Optimism is often manufactured at the start of a campaign. Everyone goes in believing they can win every game, but there is a mood of true optimism around England before the autumn series. Considering they have won their past seven matches, had their best finish to a Six Nations for five years and then won a summer series in Argentina, I think it’s fair to have confidence. Argentina beat the British & Irish Lions and England won there despite having 13 players away in Australia, plus one of the coaches.
The number of Prem players excelling and the level in that competition also makes me excited for what England can achieve in November, starting with Australia on Saturday. Steve Borthwick is growing into the head coach job and is more confident in what he’s doing: turbulence may not be the right word for the early days of his tenure but I think people expected more. As fans we want immediate results, but coaches tend to have a “helicopter” view and understand the direction of travel.
Two years into this World Cup cycle the team’s trajectory – overall development, increasing experience and playing style – are tracking the right way. Lee Blackett has been brought in as attack coach and did a tremendous job in the summer. Some of the tries England scored were really good and I loved the brand of rugby they were playing: it was aesthetically pleasing as well as effective.
Byron McGuigan also did a really good job in Argentina. Defence has probably been England’s biggest weakness in the past year and it will be interesting to see if they become a bit more aggressive with his input coaching alongside Richard Wigglesworth.
Borthwick is taking an opportunity against high-class opposition to see how Tommy Freeman goes at outside-centre, and he will have his hands full against Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii. We’ve seen Freeman excel at No 13 for Northampton and you know what you get with Tommy. He’s combative, athletic and powerful and England will want him getting over the gain-line. His natural game is to roam so I’m fascinated to see how they manage space for him.
Fraser Dingwall, alongside at No 12, is known as the glue player at Northampton. A lot of his work is not so obvious: his work rate, the way he connects things. Having a ball-player at inside-centre is important but you also need a bit of muscle, a bit of beef, and that’s Freeman. They play together at Northampton but we’ve not yet seen them combine much on the Test stage.
Freeman is the in-form wing in the Prem – but he’s not playing on the wing – while the in-form outside-centres [Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade] are not even in the matchday squad. It’s definitely an experiment and a chance for Borthwick to have a look at some new combinations. Lawrence and Slade will get a chance during November, though, and Borthwick will certainly pick his best starting XV for the All Blacks in two weeks’ time.
I once scored five tries in a game just like England’s newest recruit Noah Caluori, but it was in the Championship against Exeter. I never achieved the feat in the Prem, and certainly not on debut. He has some outstanding athletic attributes. There is one test all the athletes do called the CMJ – the countermovement jump – and according to the lads at Saracens no one has a higher vertical standing jump than Caluori.
I’d love to see him get a run-out against Fiji next Saturday but regardless of how much game time he gets, being in the England environment will ultimately help him. It’s a step up. The coaches will nurture him and be really patient. Are we expecting a complete player in his first year of professional rugby? Absolutely not. He will bed in. The ceiling of his potential is extraordinarily high: everyone needs to be patient and allow him space to show his quality.
I don’t know the last time an England bench featured six British & Irish Lions. This time last year, they lost the opening two matches in the last 20 minutes, but looking at the quality of the replacements I don’t think that will be part of the conversation. Luke Cowan-Dickie is poised to win his 50th cap and then there’s Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, Alex Coles. Tom Curry is one of the best in the world and Henry Pollock is another Lion. Ben Spencer is Bath’s club captain and one of the form No 9s in the country.
There are no excuses about England’s ability to play for 80 minutes with that sort of quality on the bench. A lot of the replacements could easily have been starting. The level of depth and competition is better than at any point in Borthwick’s tenure, and I think England are in a very good place.
