With the 2018 end-of-year Tests upon us, this week’s Expert Witness sees the return of former England international number eight Nick Easter.
Fresh from coaching the Sharks to victory in South Africa‘s domestic competition, the Currie Cup, Easter is the ideal man to preview England’s titanic clash with their arch-rivals, the Springboks.
The final countdown
With less than a year to go to the 2019 Rugby World Cup, England’s selectorial and injury woes continue.
It seems strange that a team that epitomised consistent availability, results and performance at the start of Eddie Jones’ reign has gone backwards in those areas to reach a point where one could observe that no unit of the side is settled or known. Form is totally unpredictable and performance is a lottery.
Easter has spent six months in Durban coaching and believes the structure of the Southern Hemisphere season is something that others could benefit from:
“When you look at a Test player from the Rugby Championship, their season is far more defined in terms of peaking and in terms of player welfare,” he mused.
“It’s pretty simple stuff; their season runs from March to November, with three to four months to recharge and three international periods. There are far fewer games, higher intensity within those games and a much longer rest window to manage injuries.
“Currently, an English player starts playing in September, finishes his domestic season end of May and then comes off tours in the first week July, leaving a maximum recovery time of say a month, when you factor in pre-season training and the fact most teams have a couple of games in August.
“It’s complete madness in terms of workload!” he exclaimed.
“Now, when you unpack England’s poor form over the last 18 months, you see an injury list as long as your arm and a domestic competition that lumbers from tournament to tournament with much less definition of international window and ‘peaking times’.
“We are currently in a position where arguably six of our first-choice pack are unavailable and five of our first-choice backs, plus many more ‘fringe players’. That’s an horrendous position to be in, especially when you compare to England’s World Cup-winning side, who in the November Tests of 2002, fielded only 24 players in the three Tests, of which only two were omitted from the World Cup squad.
“This injury profile, together with Eddie Jones’ inability to form a brand of rugby and a tempo of performance is costing England dear and it needs a complete ground up redesign of the season to prevent these issues from continually occurring.”
The South African challenge
“South Africa were, without question, physically the hardest side I ever encountered in my Test career,” smiled Easter.
“Whatever their form, selection issues or politics, you know what you will face; wave after wave of rock hard players hitting you from every angle.
“Whilst New Zealand are every bit as tough, there’s an elegance about their game that they also want to win without needing to resort to pure power (although trust me, they can do that as well!) and they want to play an open game.
“This Bok side will prove no different. They’ve huge riches of dynamic power in the second and back-row, with players like Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and RG Snyman being serious finds in the mould of the players that went before them.
“They are playing with a lot of pace onto the ball, but their whole philosophy starts with a dynamic breakdown; they defend hard with three world class stealers in Francois Louw, Malcolm Marx and Kolisi clamping in on slow rucks to steal and it’s interesting their try count from turnovers is right up there with the All Blacks right now.
“England on the other hand, have tried to develop their power game but central to that has been the Vunipola brothers, who yet again (alongside Courtney Lawes) are injured. This removes the core of England’s strategy and without that go forward they provide, I don’t see others that can fill their shoes.
“By saying that, I’m mightily impressed with Tom Curry who offers a rounded game at seven, a true old fashioned openside if you like, and I know from personal experience, Saracens’ Michael Rhodes is as tough as teak and will bring real balance to the defence and quality to the line-out this month. Ben Morgan’s squad recall at eight shows you how desperate we are to find the heavy carrier, but it should also be noted that in the last Champions Cup round, only two English qualified players started at eight, Morgan and Matt Kvesic!
“I suspect England will use Henry Slade in the outside centre channel, benching the now-fit Manu Tuilagi to allow him time to grow back into the international game. Manu is a game changer, but despite his huge frame, is on the way back from some confidence sapping injuries.
“The position we find ourselves in is, however, one of our own making. Without those key players to inform our style, we can’t play the way we want to and England haven’t yet developed the shape of attack outside that power game to beat the best in other areas of the game. It’s an entirely frustrating position but one of our own making, I’m sorry to say,” concluded Easter.
Key match-ups
“With a cold day predicted, I see a day of power rugby. England’s key to success is quick ball. The moment they dwell at ruck time, Marx, Kolisi and Louw will take the ball off them all day. Nobody in world rugby does this better than Marx and his work at the breakdown is something to behold.
“This means we need a mammoth performance from the Sale tyro Curry. He has great hands, the ability to link but also, like Louw, is a clamp over the ruck ball. I really want him to make that quantum step from ‘promising’ to ‘delivering’ and it is now or never in terms of his development for the World Cup.
“It’ll be a tough, brutal game, but I do believe the Springboks have the ammunition to get on the right side of the scoreboard.”
And, over in Cardiff…
It seems strange that in November Wales face Scotland. But back in 1997 one huge frame united every Lion touring South Africa – the incredible Doddie Weir.
“It’s amazing to think what both sides are doing for Doddie,” noted Easter.
“Whilst a Test match in name, I do believe both sides will turn up wanting to use the game for development and also to hone their attacking skills, and I think we’ll see an open game of fun rugby, played in the spirit that we’d want for a fixture of this nature. With Wales and Scotland on the upslope in terms of form, it’s a fantastic opportunity to develop attacking options and experiment without the pressure of an overall tournament.
“By saying that, one question that’s always asked when sides play in Wales is ‘roof on or roof off’? Well, whatever option they choose, the moment big Doddie walks into the stadium I assure you that roof will be well and truly raised by 83,000 fans all wanting to support the cause itself.
“It’s what rugby is all about.”
40-year-old Nick Easter played 54 times for England and scored 13 tries, including two hat-tricks, one in the his final appearance for England in the 2015 World Cup. A skillful number eight with cricketer’s hands, his offloading and distribution are hallmarks of a rounded game. He represented Harlequins 281 times.
by James While