A whole year undefeated. The resources of the richest union in the rugby world combined with the most experienced coach in in the game today. This feels like when the white power ranger joined the original power rangers to make a brand new megazord. Sort of.
I don't want to get all drunk on the RFU kool-aid but there does seem to be something quite special going on. Follow the current squads tweets for a couple of days, as well as Haskell's behind the scenes coverage, this is a squad enjoying playing and enjoying winning.
I listened to the first twenty minutes on the radio and was obviously horrified, but even still I wasn't panicked. Once the clear anxiety some players were feeling, being overly pumped some of them (Mike Brown) they realised that their defence had managed to keep out most of what one of the the most dangerous backlines in world rugby could throw at them. They came back into the game by force of will, brutal defence and some of the most clinical attacking I've seen from this team since 2002/03. This has led to England having a better win % than the All Blacks, although admittedly not having played them
Then there are the players who stepped in during the injuries England suffered after the Australia tour. Even with Launchbury suspended, will still had Kruis and Lawes to fill the second row, with Itoje, Attwood, Ewels still in reserve at some point in the future. Sinckler came off the bench and made a huge impact. Hartley, the captain for crying out loud, came off for Jamie George and the team barely broke stride. Tom Wood, a player who I have been overtly critical of to my mates for years, was nothing short of heroic all afternoon. Yarde has looked dangerous, if not always assured. Joseph appears to have a lot more in the tank than just a lethal step and the Ford/Farrell axis could be the cornerstone for the team for years to come. I cannot wait until the Six Nations and the match versus Ireland, it is going to be massive.
The event that summed up the afternoon had to be Jonny May's kick-off chase. Hard running, hard tackle, from a player who wasn't exactly known for his physicality in the contact. He has been given license by Jones and Gustard to use his biggest asset, his electric speed, as a defensive tool. I went to a conference once when Gustard laid out his defensive mindset, in the early days of the Saracens revolution. He said Saracens don't see defence and attack as two different things. They are interchangeable and tackling, counter-rucking and attempts at turnovers are just the start of an attack, and what better place to attack from than ten metres behind the attacking teams line. Check 1:26:30 below to remind yourselves what that looks like.
I don't want to get all drunk on the RFU kool-aid but there does seem to be something quite special going on. Follow the current squads tweets for a couple of days, as well as Haskell's behind the scenes coverage, this is a squad enjoying playing and enjoying winning.
I listened to the first twenty minutes on the radio and was obviously horrified, but even still I wasn't panicked. Once the clear anxiety some players were feeling, being overly pumped some of them (Mike Brown) they realised that their defence had managed to keep out most of what one of the the most dangerous backlines in world rugby could throw at them. They came back into the game by force of will, brutal defence and some of the most clinical attacking I've seen from this team since 2002/03. This has led to England having a better win % than the All Blacks, although admittedly not having played them
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| Angry. Passionate. Hard as f... |
Then there are the players who stepped in during the injuries England suffered after the Australia tour. Even with Launchbury suspended, will still had Kruis and Lawes to fill the second row, with Itoje, Attwood, Ewels still in reserve at some point in the future. Sinckler came off the bench and made a huge impact. Hartley, the captain for crying out loud, came off for Jamie George and the team barely broke stride. Tom Wood, a player who I have been overtly critical of to my mates for years, was nothing short of heroic all afternoon. Yarde has looked dangerous, if not always assured. Joseph appears to have a lot more in the tank than just a lethal step and the Ford/Farrell axis could be the cornerstone for the team for years to come. I cannot wait until the Six Nations and the match versus Ireland, it is going to be massive.
The event that summed up the afternoon had to be Jonny May's kick-off chase. Hard running, hard tackle, from a player who wasn't exactly known for his physicality in the contact. He has been given license by Jones and Gustard to use his biggest asset, his electric speed, as a defensive tool. I went to a conference once when Gustard laid out his defensive mindset, in the early days of the Saracens revolution. He said Saracens don't see defence and attack as two different things. They are interchangeable and tackling, counter-rucking and attempts at turnovers are just the start of an attack, and what better place to attack from than ten metres behind the attacking teams line. Check 1:26:30 below to remind yourselves what that looks like.
So much to be excited about. Eddie Jones is wary of waxing lyrical about his team, and with good reason, saying they are still not as good as the 2003 side. The carrot and stick of the regime has brought incredible results in a very short space of time, so why on earth would you stop now.
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