The message to England is clear: Let's unleash big guns

By Chris Foy for the Daily Mail
Updated: 17:36 EST, 2 October 2011

England came alarmingly close to a World Cup exit on Saturday before Chris Ashton's late try guided them to a dramatic 16-12 victory over Scotland and a quarter-final against France in five days' time.

Until that 78th-minute twist in the tale, Martin Johnson's side were at a loss as to how to dig their way out of trouble.

Here, Sportsmail examines some of the issues that must be addressed.

Papering over the cracks: Ashton's try sealed victory but England have a number of problems heading in to the quarter-final with France

Leading Question

Too often in the first half England seemed to lack direction, composure and the ability to regroup. Every time there was a break in play, Scotland captain Alastair Kellock would gather his pack and urge them to greater heights.

He was so evidently in charge of his team, whereas England were short of purpose and togetherness.

Lewis Moody is a skipper in the lead-by-example mould and that is often an inspiration to his team-mates, but this was an occasion for strong oratory, too, and he spent more time being patched up than delivering words of wisdom.

Captain's job: Moody needs to be more vocal with his team-mates

For all the talk of leaders all over the field, nobody took charge of restoring order and adapting tactics.

There was the unseemly sight of England players berating each other and repeatedly coming to the touchline to take direction from replacements. Only when the management intervened at half-time did the tide begin to turn.

Passing the Test

Scotland are not renowned for their expertise in this aspect but much of their passing was outstanding - flat, precise and decisive, into space in front of a team-mate running on to the ball at speed.

England were stilted and wayward for long periods, with passes arriving high or low, into the body or even behind a static receiver.

Potent runners such as Manu Tuilagi were forced to generate momentum from a standing start instead of crashing on to the ball. The passing must improve in order to engineer line-breaks.

Here's Jonny: It could be time to ask Flood to start

Pressure on Jonny

In these pages last week it was argued that Toby Flood must be entrusted with the No 10 shirt and nothing that took place in the Scotland game altered that conviction.

Jonny Wilkinson was cagey and off-key - he missed shots at goal and did so little to release his outside backs that Chris Ashton confronted him in the second half, waving his arms in frustration.

Furthermore, he is not the same damaging presence in defence these days so holds no trump cards over his rival.

Flood brought conviction and purpose when he came on, delivered a fine, long scoring pass for Ashton and nailed his one kick from the right touchline.

Other changes?

Ben Youngs had a dreadful night but remains the most dangerous and dynamic scrum-half in the squad. Like Wilkinson, Mike Tindall picked up an injury in the latter stages, but his place should be up for review anyway. His lack of pace was exposed and some of his handling was well short of the standard required.

Despite his stumbling efforts at stand-off, Wilkinson could operate at 12, outside Flood, or England could go for broke and bring Matt Banahan in to partner Tuilagi.

In reality, neither scenario will come to pass. Nick Easter served as a rallying point for the pack revival and could push for a starting place in the back row, while Tom Palmer is in the mix for a recall at lock.

False starts

England must hit the ground running. They laboured against Argentina, struggled to shake off Georgia and couldn't match the intensity of Scotland.

That initial lethargy puts them under pressure and leads to the familiar loss of discipline - on Saturday they conceded five early penalties in quick succession.

Hit the ground running: England made a slow start against the Scots

Even their formidable scrummaging took time to come to the fore, as they went to ground or tried in vain to keep up their bind - Matt Stevens in particular.

Then there was the goal-kicking, with Wilkinson missing his first three penalties and a drop goal before finding his range.

Play the aces

England's most potent try-scoring weapon, Chris Ashton, didn't touch the ball until the 60th minute.

Granted, the opposition's control of the forward battle was a major factor, but when they did win ball, England remained stifled by caution and a fixation with sticking to their structures.

Tindall broke in the first half and telegraphed a pass inside to Tuilagi, then waited an age before delivering. No wonder his midfield partner wasn't able to do much when he finally got the ball.

England's trump card: Ashton must be involved more if he is to influence games

In Tuilagi and Ashton, Ben Foden and Delon Armitage, England possess real firepower and it would be a criminal waste if they were underemployed in a tense, conservative display leading to defeat against France next weekend.

It is not about trying to entertain for entertainment's sake, it is about tapping into the match-winning talent in the ranks.

Comments (10)

Share what you think

• Newest
• Oldest
• Best rated
• Worst rated

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now