All that intricate preparation and summer training and what happens? Bang on cue, as England jogged out for their last Monday session before the tournament starts, the skies darkened and a curtain of time-honoured British rain swept across their pine-fringed corner of Surrey. Welcome to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, for better or for worse.
Was it an omen? Are we about to have seven weeks of Old Testament-style drenchings, rendering everyone’s subtle lineout variations and midfield decoy runners largely irrelevant? Or was it merely another reminder to expect the unexpected, proof that even the most carefully laid plans can never be entirely waterproof? Either way, Stuart Lancaster and his players will require a flexible mind-set in the coming days and be constantly ready for anything.
Ironically, at least for those who still like to see England as a stick-it-up-your-jumper rugby nation, Lancaster and his coaches would prefer – “without a doubt” – for it to stay dry between now and the end of next month. Even during the brief period before the damp media platoon was politely ushered away to their car-park compound – the hotel complex at Pennyhill Park is now off-limits – the first thing England practised was their familiar routine of slick passing to a second wave of attackers behind an advance duo of decoy runners, with forwards and backs equally involved.
Given their set-piece play has also not been quite as solid as usual recently, the last thing England want is a monsoonal lottery when Wales visit Twickenham next week. “I think the attacking shape we play will cause defences problems but a lot of it will depend on the weather,” Lancaster said. “For the first time it felt a bit like autumn today … as the tournament goes on, the weather and the conditions will be a factor.”
Even against Fiji a dry night would be a bonus, if only for the sake of the pre-match opening ceremonials. The reserve hooker Rob Webber, the solitary change to the matchday 23 from the warm-up game against Ireland, would also love a dry autumn for obvious lineout throwing reasons. “If you can conjure that up, I’ll bite your hand off.”
His pithy wish neatly sums up every player’s ideal world at this particular stage of the buildup. Settled, comfortable, familiar … this is not the moment to be throwing all your tarot cards up in the air and changing tack depending on how they fall. Which explains why Lancaster and his coaches have opted for the same 15 starters who kicked off so energetically against Ireland a week last Saturday, with Geoff Parling’s sangfroid at lineout time earning him the nod ahead of Joe Launchbury. Even Webber’s selection is a nod towards additional security. The Bath hooker has more top-level experience than Saracens’ Jamie George and, on a night like Friday, that is as big an asset as his scrummaging expertise.
As a consequence of the opening ceremony, England’s warm-up routine will be slightly delayed; it will still span its usual 18 minutes but the goalkickers and lineout personnel will not be allowed leisurely use of the pitch an hour before kick-off as would normally be the case. In theory it is just another Test match; in reality a whole different ball game awaits.
There remains one area, however, in which England are slightly tempting fate. By naming both Billy Vunipola and Sam Burgess on the bench there could be complications if they happen to lose one or both of their redoubtable Harlequins, Chris Robshaw and Mike Brown. Tom Wood will cover No7 and Anthony Watson is on standby to switch to 15 but, in both cases, Lancaster could have gone with more versatile options. Instead, at least for this game, he fancies the idea of the bench adding oomph rather than simply filling holes as and when they materialise.
“They can definitely add energy to the team. When you have Rob Webber at 120kg, Kieron Brookes at 120kg, Mako Vunipola at 120kg, Joe Launchbury at 120kg and Billy Vunipola at 130kg, that is some weight to come off the bench and make a difference.” He did not even get as far as Burgess, a relative lightweight at 113kg, clearly hoping Fiji can be squeezed sufficiently in the tight five to simplify the whole equation in the final quarter.
“We certainly see that as an area we can go at them, along with lineout drive and maul. But I don’t want to be restricted to a set-piece game against them. “I think we can play a more rounded game but it comes back to the conditions and how the game evolves,” Lancaster said.
As Brad Barritt, England’s defensive linchpin, also emphasised, it is not the team which scores most aggregate points that necessarily wins World Cups.
Rain or shine, he firmly believes he and his team-mates can shut out the world’s most lethal attackers and will look to demonstrate as much against the Fijians.
“We’ve made a goal for ourselves at this World Cup to be the best defensive team in the world,” said the Saracens centre.
“We also want to be the most physical team. We want to be a team that has an offence and defence that causes a team to make errors and as a result gets opportunities off the back of that.”
In all sorts of ways the hosts cannot wait to get started.
