England Rugby

England will be without influential second-rower Joe Launchbury for the 2014 Autumn Internationals, as the Wasps lock needs to recover from a neck injury, per the BBC. But it is the breakdown, not the scrum or line-out, where England will suffer.

Securing turnovers has been England’s problem for years. In the 2014 Six Nations, Joe Launchbury’s turnover count (6) was exceptional, which saved the blushes of the English back-row. As per Irish Rugby, only Peter O’Mahony made more (7). Simply put, without Launchbury, England will have a tougher time retaining possession and stealing it, especially against Southern Hemisphere opposition.

Dave Attwood, the powerful Bath player likely to replace the 23-year-old, is also an international class second-row, so the tight five will be able to cope with Launchbury’s absence in the scrum and line-out.

However, Launchbury’s work-rate in the loose sets him apart from his English peers. As England captain Chris Robshaw notes in the video below, it is Launchbury’s strength that allows him to make so many turnovers when he is first to the ruck.

Missing Launchbury, and without Steffon Armitage, England cannot call-upon their best breakdown forwards. When facing New Zealand’s Richie McCaw on the Twickenham turf on Saturday, that is likely to prove a decisive factor in the outcome.

As per Sky Sports, England coach Stuart Lancaster noted: “It's disappointing but it's important for Joe, England and Wasps that he has the appropriate recovery period. We are confident he'll be back in the New Year.”

In addition, Lancaster continued, as recorded by The Telegraph:

We have been hit hard in the front five but it is an uncontrollable. We are in a better position than we were prior to the third test against New Zealand in June when we lost players. The boys have trained well and we are very confident. He [Launchbury] was feeling under-powered and weak. It just wasn’t worth taking a risk. It had settled down but Joe felt it was inhibiting his performances. The injuries (to the front five) are unfortunate but I don’t think there is a pattern.

In his first Autumn with England, in 2012, Launchbury was named Player of the Series. To highlight his importance to his country, he has played in each of England’s last 19 matches. He has attracted premature comparisons with the great World Cup winning-captain Martin Johnson, but he is integral to this England team.

Without quick ball, especially off a turnover, England will find it hard to break through New Zealand’s organised defence. Without Launchbury, quick ball and turnovers will be much harder to come by.

The 2015 Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham is exactly a year away. My prediction is for an England-New Zealand final. This is based on how the draw will pan out and England’s home advantage.

England, at home, should beat Wales and probably Australia in the tough Pool A. Being in the hardest group has distinct advantages for the team who tops it, with the reward of a favourable knockout draw. Should England top the Pool, they are likely to face either Scotland or Samoa in the quarter-final, with a semi-final likely to be against France, Ireland or Argentina.

Then there is home advantage to consider. The host nation has won its own Rugby World Cup in three of the seven editions of the tournament. Only Wales, in 1999, have failed to make the semi-final having hosted the tournament outright.

New Zealand and South Africa are the two heavyweights on the other side of the draw to England or the winners of Pool A in general. That would be a match to savour.

New Zealand, prior to making the semis, would have to negotiate a tough tie against either their Rugby World Cup nemeses, the French, or an Ireland team who came so close to beating them in Dublin last year. They would then face South Africa, who beat them 27-25 at Ellis Park, Johannesburg in the Rugby Championship and suffered a narrow 14-10 defeat to the All Blacks in Wellington. This semi-final would be very physical and very close, but New Zealand would start as favourites.  

The World Cup final, between England and New Zealand would also be a tight affair, not least because World Cup Finals always are. Even in 2007, when South Africa were a far better team than England, they only won 15-6, and had Mark Cueto’s effort not been controversially disallowed, the scoreline may have been even tighter.

New Zealand, however, should be favourites for the title in 2015 because of their world-class players and strength in depth but more importantly their fitness and mentality. The All Blacks can have an off-day and still win narrowly at the death. That was exactly the case against a much-weakened England in the first Test in June and, most recently, against Australia in the Rugby Championship.

The 2015 Rugby World Cup final will be a great spectacle, and it is now only a year away.

Injured: Luther Burrell and Manu Tuilagi.

