OPINION – England’s victory last week established a good if not particularly spectacular base to build on for the upcoming World Cup. Doing enough at Twickenham, they now go to Stade de France this Saturday which is a totally different task. But as the Red Roses prepare to take on a France team desperate to find some form before the big show next month, they’ll be wanting to send nations in their so-called ‘pool of death’. And if England’s flair in the back line made countries sit up and take notice, England’s forward pack would have made them lie back down, such was their lackadaisical performance.
Lancaster has made 14 changes to the squad that edged France last Saturday but with the World Cup under a month away, the team for this week’s World Cup warm-up match indicates that he might not yet know his starting 15. This week, you’d suggest England’s team management would be having a close look at these positions.
Front Row
England fielded a second string front-row against in last Saturday’s match, and they paid the price.
They were physically battered in open play, gained no momentum at scrum time and were outmuscled at the break down. This week Lancaster has looked to address the situation and picked what might be his starting front-row come the World Cup in Joe Marler, Tom Youngs and Dan Cole. The players are under pressure and after last week, the England pack has a huge point to prove.
Fortunately for the visitors, the hostile conditions that they’ll encounter in France will be a far cry from the love-in that they’ll experience throughout the World Cup. But there’s no disguising that they’ll need to front up at scrum time and get some ascendancy over the French, something England failed to do last week.
In their penultimate game before the start of the World Cup, it’s important that they build their confidence ahead of the so-called ‘pool of death’
Locks
The combination of George Kruis and Geoff Parling, similarly to the front row, struggled to make their presence felt at Twickenham last weekend and it may have damaged their claims for World Cup selection.
This week, the aforementioned changes to England’s pack means that it has been significantly strengthened with the combination of Lawes/Launchbury. The players have established themselves firmly as one of England’s best lock combinations – despite this being Joe Launchbury’s first match in 12 months. Any day of the week, these players in top form are Lancaster’s first choice.
Despite this, it’s important that the pairing show their wares in Paris this week and demonstrate what they add to the scrum, the lineout and what they bring in defence as well as attack. With both players looking to cement a starting position in the Rugby World Cup team, look for them to be influential at the breakdown as well as menacing in France’s set piece.
Fullback
Mike Brown’s long awaited return to rugby ends on Saturday as he runs out in a shirt that he has made his own over the last few years.
With his absence from the game stretching to five months, he needs to put in a very good performance if he’s going to dispel doubts over whether he can return to top form in such a short period of time before the World Cup, particularly after Alex Goode did all he could in last week’s game.
While Brown will still likely be England’s number one choice at fullback for the World Cup, he’ll need to hit the ground running in France and back it up with a good performance against Ireland in a fortnight if he’s going to cement himself in as the starting fullback.
Before kick off last Saturday, England would have been hoping to make some statements in their final two World Cup warm-up matches at Twickenham. They would have wanted to show off their strength in depth to be able to portray that they do have the goods to win the World Cup at home. While performances by the whole back-line last Saturday, the forward pack would have disappointed Lancaster and it looks to be a slight chink in England’s armour as it shows that their stocks up front don’t tend to be as deep as they are in the backs. They also failed to reinforce the idea that Twickenham is their fortress by getting reasonably challenged on their home turf, especially as they were made to hold on to the five point win toward the 80 minute mark.
If England win and win well this Saturday with a squad that more resembles what Lancaster would call his first side, it will go someway to ease the coach’s doubts about whether his team have the mettle and the personnel to go all the way in the next two months. However, if they put up another performance similar to last Saturday, it might raise more answers than questions for Lancaster and the rest of the country.