England Head South

It’s that time of year again. While it’s never a smooth ride as an England supporter, the turning of the leaves brings a definite air of anxiety. This year, Martin Johnson’s England side will play the three southern hemisphere powerhouses, plus the always-intimidating prospect of Samoa.

There will be little time for the English team to find their feet; first up are the mighty All Blacks. They were supreme in racing to this year’s Tri Nations title and are currently on a 15 match unbeaten streak. As usual, the excellent Dan Carter will orchestrate proceedings from fly half while both the pack and backline are full of proven world-class operators. It will be particularly interesting to see how the new All Black pin up boy Sonny Bill Williams fares on his debut tour. The New Zealand team is, by some distance, the best in the world on current form; an English win would be a tremendous result.

Next, England face the Wallabies. The Australian team is packed with young talent in the shape of David Pocock, Will Genia and James O’Connor to name but a few. Although the team is not yet at the same ruthlessly consistent level of the All Blacks, it has the makings of a potentially great Australian side. Much depends on the gifted Quade Cooper at fly half and the ever-impressive Matt Giteau in midfield; if both play well, it is likely the English defence will have a torrid time. It remains to be seen, however, if the Australians possess the necessary grunt up front to challenge the likes of Dan Cole and Andrew Sheridan.

England play Samoa in their penultimate match. Although England must see this as an especially winnable game, they can’t underestimate the Pacific Islanders. Martin Johnson knows this particularly well, as his side was given an almighty scare in the 2003 World Cup pool stage, before eventually sneaking a 35-22 victory. The Samoans will undoubtedly bring plenty of pace and physicality and, moreover, they have a quality finisher in Wasps’ David Lemi. Samoa’s victory in the recent Pacific Nations Cup will inspire confidence within the team, but the Samoan Rugby Union’s customary lack of funding will undoubtedly count against their match preparation this Autumn.

England’s final game is against the reigning World Champions – the Springboks. The South Africans endured a disappointing Tri Nations tournament, in which they only managed a solitary victory. There appeared to be serious internal issues within the South African camp, but the South African Rugby Union has publically backed its under-fire coach Peter de Villliers (albeit in a rather unconvincing and delayed manner). The Springboks will certainly miss their inspirational captain John Smit but the vastly experienced Victor Matfield is hardly a shabby replacement. There is plenty of quality within this South African touring squad and England must be at their defensive best to hold out the likes of Morne Steyn and Bryan Habana. The forwards are characteristically South African in their abrasive approach while, at number 8, Pierre Spies is always a threat.

Given all this, can England expect to do any better than in recent years? Are we set for a repeat of last year’s comprehensive defeats against Australia and New Zealand?

In fact, I am generally optimistic about England’s chances and this is not without basis. Indeed, England’s dramatic 21-20 victory over Australia in the second test of their summer tour was clear evidence of their potential. The first test defeat and their underdog label seemed to belatedly force Johnson into introducing some positivity to his team selection. Young talents such as Courtney Lawes and Ben Youngs were given starts and both showed immense promise. Youngs was a thorn in the Australian side throughout and gave an intelligent and lively performance that hints he could be England’s next great scrum half. Lawes, meanwhile, introduced some much needed power and dynamism; at 6ft 7 and 18 stone, he is quite a handful! It takes something special to win Down Under and this victory in the Ozzies’ back yard will have given the squad plenty of confidence. Crucially, also, the Southern Hemisphere’s aura of invincibility had been broken; England ought to go into next month’s internationals with no fear.

Lewis Moody returns from injury to retain his captaincy of the England side. ‘Mad Dog’ Moody seems to have mellowed into his captaincy role while losing none of his fearless approach to the game; his return to fitness is a major boost. However, the injury concerns over Simon Shaw, Riki Flutey and Jonny Wilkinson seem set to deny Johnson three members of his first-choice 22 for the New Zealand match. While obviously not ideal, England should have enough strength in depth to cope with these injury losses.

England seem particularly strong in the front row. Dan Cole is an excellent scrummager and real talent, while Dylan Hartley’s captaincy of Northampton seems to have added maturity to his already dynamic game. Elsewhere in the pack, Tom Croft seems to be recapturing his Lions form of 2009 whilst Nick Easter will bring solidity to the side. Much will depend on the fledgling halfback partnership between Ben Youngs and Toby Flood. Both are excellent players, but they will surely be heavily targeted by the likes of David Pocock and Richie McCaw. The midfield partnership between Shontayne Hape and Mike Tindall is equally untested but both are very solid players defensively; a real necessity against the power of Ma’a Nonu and the guile of Matt Giteau, for example. If England can produce quick ball, their back three could be devastating. Hopefully, Chris Ashton and Ben Foden’s pace and running lines can be symbolic of a new, more positive and fluent English back line.

Therefore, it seems England have the tools at their disposal to make a real impact on the Southern Hemisphere sides this Autumn. Let’s just hope that England’s excellent victory over Australia in the summer was no flash in the pan. Either way, we will soon find out. Bring on the Autumn internationals!

* On a final note, the rugby world was saddened to hear of the injury-enforced retirement of Phil Vickery, the England and British and Irish Lions prop. Vickery was a tremendous servant to English rugby and, of course, a World Cup winner.