The Rugby World Cup is already awash with statistics, but here is a little-known one. In England’s 11 Tests leading into this tournament they have only once been outscored on tries. The exception was in Dublin during last season’s Six Nations when Ireland’s Robbie Henshaw gathered a cross-kick to contribute the solitary try of a low-scoring game.
Other than that, England have not been bettered in an area which has seldom been a conspicuous strength since the heady, free-scoring days of 2001 and 2002. Their Six Nations tally of 18 last spring has not been beaten by any other country in the modern tournament’s history. In the warmup games against France (twice) and Ireland their top-scorers were their wings, Anthony Watson and Jonny May. The image of England as a one-dimensional attacking threat is quietly being updated.
Old habits still die hard with some – “We don’t want to be drawn into sevens,” growled the Leicester prop Dan Cole – but Fiji will not have a complete monopoly on attacking threats in the wider channels. Collectively England insist they will back themselves when required with ball in hand on Friday night, and will continue to do so throughout the tournament.
Ben Youngs, about to win his 50th cap, reckons it is the most significant step in his side’s recent development. “It is the biggest growth in our game. When we get time to play, we will play. We are going to make sure we use the set piece but we will pull the trigger when we can. We are confident we can play both ways.”
It does not take a genius to bracket this increasing assurance with George Ford’s emergence as their playmaking No10. Since the Bath pivot secured a regular starting berth nine games ago England have averaged a more-than-healthy three tries per game. It also helps when you have athletes as sharp as Watson lurking on the flanks. The young flyer’s footwork bamboozled more than one French defender last month and the 21-year-old’s self-confidence is growing all the time.
“I think we’ve shown in the warmup games that no defence can switch off against us. We would like to think we can punish Fiji from all areas of the pitch,” he said. “It’s been a while since anyone’s outscored England in tries over 80 minutes. I think our attacking game has come on massively. Every time we’ve got together as backs, since the Six Nations onwards, our confidence has gone up and up.
“As a backline I feel we’ve learned our lessons from the mistakes we’ve made in previous games. We’ve come on in leaps and bounds.”
In the case of Watson’s brilliant leap above Simon Zebo to score his fourth try in his last three Tests for England, that has quite literally been the case. All England’s back three players have been working hard on their aerial games and “ruling the skies” has become a familiar mantra, even against taller opponents such as Fiji’s giant winger Nemani Nadolo. “Height is obviously important but so is the ability to out-jump someone and a lot of that is mental,” says Watson. “If it comes my way, I will look to dominate in that area.”
Mind over matter is also the 5ft 9in Ford’s approach. “Obviously I am smaller than most lads on the pitch but I don’t feel threatened by it. There are other areas of the game other than being big and powerful. There is the mental side: being a bit cleverer as well as being a bit quicker and having a feel for the game. When little lads come up to me they are usually bigger than me. They say: ‘You’re not very big.’ I tell them not to worry about it and to make sure they can kick the ball.”
If ever there was a moment to reassure the world that rugby union remains a game for all shapes and sizes, this is it. Watson, for his part, remembers being like any other kid and rushing outside to pretend to win the World Cup in his back garden in the wake of England’s 2003 triumph.
“I think everybody’s done that since the 2003 final,” he said. “Everyone wants to emulate that achievement. It’s important to connect with that and visualise it as well. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t envisaged that.”
This time around, though, England will be rather less reliant on drop goals.