Options: Billy Twelvetrees, Kyle Eastmond, Jonathan Joseph, Brad Barritt and Owen Farrell.

England have a mini-crisis at centre ahead of the visit of New Zealand to kick off the autumn internationals on 8 November. With guaranteed starter Manu Tuilagi out and one of the best players of the 2014 Six Nations in Luther Burrell injuring his hand in the European Champions Cup, per the Guardian, coach Stuart Lancaster should prioritise stabilising the ship rather than blooding young talent against the All Blacks.

The toughest of starts, playing New Zealand off the back of their Rugby Championship victory without any prior game time means that Lancaster should look to a solid centre partnership. That pairing should be Saracens duo Owen Farrell and Brad Barritt.

If Lancaster is willing to relocate Manu Tuilagi to the wing at short notice against New Zealand, then he should also seriously consider moving Owen Farrell from 10 to 12. As examined at the time, Tuilagi’s positional switch was a high-risk move from a low-risk coach. Playing Owen Farrell at inside centre rather than fly-half would be an innovative but judicious move.

England should embrace such flexibility. The great Dan Carter began his career at 12 and has been playing there for the Crusaders to accommodate Colin Slade. Farrell, it is worth remembering, began his England career at inside centre, playing alongside Saracens team-mate Charlie Hodgson and Brad Barritt. It is a role he knows and can fulfil very well.

Autumn internationals, especially a year out from the World Cup, are about winning. They are about laying down a marker to the rugby world, such as England did in 2002 before lifting the Rugby World Cup a year later.

Consequently, Brad Barritt should play alongside Owen Farrell in the first two fixtures against New Zealand and South Africa. They are both the best and most physically demanding opponents England will face this autumn, and in the absence of Burrell and Manu Tuilagi, England cannot take risks on the defensive abilities of Billy Twelvetrees, Kyle Eastmond and Jonathan Joseph.

Eastmond is the most exciting option for Lancaster, but the All Blacks took a liking to him in the third Test last summer and only lasted a half. As Lewis Moody states, per the Daily Mail: “Does he go with Eastmond who can be absolutely devastating in attack but who was fundamentally found out in defence on the summer tour?”

New Zealand have three world-class centres at their disposal. Malakai Fekitoa and Conrad Smith are likely to start, with Sonny Bill Williams in reserve. Farrell and Barritt are the two best tacklers England could play in the centre, and they will need to hit high percentages to stifle the New Zealand midfield. As for England’s attack, that will have to come from the back three and the fly-half, where George Ford should be selected.

Ford, the 2011 IRB Junior World Player of the Year, deserves an England call-up. Ford is an excellent game manager. He is also very good at delaying the timing of a pass and thus waiting to either run himself or put deep-lying runners through a gap. A perfect example of this was last month for Bath against Northampton (see video below).

Ford also developed a good understanding with Farrell in the England age-group teams, where Ford played fly-half to Farrell’s inside centre. They also briefly played together in those positions in the rout of Italy last March, during which a deft move by Ford put Chris Robshaw through for a try.

Against Samoa and Australia in late November, England may be able to call upon Luther Burrell, in which case they can consider a more attacking centre pairing. But for New Zealand and South Africa, the midfield should be Ford, Farrell, Barritt. 

England rugby union coach Stuart Lancaster added nine players to the England training squad on Sunday. But while some exciting talent has been added to the setup, two players over 30 have been included who, realistically, are unlikely to play for England again. Here, Bleacher Report analyses the worth of the nine men who have been given a chance to stake a claim for England.

Alex Waller (Prop, Northampton Saints) and Henry Thomas (Prop, Bath Rugby)

Alex Waller, who won Northampton Saints the Premiership final last season with a last-minute try, is a good addition to the training squad. English props are suffering a great deal of injuries and Waller also impressed in the non-cap fixture against the Crusaders in the tour of New Zealand in the summer. As The Daily Telegraph’s Steve James noted: 

For me prop Alex Waller was England’s outstanding player. England’s set piece was strong and Waller added much more besides with his prominent carrying. It capped an astonishing season for him. 

