England may be one win away from equalling New Zealand’s record of 18 straight victories from a tier one nation, but they have yet to enjoy an interval lead in this year’s Six Nations, slow starters against France and Wales and non-starters against Italy when their opponents’ cunning exploitation of the offside rule befuddled the champions, whose late blizzard of tries did not mask the earlier shambles.
Eddie Jones’s side were trailing at half-time in the final match of the autumn series against Australia and the four matches had a common denominator: the Vunipola brothers were absent from the starting lineup. The two forwards’ ability to get over the gainline and create quick possession to use against a retreating defence has been a pivotal factor in England’s winning run.
Mako Vunipola returned to the bench for the victory over Italy and is in line to start at loosehead prop against Scotland on Saturday, while Billy is back in action for Saracens at Newcastle on Sunday, less than four months after damaging knee ligaments playing against Argentina and three weeks ahead of schedule.
Billy would be a candidate for the bench next weekend, especially with the head coach Jones’s enthusiasm for finishers, but against a team that is playing with more confidence than the first three opponents, the No8 may be required to get his side off to a strong start.
“A guy like Billy adds confidence to the side,” says the England scrum-half Ben Youngs. “He is absolutely world class, in my opinion. I think if you were playing against us and saw his name on the team-sheet, you would be slightly annoyed that he had come back sooner than was originally thought. It is great to see someone of his calibre back: I have played alongside him and, unfortunately, have to play against him twice a year. On his day, he is the best No8 in the world.
“Not many players can do what he does. No8s can suck in players but not many can carry two, three defenders and physically impose himself from minute one until 80. He’s not a guy who waits for the game to come to him, he is just absolutely on it. Every time you get out as a nine you know that Billy is there.
“So many times in tight games it’s just about winning the gainline and it can become a bit of an arm wrestle when you get caught in that middle third. Billy and Mako have that incredible raw strength to make three or four yards when they’ve got no right to do so. Billy’s return will put pressure on the squad which will make training better and everyone more edgy again, which is a good thing.”
Youngs has been less effective at scrum-half without Billy Vunipola storming the gainline and his run of nine successive starts ended against Italy when Danny Care was promoted from the bench. Care was in the starting lineup in Jones’s first match in Scotland last year with the coach having concerns over Youngs’ weight and his ability to keep getting to breakdowns quickly. It was a case of for whom the belly tolls for the Leicester scrum-half, teased by Jones for having a sweet tooth.
His response was swift and Youngs’ partnership with Billy Vunipola helped England engineer quick possession for the outside backs. Vunipola’s replacement, Nathan Hughes, is a different No8, as concerned with keeping the ball alive as mowing down tacklers.
“Nathan has grown each game and has found his home in Test rugby,” says Youngs. “He can get through tacklers with his unbelievably long arms and offload. He does not mind a little sneak through the ruck and he has other subtleties: Billy gets you on the front foot from a standing start, going forward even off really poor ball.”
It is a measure of England’s strength that they have continued their winning run without the Vunipolas, the second-row George Kruis, Chris Robshaw in the back row and the option of Anthony Watson on the wing. And Manu Tuilagi, of course, but the destroyer of New Zealand in 2012 has been available so rarely in the past four years that he has become a memory.
Jones wants three players in each position that he would be happy starting with and if he has a way to go in some, notably full-back and hooker, he is blessed in others, not least on the wing, at prop and in the second row.
England are potentially one victory away from retaining the title and not having to worry about getting anything from their final match in Dublin, with Ireland needing to win in Cardiff on Friday. Victory over Scotland would not only see England equal New Zealand’s record but set a new one of 11 for consecutive wins in the championship as well as putting them on course to become the first team to win back-to-back grand slams in the Six Nations era, all at a time when they have been short of at least half their first-choice pack.
It may say as much about the Six Nations as about England. France failed to hold on at Twickenham having forgotten how to win tight matches; Wales were, in a familiar failing, unable to complement ambition with skill under pressure in Cardiff, while Italy found a distraction at Twickenham from their recent woes without offering evidence that they are near to what should be the necessary standard in the tournament. The offside ruse came from the coaches, not the players, and it brought out, for the first time since he took over from Stuart Lancaster, the waspish, ungracious side of Jones.
By denouncing anti-rugby tactics, he was deflecting attention away from his players, who looked clueless when confronted with the unexpected, having before the start of the tournament urged them to make his position redundant by showing they had the wherewithal to make decisions on the field without needing advice from the coaches.
It may have been a bonus-point victory but it was the first shuffle backwards during Jones’s time in charge, rivalled only by the first half against France last year, when a team that had not achieved the grand slam for 13 years had an attack of stage-fright, and Australia in December when they took a while to compensate for the loss of Billy Vunipola. It was a day when the leadership, and not just the form, of Dylan Hartley was questioned and when the equilibrium of Owen Farrell was found to be not yet permanent.
Scotland will be encouraged to come up with something innovative early on to create unease and discomfort. They have not won at Twickenham since 1983 and their away record in the Six Nations is poor with just six victories, four of them in Italy. Their strength is at the breakdown and moving the ball behind and they will not want to get sucked into the rarity of a set-piece battle.
“We have got the results but we have not nailed the performance yet,” says Youngs. “That is what I am looking forward to and I am pretty confident it will happen on Saturday.”
If it does, England will seek their record against the side who in November prevented New Zealand from making it 19, and the last team to beat them in the Six Nations, Ireland.
