Doom and gloom for Borthwick’s young England side; but should it be?

Freddie Waterland on 19 November 2024

The second half of England’s 2024 is all but finished and on the face of it, it looks pretty bleak. 5 losses in a row, including to an Australian team that hadn’t won at Twickenham since the now infamous 2015 World Cup Campaign, and an Autumn that has provided more questions than answers.

The ‘blitz’ defensive system implemented by Felix Jones and now ran by Joe El-Abd, looks a shadow of the force that saw England victorious over Ireland in the six nations. The tactic is defined by rapid, aggressive line-speed, aiming to meet opposition players early and prevent them from moving the ball. It can be hugely effective, as South Africa demonstrated en route to back-to-back World Cup titles, but if executed poorly it can look especially ugly, as it has done at various points throughout this run of fixtures. 

El-Abd, a coach without the pedigree of his predecessor and a close friend of Borthwick, has received significant (albeit not unfair) criticism, as fans and pundits alike suggest abandoning the system.  However, whilst England have been unsuccessful this Autumn, the bigger picture is more promising. 

Of these five losses, two were away in New Zealand. England have only won two games in New Zealand in history, and they came within a two points of doing so in Dunedin this summer. The third was at home to New Zealand, which England were one drop kick away from winning at the death. The fifth of these losses – and the only one to have been by more than seven points – was to double world champions South Africa.

A shock loss to a resurgent Australian team aside, a young England side physically matched South Africa and New Zealand, and led in the second half of each one of these encounters – that should be seen as a positive sign. 

Rightly or wrongly, this England side, and Borthwick himself,  will be judged on the World Cup in just under 3 years time. They feel the blitz defence is their best route to success, and have blooded a considerable amount of young talent this autumn, with the future in mind.

The teams age profile is something to note too; Jack Van Poortvliet, George Martin and Tommy Freeman are 23, Fin Baxter is 22 whilst two of England’s strongest performers this autumn have been 21 year olds Chandler Cunningham-South and Manny Feyi-Waboso. A side with this age profile competing against the world’s best teams is impressive, and often overlooked. 

Perhaps it is the manner of the defeats that has frustrated fans, England have often struggled to close out games, and have appeared rudderless at times. As the old adage goes after all, losing does become a habit. An over reliance on Marcus Smith for creative spark is another concern, attacks have often seemed unimaginative and flat before his involvement. But, the fact remains, this team have the raw materials to be a successful one; the – not easily coached – power and dynamism can be seen throughout the side, whilst the (in theory) more easily remedied decision making and structures appear to be somewhat lacking. 

So we leave Autumn with England in need of a positive Six Nations campaign next year. There are certainly plenty of signs to suggest that is on the cards, but can they shake their losing habit?

Words by Freddie Waterland.

Should have, could have, would have: A last minute defeat for England’s Rugby Union Team.

Freddie Waterland on 15 November 2024

The clock is dead. George Ford is waiting in the pocket. He drop kicks to beat the All Blacks and part of the Twickenham crowd erupt.

But, as they see it’s the New Zealand players celebrating and the English with heads in hands they realise they’ve lost, and the ball drifted agonisingly wide. A strange silence envelopes the ground. 

It’s important to establish a few things in the aftermath of England’s 24-22 defeat to New Zealand on Saturday. One such thing is the usually reliable George Ford had a poor cameo and missed two opportunities to finish the game.

However, whilst Ford is eviscerated in the press, two more things are true: England should never have let the game be decided by a drop goal, and Marcus Smith had badly butchered two drop goal attempts earlier in the game.

Smith though for his part was otherwise outstanding, producing the sort of performance against world class opposition that ends the debate as to whether he should be England’s fly half moving forward – if indeed there was one. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was also outstanding, although his opposite number Mark Telea’a was more impressive still.

A very low penalty count, some excellent defensive efforts and regular entries into the New Zealand 22 leaves the spectator confused as to where it all went wrong for England. 

The answer can be found largely in the contrasting impact had by the two benches and also the scarcely believable try scoring numbers pumped out by the aforementioned Tele’a and Will Jordan (0.7 and 0.9 tries per game respectively).

It will be the bench issue that will worry England most, the usually reliable Dan Cole and promising Finn Baxter penalised in two scrums, massively damaging momentum.

