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The numbers are overwhelming – England are far behind the pack.
The national team is approaching crisis mode as their attack falters.
Moreover, their followers fail and discipline breaks down.
Steve Borthwick studied economics before turning to coaching and the data on his team’s screens is hard to read.
With help from Opta, former England attacking coach Martin Gleeson and Wales number 10 Dan Biggar, Mail Sport have broken down some stats.
The numbers are overwhelming – England are far behind the pack.
Steve Borthwick studied economics before turning to coaching and the data on his team’s screens is hard to read
Mail Sport has broken down some of the stats behind England’s poor performances
THE RIVALS HAVE UNDERSTOOD THEIR KICK TACTICS
During his time with the Leicester Tigers, Steve Borthwick’s golden ratio was 1,000 feet per game. The rough theory being that the more yards you hit, the more pressure you put on the opponent, the more you win.
England have thrown farther than any team in the world this year, but they have played into the hands of the opposition. Ireland have been locked and loaded this weekend, piling up their backfield with receivers ready to launch a counterattack. Mack Hansen went wild.
Gleeson said: “The kick counters are up a lot from Eddie Jones’ team in the fall. If you take a bird’s eye view of the pitch, there’s usually a run-space or a kick -space.
“It should be up to your key decision makers to see what happens and trust them to make the right decision. If you’re up for running, you can still kick quite easily. If you’re setting up to kick, it’s a lot harder to run and it becomes a lot easier to read for the defense. At the moment, England look like a team ready to kick.
Martin Gleeson has opened up on some of the reasons for England’s struggles
UNFORTUNATE CONVERSION IN THE 22 – AND IT’S JUST GETTING WORSE
So far this summer, England have averaged a point per visit to the opposition 22. That’s half of the dismal Six Nations campaign and is now the lowest in the world.
In Jones’s time, they compared entering the 22 to storming a castle. Increasingly, they are encountering fierce resistance. Defensive lines are thicker in the 22 as there is no backfield cover, and England lack the muscle to break through.
Biggar said: “England try to play a huge amount out of nine and if you fight that physically you have a good chance.” They don’t earn enough from those collisions, so the backs don’t get a clean ball. There are a lot of one-out runners and sometimes that’s the easiest thing to defend against if you have guys who are hungry for a tackle, which is what teams like Wales do!
‘You know what’s coming. They look like a team trying to arm wrestle you, rather than maneuver you. It’s similar to how Leicester played when they were very successful, but you need a bit more on a testing level. Ireland have big men but they use passes and balls from the back. Everything is connected.
Wales number 10 Dan Biggar thinks England ‘look like a team trying to arm you with arm wrestling’
BORTWICK TEAM OFFERS THE BALL
Although Ben Earl and Jack Willis are tried and tested jackals, England are sorely lacking in broken down Tom Curry. The peloton was penalized in the ruck in Dublin and the lone riders are ripe to be returned to the ruck.
They knock the ball over cheaply, throw sideline passes and struggle to find fluidity. In the 2022 Australian Tour, England were making 3.5 handling errors per game. That fall, it rose to 8.5 when Eddie Jones’ reign crumbled. Now that number is at 9.3.
Gleeson added: “The selection seems to be set up for low phase, high kicking play. If you wanted more of a running game, you’d pick someone like Henry Slade to act as your second playmaker. It’s no surprise the team plays Borthwick’s image but it doesn’t play it as well as she would like.
“They seem to backfire a bit, which is usually due to a disconnect in attack with players being isolated. England don’t have carriers as big as South Africa or France, so they have to use deceptions and short passes to make it harder for the defense.
England sorely miss Tom Curry at the breakdown
RUCKS AND SLOW BACKS LOCKED IN A STRAIGHT
Surprisingly, none of the England backs have scored a try since March. They went six hours of play without crossing the whitewash, with the driving maul the main source of points.
Their ruck ball speed was the lowest in the Six Nations – and only Argentina’s ranks were slightly lower this year. There is a lack of invention or creative spark, with England players appearing to be stuck in a statistical straightjacket.
They overlooked Slade’s artistry and struggled to manipulate defenses.
“England have players at their disposal to play in different ways,” Gleeson said.
“Five of the Premiership’s top six teams really added to their attacking game last season.
“They have players like Henry Arundell and Anthony Watson who can score spectacular tries.
“They can play however they want, but it depends on how the coach wants the team to play.
“But things can change quickly in rugby, they have some fabulous players, and hopefully it’s only a matter of time before they click.”