'Borthwick has obvious question coming his way on Farrell - and logical answer'
Back in the mists of time England had a way of playing which won them a lot of rugby matches.
They would build a score by applying pressure and take drop goals when they were on. Even when they weren’t scoring tries they knew they would still amass points.
Stop them by infringing and they’d kick the three, stop them with unbelievable defence and they’d take the drop. The opposition knew they were always going to be under pressure and would have to change the way they play. It was not always pretty, but it was usually effective.
Such pragmatism has rather gone out of fashion in the years since but in Marseille last week we saw it revived by George Ford.
Having lost Tom Curry so early to a red and playing in heat which made handling perilous, England’s fly-half read the situation and had the skills to adapt and build a winning score.
How to watch Summer Nations Series on Amazon Prime
In those circumstances his performance was as good as you’ll see. So there is an obvious question coming fast down the track and it is what do England do when Owen Farrell returns next week from his ban.
George Ford nails second of his three drop goals against Argentina (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)Do they thank Ford for minding the shop and show him the door, do they slot their captain alongside him at 12 or does Farrell now have to wait his turn.
Given how balanced the team looked with Ford alongside a midfield of Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant my clear preference is to keep the centre pairing intact and play one or the other at 10.
England have been successful with playmakers at 10 and 12 in the past but I don’t feel that is going to get them to the sharp end of this tournament.
A priority has to be to have Farrell up to speed in time for the quarter-finals to give them options. A decent run out next week against Chile, like Johnny Sexton had on his return against Romania, is an obvious call.
But in tournaments you need to tap into momentum, not kill it. Against Argentina, Ford produced a performance which said ‘I can win games for you’.
Alex Mitchell, who was not meant to even be in France yet was also superb in Marseille, also took his chance.
It’s not in England’s best interests to take a step back now. Pick on form, as Borthwick has with Lewis Ludlam over Billy Vunipola. That way everyone knows where they stand.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