Whilst Nick Isiekwe was comprehensively outplayed by Patrick Tuipulotu, whose explosive carrying served as a potent reminder of New Zealand’s extraordinary depth in talent. 

The solace England can take lies in that they physically matched – perhaps even dominated – a world class side for 80 minutes. Had one kick been a metre to the left, Steve Borthwick’s decision to substitute Ford for Smith would be seen as a masterstroke and a very different narrative would unfold. Yet, it didn’t. Perhaps unfairly England will need now to comfortably dispatch an out of sorts Australia and maybe even beat world champions South Africa to claim this Autumn as a success.

The experience garnered by markedly young squad though will surely be invaluable. 

Words by Freddie Waterland

Pakistan to Pakistan. Bazball Two Years On – Will It Stand The Test Of Time?

Henry Eccles on 12 November 2024

England’s recent defeat in Pakistan signals about two and a half years since the start of the Stokes/McCullum tenure, and about 2 years since the 3-0 romping by England, last time out, in Pakistan.

These two years are intriguing, and the conclusion of the 2022 Pakistan series marked a shift in people’s perception of the Bazball ideology. The novelty of aggressive and entertaining cricket was by no means wearing off, but instead questions were raised about the sustainability of such an approach across an 18 month period that included the Ashes and an away trip to India.

People talk about the idea of the journey being more important than the destination, and the one that Stokes and McCullum and Co. have taken us on over the last 24 months has been filled with drama, disappointment, thrill, and everything in between. It’s been one of the most pivotal two-year periods in English red ball history, and it’s one I’m keen to explore.

After Pakistan “22, the next time England played a test series was February 2023, away, in New Zealand. One of the less watched contests under McCullum and Stokes, the first of two tests against The Kiwis was a microcosm of everything we had come to expect from England, under the new leadership group; including an aggressive declaration, runs from Harry Brook and Joe Root, a short cameo from Stuart Broad batting at 4 and ultimately England emerging victorious.

The series would finish 1-1 after a thrilling finish to the second test which saw New Zealand, after following on, bowl England out for 256 in the fourth innings, just 2 shy of their 258 run target.

Despite only getting a draw England’s absolute commitment to ultra-positive cricket foreshadowed what would be the most enthralling ashes series for a generation.

…

Back to the present for a moment. England are coming off the back of a really disappointing series in Pakistan where, in spite of scoring 823/7 in one innings, they were beaten, comprehensively by the opposition’s spinners. This has been met by a wave of criticism from pundits, and in particular ex-players. The man who seems to be bearing the bulk of this scrutiny is Ollie Pope and from my perspective, this seems unfair and rather fickle.

When Jurgen Klopp joined Liverpool in 2015 Adam Lallana was not the best player at the club, but he was one of the first to buy into the culture that the German manager proposed, and without him, there is an argument that Liverpool don’t have such profound success so quickly.

Now it’s important to note here that I think Ollie Pope will go onto have a more prosperous career playing for England than Lallana had playing for Liverpool, but the idea rings true nonetheless.

Even beyond the cultural impact Pope has had in bringing about England’s change in fortune the most recent domestic summer saw him captain England to a series win against Sri Lanka, score 1x 100, 1x 150 and win player of the match in a test against the West Indies. One poor series, off the back of a successful summer, in conditions that even, in the case of the second and third test, the most successful struggled in doesn’t seem like cause for execution.

This isolated incident represents what I believe a wider problem to be in English cricket, and more positively why I think Bazball will stand the test of time.

In an era where so much analysis and commentary from pundits and ex-players is black and white, offering unwavering support when results are positive but calling for heads when the chips are down, England just don’t seem to care. They’ve made a big show of coming out in press conferences and saying they don’t care about the results only entertainment; I don’t think this is true. They’re professional athletes, of course they want to win, those are just outlandish statements to get the underlying point across – “no matter how much positive or negative support this gets, we’re sticking to our guns, we’re going to play this way”.

I think it’s working.

…

It was by no means the biggest event of the 2023 Ashes series, but I vividly remember where I was when Zac Crawley pumped Pat Cummins through the off side to get us underway for the best series of test cricket I’ve ever watched.

