The biggest concern for the England coaching staff could be that the side has peaked a week before Saturday’s finalSporting perfection is uncommonly rare. Occasionally in tennis or golf someone such as Roger Federer or Tiger Woods will strike a ball so sweetly it feels as if a higher power is involved. In a team game such as rugby union, with so many different moving parts, it is even harder. For everything to click for 80 minutes is meant to be an impossible dream.Eddie Jones has been wrestling with this inherent challenge for much of his career. Three years ago he decided to address the subject with his players, using gymnastics as a case study. “We spoke about Nadia Comaneci,”...
There were sensational performances all through the England XV, topped off by the lock who had the game of his lifeThey say it used to take the great Japanese swordsmiths a year to forge their finest swords. Eddie Jones spent two and a half crafting the weapon he used to cut up the All Blacks. He had been working on it ever since they announced the draw for this World Cup back in May 2017, heating it, honing it till it had exactly the heft and sharpness it needed for this one specific job. This was the first time England had ever beaten New Zealand in a World Cup, yes, but also only eighth in over a century of Test...
England must dominate the aerial battle with Ford, Farrell and Youngs at the heart of their planTo start with, a couple of statistics which may go some way to explaining why England have recalled George Ford to face New Zealand on Saturday. Against Australia last weekend, England’s kicking metres were over 800, New Zealand just over 700. England kicked from hand on 20 occasions, reclaiming the ball nine times; the All Blacks kicked from hand on 29 occasions and won the ball back a staggering 19 times.Both sides thrive on territory because both have such good efficiency when they get into what we call the red zone – the opponents’ 22. They have the ability and the skill set to...
If England win I’ll be happy, if they lose I won’t be bereft. Beating the All Blacks would be exceptional – but so was the maul that snapped my schoolboy armThe date 19 October 1993 is not seminal in rugby history. I only remember it because it was the day Jeremy Goss scored that volley against Bayern Munich. I was watching with my right arm in a cast. Hours earlier a rolling maul rolled all the way on to my arm and snapped my ulna. I lay on the floor while play continued. It was freezing. It was always freezing when we played rugby. Eventually the game stopped and Mr Toy came over.“Can you wiggle your fingers? Good it’s not...
England will rely on Owen Farrell’s pragmatism to topple Beauden Barrett’s New Zealand while Wales flanker Justin Tipuric will be out to stop flying Bok wing Makazole MapimpiIt can all be cart before the horse in the days preceding such big games as we await the World Cup semi-finals in Japan. Coaches take to front and centre – some by choice, others by the path of convention and process. Perhaps it’s mindgames to distract their opponents or perhaps to allow players the shelter before the show. However, if those coaches have got their planning and peaking right then they will slowly step back into the shadows and it will be their players that step into the limelight. Related: South Africa’s...