JEFF PROBYN
A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME
WELL that didn't go too well, did it? Eddie Jones fields his dream back line and first choice front row and yet the team fail to deliver the result that all England fans expected last Sunday.
As much as Argentina have improved their game and the fact that their coach Michael Cheika knows Jones and his coaching style so well should not have made a difference considering both teams' world rankings and the fact the game was at Twickenham.
The long-awaited return of Manu Tuilagi failed to bring the dominance across the gain line that was expected by all but that was nothing to do with Tuilagi who played the part he was tasked with.
The failure was more to do with a fractured relationship between one of the most important groups on the field. The combination of scrum-half, fly-half and inside centre is failing to work, creating what seems to be a friction between Marcus Smith at 10 and Owen Farrell at 12 that is plain to see as both try and control the game in their own way.
My opinion is that Jones has to make a decision and choose between having a natural fly-half control the game or let his captain override him and take the lead.
Smith has a natural ability to see space and opportunity and the skill to create and take advantage of it, even if he sometimes gets it wrong, but that now seems to be dominated by Farrell outside him making Smith's game less effective.
Farrell is a great player but, like Paul Hull, who played only four times for England (but with a skill set that should have seen him play a lot more), is a player who falls into the trap of being a ‘Jack of all trades but a master of none'.
Farrell is not a natural and never really played 10 until he was moved there at Saracen replacing Alex Goode by his dad when he was their coach. At centre, Farrell is neither a crash ball carrier like Tuilagi or is used as an alternate 10 to change direction in the game.
He, like his dad in league, is a great goal kicker which every team nowadays needs if they want to win games.
However, Smith is also a good goal kicker who does it match after match at Quins as part of his game, so being pushed aside when it comes to international matches must have an impact on his game mentality, particularly as he is called up as the kicker if Farrell isn't on the field.
Add in the unbearably slow delivery from breakdowns and scrums from Ben Youngs and you can see why the backs failed to produce the game they should have, given the amount of ball and territory England had.
“England's failure could also be down to how Eddie Jones wants the team to play”
That failure could also be down to how Eddie Jones appears to have decided how he wants the team to play. With the onus seemingly being placed on the forwards to make the breaks in open play creating an endless number of breakdowns with the ball popped to the next forward and eventually box kicked.
That changed when Jack van Poortvliet came on and scored a try with virtually his first touch of the ball, however his lack of experience didn't help when England faced a points deficit in the dying stages of the game. It maybe that Van Poortvliet and Youngs should change roles with the inexperienced Van Poortvliet starting and the vastly experienced Youngs coming on to close the game out.
However, while watching the game there was some great handling by a number of the forwards in open play with Kyke Sinckler and Ellis Genge at the forefront of the actions.
The thing is that may not be a good thing for the team as, despite their great efforts around the park, England, unlike Argentina (100 per cent) only won 70 per cent of their own scrums.
There is an old saying that in the game there are piano players and piano shifters, in other words players who do the graft and play-ers who make the breaks and score the points. But the one thing that is needed by all is the ability to do your own job first.
As such, all players should be considered by the selector as the best player in their position first of all, and what they bring to other parts of the game is a bonus.
That means that the role of a prop is first and foremost to ensure that you win your own put-in cleanly, while disrupting the opposition as much as you legally can when it's their ball.
It seems that Jones has forgotten that rule as Sinckler in particular is increasingly being found out by the opposition and the referee when it comes to scrum time.
Unfortunately, Sinckler has a tendency to fall into the scrum and collapse as soon as pressure is applied which is mainly down to his technique. As a tight-head you must be able to scrummage low and stable which is mainly to do with the position of your feet and to retain yourself in the position you take when engaging.
Failing to do so can cause you to tip and fold as soon as pressure is applied forcing a collapse, and that seems to be Sinckler's problem.
What does surprise me is that Richard Cockerill, as England's forwards coach, hasn't picked up on this and got someone to show Sinckler where he is going wrong. I feel that England need to return to a dominant scrum if they want to win the big games ahead.
That is of course unless the scrum is no longer considered a priority for the game that Eddie Jones wants his team to play.
