by Back when Martin Johnson was head coach of England he often used the same phrase when potentially dire situations arose. “It is what it is,” he would say before warning his audience not to get too carried away with victory or defeat. He rarely gets attention-grabbing copy but you could understand him from his point of view. Sometimes the most pressing questions in life are not immediately answered
It certainly felt that way at Murrayfield at the weekend. Scotland looked, as most suspected, a better and more cohesive side than England. The visitors, again as widely expected, found the Scots to be tougher opponents than Italy or Wales. Barring significant improvement, therefore, England are looking to return below par in the Six Nations for the fourth year in a row.
No one who was surprised by that situation is paying enough attention. Dublin in 2019 was the last time England had a big Six Nations win away from home against tough opposition. to medium term table.
Related: Finn Russell envisions more Scotland magic to raise the roof at Murrayfield | Gerard Meagher
Let’s face it, four consecutive Calcutta Cup wins can hardly be dismissed as a stroke or a stroke of luck in Murrayfield’s pan. And how and why does a country with only two professional sides, a worryingly shallow domestic talent pool and strained financial resources now put their supposedly better-stocked neighbors to shame on an annual basis? Especially when England were so dominant in this game ten years ago that Scotland couldn’t muster a single point against them at home.
If any bare graph suggests complacency, measured thinking and questionable stewardship of the English game over the last decade and a half, this is it. Scotland may have the advantage of the legendary duhan van der Merwe and the irresistible Finn Russell but still. Although England still mostly look inferior to their opponents, they are almost always against the better teams. Their favorable World Cup draw masked that reality last year but the Six Nations do not allow such cuts.
That leaves Steve Borthwick and his lieutenants with some serious thinking to do. Next up is Ireland, the best side in Europe. France in Lyon won’t be remotely simple either. In addition there are summer Tests against Eddie Jones’ Japan and the All Blacks (twice) in Dunedin and Auckland. Even the Brave Blossoms could be quietly licking their lips.
Does Borthwick comply or does he comply? Does it remain true to certain aging players who have been great servants to English rugby but are now getting heavier? Or does he conclude that it would be more favorable and beneficial to promote Manny Feyi-Waboso, Fin or Marcus Smith, George Martin, Chandler Cunningham-South and Alfie Barbeary without further delay, on the grounds that there is little England to lose again?
As Wales can attest, picking up a goal against Ireland is no guarantee of instant nirvana. Likewise, it’s not worth ignoring the obvious. The England pack is nothing to fear and a spirited defense will only take them so far up the greasy pole. For all Borthwick’s references to a “new” side, nine of Saturday’s 23-man day squad are 29 or older and there is no quick fix on the Twickenham horizon.
How is it possible, for example, that watching Ollie Lawrence play alongside Russell for Bath in the Premier League is worth a million dollars but he looks like a fish up a tree wearing an England No 12 jersey? England’s first try was a beautiful example of what they can do with a slick first class ball but in the second quarter their drive, execution and game management went off the rails. It’s less about how they played and more that the fundamentals of their attacking game – getting past the deficit quickly and early, handling sure, not pushing the pass – are less than most of their competitors now.
Borthwick is a bigger problem to solve than when he succeeded Eddie Jones at the start of last year. A return to the neolithic World Cup game plan would be a huge step backwards but, equally, half a century of points at home would be conceded to Ireland in the name of experimentation. Expect, for now, something in between, with Ben Spencer starting at halfback and Feyi-Waboso, a shooting star in the making, on one of the wings.
That said, Martin and Cunningham-South must be pushing hard and Fin Smith’s winning performance for Northampton in Munster last month is fresh enough in Ireland’s mind to consider his rise from the bench. Now that Rugby Union officials have ditched the idea of potentially swapping their traditional home at Twickenham for Wembley, they need to give their jaded supporters renewed incentive to show up.
Perhaps they should consider taking a leaf out of the Scottish Rugby book. Saturday’s game was impressively staged and notable for its stripped-back acoustics and artfully curated music – chapeau to whoever chose Wagon wheel by the aptly named Darius Rucker – even before Van der Merwe (aka Van The Man) sent England home to think again.
But Scotland coach Gregor Townsend was right when he pointed out that his side’s performance was far from perfect. Accordingly we will have to wait until their final match against the Irish in Dublin before finding out whether the Scottish team is good enough or just one transformation – Fee Fi Fo Fum! – when he smells English blood. And England? All they have to do is be patient and accept, for now, that they are where they are.