The other prop, Henry Thomas, has played seven times for England so his inclusion does not come as a surprise. At 22, he is quickly gaining international experience.

Matt Kvesic (Flanker, Gloucester)

Matt Kvesic has long been touted as the missing link for England: an “out-and-out” seven, a “fetcher”. However, his and Gloucester’s indifferent form last season pushed him to the fringes of England’s reckoning.

However, like Waller, a strong performance against the Crusaders caught Lancaster’s eye. Speaking after the match, the England coach noted, as per ESPN: “For me the Man of the Match was Matt Kvesic, I thought he was outstanding and it was the best game he's had this season.”

Dave Ewers and Thomas Waldrom (Both Back-Row, Exeter Chiefs)

Dave Ewers has been on Stuart Lancaster’s radar since last autumn. As per The Daily Mail in October 2013, Lancaster noted:“He has played well in two games. We need a consistency in order to make changes. But when players start making that consistency in the Premiership and in Europe over the next two weeks, it is hard to ignore them.”

At 23, and with the aim to get players accustomed to the England squad environment, Ewers is a much better prospect than the final back-rower included, Thomas Waldrom, 31. His fellow Exeter Chief has started the season well, but with Billy Vunipola and Ben Morgan clearly ahead of him for the No. 8 spot, and so much competition at flanker, his inclusion is unnecessary.

Richard Wigglesworth (Scrum-Half, Saracens)

At 31, Richard Wigglesworth is, like Waldrom, a surprising inclusion. One can only assume that it is his understanding with regular England fly-half Owen Farrell at Saracens that has earned him a stint training with England. As with Waldrom, he is unlikely to make an impact.

Henry Slade (Fly-Half/Centre, Exeter Chiefs)

As for Henry Slade, none other than Will Greenwood has been championing his cause. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, the World Cup winner suggested Slade could be the ideal foil for Manu Tuilagi in the England midfield. A creative spark, despite Tuilagi’s latest injury, it makes sense to put Slade in the squad. One implication of Slade’s inclusion is that it would seemingly end any slim chances Sale’s Danny Cipriani had of representing England before the 2015 World Cup.

Anthony Watson (Wing/Full-back, Bath Rugby)

Anthony Watson, 20, is a good inclusion. Often regarded as a winger, this season Watson has played at full-back for Bath to good effect. He also scored an excellent try against the Crusaders (see video). Pacey, and with a stride length that enables him to beat defenders, Watson will have a future with England and should be spending as much time with the camp as possible.

Ben Foden (Full-back, Northampton Saints)

Of the older, more experienced heads added to the training camp, Ben Foden has the most to offer. Should anything happen to England’s star of 2014 Mike Brown, then Foden would be the best replacement. Like Brown, he is quick, with an eye for a gap, and a better defender than his physique would suggest. Playing Foden would not entail England changing the way they play, so his addition is very logical.

Andrew Sheridan: rugby player, bench-presser, brick-layer, folk singer and Eddie Munster-lookalike, has been facing challenges throughout his career. But, the 40-cap England prop retired from all rugby Tuesday after admitting defeat against the long-standing injuries that have decimated his career. With better luck, he would have doubled that tally.

At 6’5” and 19 stone, 9 pounds, Sheridan was very tall for a prop forward. In fact, Sheridan began his career at the back of the scrum.

Andy Robinson, who as England coach gave Sheridan his first England cap in 2004 told the Bristol Post of Sheridan’s positional journey: “Andrew Sheridan, at Bristol, went from back row to second row to tighthead to loosehead, and eventually found his position there.”

The match Sheridan is most remembered for is the 2007 World Cup quarter-final against Australia in Marseille. But first it is worth remembering England’s state going into that match.  

Dismantled 36-0 by South Africa in the Pool Stage, the obituaries were out for England at that World Cup. The BBC’s James Standley reported that “England’s defence of the World Cup is coming apart at the seams.” More damning still was the verdict of Chris Hewett, writing in The Independent: “Worse still, there is no prospect of a conclusion to this misery.”