I was making a sandwich, with the game open on my laptop and volume turned right up. To hear the English crowd and commentators roar, just as their Australian counterparts had two years earlier, as Mitchell Starc’s half volley had crashed into Rory Burns’ leg stump, was blissful.

I won’t dwell for too long on the intricacies of each test match as after two documentaries and a BBC Sport advent calendar I feel as though those who want to be up to date on it, are so. But, in my eyes, it was the greatest test series for a generation.

I’ve mentioned the first ball here because it continues my point. In the runup to the series there was so much anticipation and discourse around Bazball, and “would England continue to play in the same way?”. For Zac Crawley to stand and deliver off the first ball of the series was a statement and it rung true all summer.

Thinking back now, we get swept up in “What if Manchester?” and Broad’s fairytale finish but there was a point where we were 2-0 down and on the brink of losing The Ashes and so much of what Stokes and McCullum had worked for was looking like it would be undone.

There was a great deal of noise. Cries that this new style of play couldn’t work against the highest quality test nations. But this didn’t appear to permeate the walls of The Bazball camp. To come back from 2-0 down in Ashes series and be within touching distance of regaining the urn takes tremendous amounts of mental strength; arguably more than we give these boys credit for.

…

England have just lost in Pakistan and the media is calling for heads. All of a sudden, despite accumulating the 4th highest test score of all time, after two test match losses the selection methodology of Stokes and McCullum is flawed.

We’ve been here before; we’ve seen this before.

Analysis in cricket is too black and white, and Bazball will stand the test of time.

England were 2-0 down in the ashes and no negativity, seemingly, permeated the Bazball bubble. Stokes and McCullum made slight adjustments within a squad of players they had picked and we went from The Ashes almost being over with 2 tests still to play, to being within one sunny day of a historic test series victory.

Bazball doesn’t just refer to a manner of playing Test Match Cricket, it outlines a culture. There are clips of Stuart Broad explaining how they want the dressing room to be a haven of positivity, and the way Broad specifically went about implementing it is by stating something positive every time he enters the room. It could be about his morning walk, or his coffee. With the excitement there is around playing for England at the moment, and the constant stream of new young players coming into the setup, this positivity doesn’t feel like something that is fading, or will begin to soon.

Despite losing to Pakistan, history indicates that England won’t let this negativity get to them. There were good signs throughout the seires as well; Jamie Smith was excellent in conditions that were tough for a keeper and our batting, when not spinning sideways, looks to be in an excellent space.

I can’t wait for the Ashes.

Words by Henry Eccles

England Shocked by West Indies in WT20 World Cup Upset

Markus Conneely on 1 November 2024

The West Indies’ comprehensive six-wicket win against England was Women’s Cricket’s biggest upset of the year and saw one of the favourites dumped out of the WT20 World Cup in the UAE. The final group game served as a de facto quarter-final, with England’s first innings score of 141 made to look diminutive by powerful West Indian hitting.

England, a major powerhouse on and off the pitch, were perfect across the last home summer, accumulating 13 wins from 13 completed games. Typically, bilateral series are where they play their best cricket, too often unable to manage the intense scrutiny of knockout matches. Their group stage exit in this year’s edition follows semi-final heartbreak at the last WT20 World Cup, the 2022 Commonwealth Games, as well as a crushing 50-over World Cup final loss against Australia in 2022.

England dropping five catches against the West Indies was indicative of a team feeling the pressure, conscious of their recent past. Windies opener Qiana Joseph, promoted to the top of the order despite a batting average of 14, took advantage of England’s mediocrity and rose to the most significant occasion of her sporting career. The Saint Lucian smeared England’s attack to all corners on the way to a career-best 52. In conjunction with Deandra Dottin, the team’s talisman, they exhibited the brute force that exists across the Caribbean, to which England had no answer.

The West Indies’ achievement is even more impressive when considering the economic disparity between the two teams. England will have eight entirely professional regional women’s teams by 2025, whilst the West Indies can only afford a skeletal system that supports a small number of centrally contracted players.

Grenadian Leg spinner Afy Fletcher, who stung England through the middle overs and claimed the best figures of the match (3/21), is isolated from the sparse coaching in the Caribbean for most of the year. Rather than spending her days in a high-performance centre, she predominantly trains independently with her partner, a local club cricketer.

