by The most decisive factor in Saturday’s Calcutta Cup match can be summed up in one word: belief. England have to believe in their blitz defense system, they have to show confidence in it even when mistakes happen and they have to continue to do that for 80 minutes. Because they can be sure that Finn Russell has bucket loads of faith and the ability to move on from mistakes in an instant.
Make no mistake, mastering a brand new defensive system is difficult, especially in the middle of a Six Nations championship. I first encountered a blitz defense at Harlequins in 2005 and that was the year we were relegated. There were other factors that contributed but certainly the way our defense performed was one of them.
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There are so many variables that mean it’s not something you can perfect overnight. The second time I met him was with the British and Irish Lions in 2009 and faith was crucial to his success. You’re getting high, sometimes you’re ignoring half the field. Shaun Edwards was the Lions defensive coach in 2009 and he created so many drills that gave us so much confidence as edge defenders to commit to the system. You have to have faith in what you are doing. You have to be confident.
In this England side I have seen belief and confidence in their opening two games. During the first half of the win over Italy, they weren’t great defensively but they were much better in the second and the biggest difference was line speed and more attack. It’s only human nature if you don’t fully believe in something you can be a bit passive but I see this side becoming more aggressive. Mistakes are still being made, that’s inevitable, but I think last week is a crucial time for England to fix as many of them as possible. That said, they come up against Russell who is adept at exploiting them.
Russell is someone who actively seeks that warmth. He’s confident in his skills, you see how fair he is, and he’s trying to pull other players out of line to expose them and take advantage of their mistakes. It calls for a blitz defense and England must bear in mind that, in the Test arena, against a player of his quality, his line will be broken. What matters is how they respond. Does it make them more passive or can they be duplicated?
If we look at the mistakes that England have made defensively, a lot of them are individual errors. Some of them have been through the middle, some of them are out in the world, which created a space in the middle and caused a break.
The issue is that Russell, above all other fly halves in the competition, has the ability to force individual errors. He is unpredictable, has incredible speed of thought and speed of pass. He lures opponents into defensive reads that don’t exist, he creates mirages.
To that end it will be a big evening for Henry Slade, who has emerged as one of the main defensive leaders in the team, no doubt in part because Exeter employ a similar blitz system. Slade came into the Six Nations in great form for Exeter, the perfect response to his omission from the World Cup squad, but he has had a few quiet games. Part of the problem is that he and Fraser Dingwall have similar strengths, both like to move the ball, but with the return of Ollie Lawrence the division of labor could not be clearer.
Lawrence adds a point of difference to England’s attack and as much as their defensive performance will determine the outcome on Saturday, I see a lot of potential to improve what they do with the ball and George Furbank can play a big part of that. Freddie Steward is a very tidy player, he was excellent against Wales last time out but the challenge is just different this week.
Furbank is a ballplayer, he’s got extra speed and I think he’s a little more approachable. When there’s a lot of competitive kicking there’s not much better in the world than Steward but Scotland don’t kick to compete much, against France they kicked the ball over a mile – they kicked long. So if you’re building the aerial threat game, what else is Steward bringing? Compared to what Furbank can do if he crosses like I hope, Furbank is more of an attacking threat.
In golf they talk about a movement day – the third day of a tournament – I see this as a “movement weekend” for the Six Nations. It is a crucial game and could define each side’s campaign. I am enjoying the way England are progressing through the tournament, the potential is much greater than last year’s team. It will change another gear for England to win on Saturday but if it is, don’t ruin their championship chances.
