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'We’re seeing green shoots of this England team': Borthwick likened to Ruben Amorim
By PA
England attack coach Richard Wigglesworth has drawn parallels with Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United as he calls for Steve Borthwick’s regime to be given the time needed to spark a revival.
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One match in and England are already playing to save their Guinness Six Nations with a 27-22 defeat by Ireland leaving no margin for error when France visit Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
A run of seven defeats in nine Tests and seven in a row against top-tier opposition has seen pressure build on Borthwick, with his future now being questioned.
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But United fan Wigglesworth draws on his football allegiance and admiration for Amorim, who has struggled to make an impact since taking over at Old Trafford in November, to explain why patience is needed in the pursuit of success.
“I’m fascinated by this coach (Amorim) and, with my limited knowledge of football, just from watching him as a coach and how he speaks, he’s the real deal,” the former England scrum-half said.
“I love how he speaks about the team. He’s honest about players and he’s been criticised for being so. He comes across as honest. He looks as though he values the right things, which is that you cannot win unless you can run.
“United have kept doing this thing where they’re changing, they’re changing, they’re changing and now they’re in their worst moment ever.
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“As a fan, I’m thinking someone has to be given time to grab this and sort it out. Otherwise, the whole thing starts again – staffing, players all change. That is proven to not be the way to do it. You need the right man.
“To me, he looks incredibly impressive. So, given time, resources – and a bit of luck that everyone always needs – it would be nice to see him turn it around.
“We want to win, but not everyone gets to win all the time, straight away. We are working to make that process happen, but there is evidence to back up the best way of creating good teams over time. We’re going to get there.
“We’re seeing green shoots of this England team – we play fast, we’re aggressive and we scored tries against Ireland.”
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Borthwick names his team to face Les Bleus on Thursday afternoon, with Fin Smith expected to be picked at fly-half and Marcus Smith moving to full-back. Tom Willis is likely to be promoted to the back line.
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England attacking well? I don't see when England really systematically broke Ireland down.
If you ignore the second two tries against Ireland scored from 76' plus minutes then the only England try was Murley's.
This was the result from inexperience from Prendergast. He went for the spiral into the open field. England were ramped up at this stage. Normally Prendergast is a 8-9/10 conversion on this kick. However, he was under pressure as we saw from his place kicks. Long story short, you dont attempt that kick when your opposition are in attack mode, and you dont attempt it when not kicking 100%. You play a % kick there. England scored 3 phases after that kick.
Dupont, Ramos, Jalibert wont be kicking like that. How will England score?
Marcus Smith doesn't do anything systematically, so I'd expect to see quite a bit more from England's attack now they have a proper playmaker at 10
Unbelievable nonsense from a former 9 who never atttacked anywhere. First England players need to tackle, if they cannot tackle then do not pick them. After that pick a back line with speed and guile so no Slade. Then look at the pack and pick tacklers and ball carriers. So many of the forwards do not carry, Jamie George a prime example. Im other words pick the best platers and get rid of the small old failures.
England are weak at the edge. Mark Te'Lea scored two tries against England beating Ellis Genge and Ford/Freeman. Great finishing by Te'lea but England's tactic of hiding poor defenders wide exposed by a top winger and clever NZ play.
Look at last Saturday. England still hiding poor defenders on the wing and exposed for 3 tries. Instead of hiding poor defenders on the edges, just pick better defenders. When that's done, England can then focus on properly competing with top 4 teams.
England used to have a great set of carrying forwards, and everyone complained that they needed to select the best set piece players!
Selection isn't perfect (England need a proper 12, and to ditch Marcus Smith) but the vast majority of the players in the squad deserve to be there.