Tommy Freeman rewarded for tireless work without the ball – Getty Images The challenge for coaches is to connect different aspects of their team so that they can flow together and support performances that overwhelm opponents. England wanted to win this Six Nations, but a major consolation prize is the way they showed such displays … Read more
Ben Earl’s brilliance was rewarded with a try – Getty Images/Harry Murphy Getting started quickly is relatively easy. The true test of any game plan is collective conviction. Can your players maintain the same approach when the wind is taken out of their sails and it seems like opponents have noticed? At half-time of this … Read more
George Furbank crosses the try line before England’s second match against Ireland – Getty Images/David Rogers On Saturday at Twickenham, one team recorded 522 running metres, 164 completed passes and eight clean breaks, kicking the ball 23 times. The other kicked the ball 28 more times but was inferior by the rest of those stats, … Read more
England did not make optimal use of Ollie Lawrence – PA/Andrew Milligan Before the emergence of Tom Curry and Sam Underhill some six years ago, England did a bustling trade in six-and-a-halfs; bruising, industrious back-rowers who were not considered cunning or mobile enough to be labeled ‘real opensides’. Chris Robshaw and James Haskell famously leaned … Read more
Huw Jones sliced through the English midfield ahead of Duhan van der Merwe’s first try – Shutterstock The least satisfying spectacles in sports are the ones that float by and then disappear before we learn anything. Murrayfield would probably never fall into that category on Saturday, such were the interwoven subplots. A fourth successive Scotland … Read more
Henry Slade is expected to be effective on both sides of the ball at Murrayfield – Getty Images/Dan Mullan After two appearances alongside Fraser Dingwall to start this Six Nations campaign, Henry Slade has now joined twelve different centers for England. That is just one short of Michael Atherton’s number of opening partners during an … Read more
Ben Earl impressed again for England – Getty Images/Dan Mullan England narrowly defeated Wales at Twickenham thanks to a second-half performance that saw them pull the visitors back and eventually overtake them for the win. It was far from a great performance from the hosts, but getting the win was what mattered, and Ben Earl’s … Read more
Tommy Freeman (centre) has been at the center of several promising England attacks – Getty Images/David Rogers As England know from the deflation of failing to win four in a row between 2020 and 2023, the opening game of a Six Nations campaign is invariably nasty. Often you have to peer beyond the score line … Read more
England’s defense was caught short in the opening 40 minutes in Rome, but they came through the test – Getty Images/Giampiero Sposito Growing pains: They can really hurt. And adopting a new approach will inevitably lead to ugly moments. Italy’s second try at the Stadio Olimpico, a flowing counter-attack that left Elliot Daly behind and … Read more