England have failed to produce their attacking prowess in the two November Tests so far and I think much of that has been down to the struggles of their central combination.
In the narrow loss to New Zealand, Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade performed well defensively but were unable to keep the ball.
Then, against Australia, the pair swapped positions with Slade moving to number 12 and Lawrence to outside centre. On paper, this move might not have made much of a difference. But what actually happened was that England’s blitz defense was badly exposed. This gave Australia a massive 42 points at Twickenham.
That should not happen on the England side. Lawrence was much more active in the Wallabies game, but the bottom line was that England still lost.
To have any chance of facing back-to-back world champions South Africa on Saturday, England will need Slade and Lawrence to produce the kind of full display we are yet to see, at least this month.
Slade came into the autumn having played just 54 minutes of club rugby with Exeter following a shoulder injury, so it would not be surprising if he was unable to be fully relied on.
In the narrow loss to New Zealand, Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade defended well.
However, in the match against Australia, England were held to a draw, conceding 42 runs to their opponents.
Steve Borthwick needs his midfield to come together to help his team win.
The midfielder is the heart of any team. The center is the glue that holds the XV together. In the England teams I coached, most of the headlines were on the likes of Martin Johnson, Jonny Wilkinson and Jason Robinson. But in a team packed with world-class talent, the center combination of Mike Tindall and Will Greenwood was a crucial cog.
Mike Catt also played a key role in us winning the 2003 World Cup, coming off the bench to change the quarter-final win over Wales and start the semi-final win over France. There were many other centers I turned to. I was lucky to be able to do that.
Slade and Lawrence are quality players, but the reality is that the partnership isn’t working yet. I hope that changes happen against South Africa and that changes are needed for England to win. Because the Springboks have the best midfield combination in the world in Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel.
Going forward, I would urge Steve Borthwick to explore the option of playing Tommy Freeman at outside centre. I think he is a great player. We haven’t seen much of Freeman with the ball in his hands this November. But he’s playing for a team that hasn’t yet discovered how to isolate on the wing, chase kicks and actually play fast. I think England could get the best out of him if they moved him inside.
It doesn’t seem like he’s alien to the center role, as Freeman has split between wing and number 13 positions at Northampton and excels in both positions.
Freeman switched wings for this game. Borthwick surprised me with his decision to drop Ben Spencer at scrumhalf. But choosing Freddie Steward over George Furbank at full-back is an understandable decision. Even though it wasn’t my decision.
We all know that South Africa play a direct game with a lot of kicking. Their approach is based on a desire for physical dominance and Steward is chosen to compete in the air. But South Africa won’t kick the ball to him, so one wonders if the new law on blocking escort runners during kick chases has given him the nod.
We’ve seen this fall that new rules have made aerial contests even more important than before, and as we all know, Steward excels at that.
Choosing Freddie Steward over George Furbank at fullback allows for a more direct game.
England narrowly lost to South Africa in the final match of last year’s World Cup.
But England need to capitalize on his skills going forward and not just in defence. I would like to see Marcus Smith try to find him with aggressive cross kicks, and for that reason alone I would have chosen Stewart on the wing.
If that tactic is executed well, the 6-foot-5 Steward will outperform 5-foot-7 Cheslin Kolbe, 5-foot-9 Kurt-Lee Arendse and even 6-foot-2 Aphelele Fassi every time. This is a tactic I want to see.
This is a game where England need not blame themselves. After two fall losses and a fourth straight loss in two games, the team has received its fair share of understandable criticism. But history shows that England teams tend to attack when in crisis. But I don’t like it when a team has to lose to achieve anything big.
But that seems likely to happen, so expect South Africa to push it all the way like they did last year when the two teams last faced each other in the World Cup semi-finals. England used the most restricted game plan I have ever seen to compete at the time. I hope this choice isn’t a sign that they’ll go back to those tactics. It doesn’t have to be that way.
South Africa won that match by one point and expect this match to be just as tight. For once, there’s only one England for me!
The three main conflicts I would note are:
Will Stewart vs Ox Nche
Stewart may not be a player who grabs many headlines in England, but he deserves it as he has had a strong autumn so far. Bath’s tighthead did well at scrum-time and England’s set-pieces were weakened by his departure.
Stewart will need to maintain his form against the Springboks, who pride themselves on destroying opposition scrums. Stewart’s opposite number, Nche, is probably the best scrummaging prop in the world.
England’s Itoje Maro (left) and South Africa’s Eben Etzebeth (right) will face off in another thrilling match.
Etzebeth vs Maro Itoje
It seems like these two people say this every time they meet, how good of a match they have! It’s a battle between two giants from the game and a modern-day giant. Itoje always seems to give his all for the biggest matches, so I’m expecting another big performance from him.
Etzebeth is a monster. To me, he summed up how the modern athlete has evolved physically. Itoje has performed well in England’s first two games, but if he cannot replicate that form, England will not win.
Freddie Steward vs Apellele Passi
Steward is one of England’s four changes. He was selected to tackle South Africa’s kicking game for his aerial skills. Steward is arguably the best in the world at his field, so it’s completely understandable why he came to Furbank. Smith needs to find him with a cross kick on offense.
My only concern is that I hope Steward doesn’t get rusty. He did not feature in the first two autumn Tests and, after a similar spell, he was not at his best when he played against New Zealand in the summer.
