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On the surface at least, there are now worrying signs of an excuse culture around the England team – and a desire to repackage defeat as just part and parcel of an eternal education.
Having seen his team throw away a prime chance to beat the All Blacks, Steve Borthwick was quick to explain it away. Then, after a game which was preceded by a social-media storm, there was another divisive post, this time from the official England Rugby account. It read: ‘Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn’ with a picture of the home team.
There was no mention of losing, which is what the hosts had contrived to do. Again. That seems to have been quietly erased from the sporting equation; it is either success or development. Losing is not a concept which fits into a PR-spun, commercial world where there’s always a journey and so rarely a day of reckoning.
A painful lesson is not the equal of a glorious victory. It’s not the plan or the target. Let’s have some honesty, please. This is Test rugby. Results are supposedly the be-all and end-all, remember? When did that become trumped by a notion that defeats can keep stacking up as long as they may, possibly, hopefully, contribute towards some distant performance peak? If the occasion at Twickenham was just a development match, don’t charge £200 a ticket then.
Responses to the ill-judged post were damning. One simply read: ‘Learn????’ Another added: ‘England must be proper geniuses by this point then.’ There so many brutal put-downs. People think that the whole point is for their national team to win, that day, not use it as a launch pad for another game in a week or month or year. How old-fashioned they are. How correct they are.
England suffered a disappointing collapse as they were defeated by New Zealand on Saturday
A tweet treating the result as little more than a learning experience proved hugely controversial
Steve Borthwick’s post-match excuses did little to alleviate the frustration among supporters
After England’s fourth defeat in their last five Tests, Borthwick had his excuses prepared. The All Blacks had many more caps and had had so much time together. True. But he could have loaded his line-up with more experience and chose not to.
The post-match tone was all wrong, in the circumstances. The head coach delivered a pre-planned script, just as he had followed a pre-planned formula with his use of replacements during the second half. It all felt formulaic.
Much has been made of the half-back changes. Marcus Smith was ‘on’, so he couldn’t believe he was taken off. George Ford hadn’t played for a month – and he had barely any experience of operating in tandem with Harry Randall. Let’s face it, there were red flags. Ford was deployed with orders to calm down, which conveyed a sense that England were shutting up shop. It was the wrong approach. They had the visitors where they wanted them, but let them off the hook.
Sure, the All Blacks did have many more caps, but consider this. They lost veteran hooker Codie Taylor to an early injury, the much less experienced Asafo Aumua replaced him and the Kiwi lineout was reduced to a state of chaos. Their decision-making hub lacked cohesion as rookie scrum-half Cortez Ratima struggled for fluency in an unfamiliar partnership with Beauden Barrett, who had been restored at 10.
New Zealand had also endured coaching upheaval in the summer – not just England. A new regime led by Scott Robertson is still in its infancy and their players are nearing the end of a gruelling season. But they didn’t complain about fatigue. No excuses.
Days before this game, New Zealand centre Jordie Barrett said: ‘I feel like we’ve grown a lot, but it’s also time that we start putting consistent performances out there for 80 minutes. We can’t spend the whole year learning.’ That sums up the attitude which England should also adopt.
Back in July, England went into their opening Test against the same opponents in Dunedin with more time together and an established set-up. But that became another near-miss setback when they had so many factors in their favour.
Prior to this latest so-near-but-so-far demise, Maro Itoje was asked about overtaking the great Martin Johnson’s tally of 84 caps and he said, pointedly: ‘What Martin Johnson did was win. He won Six Nations, big games against southern-hemisphere teams. Him and some of the other guys in yesteryear set the standard in terms of winning. I want to be part of winning England teams.’
Like their hosts the All Blacks made numerous mistakes but England rarely capitalised on them
Maro Itoje previously spoke of his desire to be part of an England team that can go toe-to-toe with the best in the world
That was the right message and Itoje was magnificent on Saturday. But after Borthwick’s side had let it slip from their grasp, Smith spoke about how they would be better for another ‘painful’ episode. When he was asked when, he added: ‘Who knows. I’m quite a religious, so I believe that when the time is right it’ll happen, whether that be next week, the week after, two years, five years.’
This was another one that got away. France by two then New Zealand by one, by seven and now by two. A worrying pattern was glossed over as all part of a journey. But to where? The game is over.
To say the All Blacks were there for the taking is a glaring under-statement. Borthwick portrayed them as a supreme force but in truth they were close to a rabble at times. Wallace Sititi’s rampaging brilliance and the finishing of Mark Tele’a kept them in it, but they should have been put away. Their handling – under pressure from the English blitz – was the worst by any New Zealand side in any Test match this correspondent can recall.
The usual class of their support running and off-loading was largely absent. They relied on individual flashes of brilliance. Ardie Savea, World Rugby’s Player of the Year, was anonymous. Their discipline was awful, they had no fluency at all, and for an hour their scrum did not dominate in line with Kiwi expectations, as Ellis Genge and Will Stuart rose to the set-piece challenge well.
