England - Wales: it was not about Character

Having watched the game and read the press, I thought I should do my own review. A lot of what has been written is wrapped in narrative rather than truth and so I wanted to do my own summary of who fared well, the positives and the concerns.

Haskell and Care
Both described as having played very well, been crucial even to the victory. I disagree entirely. Yes Care made that break and a couple others, but his ponderous service from the base of a scrum or ruck completely neutralised our potentially exciting back line. The first set of phases took us back at least 20 metres. It's very difficult to quantity the positive/ negatives from this, but if you give a back line no opportunity to break and go forward, then it's almost impossible to build territory through possession and put the fear of God into the opposition. The net result was that when Wales stepped up, we had no response. The Care strategy leaves us reliant on breaks, not patterns. And the fewer patterns we play, the less able we'll be able to do them.

Haskell had an OK game, yes he got 2 tries and it is impressive that he was there to support the second. However, he wasn't that impressive otherwise. He was relatively anonymous on the pick and drive and doubt he made that many yards. I have a suspicion that he is not strong enough (however muscular). Easter is immensely strong and frankly should have been man of the match. He provides ballast and a focal point for attack, along with excellent defence. What worries me about Haskell is his ever being picked at 8, assuming an Easter injury. Then we'd have a massively devalued back 3 in terms of strength. Haskell with Easter? Maybe, but Haskell without Easter, no.

Midfield
It was probably the most anonymous midfield I've ever seen (although some excuse given for Care's slow delivery). I think Tait will be excellent playing outside Flutey who will straighten, (half) break tackles and give Tait the opportunity to run at pace and create space and opportunities. Against Wales, we drifted and shipped the ball along the line. This is the easiest 'attack' to defend against. I'm not even sure I can remember a single set move - even a dummy or scissors. I can't say that they both played badly, but it was just so short of creativity or strategy.

Back three
Most press describe them as not having had much chance, with Delon under-performing. I think on balance that assertion is fair. However, they don't point out what they did well with the limited opportunities they had. Cueto was as commanding under a high ball and with the boot as Armitage was on debut. When he took the ball, he looked purposeful and his first instinct was to run, not kick (to the point that he started taking the kicks at pace, rather than stationary). Even more so, I thought Monye was fantastic, rampaging through tacklers, in much the way that we all imagined Jamie Roberts would. I don't think I've ever seen him do so much with rubbish ball in an england shirt. More of that against Italy and it will be a blood bath.

Front Row
Hartley was surprisingly 'weak' - he didn't penetrate with much depth. However, he did his core job very well and was busy and made himself available. In the days of the pod system, having him constantly putting his hand up is a great boon for the backs looking for better and faster ball. Props were a worry. Not in the least because of the binding on the arm (even I noticed these a few times!). Wilson and Payne seemed very underpowered. It was noticeable that when Cole came on, the scrum seemed so much more assured. I know we are suffering with injuries, but this was clearly not the best available prop pairing. Next week against Italy, Cole must start. It's the perfect platform to demonstrate we can pick a competitive front 3.

Borthwick and Moody
These guys obviously made a pact before the game to swap places. Moody was completely invisible and Borthwick actually played well, in particular doing something good for everyone to see in that crucial turnover. Moody does have quiet games occasionally, so hope that's his one out of the way for the 6 nations.

Extraneous
Kick and chase - absolutely appalling yesterday. Even from the kick off, Moody wasn't 'mad dogging' it to get to the ball. Wilkinson kept having to chase his own kicks, as did Cueto. Where was the support?

Team response
The team is talking rubbish about how they would have lost it 2 years ago, but their character pulled them through. Absolute rubbish. An opportunist (and crucially, a defensive) intercept try was the difference and potentially a 14 point swing, given Delon was covering 2 attackers. He didn't intercept out of character, but necessity. It may be true that going forwards, England can derive character from the win, but it was certainly not the other way round.

Optimism?
I am happy with the win and some things were good and we certainly have areas to build on. Against Italy next week needs to be about endeavour and a relatively high risk game. Unless our backs begin to get some continuity, we'll continue to always feel relieved to win, rather than it being fully earned. Against Italy, we can afford to play to the backs strengths, to give them the opportunity to test themselves. Yes it's high risk, but unless they start to understand and trust themselves (and in a game situation, rather than training). We won't be able to push on and really bully opponents. The order of games is perfect, we just got away with a win and next week, we can really set the backs free. Come the 3rd game, we'll have confidence and continuity to take into a hugely competitive match, which we then could win. Without either, we'd be lucky to do so.