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Marcus Smith at 15 and other England talking points versus Chile
By Liam Heagney
It’s very much a case of catching England on Saturday while you can as you can bet the house that it’s an XV that won’t see the light of day any time soon again under Steve Borthwick. The head coach has his particular way of doing business and extravagance isn’t it, so enjoy the expected tries in this hit-out against minnows Chile.
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Normal transmission will likely be resumed next month versus Samoa. Before then, here are four RugbyPass talking points ahead of the clash with the South Americans in Lille:
Joie de vivre
It would be lovely if Marcus Smith produced a man-on-the-match performance from full-back to show Borthwick that England can be different in their approach and don’t always have to boot the ball to death.
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The head coach is still in denial about what unfolded in the stands in Nice last Sunday, loud boos ringing out from supporters fed up with the ugly style of rugby that was being played versus Japan.
There he was on Thursday at his latest team selection announcement going on about brilliant supporters whose alleged fanaticism for the team was reminding him of the 2007 run to the World Cup final when he was a player in Brian Ashton’s squad.
There’s the rub – that England side of 16 years ago were also terribly no frills in the pool stages, leaving fans frustrated with their desperately tame play and it was only the unexpected ambush of Australia in the quarter-finals that drew a line under how dull and joyless they were.
England have a chance in Lille to get over that hump a bit earlier if Smith and co are given license to genuinely light up the world stage. Trying to score tries all year under Borthwick has been a pained process, but Chile is the perfect opportunity to finally show England can create and entertain.
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For whatever reason, it didn’t happen for Smith as the England No10 as the handbrake was always on, unlike when he plays at Harlequins where his talent isn’t shackled.
Can he do it, though, from full-back? He looked sharp in the role when in off the bench last month versus Fiji, and a virtuoso World Cup effort in Lille would show Borthwick’s selection can be changed up for the better.
Remember, Eddie Jones didn’t always go with Freddie Steward as his No15. In Paris in March 2022, he picked George Furbank there and Steward went on to score a try from the right wing that night.
Teams must evolve over the course of a World Cup if they are to stay the course, so here’s hoping Smith can cause Borthwick a major selection headache for the greater good.
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Pedestrian ruck speed
The greatest defect in making England look slow and ponderous has been a ruck speed that has them ranked 13th of the 20 teams involved in France 2023. After every round of matches, a deep dive is done into the overall statistics and a raft of these numbers haven’t reflected well on Borthwick’s team despite their position as unbeaten Pool D leaders.
Maro Itoje was given kudos for his work rate, having cleared the most rucks for his team (62), but England are in need of a hurry up here and in other facets of their player so it will be curious what a team showing a dozen changes to its starting XV can achieve.
Owen Farrell has had plenty to say about Marcus Smith and his selection as the England No15. #ENGvCHI #EnglandRugby #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/LAFqEJKmMG
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 22, 2023
The combined stats after Argentina and Japan laid bare multiple England issues. “Attacking output is still very limited; they are in the bottom half of the teams for carries, metres made, clean breaks, defenders beaten and offloads,” read the dossier.
“Seventeenth for collision dominance (27 per cent) and 16th for gainline success (45 per cent). Average ruck speed is 13th (4.39secs) and they have the second-most rucks lasting longer than five seconds (29 per cent).
“Very average red zone return, seventh for entries with 10 per game, ninth for phases (19) and time spent there (03:24) and ninth for efficiency (2.23 points per entry).
It added: “They have the most kicks in play (34.5 per game) and the highest percentage of their possession kicked away (84 per cent).”
Unlucky 13?
Let’s hope there are no late hitches for England as they don’t seem to have much luck on the rare occasions they name Elliot Daly as their No13. It was March 2021 when Jones picked the Saracens player at outside centre for a Guinness Six Nations match away to Ireland in Dublin.
A niggly injury to Henry Slade opened the door to the selection of Daly in a position where he had only ever previously started one Test match – a November 2016 encounter with the Springboks at Twickenham. “He is coming back into his best form and he has got a great opportunity in his preferred position,” said Jones at the time.
“We prefer him to play at 15. The player can prefer their own position, we prefer him to play at 15. He has done a great job for us at 15. He celebrated his 50 caps and now the opportunity is for him to play at 13.”
The thing is, it never materialised. A captain’s run injury to Max Malins forced a late backline reshuffle, with Daly relinquishing the No13 shirt for a switch to the backfield.
He did go on to successfully start for the British and Irish Lions in the 13 shirt when they defeated the Springboks in the first Test of that year’s tour series, and he finally got to do it with England at the start of the 2022 Guinness Six Nations in Scotland, only for defeat to knock this tactic on the head again until this weekend 19 months later.
You’d love to imagine his selection there is a genuine shot for him to grab that jersey for next month’s business end at the World Cup. However, the likelihood is that a midfield partnership of Owen Farrell and Manu Tuilagi will be reprised versus Samoa on October 7, the weekend before the quarter-finals, with George Ford at 10.
The Billy Vunipola verdict on his recent experience at tackle school, from Liam Heagney ? in Lille. #ENGvCHI #EnglandRugby #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/TOrQQpmGrU
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 22, 2023
The case for Arundell
Things couldn’t have worked out better for Borthwick in the way the fixtures have fallen at France 2023. This outing versus Chile, after the campaign-starting wins over Argentina and Japan, has provided the opportunity for him to get the seven players who had yet to play in the tournament involved.
The naming of Henry Arundell, Malins, Farrell, Bevan Rodd, David Ribbans and Jack Willis to start and the selection of Jack Walker on the bench will mean that all 33 squad players will have featured at some stage across the opening three games ahead next week’s bye-week where family time will be accommodated at their Le Touquet-Paris-Plage base camp.
There is nothing worse at a World Cup than having players in a squad that haven’t got any chance to play so in terms of keeping spirits high, the September ebb and flow from Marseille to Nice and now onto Lille has swimmingly evolved.
Of those in the team at these finals for the first time, Arundell is especially intriguing as the 20-year-old’s two previous starts for England under Borthwick were miserable non-events.
He was anonymous last March in Dublin, never getting an opportunity to spoil Ireland’s Grand Slam party, while his appearance last month versus Wales was blemished by his receipt of a first-half yellow card for cynical play.
On both occasions, he was hooked from the fray early in the second half but the wish now is that he will get to do something positive early on against the Chileans and thrive rather than appear he has the weight of the world on his young shoulders, as seemed to be the case in his previous starts.
The stats do indeed speak for themselves, and much like a dodgy politician Borthwick simply picks and chooses the ones that suit his narrative.
You don't need to be a coaching genius or analytical guru to see that Englands attacking game ( such as it is) is very laboured and stodgy, they seem unable or unwilling to go through multiple phases before boot is applied to ball.
They will I'm sure emerge from their group, but they currently pose no threat to the top sides.