Someone at Twickenham needed to remove the microphone from the person on the public address system. As the Fiji players dropped to a knee in prayer after a first win against England, as the enclave of Fiji supporters in the northeast corner of the stadium sang and danced in celebration of an historic achievement, the astonishing fatuousness that came screeching from the stadium speakers was borderline offensive. ?It didn?t go our way today,? the RFU match-day presenter said, ?but there were so many positives.?
The English rugby public were being treated like fools, which is no real surprise because it has been that way for years. Remember the claims of ?great progress? made by England after the 2021 Six Nations, in which they had finished fifth with a record of two wins from five? What happened next? Exactly the same set of results in 2022 and 2023.
Anyone who questioned the direction of travel was dismissed as a trouble-maker, as a non-believer, and told that the World Cup was all that mattered. Well, here we are at the World Cup and England depart for France on Thursday at an all-time low, with nothing but acrimony and chaos to show for their rugby since scraping the 2020 Six Nations title.
So many positives. Over four years of steady decline, England have fallen from No 1 in the world to rock bottom after this first defeat by Fiji; if indeed this is rock bottom. Never before had England lost to a team from outside of the old Five Nations or modern-day Rugby Championship.So many positives. England?s record in the past 12 months is: played 13, won four, drawn one, lost eight. Tries for: 28; tries against: 38.
So many positives. England are down to eighth in the world, their joint-worst position.
So many positives. England?s godforsaken warm-up campaign ended with Jack van Poortvliet and Anthony Watson suffering tournament-ending injuries, Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola banned for the start of the World Cup.
So many positives. The apathy around the England team meant that the top deck of Twickenham was closed for this big send-off occasion.
So many positives. The RFU sent out scheduled emails to fans on Saturday night urging them to celebrate England?s ?victory? by making use of a discount in the England rugby store.
Those emails landed within minutes of Fiji winning 30-22, reinforcing the notion that England are a laughing stock. ?Steve Borthwick had bad news for Jonny May and Alex Mitchell when he finalised his World Cup squad yesterday. He told both players they had been picked?. That kind of thing.
There was a tide of goodwill behind Borthwick when he took charge of a struggling England team before the Six Nations but that is eroding after six defeats from nine Tests, including a record thumping at home by France and Saturday?s loss to Fiji, and so few signs of progress. You need only listen to the conversations in Twickenham pubs on Saturday night or on grassroots club touchlines on Sunday morning.
George Ford, the fly half, admitted after the game that training standards have not been good enough (despite weeks of everyone being told England looked like world champions in their behind-closed-doors sessions). The indications are that the players do not fully buy into the plan. The public certainly do not.
England?s approval rating has rarely been lower. The joy has slowly been sapped from the national team over the past four years. In an era where Bazball represents high octane, front-foot cricket, Boreball does what it says on the tin. A collection of talented individuals are proving substantially less than the sum of their parts.
Nine games into his tenure and Borthwick was having to defend his record and the contribution of his coaches, a group of men with gilded reputations for their playing achievements in league and union but with very little experience.
England?s attack has been clunky and inaccurate for years, a trend that has continued this month under Richard Wigglesworth; their defence a whole lot worse. Kevin Sinfield is a fund-raising hero but that does not excuse him from scrutiny given how easily England are being carved open. They fell off 27 tackles against Fiji and have now conceded 30 tries in nine games.
?I?m very confident with all the people involved in the team ? the players, the coaches and the management,? Borthwick, the head coach, said. ?What I sense is that this is a group that is coming even tighter together. Everybody in that changing room is totally invested in English rugby doing well. We are all really disappointed by that. ?We have got to ensure we don?t slip off 27 tackles. That?s not what we require in the Test team ? you can?t make that number of errors and missed tackles to win a Test match. Now our focus is on ensuring we are much better than that against Argentina in two weeks? time.?
Defence is supposed to reveal a team?s character and England were in disarray against Fiji, as they have been all year. England have the second-lowest successful tackle percentage of Tier One nations this year (83.9 per cent) and they concede the highest number of points of any team when in their own 22 (3.1), with an average of more than three tries per game. So many positives.
No wonder England seemed petrified of Fiji?s fluidity and power in attack. After May had ended a drought of more than six hours since an England back had scored a try, Fiji accelerated into a 20-8 lead. Waisea Nayacalevu scored after Selestino Ravutaumada had confounded May with a stutter step. Too easy. Ben Earl then failed to police the edge of a breakdown and Vinaya Habosi took advantage. Far too easy. Fiji?s players ate up metres after contact and kept the ball alive, which led to Simione Kuruvoli scoring their third after Danny Care had dropped the kick-off. Just imagine how bad it could have been for England if Fiji had had a functioning lineout and a full-strength side. Levani Botia, the flanker, and Josua Tuisova, the versatile back, were absent and both would walk into England?s team. The development of professional rugby on the islands is already reaping dividends. They halted England?s mauls and did not crumble when the hosts threatened a comeback with second-half tries from Marcus Smith and Joe Marchant. ?They are going to do very well at the World Cup and there?s the potential for us to meet them again in a few weeks time [in the quarter-finals],? Borthwick said. Australia and Wales, Fiji?s pool rivals, have been warned.
At the start of this World Cup camp, it was a given that England would progress from a pool that includes Argentina, Japan, Chile and Samoa. They still should and even a semi-final place is in their reach. But after losing at home to Fiji, who can be sure? Argentina beat England in November. The Samoa game looks treacherous since they pushed Ireland to the limit on Saturday night.
Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive, has overseen England?s decline but refuses to stick his head above the parapet. Sweeney?s protectors believe it would be unfair for him to take questions on England?s performance, even though he is ultimately responsible given Borthwick reports to him.
The discord between Twickenham?s executive team and the RFU council, which represents the grassroots of the game, will only grow with that kind of leadership. There is a feeling in some areas of the council that the reporting structure for the England head coach needs to change. A return to the 2003 system has been mooted, when Sir Clive Woodward was accountable to a panel of experts called Club England. A governance review is imminent.
More than ever, the RFU needs this tournament to make a positive imprint on the wider sporting consciousness. Participation is down. Grassroots clubs are desperate to have community coaches back. Three professional clubs have gone bust. And you wonder where the revelations that Elton Jantjes and Rhys Webb have failed drug tests will lead in the game.
Inevitably, England have begun to circle the wagons. Wigglesworth dismissed criticism of England?s performances as ?white noise?, as if it was some media creation. The RFU tried to shield England players last week from questions about ?previous performances and match results?. The corporate machine that demands positivity is blind to reality.
?Write us off now, all the best,? Ellis Genge, England?s vice-captain, wrote on social media on Saturday night. It was angry and tone deaf. England supporters would give anything for something encouraging to hold on to going into the World Cup.
?I am confident we will use these last few weeks as fuel to go forward into this tournament,? Borthwick said. ?The sense I felt from the players after this game is a determination to put out a level of performance that is representative of the talent.?
To expect England to suddenly deliver that in France, having not managed it with any consistency since 2019, is far-fetched, despite what the public address announcer at Twickenham will have you believe.
Topic: Alex Lowe in Today's Times. (Read 1456 times)
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