So then, on a hot day in the south of France, England, thanks in large part to Sheridan, defeated a more talented Australia side. The match was not much of a spectacle, but Sheridan was crucial to England’s tactic of turning the match into an arm wrestle up-front. In so doing, England nullified Rocky Elsom and George Smith from the Australian back-row, and stifled their skilful backs, George Gregan, Stirling Mortlock, Lote Tiqiri and Chris Latham. Johnny Wilkinson kicked the penalties, and England won, but the true hero for the White Rose was Sheridan.

It was surmised by Tim Glover of The Independent: “England, if not so much in attack, were magnificent in defence and pulverising in the scrum, where man of the match Andrew Sheridan shredded the Australian front row”.

After beating hosts France in the semi-final, the World Cup finished with England narrowly losing to South Africa in the final, this time 15-6. And if Mark Cueto’s try had not been controversially disallowed, England may well have become the first team to retain the World Cup.

This resurgence was down to the domination of the Australian front-row in the quarter-final, and Sheridan was at the heart of it.

Sheridan may not have hit these heights again, but debilitating injuries prevented him from getting rhythm and consistent game-time.

Rugby should salute the dedication of “Big Ted,” the gentle giant who gave England a chance of a most improbable World Cup triumph.

The 2015 Rugby World Cup, hosted by England, is under a year away, and the first round for applying for tickets for the tournament closes Monday. Rugby is a sport with a decent track record at promoting its expansion, but the International Rugby Board (IRB) and the English Rugby Football Union (RFU) have missed a trick with the venues chosen because the majority of matches will be played in the capital and the south.

The tournament is far too London-centric. Eight of the World Cup’s premier matches will be played at England Rugby’s headquarters, Twickenham. While this great stadium in southwest London is the heart of English rugby—some would say the world—the World Cup provided the opportunity to broaden exposure and access to top-level rugby in England.

Wembley, another London venue, hosts one of the more appealing pool-stage matches, World Champions New Zealand against Argentina, and the 2012 Olympic Stadium will see the third-place play-off.

Unlike the Olympic Games, the social benefits of the Rugby World Cup will not be as apparent as the redevelopment of the Stratford area around the 2012 Olympic Park has proved. As a result, the legacy of the World Cup should be greater grassroots involvement in the sport. However, the IRB and the RFU have instead sought to maximise their coffers.

Funds generated will be reinvested in the sport, but no amount of money can enthuse the young like seeing top-quality rugby played in their cities.

The proud rugby city of Leicester has been hard done by. One of the hotbeds of the English game and home to the Leicester Tigers, it will have to make do with Argentina-Tonga, Canada-Romania and Argentina-Namibia. To add to that, the city’s rugby ground, Welford Road, has been overlooked in favour of the Leicester City football stadium. The romance of the sport has been overlooked in favour of income generation.

When the venues were announced in October 2012, Leicester Tigers chairman Peter Tom noted, as per Chris Foy of the Daily Mail:

We are hugely disappointed. Welford Road has hosted many major occasions, including visits from South Africa, Australia and Argentina in recent seasons. 

Leicester has played an important role in the development and promotion of the game in this country. Welford Road is the largest designated club rugby stadium in England and home to the most successful club in the history of a thriving league. 

That the organisers do not think this an appropriate venue is disappointing and confusing. Leicester have invested £15m in the new Caterpillar Stand in 2009. A programme of development will continue. It is disappointing that this is not rewarded while many other venues on the list do not show that level of commitment to our sport.

And the north of England hardly gets a look in. The venues chosen are all football grounds, and availability was not helped by the Premier League and Championship season. Leeds United’s Elland Road hosts just two pool matches.

Newcastle’s St James' Park has a stronger appeal. Sensibly, because of geographic proximity, Scotland will play two pool matches there, and the stadium will also see New Zealand, South Africa, Samoa and Tonga. Meanwhile, Manchester City’s Etihad (to be called the Manchester City Stadium), has one fixture, England against a qualifier.

The stadia in London are among the biggest and best in the world, but the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England will lose any hope of being a national event because of the focus on the capital and the south. The IRB and the RFU have opted to maximise the returns on their investments, but having done so, they will need to be careful not to lose the soul of the tournament and the sport.