Reshuffle helping to bring on youth
JEFF PROBYN
A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME
NOW we are at the end of the season there is the chance to look back and make a judgement to see if England have really shown if they are making any progress.
After the disappointment of the World Cup war m-ups – which saw an England team lose three out of four of their games including a first ever loss against Fiji at Twickenham – Steve Borthwick's side seemingly turned it around in the actual World Cup pool games.
Winning all four games to top their pool appeared to show a marked improvement in the England team's performance, were it not for the fact that the pool draw was made after England had fallen to eighth in the world rankings. This led to their pool being made up of teams that England have virtually always beaten (without much trouble) including Argentina (ranked 6), Japan (14), Samoa (12) and Chile (22) which led England to dominate and finish top of their pool.
England's first knockout game, the quarter-final, was against the runners-up in Pool C Fiji, conclusively giving England the chance to seek revenge for the defeat at Twickenham in the warm-up game, which they achieved by winning 30-24.
England faced their first major challenge in the semi-final, where they faced their first and only foundation Union team South Africa in the whole of the World Cup but sadly lost by one point.
As expected, England won the World Cup 3rd/4th play-off against Argentina having already beaten them in the pool stage of the competition with only 14 men following Tom Curry's third-minute red card.
But finishing third gave a false impression of how much the team had improved under their new coach Borthwick, despite the fact that he had had insufficient time to make a positive impact.
However, the following Six Nations put that into perspective by revealing how much England still had to achieve before we can say they are making any real progress. England's narrow three-point win over Italy in the first game set a pattern for the whole of their Six Nations with England beating Wales by two points in week two, losing to Scotland by nine points in week three, beating Ireland by one point in week four and finally losing by two points against France in their final match of the contest.
“Why not offer the hybrid contracts to U20 players and give them guidance on their journey”
Adding to England's woes, a number of the established players decided after the RWC that the time was right to hang up their boots in the Premiership and look to end their playing days abroad. This has led to a reshuffle of the team but has allowed some of the younger players the chance to show what they have to offer and whether they can keep England on track.
George Furbank, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Tommy Freeman and of course Marcus Smith have all virtually assured their place for England's team going forward having shown a good flair in attack that was last seen in the early 2000s.
Even the new England back row seems to have shown early promise with Sam Underhill and Ben Earl building on their earlier reputation at the breakdown, while Chandler Cunningham-South has shown some good carries and ability in his first couple of games.
The worrying area still remains in the front row, where only Fin Baxter has managed to break into what seemed a closed shop with few if any other players from outside the known group seemingly able to challenge for a shot at getting capped.
The success of the U20s could possibly add a few players to the next generation of full inter nationals but, as I wrote the other week, historically just because players have been successful in the youth stages of the game doesn't mean that they will have what it takes to be a full inter national.
Even those who do have that certain ‘something' face an uphill battle with many not first choice for the clubs they are signed to, plus don't get to play in many Premiership games which slows their progress and potential as future inter nationals.
Meanwhile, last season's Premiership saw some new faces at the top of the table with Northampton not only winning the play-off final but topping the table with bonus point wins.
Only two teams won 12 of their 18 games – Northampton and Sale – yet despite that, Sale finished fourth in the league.
Newcastle were the only team to lose all their games and were rooted to the bottom of the league for the whole season although thanks to the ringfence, survived in the Premiership to fight another day. Fortunately, next season the ringfence will be no more and we may again have a proper league structure even if slightly weighted in the Premiership clubs' favour, with a two-match play-off to decide promotion and relegation. All in all, this season our inter national team has not made the progress we all hoped for with only one win against the major nations but has shown improvement in playing style that may soon pay rewards to our loyal fans.
coming in next season I have With the new hybrid contracts a suggestion; as the hybrid contract is supposed to be about players' physical development and inter national match preparation, why not sign the U20 players rather than current players?
This would give an England coach the chance to guide young players as they start their journey to the inter national game rather than leaving it to the clubs whose only ambition is to win the league.
Sadly the men's Team GB 7's failed to qualify for the Olympics despite having the pick of players from three countries but at least, thanks to the women's game we will have a presence and some great rugby to watch. With all but two players, Jasmine Joyce-Butchers from Wales and Lisa Thomson from Scotland, being English, the RFU can claim some praise for the development of the women's game in this country and the success it has brought.
