England Defence vs Japanese Attack
It was billed as Jones vs Borthwick, their first meeting since parting ways in 2020. Jones the master tactician, has a plan for everyone. back with the all out attack of Japan, vs England’s boring Set Piece dominated game plan. In truth, as it turned out, it was the complete opposite. England’s attack was destructive and clinical, 8 tries taken against a Japanese side who recorded an 84% tackle success rate. If you only...
Anatomy of a Try: O’Brien vs Connacht May 2024
Leinster spanked Connacht 33-7 in the penultimate round of the URC and pick of the scores was this O’Brien finish after great work from Foley, Frawley and Pendergast. It’s always enjoyable seeing a good quality strike move come off. However, whilst a clean kill is always satisfying the notable thing here is the excellence of the execution and how, when one player makes a mistake Leinster are able to adapt and maintain their...
England Attack Analysis: World Cup 2023
Whilst not pretty it’s hard to deny England have made huge strides since the Summer Series. Improved discipline, fitness levels seem to be there or there about and defence has become as miserly as you could want conceding a sum total of 18 points in the two world cup matches against Tier One opposition to date. But, whilst all of the above might be true it remains to be seen if they can elevate their attack to similar levels....
England Discipline Issues: World Cup 2023
England’s discipline under Steve Borthwick has been well documented. It’s been long accepted that over the last 9 month, a high penalty count and 4 red cards in 10 games showed England were on a downward spiral. The Truth is somewhere in the middle. The cards can’t be ignored, and clearly, there is some failure to keep within the high tackle laws by England. But we also need to focus on the broader disciplinary...
The Anatomy of a Try: Bundee Aki vs England 2023
Ask most Rugby fans to describe a team, such as the All Blacks and you’ll get a pretty consistent answer even from the most layman of fans. Likewise, if you repeat the question of France, Ireland, and South Africa. “They Attack from everywhere, possession, Jouex, Jouex, They smash you, Brutal Defence, Physical both sides of the ball”. The traits of each team are obvious. Even in this day and age as the game becomes a...
The Anatomy of a Try: Boffelli vs England November 2022
If there were two major differences between England and Australia it was probably Argentina’s bravery in attack and their composure under pressure in a sodden, muted Twickenham. In the pouring rain, no one should have expected a high-scoring game. No one should have expected a low kick % game and no one should expect a team to pull off one of the best strike moves in recent memory to score off 1st phase ball. For a while now...