IT HASN’T BEEN this exciting to watch England for nearly four years now. Two good performances in the space of a week have ignited hopes that the English are back.
They had been muddling along since their 2020 Six Nations title, first under Eddie Jones and then with Steve Borthwick in charge.
A third-place finish at last year’s World Cup was positive but even during this year’s championship, they looked limited in the opening three rounds. And then England exploded into full life against Ireland at Twickenham two weekends ago.
Funnily enough, a win over England at the end of the 2021 Six Nations sparked Andy Farrell’s Ireland era into full throttle. They never looked back from that impressive 32-18 victory when the Irish attack clicked, with Jack Conan and Keith Earls scoring tries.
It could be that English supporters will look back on their side’s excellent 23-22 win over Ireland in this year’s championship as the day the Borthwick era began to make sense.
It was a compelling performance in which Felix Jones’ ultra-aggressive defence limited Ireland’s ability to play, the English kicking helped them to control momentum, and their attack played with speed and accuracy. The backlash to England’s defeat to Scotland helped create an emotional edge but it was a precise, clear-headed display.
Borthwick’s men backed that up with another fine showing in Lyon last weekend as they nearly won in France for the first time since 2016. There has been lots of focus on the penalty against Ben Earl for a no-arms tackle in the endgame, allowing Thomas Ramos to kick the winning penalty, but the losing of the match was a disastrous lineout malfunction when Theo Dan hugely overthrew, Ramos hacked on, and Gaël Fickou scored.
There are clearly lots of things England can still get better at but their improvement in the last two rounds of the Six Nations was encouraging for those who feel English rugby hasn’t been living up to its potential.
It helped that Borthwick had settled selections throughout the closing three games. For too long, England have chopped and changed. And it has also helped that some of the fresher faces in the group have so quickly taken to Test rugby.
22-year-old lock George Martin returned to the starting XV against Ireland, picking up where he left off in the World Cup semi-final defeat to South Africa by dominating collision after collision. Martin is a serious weapon, while 23-year-old lock/flanker Ollie Chessum keeps improving.
23-year-old Tommy Freeman has looked at ease on the right wing, showing good instincts and awareness, 20-year-old back row Chandler Cunningham-South has the physical qualities for this level, while 21-year-old wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was scintillating in his one start against Ireland, showing intelligence to go with his elastic power. Out-half Fin Smith is another young gun with a high ceiling.
On top of that, Borthwick has seen longstanding senior figures get back towards previous heights over the last two weekends. Maro Itoje – who has been a fairly consistent performer anyway – has been excellent, Ellis Genge has been destructive, and George Ford has controlled kick contests expertly and run square at the line more often.
The mid-20s group have impressed. Ben Earl was possibly the player of the Six Nations having finally been unleashed under Borthwick. The Saracens man’s potential has always been obvious and he’s now becoming a dominant figure. Scrum-half Alex Mitchell has quickly become a crucial player thanks to his creative streak, while inside centre Ollie Lawrence is proving to be the powerhouse he had always threatened to be.
So though they came up short in Lyon, England should be feeling good about how they finished this Six Nations. Next up is a trip to take on Eddie Jones’ Japan and then a two-Test series against the All Blacks. English fans will be more confident about that tour after the last two games.
And yet, England weren’t good enough to beat a French team that has had their own uptick in form in the latter stages of this Six Nations. It started horribly for Fabien Galthié’s side as they were well beaten by Ireland on the opening weekend.
Antoine Dupont was missed, new assistant coaches were settling in, and it all had the bang of a World Cup hangover off it. The French needed fresh energy and impetus and Galthié got those things by bringing a few more young players into the mix mid-championship.
Stade Français fullback Leo Barré, 21, has been impressively poised, Bordeaux centre Nicolas Depoortère, 21, has shown glimpses of his class, and Racing scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec, 21, has looked to the manor born.
After throwing a stunning ‘chistera‘ reverse pass against Wales, Le Garrec revealed that his new Racing boss Stuart Lancaster had a clear message for him at the start of the season: “Keep it simple, Nolann.” Good luck with that one, Stuart.
The daring Le Garrec is not for changing and he is not short of confidence. Dupont will be back for the les Bleus next season but they have found another genuine star at scrum-half.
Injury delayed the arrival of the mammoth Toulouse lock Emmanual Meafou onto the scene but he has made his 145kg presence felt in the last couple of games, skittling defenders as strong as Itoje and Earl, The French aren’t short of size but Meafou is more than just a giant. He has nice skills and a good feel for the game too.
Similarly to England, it was clear how some of the more established French players were on an upward trajectory in this championship. Uini Atoinio and Cyril Baille got motoring, Julien Marchand won back his starting spot, François Cros was highly effective, and Damian Penaud eventually got back to his wacky, wonderful ways – one lateral run in his own 22 seeing him beat six English defenders before offloading.
Thomas Ramos did a better job at out-half than Matthieu Jalibert and the French can also be excited that first-choice number 10 Romain Ntamack is due to make his comeback from a long-term knee injury for Toulouse soon. Adding Dupont and Ntamack into the squad for next year’s Six Nations will be huge.
Shaun Edwards was clearly fuming about some of the soft try and linebreak concessions in this championship so France still have plenty of work to do in their regeneration project.
The signs are promising for England and France. They will both travel to Dublin next year as Ireland attempt to become the first team in the history of this championship to be outright winners three years in a row.
Farrell will be watching on like the rest of us, having taken up his role as Lions boss, and from this distance, the two home games look like major challenges for this Ireland team in 2025.
Irish fans have been warned a few times to enjoy the current success because it won’t last forever. The English and French will be determined to cut it off next year.
