New Zealand will have to be patient and not force things, waiting for the World Cup semi-final to become unstructuredIf there is one thing England must do if they are going to beat New Zealand and reach the World Cup final it is to deny them quick ball. Ireland were not able to do that in the first half and New Zealand had a field day. The game was in effect over by half-time because the All Blacks bossed the breakdown.I have 100% belief that England are capable of that. It is not entirely reliant on Tom Curry and Sam Underhill but judging by their performances against Australia they are more than able to deny New Zealand the kind of...
For all England’s skilful touches, it was Eddie Jones’s Kamikaze Kids who dominated Australia with 36 hard-hitting tacklesEddie Jones calls them his Kamikaze Kids, which fits – because the way Tom Curry and Sam Underhill play is right out of a comic book. You could picture it in Roy Lichtenstein prints. Pop! Pow! Whaam! Boom! They made 36 tackles between them against Australia, none better than the one Underhill put in on their strapping No 8 Isi Naisarani early in the first half, which was one of those blows that seem to reverse the entire flow of a game. It was in the 15th minute, or thereabouts, and Australia had made a hot start, thinking that they would catch England...
England sticking to strengths against Australia; Ireland need to find old form to beat New Zealand; Wales must stop France momentum; South Africa could end Japan’s adventureEddie Jones has picked a team with England’s Six Nations win in Dublin in mind. If Jones has a blueprint for precisely how he wants his team to play, that is the closest they have come to it since he took charge. Related: Ben Youngs urges England to attack from the start against Australia Related: Wales boosted by return of big guns for quarter-final clash with France Continue reading...
England, Ireland and Wales are among the throng pushing to challenge New Zealand as the World Cup enters crunch timeNormal service has been resumed. After the surreal scenes of the All Blacks not being No 1 (Wales were, then Ireland!) they enter the quarter‑finals back at the top of the rankings, rated by the bookies as twice as likely to win the tournament as the second favourites. Don’t be so sure. It goes without saying they remain the best when on form, but that cancelled game might well be more of a hindrance to them than anyone, given that their last meaningful fixture will have been four weeks before their quarter‑final against Ireland. At least Italy would have been semi-meaningful....
Eddie Jones’s team had few problems at start of tournament but quarter-final provides new challengeThe last time the All Blacks lost a World Cup match was in 2007. It was a match I do not have fond memories of, having played in it, but incredibly valuable lessons were learned considering New Zealand’s record in the tournament since. Two things stand out when looking at why we lost that match against France. Firstly, we tinkered with our game plan throughout the pool stages and we just didn’t quite get it right in the quarter-final. Secondly, we had not been tested at all in the pool stages and we came up against a team on a completely different level to anything we...