England’s rugby pundits have blamed coach Steve Borthwick for his team’s gutting loss to the All Blacks – but one big talking ex-star expects the team to bounce back by comfortably beating the Wallabies on Sunday (AEDT).
World Cup winning coach Clive Woodward, and former player Will Greenwood were the loudest critics of Borthwick’s decision to take Marcus Smith off the field after 62 minutes of New Zealand’s 24-22 win at Twickenham.
His replacement George Ford is still coming back from injury and missed two chances to win the game in the dying moments.
Steve Borthwick, Head Coach of England. (Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Imag
“Steve Borthwick’s methods must be questioned because the game was there for the taking. The team were in control,” said Woodward in the Daily Mail, railing against a “raft of what clearly seemed premeditated substitutions.”
“It was absolute madness…. When Smith sat down on the bench, he almost looked around and shrugged his shoulders as if to say, ‘Is that it? Is that me done?’”
He added: “In international rugby, you cannot simply contain an opponent and look to hang on to your advantage. You have to earn the victory for the full 80 minutes.”
Former England fly-half Andy Goode was likewise critical on social media, saying: “Hell of a game won by the finest of margins, congrats to the @AllBlacks. So much fight and endeavour by @EnglandRugby but I’m not sure about taking Marcus Smith off when he was on fire.”
Former New Zealand fly-half Lima Sopoaga added “If I’m Marcus Smith I’m spewing,” while Fijian superstar Nemani Nadolo wrote: “Crazy old game… crazy to bring Marcus Smith off… I thought the energy changed when he went off.”
Greenwood, a member of Woodward’s 2003 World Cup team, was scathing in his Times column – saying Borthwick “parked the bus” by bringing on Ford, and was naive to think he could sit on an eight point lead over the New Zealanders.
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
“Letting that lead slip, at home, with the way the game had gone, was nigh-on unforgivable,” he wrote.
“Closing out matches has turned from a thorn in England’s side to a chronic illness. And, at the heart of the second-half collapse, the replacements of head coach Steve Borthwick were in the spotlight.
“Marcus Smith was six from six off the tee, with 17 points to his name, when the fly-half was replaced by Ford in the 62nd minute.
“This is Ford who has not played a minute of rugby since Sept 28, when he limped off with a thigh injury in the sixth minute of Sale’s loss at Saracens.
“Ford is a fine player but he was rusty – he missed a tackle for the late try by Mark Tele’a, missed a late penalty and a drop-goal – and Smith was running the show.
“Replacing a 17-point fly-half seemed foolish at the time and as Ford skewed his potential match-winner it was proven to be so.
“The switch looked pre-planned and not in any way reactive to what had happened during the match. To quote Kung Fu Panda, one often meets their destiny on the path they take to avoid it.
“Ford’s introduction signalled a parking of the bus from England. Naively, Borthwick’s side believed that they could sit on an eight-point lead against New Zealand,” he added.
“These All Blacks might not yet be world beaters but this is a nation which, no matter what side it puts out, will always have the X-factor and firepower to overturn an eight-point deficit.
“England, who barely created a try-scoring opportunity all match, had to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and trouble New Zealand with ball in hand.
“Instead, Ford’s arrival ignited a sense of predictability and hyperbolic pragmatism within England. There is nothing wrong with kicking – I am all for it, in fact – but there has to be an element of deception to it.
“As soon as Ford arrived, whenever England had possession the entire team set up in a kick-chase formation. New Zealand lapped it up and eventually the pressure told.”
While there was a sense of doom after a third close defeat by New Zealand in 2024, expectations are high that the team will bounce back strongly against Australia.
Ben Youngs, England’s most capped player, has given Joe Schmidt something to work with on the motivation front with a withering assessment.
Youngs, speaking his podcast, took aim at the Wallabies recently by suggesting the Lions should tour South Africa instead of Australia next year.
He has clearly stuck by his guns in previewing the game against England – alongside current England hooker Dan Cole who was clearly squirming.
“Australia, don’t waste my time, do you know what I mean,” Youngs said on the For The Love Of Rugby podcast.
“Joe Schmidt, he will have a couple of clever plays, it wouldn’t surprise me if Australia score a couple of nice tries, but other than that… I don’t want to say it.”
Cole distanced himself from his former teammate’s critique.
“If I now after that Australia game see on their changing room wall, ‘England’s most capped man has been hammering the Aussies’…” Cole joked.
“If there’s one game they want to win in the autumn, it’s going to be England isn’t it? ‘Ah, there’s been one bloke, he’s been slagging us off for so long and it really gave us motivation this week.’
“That’s a potential banana skin in some regards because Australia will target that game.
“Australia, who if they beat England at Allianz, they could lose every other game and it would be the best thing for Australia rugby ever.
“I’m not going to say it will happen but I don’t think it’s the formality or turn up, rotate your team and beat them. It’s going to be a tricky game.”
The Roarhttps://www.theroar.com.au/2024/11/04/australia-dont-waste-my-time-england-legend-writes-off-wallabies-as-borthwick-smashed-for-absolute-madness/‘Australia, don’t waste my time’: England legend writes off Wallabies as Borthwick smashed for ‘absolute madness’
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