In contrast, England’s domestic pathway has been transformed since the pandemic. Only Australia, who have dominated women’s cricket for a decade, has similar opportunities and resources available to female cricketers.

England enjoy comparisons to the all-conquering Australian Women’s side, but in the recent past, they haven’t won the trophies to justify them. Failure to qualify from the group stages was made all the more painful when Australia went on to be knocked out by South Africa in the semi-finals; England have missed a golden opportunity to make up ground on the old enemy. Fortunately, 2025 is another World Cup year, and they’ll be given every opportunity to banish their tournament demons.

Words by Markus Conneely

Jules Rimet Still Gleaming? Shadows cast in spite of dazzling England performance

Owen Frost on 28 July 2021

Sunday 11th July. The final. Students were out in droves clamouring for an England victory. Never before has an English side in our recent memory grown into a tournament bona fide and showed such tenacity in the face of tough opposing sides. After Luke Shaw’s opener in the second minute, hope that football was coming home swept across the nation. It was only after an equaliser in full-time and the inevitable defeat suffered at the hands of Italian penalties that England’s Euros 2020 hopes were crushed. The dream was all over. Or was it?

England’s performance this Euros started off shakily, but steadily picked up pace, much like a Kyle Walker rescuing run, tracking back to extricate the defence. Defensively unblemished until the final two games, full of youthful attacking potential in the likes of Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho and Phil Foden to name a few, England proved the initial doubters wrong, demonstrating that they had the maturity and confidence to seriously challenge at major tournaments. The maturity shown in the final stages of the Denmark game were some of the most beautiful passages of English football I have ever seen. Evidently, hope should remain that Qatar scheduled for winter next year will provide ample opportunity for this bright squad of players to go all the way once more.

Fans recklessly overpowered Wembley Stadium employees on Sunday to gain entry into the national team’s biggest fixture in recent memory (Credit: The Guardian)

However, this improvement has largely been overshadowed by the events that followed the Italian victory. First-hand reports via video footage came streaming in after the match of mobs of men shoving Wembley Stadium stewards to gain access to the already capped-off 60,000 capacity venue. After a year which has seen Pride marches cancelled, Sarah Everard’s vigil ambushed by police and Black Lives Matter Protests quashed, the acquittal of these privileged members of the public of such insolent behaviour is a startlingly low blow.

Adding insult to injury, three English players Marcus Rashford, Saka and Sancho who took courageous, unlucky long walks to the penalty spot have since been subject to inordinate amounts of abuse. Gareth Southgate, in his latest press statement issued since the final, named the abuse of the three stars ‘unforgivable’. Saka spoke out on Thursday, rightly pointing to the fact that the “powerful platforms are not doing enough to stop these messages”.

Not only were reportedly 1,000 racially abusive tweets removed from Twitter on Sunday night, but the famous Withington mural of Rashford MBE was vandalised by those insensitive members of the British public. Only five people have been arrested after Saka and co. were racially abused online. Boris Johnson has alleged that any England fans guilty of racist abuse from now on will be banned from matches.

However, racist abuse is not always as obvious as a tweet or a mural defacement; it often manifests itself in more covert, malignant forms. Sunday night was not the first time we bore witness to such intellectual depravity this tournament. We all heard the heavy jeering English players received during the Croatia fixture upon taking took the knee for Black Lives Matter, as well as the incessant booing of Scottish, German, and Danish national anthems. Racist attitudes even infiltrated the attitudes of senior government officials such as Priti Patel who had previously labelled the player’s defiant protests “gesture politics”, much to Tyrone Mings’ documented upset.

We must take positives from the England team’s budding performance in what has been one of their most successful and enjoyable collective recent performances on the international stage. However, it is imperative that are not caught sleeping; expunging this more repugnant side from memory would be extremely disadvantageous. The nationalism and patriotism inherent to many English fans’ identities often begets unnecessary hatred. While the wait for the Three Lions to re-initiate training for Qatar 2022 begins, the actions of many fans on the weekend must not be taken lightly. Evidence already suggests that they seriously jeopardized our chances at hosting the World Cup in 2030. If we want the Jules Rimet to remain gleaming, we have to prove to other nations that we have not only what it takes to kick racism and bigotry out of football, but the common human decency to bring back much-needed respect to the sport we know and love.

Image Credit: The Telegraph