England will not restrict themselves to one way of playing at the World Cup, says their backs coach, Andy Farrell. The home team may well fuse the styles of last season’s Premiership finalists Saracens and Bath – the aggressive defence of the former combined with the derring-do in possession of the latter – but in a tournament that switches from a league format to knock-out England will keep their tactical variations open.
“We have been looking at different combinations to see what works and to assess our options,” said Farrell, speaking from England’s training camp in Denver, Colorado. “There is nothing so far that we have not liked. It is not a case of having just one way of playing and, when you look at the back three, we also have various options there. There are all sorts of permutations throughout the back line and that is why the last couple of weeks have been so important.”
Even New Zealand, the 2011 winners, found themselves enchained by the demands of knock-out rugby four years ago, becoming more pragmatic as the tournament went on, and England used the final week of their training camp in Denver to assess different permutations behind the scrum, where they have players of contrasting attributes.
One option at outside-half and centre is the Bath triumvirate of George Ford, Kyle Eastmond and Jonathan Joseph, a combination that illuminated the Premiership and the Champions Cup last season, while another is the trio of Owen Farrell, Brad Barritt and Luther Burrell, who take a more direct, less risky route.
England started contact work in their final week in Denver, which ended on Saturday, and entering into it with gusto was the full-back Mike Brown, who missed the final two months of last season with concussion. The Harlequins full-back was passed fit to return to training last month and has shown no inhibition in tackling.
“Mike has not missed a beat in training,” said Farrell. “He has been able to do everything and he is shaping up well for next month’s warm-up matches against France. We have asked a lot physically of every player during our time in Denver and he is 100% ready.”
The No8 Ben Morgan, who has not played since he broke a leg last January, took contact for the first time at the end of the final week. While the players have this week off, the Gloucester forward will continue to work on his fitness before the squad regathers at Bagshot after the weekend to start preparing for the home and away matches against France, after which the 31-strong World Cup squad will be picked. “Everyone will need to play some part in the warm-up matches,” said Farrell, with a nod to Morgan’s fitness.
Farrell added that the management had not yet decided how the 31 would be split between forwards and backs. “It would not be great for them going into the competition if that did not happen. I am very confident that everyone will be in a good place by the start of the two games. The most pleasing thing for us in training has been that the ferocity there is in the competition for places in the 31 has not boiled over into something stupid. The players are going through the camp together and there has been no disrespect. Some have surprised themselves by pushing to their limits, but what is significant is that they have all come through it together.
“We watched the start of the Rugby Championship. New Zealand’s skill level was high and they will be pleased with their first outing while Australia [who are in England’s group] showed character to come back at the end and beat a very good South Africa side.”