Yet, in truth, England weren’t much of an attacking threat either. Their only try came from a break-away on the back of a Smith interception. The visitors dished up a stream of penalties to keep their opponents in the game, but New Zealand did not have to scramble to keep out an irresistible force, far from it. Early English raids had tempo and clout but then it all just stopped.
In the past, there were concerns about England’s lack of a ruthless streak in the ‘red zone’, but they seldom made it that far this time. But after setting up an out-of-the-blue try for Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Smith was on a roll. No wonder he was stunned to be taken off. No doubt, the GPS data said he had stopped running so fast. Well, so had everyone else. It’s fatigue, it happens.
However, Smith’s drop goals efforts had been poor and the one at the end was a badly-managed mess. Randall lost Ford the first time as the scrum was reeling, then didn’t pass to him, then passed poorly. The veteran 10 could have done better, but he was swamped and hadn’t played for a month.
Marcus Smith’s kicking provided England’s only real consistent threat going forward
Which is precisely why the decision to bring him off has generated so much backlash
Borthwick is under pressure. He has had a lot of leeway given the circumstances of how he took over at short notice and conjured a respectable World Cup campaign, but there were clear rumbles of unrest on Saturday night. Fans are frustrated, with good reason. This is not an audition, it is the real thing. This year; England have played nine, won four and lost five, which is unacceptable. The head coach will not have the luxury of an infinite grace period.
Australia are eminently beatable next weekend but then the Springboks are coming and they could field two teams capable of beating England – and New Zealand for that matter – at present. This latest evidence will not worry Rassie Erasmus in the least. There were long periods when Saturday’s match felt compelling as a close encounter, but it also had a distinctly second-division feel.
If New Zealand don’t improve in a hurry, they face an uncomfortable fate against Ireland in Dublin on Friday night. As for England, defeat on Saturday doesn’t bear thinking about. But even if they win and win well, they are on track for, at best, a 50 per cent win rate this season. Sorry, but that isn’t good enough.
Borthwick should drop the polished party-line stuff and lay bare his angst. That would be a far more acceptable soundtrack after a shattering setback, which is what this should have felt like.
The All Blacks delivered one of the worst performances of their glittering history on Saturday and still managed to make off with the Hillary Shield. Here’s hoping Scott Robertson stopped off on the way back to the team hotel to buy a Lottery ticket, because it was certainly his lucky day. England and their fans should not utter a single word about taking comfort from a spirited defeat. Not one.
Enough excuses. There has been sufficient time together to create something better. New Zealand are not given any breathing space to learn from defeats, nor should England have that luxury. If they want to be among the superpowers, they have to be judged by exalted standards.
The Sititi family haunts England once more
England have had trouble from the Sititi family before and now it has happened again. In Melbourne in 2003, there was an ambush by Samoa when their captain, Semo Sititi, finished off a stunning team try as the World Cup favourites were given an almighty pool-stage fright.
On Saturday, Semo’s son, Wallace, was the stand-out star of the All Blacks’ win at Twickenham. The 22-year-old flanker was named after Scottish folk hero William Wallace, as Semo was playing for the Borders at the time of his son’s birth in Apia. ‘I was definitely nervous before the start,’ said the Man of the Match.
22-year-old flanker Wallace Sititi was the stand-out player in New Zealand’s victory
His father Semo Sititi had scored a stunning try for Samoa against England in the 2003 World Cup
He didn’t look nervous.
He is a new sensation with remarkable pace and handling skill. Asked about his attacking instincts, he said: ‘A lot of the time it’s about playing what’s in front of you, which is when we play our best back-yard footie.’ Well, this was England’s back yard and he made it his own.
Referee’s deliberations prove a hit among fans
One resounding success at Twickenham on Saturday was the broadcasting of referee Angus Gardner’s deliberations before concluding that an All Blacks try should be ruled out.
The Australian requested a review after Beauden Barrett had touched down and his discussions with TMO Marius van der Westhuizen were played over the stadium speakers, before Gardner declared that the try wouldn’t stand due to a deliberate knock-on by Caleb Clarke in the build-up.
The crowd were hushed to listen to the official and roared when he announced the change to his on-field decision. This innovation keeps spectators more informed and is to be applauded. Rugby is a complex game and any attempt to explain it to those watching is welcome. It should make the sport more user-friendly for a wider audience and also adds a dash of theatre to a functional process.
The decision to broadcast referee Angus Gardner’s deliberations is a positive one that adds to the spectacle of watching the game live
Jerusalem should be the Red Roses’ battle cry
Last Word – Never mind the Haka, this column would like Swing Low Sweet Chariot to be ‘binned’. It is a dreadful dirge.
After all the hype about it, New Zealand’s pre-match challenge produced a strong response from England, which in turn sparked extra energy and aggression from the All Blacks. It ended with the teams close together, as the hosts had advanced as far as they are allowed, right on halfway.
It was a fabulous spectacle which ignited the atmosphere. Sadly, the attempts by England fans to drown out the Haka involved repeat renditions of Swing Low, which is just so dreary. It would be much better if they sang something more stirring and thunderous. Jerusalem would do it.
That always goes down well, as it did again before this latest game. In fact, that should be used as the anthem of choice. So, time to rip up tradition; ditch Swing Low and God Save the King!
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