Brorthwick’s England are left Embarrassed at Twickenham, French Inflict Record Torture, Bedraggled, Battered & Humiliated. These are three of the many headlines greeting England rugby fans on Sunday following England’s record-setting loss to France at Twickenham. The headlines only begin to tell the story, and Rafters is sticking with our over-the-top moniker, “Bloody Saturday.”
The French owned England. There’re many other ways to put it, but that sums it up. To illustrate how much the French dominated, let’s compare the final score of Bloody Saturday’s match, (France 53 to England 10) to England’s only victory in the Autumn Nations Series last November, (England 52 over tier-two Japan 13).
It could have been worse. At one point in the second half, England’s on-field tension felt palpable. Though many commentators touted some minor improvements when several replacements took the field, something was amiss in the second half.
Owen Farrell came off the bench for Henry Slade in the forty sixth minute, and from Rafters’ view in the Upper level, he appeared really pissed off. So much so, that following a French penalty at midfield Farrell didn’t bother to wait for Marcus Smith, who had been kicking since the opening whistle.
There was none of the typical hubbub that ordinarily occurs prior to such a kick, and Farrell launched the ball into the corner before Smith could run to the mark. Many of his England teammates didn’t appear to realize that the kick had been made, and there was a definite F-this in Farrell’s body language. Good thing he found touch.
It’s possible that Rafters could be reading too much into how quickly and the way Farrell took the kick, but it seems at that point there was no longer a cohesive team on the field for England.
Pregame machinations
In Rafters’ pregame prognostication last Friday, we expressed delight at Marcus Smith’s selection and were eager to see how the young fly half would perform without the specter of Owen Farrell behind him at number twelve. Clearly the arrangement didn’t go well, but as many commentators have noted, it wasn’t all on Smith. There was plenty of blame to go around.
In our pregame predictions last week, Rafters wrote, “With the decision made, or taken as they say here in England, all the speculation about Smith and Ferrell won’t matter a damn until around seven o’clock on Saturday evening when Borthwick will be either a genius or a goat.”
Our assessment doesn’t hold up when an entire team folds the way England did.
So now, we speculate, which is what fans do between games.
Borthwick’s fly half choices
Option One
With only five games remaining before the World Cup, England needs a spark. Smith is young, fast, and skilled. It would be short sighted and a shame to end the Smith experiment before it starts. Borthwick should double down on Smith as his fly half, start him in Dublin, and rebuild the team around him with the time left.
Option Two
Cut Smith and play-on with Owen Farrell. Farrell’s style of play is nearly the opposite of Smith’s. Returning to Farrell might bring some leadership and stability in the short run, but if Borthwick’s view of the future is conservative play why did the RFU bother to fire Eddie Jones. England will continue to lose the big games with Farrell.
Option Three
Start George Ford in Dublin. Ford is an excellent fly half and a consistent kicker. Under other circumstances, he might be the right choice for England. The timing, however, is poor. Starting three different fly halfs with three different styles in three consecutive matches drains any remaining continuity the team might still have. If he goes with Ford, he needs to do it this week.
Option Four
Find someone completely different. Rafters only mentions this last option out of thoroughness and can’t really think of any one who can match the strength of play from Smith, Ford, or Farrell. If Borthwick were to go with this option, he might as well start Ford.
After Bloody Saturday
If anyone over estimated England’s chances on Saturday it was Rafters.
We called an England win by a score of 19 - 12, basing that expectation on how France failed to dominate Italy, Ireland, or Scotland. Who would have thought that England could have been destroyed so completely?
In his Daily Mail column on Sunday morning, Mike Brown was optimistic, suggesting that England might channel its humiliation into better play against Ireland. With all the injuries Ireland incurred on Sunday, maybe England might be more competitive against the depleted number one side, but Rafters is more inclined to agree with Sir Clive Woodward’s commentary, “We knew were far behind French, (sic) but not this far.”
Afters
If you are interested in watching Premiership Rugby in the United States (live or replays), you can stream all the matches on Peacock. Xfinity includes Peacock with some cable subscriptions. Flo Rugby offers replays of the Autumn Internationals, USA Rugby, the Rugby Championships, and Super Rugby. The Rugby Network broadcasts the MLR and the Pool C Tournament for no charge,
Fine Print
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