England Series Review

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England Series Review
http://www.v2journal.com/englands-june-tour-review.html
After a strong Six Nations showing Stuart Lancaster’s new look England side headed to South Africa with a lot of optimism looking to end the long draught and get a win against the Boks.

Three Tests and two invitational matches later and they were sent packing with plenty to ponder having failed to win a single test match, they had at least managed to stave off the series white wash with a 14 all draw in the final test but this was really too little too late after the performances in the other games.
The first two tests were highlights of South African physical dominance and controlled aggression, led by players like Bismark Du Plessis, Willem Alberts, F Steyn and Bryan Habana the men in green smashed the English defensive line in to tatters almost at leisure. England had very little in reply for long periods of these two matches, with the game plan simply kicking the ball away at every opportunity and allowing the green machine to build up a head of steam on the counter through a very poor kick chase.

Only in the final quarter of both of these tests did we see what this England side could produce as they were forced to play the ball through the hands at pace and as players like Ben Youngs and Toby Flood got more involved in the tempo of the game. When they did this England looked threatening and managed get some respectability back on the score boards but both times left themselves too much to do and still the defence was an issue.

In the third test things were mixed up a bit and with the added extra tempo of scrumhalf Danny Care along with more direct physicality of no8 Thomas Waldrom and flanker James Haskell the English forwards were for the first time able to match up to the Springboks (minus Alberts it has to be mentioned) and halt their attacks on the gainline. Although in the end a clever Care try from a tap and go was not enough to stop the game ending a disappointing draw as Owen Farrell’s horribly rushed 40m extra time drop goal skimmed across the grass.

England coaching team analysis

Stuart Lancaster has a lot to change now for the AI’s and it has to start in the coaching team. After that he’ll also be pleased that at least a few new names enhanced their reputations and a few older players helped play their way out of selection for him.

Stuart Lancaster- 6/10
Just like in the 6N’s he made all the right noises in interviews but some odd selection decisions, especially with the bench and at fly half let him down a lot. He was also our defence coach for the tour and leaking 72 points in the three tests and a whopping 57 points in the two mid-week games does not look good. There was almost no organisation in the defensive line when England were on the back foot and their scramble defence was lazy and disorganised compared to the 6N’s.

Graham Rowntree- 5/10
One of the biggest failings of the tour was England’s line out which across all three tests lost key ball on its own throw and never looked like challenging the SA ball. England’s forwards also looked poorly coached to be able to deal with the SA forwards as a collective, this was better for the third test at least so hopefully he’s learnt from the first two. The England scrum was a high point though with it generally faring well and even managing to get the squeeze on later in games.

Mike Catt- 4/10
After the 6N’s England acknowledged that they needed to work on an attacking game plan and Catt was brought in for the tour to provide exactly this. He knew the score and sadly failed to achieve the goals set out. He wasn’t helped by injuries and a 10 who’s only tactic is to kick the ball away, but who selected Farrell and gave him the orders to kick? I would be surprised if Catt is kept on after the tour, surprised and let down.
Summing up Stuart Lancaster is not an international attack or defence coach, he is a very good head coach and manager though. We need Andy Farrell back in to run the defence and we need a better attack and backs coach, I’d like to see a SH coach brought in to balance out the conservative British trio and Aaron Mauger’s name has been mentioned a few times in this respect.

Players that enhanced their reputations
Dan Cole- In all three tests Cole’s side of the scrum looked like a rock and he tamed the Beast across the whole series. We also got to see him get a lot more involved in the defence and his work at ruck time was top draw.

Ben Youngs- Looked dangerous and quick when given any kind of good ball to use, he almost managed to dig England out of a hole in the second test and when partnered with club mate Flood they got the backline fizzing.

Danny Care- Was bizarrely still being punished for the first two tests and came into the third with a point to prove. Which he did commendably by scoring a key try and playing at a faster tempo then we’d usually play at that threatened the SA defence.

