’s part or a sense that it isn’t needed, I don’t know but it doesn’t send a good message to the players or the public and he should be leaving no stone unturned in his attempts to prepare his side. Getting Jones involved in some way should have been a pre-requisite of any agreement that has been reached.
The Springboks might not have their stereotypical bomb squad waiting in the wings given Rassie Erasmus’ decision to go for a five/three split and start RG Snyman but Malcolm Marx, Vincent Koch, Kwagga Smith, Cobus Reinach, Pollard and Lukhanyo Am are phenomenal options to have in reserve.
The difference between the two benches on paper is stark, with Dan Cole, Nick Isiekwe, Randall, Ford and Tom Roebuck offering nowhere near as much potential to change the game for England, and that puts even more pressure on Borthwick to use his wisely.
I actually do think Alex Dombrandt can have an impact and offer something different and there’s nothing to say the others won’t come up with a big play but they aren’t striking fear into any opponent and don’t scream game-changing ability as a collective.
There may not be any tangible pressure on Borthwick in terms of his position but this is an almighty Test for him as a coach and he will be feeling the heat. He needs a big response from his players as well as an improvement in his own game management.
Two wins from four this autumn would still be below par, one would be disastrous from a results perspective even if there have been some positives or progress from a performance perspective as we keep being told, but victory over the world champions would obviously be another massive moment for Borthwick to hang his hat on.
He only has a 50 per cent win ratio as England head coach now, lower than the likes of Stuart Lancaster, Martin Johnson and Brian Aston, but his players have come up big for him in key moments before.
They have the ability to do it again and anything can happen on any given Saturday but I don’t think you’ll find many people predicting an England victory and I can see the Boks winning it by 10 if I’m honest.
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I have noticed a lot of writers suggesting the changes including pulling Steward back in is to repeat the semi final last year.
Let’s recap. 5 min to go Eng leading by 2, FS puts a shocking aerial shot up which makes about 5 metres thereby confusing his fatiqued forwards and results in the knock on that hands the game to the Boks. That was the 40th boot to hand versus 27 by the Boks. Game management wins Tests in the final moments. A knock on when playing the Boks in your half has about 70% chance of you conceding 3 points. Doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome - I think someone called that madness.