England should be aiming for treble top
JEREMY GUSCOTT
OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK
THE autumn internationals against the traditional southern hemisphere big three, and Japan, are next on England’s agenda and I still fancy the leading Six Nations teams when they are at home against the southern hemisphere sides.
We are still two months away, and even though we have had the summer tours, it doesn’t seem as if anything much has changed from the 2023 World Cup in terms of pecking order.
The fixture schedule means that England play New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, whereas Ireland play New Zealand, Argentina and Australia, France play New Zealand and Argentina, and Scotland play South Africa, Argentina and Australia.
At the moment I’d give England, Ireland and France parity on their own grounds against South Africa and New Zealand, and I’d expect those three to beat Australia – in England’s case, irrespective of the off-field issues surrounding the ins and outs in Steve Borthwick’s coaching team in the last few weeks, which has seen Joe El-Abd replace Felix Jones as defence coach.
The South African forwards may be formidable, but England and France both pushed them very hard before suffering one-point losses in the knock-out stage of the World Cup, while Ireland not only beat the Springboks in their World Cup pool match, but also secured another win over the world champions to square their summer series.
If South Africa were playing France, Ireland, and England in succession this autumn that would be a pretty tough assignment, but Scotland, England and Wales is not so daunting.
One line that I don’t believe is that the southern hemisphere teams will be tired when they arrive in Europe having already played summer tour and Rugby Championship fixtures. They will have had a month off to have a rest and then get ready for the autumn in the north, and that seems like a good balance.
The other side of the coin is that I would not be surprised if England beat New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Japan. They are a team that have found themselves in defence, and have learned that if you don’t go all-in with a rush defence, then you will be exposed. They know now that when you get it right it is very effective in disrupting the opposition, and that discovery also helped to improve their attack.
What England did not do last season in attack is be anywhere near clinical enough in the last third of the pitch. At international level you cannot afford to leave any chances out there – and it’s why I can’t stand the ball being kicked away in the opposition 22.
“Steve Borthwick is genuine and honest and is working hard to achieve the best for England”
You must have confidence to keep handling, and learn to see patterns. It’s a bit like playing chess, because finishing off chances is often about recognising time and space, and moving the right pieces at the right moment to make it count. Do that, and England will be a much more dangerous attacking side.
England’s blitz should not be dependent on recently-resigned defence coach Jones, who, according to some reports, will continue to contribute analysis remotely due to the 12 months’ notice period in his contract.
It isn’t a great situation, but Borthwick is too well-organised for the players not to have clarity about what he wants to achieve – and we can assume that Borthwick will talk to El-Abd about how he can combine with Jones.
The former Bath, Bristol, and Toulon flanker will initially join England as defence coach in the autumn, while still retaining his role as head coach of Oyonnax, a French ProD2 club regularly pushing for promotion to the Top 14. You would imagine that El-Abd would start by continuing with the rush template that Jones has put in, and then gradually graft on any adjustments that he believes will make it even more effective.
Being recruited as an international defence coach when there are English coaches of the calibre of Shaun Edwards and Paul Gustard around is never going to be easy for a less well-known coach like El-Abd – although he was defence coach at Castres for four years, during which they won the Top 14 title.
Being a head coach in a league as competitive as ProD2 isn’t easy, and everybody who coaches at Test level has to come from somewhere. El-Abd has the reputation of being very much like Borthwick in terms of squeezing everything he can get out of himself, both as a player, and as a coach. That means turning over every stone, and looking for every opportunity to improve. Every international coach, even if you’re talking about Ian McGeechan and Warren Gatland, is an unknown until they get the opportunity.
What is clear from my playing days is that it doesn’t matter if you’re Rassie Erasmus, or Razor Robertson, the most important thing as a coach is about how you connect with players. You have to earn their trust, then inspire them, and they will engage with you – and El-Abd will have to get that buy-in from the England players. A good coach in my mind is like your parents when you’re a youngster. There are rules that you have to follow when you’re in their house, and in return they want to give you the best opportunity to go out in the world and do your best. As you get older and wiser as a player, the more you appreciate good coaches – they understand you, and know how you have developed, and still want to develop.
Players and coaches go through self-evaluation and evolve. In my Lions experience, Ian McGeechan connected both with forwards and backs as well as anyone I’ve met. Coaches like Geech, Brian Ashton, and Dick Best, always challenged you on the pitch, but it was collaborative and also an education, and I valued and enjoyed those chances to improve as a player.
My sense is that Steve Borthwick is genuine, honest, and wants the best for England – and is working as hard as possible to achieve that. There was a connect in that Six Nations game against Ireland between the coach and players – and since then, including in the narrow summer losses to New Zealand – that wasn’t there before.
It appears to be getting stronger, and they are starting to understand what each wants. Hopefully, that understanding grows even more in the autumn, despite the disruption of changes to the coaching group.
