Iain Morrison: England's struggles highlight way game has moved on without them

Published on Sunday 14 March 2010 23:30

ONE time English hooker and scourge of the Scots, Brian Moore walked into the post match press room straight from his TV commentary position. He was trussed up like a deep sea fisherman to combat the cold and he still had steam coming from both ears.

"I get accused of being negative," he spat with barely concealed fury, "and I still have to watch that rubbish." I paraphrase because Moore boasts the language of a docker, at least he does when he is as angry as he was on Saturday evening.

Other more temperate voices of the English press corps were raised but their conclusions were remarkably similar, England can't, or won't, or don't, want to play any rugby. They suffer a collective agoraphobia, as soon as someone finds a little space they rush in the nearest collection of bodies that they can find. Time and again overlaps were spurned either because the man in question chose the wrong option or, as with Jonny Wilkinson in the first half, the execution was poor. Ugo Monye is extremely fast and still England failed to find the flyer two yards of space which is probably one more than he needs.

The only time the English remotely looked like scoring a try was when the forwards raised a head of steam in the final quarter and threatened to muscle the ball over the line through brute strength. They failed. As another of the former English greats bewailed after the match, "we can't even scare anyone up front".

England's tight five are plum ordinary, workmanlike, poor even in comparison to the best in the world. There isn't one player of world class stature in the England tight five and yet, like an ageing boxer who can't stay away from the fight game, England can' resist trying to bully every opponent into submission.

The contrast between the two backrows was illuminating. England started the game with two traditional blindside forwards in Joe Worsley and James Haskell while Scotland finished it with two classic sevens in John Barclay and Alan MacDonald. Kelly Brown, Scotland's starting six, is a better athlete than England's starting seven. Johnnie Beattie won the man of the match award by popping up in the wide channels and making huge inroads with every carry while Nick Easter is an honest but limited bruiser who is better suited to the trench warfare of the Guinness Premiership.

Matters improved somewhat in the second half which England just had the better of as Scotland won the first 40. It was probably no coincidence that Toby Flood had replaced Wilkinson who is so out of sorts that the World Cup winner of 2003 is obviously being kept in a locked cellar somewhere while a cardboard cut out of the great man is going through the motions with all the fluidity of Pinocchio. It is a sorry sight to see one of the modern greats brought so low especially one that has always accepted the highs and lows of his sporting life with honesty and humility. Just three short years ago Wilkinson celebrated his return from injury by claiming 27 points against Scotland at Twickenham and a man of the match award. Now he looks certain to face the selectors' axe, presuming he recovers from his latest knock in time.

In fact England finished the match the stronger of the two teams arguably because they had most of an exciting looking bench on the field by that time. As well as Flood, Ben Foden injected some pace and some life into the England attack from full back and Lewis Moody at least gave England another gear in the forwards.

The two teams that met on Saturday suffer similar problems, both field kicking fly-halfs and boast all too little penetration in attack but at least the Scots played with a bit of ambition which is more than can be said for England. This is important because the traditional methods of deciding Test matches have changed and England don't appear to have noticed.

In the past if one team dominated possession and territory to a substantial degree they could be almost certain of winning the match. Not any more.

Improvements in defensive organisation and the conditioning of players mean that a well-disciplined side can keep a witless attack at bay for long stretches, witness Scotland's win against Australia.

In the match that took place in Dublin on Saturday Wales won the battle for possession and territory (that is defined as playing the game in the opponents half of the field) with about 30 per cent more of each commodity than the Irish enjoyed. Still they were well beaten by 27-12 because Ireland struck with surgical precision to claim three tries.

Scotland have at least recognised this truth and are attempting, for the most part unsuccessfully, to do something about it.

Like a long-term alcoholic, England have yet to acknowledge the root cause of their problems and, until they do, they can never be expected to put them right.