England Watch - is "gallant defeat" enough these days?

So, with the dust just about settled on the weekend’s action, time to reflect at what went on at Twickenham on Saturday.

First up, the sending off of Charlie Ewels for making contact with James Ryan’s head in the second minute of the game. It was clear as soon as the tackle was replayed on the big screen that Ewels was in trouble and, under the laws, it was 100% a red card, no doubts. Whether there is another solution to the issue of non-malicious contact to the head, I don’t know, but there was a palpable sense amongst those around me in the upper tier at Twickenham on Saturday that it was game over with barely any rugby played and that would certainly have been the case if it were not for (a) the sheer cussedness of the England forwards, (b) an apparent uncertainly amongst the Irish as to how to take advantage of their one man advantage and (c) a referee who appeared to me to give England the benefit of any doubt thereafter.

Certainly amongst the English supporters the frustration at losing a player so early and the expectation of an absolute hammering at the hands of the Irish slowly but surely turned to something else as the England capitulation failed to materialise and – with Ellis Genge and Maro Itoje leading the charge – every tackle was cheered to the rafters and every scrum penalty won greeted with a deafening gutteral roar that I am not sure I have heard before at Twickenham. It was rousing stuff, and the English players can be rightly proud of the effort and commitment shown.

Ultimately, however, it was nowhere near enough. Ireland still won by a record margin at Twickenham and scored four tries to nil. For all England’s effort and commitment, the closest they came to scoring a try was a botched line out drive in the first half and the England back division failed to look like penetrating the Irish defence at any stage in the game. Yes there was effort, yes there was commitment in the face of adversity, but this is the bare minimum to expect, surely?

It has come to something where England supporters appear to be satisfied with “brave defeat” at home in the Six Nations. Yes, the outcome may have been different if it had remained 15 vs 15 but the fact that many had the Irish as favourites anyway for this game tells us all we need to know about where this England team is right now.

The grim reality is that – despite Eddie Jones lauding this “New England” team – it is likely that England will finish this Six Nations with two wins out of five, the same as last year’s disastrous campaign, and very possibly in 5th place, again.

Has there been progress from last year? I don’t know, I think I will wait until after the game in Paris next week before trying to answer that. There is, I think, an intent to play faster rugby, as demonstrated by the selection of Randall and Smith at half back. But having intent is one thing, being able to execute is entirely another and currently it looks as if England simply lack the personnel in the current squad to play the way they want to play.

Lacking penetration in the backs and without pace in the wider positions I am not entirely sure where England’s tries are supposed to come from. And if you are not going to provide the likes of Harry Randall and Marcus Smith with the tools to get the job done, then why select them? It would not surprise me at all if next week in Paris England reverted a more prosaic approach and picked Youngs and Ford to deliver it.

If England lose badly in Paris then, despite Eddie Jones banging on about England’s performance against Ireland setting a foundation for the 2023 World Cup campaign, I would say that the head coach’s job must be on the line and if not, then why not? 

Total Flanker – the older I get, the better I was