England do not need telling they badly need a win this weekend but precisely how they go about it is dividing opinion. On one side are those who reckon they should revert to the attack-minded individuals – or at least the fit ones – who caught the imagination in last season’s Six Nations. On the other are those who insist route one is the way to go against Australia, allied to the tightest defensive unit they can muster.
The fluctuating debate is fast shaping up as the defining narrative of England’s whole World Cup campaign – except that the management flatly reject the existence of any such dilemma. According to Mike Catt, England’s attacking skills coach, it does not necessarily matter who England pick at, say, No10, because their approach will be similar regardless.
This is the same Catt who, early in his career, was chopped and changed so often by England it felt as if Twickenham was constructed entirely of hot bricks. At the time he felt mucked around; now he reckons the modern game demands such flexibility. “With defences the way they are, you’ve got to pick people who can play both ways. Sometimes you’ve got to go through the line, sometimes you’ve got to go around it. We like to think we’ve got the ability to do both, whoever we pick.”
A less charitable interpretation is that England are not entirely sure what to do. They are increasingly confident that Jonathan Joseph will make a faster-than-expected recovery from his pectoral muscle injury even though the Bath centre only played a walk-on role at morning training and was kept away from prying media eyes during the brief open portion of their post-lunch session. If he starts against the forceful Tevita Kuridrani it will be a remarkably swift recovery.
Ben Youngs also remains a doubt, while Courtney Lawes will not be available this weekend. With Billy Vunipola already out of the tournament, Ben Morgan’s return to fitness is a timely bonus but, if Youngs does not progress as hoped, England could yet have to make three enforced changes to their starting XV at lock, No8 and scrum-half. To be forced to change the spine of the team is not ideal as Stuart Lancaster and his fellow coaches consider how to adapt their close-but-no-cigar approach against Wales to combat the threat of the Wallabies.
It is vaguely reminiscent of an Ashes series, with England suddenly one down in the series and the weather set fair. Surely you would pick at least one specialist spinner to offer a little variety later in the game? Joseph would help massively but Catt is the second coach in as many days to dispute the notion that England blunted their attacking potential against Wales by not selecting a second midfield playmaker.
“Whoever we decide to select or whoever is fit, we have total belief we can go and score tries against teams,” said the former Bath and England back. “Australia love an open game but we are also capable of scoring tries. Wasn’t it 25 points we scored [against Wales]? The beauty of the squad now is that whether you pick a Henry Slade or a Burgess, a Barritt or a Joseph – whichever way we go – we feel comfortable these players can do what they did over the Six Nations and score tries.”
They managed one against Wales with Owen Farrell at fly-half but Catt insists England would be happy to rotate again later in the tournament. “I don’t see why not. We’ve got two really good, world-class 10s who are able to deal with high-pressure games.” The stats bear him out to an extent – Ford and Farrell have both started in a winning side over Australia within the past two years (Ford in the 26-17 win in 2014, Farrell in the 20-13 victory in 2013) – but the inside-centre for both those games, Billy Twelvetrees, is not in the World Cup squad. Manu Tuilagi and Luther Burrell, lest we forget, are not around either.
If this was a regular autumn international there would probably be spots for Henry Slade at 13 and Danny Care at nine, on the grounds England need more pace and distribution skills against the Wallabies than they displayed against Wales. Neither, though, has played a single minute at this World Cup and England do not have the luxury of allowing individuals time to play themselves in.
If it means the Saracens duo of Brad Barritt and Richard Wigglesworth are preferred it will be another big call but Catt sees no similarity with 2007, when England were trounced 36-0 by South Africa in the pool stages but recovered to make the final. “It is a completely different situation. The mindset hasn’t wavered at all. We’re not going to go away from anything we’ve done in the Six Nations or prepared for over the past three months.”
It will not be easy, he accepts, given the quality of Australia’s back-row and three-quarters. “With David Pocock and Michael Hooper you’ve got to be very good in the breakdown. It’s about holding on to it, getting through the phases and then trying to do what we’re good at but it’s also about starving them of the ball. If they get frustrated, hopefully it will play into our hands. If you kick loosely or make too many errors, they can hurt you.”
Australia will need to adapt to the loss of Will Skelton and Wycliff Palu for the rest of the tournament but injuries are proving a universal theme. There have been 15 players either seriously injured or already replaced in the first 19 games, almost on a par with the entire programme of 48 games in 2011.
Catt does not reckon players are necessarily bigger than a decade ago but the game has visibly changed. “They’re probably not bigger, they’re just more athletic and powerful,” Catt said. “They move a lot better than they did then.”
