by Jamie George has vowed that England intend to develop their attacking style as part of a radical overhaul of the Twickenham experience for supporters, admitting that he understood why the team struggled during the World Cup in France.
The new England captain is determined to put fan engagement at the heart of his tenure and revealed that for the first time the players have also made representations to the Rugby Football Union regarding improving the match day experience for supporters.
Suggestions include extending the England squad walk into Twickenham Stadium to allow more fan participation, using music during matches to create a better atmosphere, more time for autographs and photos with fans after games, more media interactions and social media to connect. with fans and a longer term goal of attracting a more diverse supporter base.
George revealed that the players had also held discussions with England head coach Steve Borthwick about putting more emphasis on the team’s attacking play, admitting that the team’s limited style of performance at the World Cup had “implications for why there was a boom.”
‘English rugby is not in the best place’
“England rugby has a lot of work to do,” said George. “If we’re being completely honest, English rugby wasn’t in the best place in terms of teams going through a Premier League break and falling attendances.
“We know that, at the top of the game, we have an opportunity to reach as many people across England as we can – and change attitudes. There are many reasons why participation numbers are falling but the most important thing for us is that we set good role models, and we value the impact we have on the general public in England.
“We are in discussions about how we can engage more with fans. That has never happened since I was in the England squad. We broke up into groups and talked about the best stadiums we played in and why.
“Walking into the stadium is one of the best moments as an England rugby player, getting off the bus and being hit by a wall of noise. I will remember that forever. Rather than driving past the thousands of people at the Guinness tent, we could walk in from the gate.
“If I was a kid standing at the gate and saw the bus go by, that’s a different experience to seeing the bus stop in front of Maro Itoje and Marcus Smith, and Danny Care and Dan Cole walking above you. To be able to walk through and feel the atmosphere, generate the atmosphere, I think it has a positive impact.
“We want Twickenham to be a tough place for the opposition to come and play, and it’s important for us to create that atmosphere as well. We talked about more different Twickenham. I think it’s all part of a process.
“We have a responsibility as a team to be successful. The more success we have, the more interest we will have in the game across the country. On the back of that, the more outreach we can have, the better. I don’t mind talking about the ticket pricing and the rest of it. But it’s important for us as a team to find the right target group.”
England rugby’s greatest recruiting sergeant remains in England’s winningest side and with a record of two wins in each of the last three Guinness Six Nations championships, with a win ratio at Twickenham of just 50 per cent over the past three seasons, it was not good. Enough.
‘People want to try and see’
And yet while winning the Tests will remain the bottom line objective, George wants to develop the team’s attacking style, in a way Saracens achieved last season when they won the Premiership.
“Ultimately this team will base its game plan on winning games,” George added. “That has to be at the forefront, but at the same time there are definitely conversations going on about how we get people out of their seats. People want to try to see. The conversations we’re having with Richard Wigglesworth (England attack coach) at the moment are about our attack, how exciting we can be in our attack.
“Felix Jones (England’s new defense coach) has come in and his energy is 11 out of 10. I think he’ll get the intensity he needs for us to defend, get people out of their seats. The physicality we can show, people can be behind us on that front.
“Anyone who turns on the TV, bottom line what they will see is a huge amount of passion, people enjoying playing for their country, but also fighting like hell and showing a huge amount of character. That’s the bare minimum. If I wasn’t playing, that’s what I’d like to see as an England rugby fan.
“Essentially, the DNA of any England team will always be the same. Set piece and strong protection. How we develop our attack and how we try to beat teams, make line breaks, try to score… that’s what we can be excited about. Needless to say you will see big changes and we turn into the Harlem Globetrotters.
“What we achieved at Saracens was the ability to handle the defence. In general, we kicked the ball a lot, so teams were putting more numbers in the backfield. This meant that there was a numerical advantage in the front line. So let’s go back into the site so we can try it out.
“Steve is always very focused on making sure this team succeeds. He is now under a lot of pressure to take the fans on that journey with us.”
