England began the defence of their RBS Six Nations crown on Saturday evening with a stuttering win over a struggling Scotland side at Murrayfield. The reigning champions were far from convincing but with seven new caps on show, the outlook is certainly not as bleak as the current winter chill and a win of this nature should certainly only serve to galvanise this young squad.
There has been plenty of open criticism for England’s performance in Edinburgh but it is finally time for the media to get of England’s backs and really look in depth into what Stuart Lancaster and his fresh faced coaching staff are attempting to create. Lancaster spoke in depth both to his players and expectant public before this opening round clash about creating a culture in the squad that epitomised the true meaning of what it is like to wear the most famous of all White rugby shirts.
This was clearly evident on Saturday from the moment the first note was played of the national anthems and throughout the tough eighty minutes that ensued. The new captain, Chris Robshaw, lead by example and from the front with his willingness to attack the breakdown and disrupt Scotland’s ball whilst his front up tackling set an example that some of his young charges unfortunately failed to follow. The sight of Robshaw, with his shirt half hanging off his ample shoulders, squaring up to Chris Cusiter to get the ball back following an infringement at the breakdown was something that will have warmed the hearts of many a cold English soul. A passion that has not been seen with such vigour since Mike Tindall and his controversial world cup squad were throwing Dwarves around a Kiwi bar.
Discipline has, for a considerable time now, been something that has cost England dearly. At the breakdown on Saturday we saw the Red Rose show patience in this area and willingness to let Scotland have the ball and not over compete for it. Nine penalties in total were awarded to Scotland, a marked improvement from the double figures that were being accumulated during that fateful World Cup.
Lancaster should not look to make wholesale changes to his team for the forthcoming trip to Rome but give these players time to bed into the daunting arena of Test match rugby. Toby Flood will surely come back in at fly-half when fit again and of course the pragmatic Manu Tuilagi will look to regain his place back in the midfield. He may find his path back slightly rockier than he may have expected however. Brad Barritt, the current incumbent of the number thirteen shirt, was clearly one of England’s most influential players. Aggressive in defence and protecting the young Owen Farrell on his inside was exactly what the coaches would have asked of him. Unfortunately, Farrell and the England team didn’t get the kind of quick ball that would have enabled the all Saracen’s midfield to showcase their talents. Farrell needs to be given time to grow into international rugby and optimistically, Lancaster seems willing to provide all of his youngsters with plenty of it.
As a deserving starting fly-half Charlie Hodgson played bravely on the gain line and for a short period of time in the second half his slick passing and gentle touches of his trusted right foot looked like carving open a clear opening, however, Flood brings a wider range of skills and abilities that can unlock opposing defences as well as his own defensive qualities being stronger than that of Hodgson. Flood has an eye for a gap and uses his loose forwards intelligently to bore holes around the fringes. With players like Robshaw and Phil Dowson at his disposal, their dynamism will become a potent weapon for the Leicester Tiger’s man over time.
The set piece looked strong and Dylan Hartley seems to becoming an expert in making opposing hookers stand up in the scrum under pressure. Hartley and Dan Cole worked cleverly in this area to ensure that Allan Jacobsen could not get under the taller Cole at the point of engagement and causing disruptive damage. This enabled Hartley to get under Ross Ford and leave a gaping hole for Cole to drive straight through.
The second row also now seems to have serious competition for starting spots. Mauritz Botha, the South African born second row from Saracens certainly laid his marker down with an all action performance in all facets of the game. He showed the athleticism of a back row forward whilst ably supporting his front row in the set piece. Tom Palmer had one his quieter days as the line out looked to be creaking until England decided that hitting Tom Croft persistently was the safer option. Courtney Lawes and Geoff Parling will certainly be putting their cases forward for a starting berth in the coming weeks.
So a good and steady start for this new look England in the Calcutta cauldron of Murrayfield but much tougher challenges lie ahead. We cannot overlook the fact that Scotland had more clean breaks than England and if a bit more composure was shown by the home team when creating try scoring situations then the scoreboard would have looked very different. France and Wales certainly won’t miss chances like that so there is still a lot of work to be done. That said, this team is a work in progress and playing Italy in Rome is certainly a much tougher task than it was a few years ago and the Azzuri will feel that their first ever victory over England may only be eighty minutes away.
England have a lot to work on defensively, missed tackles at this level are both costly and unacceptable. In attack, more structure is needed to their patterns of play. Too often the line was flat and there were forwards standing in key backline positions resulting in the ball becoming slow and predictable. Lancaster and his team will certainly be targeting these areas during training this week.
The ‘New’ England are played one and won one which is what truly matters in this Championship and with the challenges ahead becoming sterner let’s hope that the only Gladiators in Rome this weekend have travelled from these shores.
Andrew Daniel - Whilst growing up and until this day, my life has always revolved around the world of sport and Rugby in particular. As both a player and ...
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