Alex Goode- Earned his first ever cap for England starting at 15 and with 20 minutes gone ended up covering at 10 when Farrell had to go off for blood. He looked sharp with ball in hand, solid in defence and seemed comfortable at international level. Foden could struggle to get the 15 shirt back now.

Tom Youngs- He’ll be annoyed that the average Mears was favoured on the bench over him for the test teams. Especially after his impressive physical displays in the two mid-week games. Youngs looks like he could be a real wrecking ball in the years to come and Hartley will be looking over his shoulder by the autumn.

Johnny May- Rushed in as injury cover May got one chance to play against the Northern Barbarians and didn’t disappoint, scoring two lovely tries and looking a constant intelligent threat with the ball in hand. He almost scored the try of the series if it wasn’t for some immense scramble defence from the Barbarians.

Players who didn’t make the grade
Lee Mears- To be honest it’s more an indication of SL’s odd bench policy that Mears was even there in the first place, but the average club hooker really couldn’t make a dent when he came on. I shudder at the thought if an injury had meant we’d had to play him earlier than the 77th min.

Geoff Parling- Parling was meant to be the lineout genius for the test team but sadly that never occurred, we only managed 75% on our throw and never looked to interfere with the SA throws. Add to that he's massively underpowered and near anonymous in the loose.

Mouritz Botha- Parlings lock partner ended playing for the mid weekers and getting benched behind Palmer for the final test. He seems to be lacking a lot of physicality and never managed to compete against the SA forwards in the loose.

Owen Farrell- He’s a prospect for the future definitely but this tour came a couple of seasons too early for the youngster, at the moment his skill set is nowhere near complete enough for international rugby and while you can’t question his defence and kicking from the tee that is not enough against the best teams. Needs to go back to his club and work on his decision making and passing.

David Strettle- Totally anonymous. We won’t be seeing him again for England.

Phil Dowson- As Strettle.

Now the dust has settled

Overall there are things for England to be proud of in this series, we were never hammered by SA which could have happened to a team which let its head drop after early scores. We did fight back and score in every game and we were the only team to not get white washed by the big three. Add to that a number of youngsters put their hands up for future caps and a few questionable players showed that their time wearing the red rose has come to an end.

On the other hand we do still lack an attacking game and the ability to unlock defences, we still make silly mistakes under pressure and give away too many penalties while we seem uncomfortable keeping the ball in hand. We need a defence coach and a more experience backs coach also and to stick with Flood and Youngs and get them bringing their Tigers form to England. But these are all things which we can change and that can be worked on in the autumn.

The future for England looks bright if they carry on developing like they are but this autumn we need results to go along with all the fine talk. A win against one of the big three is a must and please let’s score some team tries.

Whereas Manu at 12 cant even release himself

I dont think we should underestimate the impact that Palmer has on the side too. 2nd Test and in the 3rd test he adds real weight that Parling and Botha seemed to lack.
Combine that when Corbisiero came on and there was a real squeeze in the scrum.

Longer term I still see Corbisiero starting and Marler to come on as replacement as impact.
Would be great to see Tom Youngs do the same with Hartley.

Lawes will offer more for England when back from injury. But England still need that bruiser type lock (Palmer/Shaw/Johnson esq.).
Mayber Attwood will step up but the current squad doesnt seem to.

Rowntree - Ever since the MJ days I have not been impressed by Rowntree. I think he is not a very smart man. (that's as polite as I can be). He always seems to be playing catch-up with tactics thrown at us by the opposition. We always seem to be 'reacting' rather than setting the pace. He could also be responsible for the selection of Lee Mears! He may possibly have influenced SL on this subject. If that's true then even more reason to ditch Rowntree asap.

Lancaster - Apart from allowing Mears back in an England shirt I think he is proving to be an excellent head coach. He will now know who his top 30 players are. I expect them to perform well in the AIs.

Catt - No discernible difference made. Only 5 games with different personnel so maybe a little too early to draw any conclusions but his time is slipping by quickly.

I agree players to drop are: Mears, Strettle, Dowson, Stevens (injured but is a pen machine).