Yes, they had a great result against Ireland but maybe the coaches should be aware of players becoming more relaxed in their approach to the game. As good as England were, they still had to rely on France failing in their defence. France’s defence coach Shaun Edwards would have expected that, after taking a 16-3 lead early in the game, France would have held onto that lead. Edwards also said that you shouldn’t have to score 30 points to win a game and he is right. Both teams scoring lots of points shows a lack of true competition and a weakness in both teams’ coaching and delivery.
If you can score 10 or more points without reply, you should be able to defend that lead with a solid defence and control the flow of the game. As both England and France managed to take the lead at different times it showed both have good attack (it seems Richard Wigglesworth is getting his message through at last), but losing that advantage showed a failure to focus in defence. While large scores like the French game seem to be what some of the players now feel are needed to excite fans, I am not so sure.
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Denne historien er fra March 24, 2024-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
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England show who's No.1
ENGLAND women’s head coach John Mitchell says his side will take valuable lessons from the 24-12 win over world champions New Zealand as they build towards their WXV1 title defence.
Skivington: We're going to roll dice and go for it
THE Cherry and Whites are the enigmas of the Premiership.
Looking to go one step beyond this time around
NE small step is what it will take for Bath to go one better than last season and secure the Premiership for the first time, but it would be one of the biggest taken by the club in the professional era.
Four-try England make it 17 wins on the spin
ENGLAND women opened the Allianz Stadium era at HQ with a victory over New Zealand to make it 17 wins on the bounce before their WXV title defence.
Time for Borthwick to prove his worth
HONEYMOON periods are not set in stone and in my estimation Steve Borthwick’s ends this summer. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still in good shape.
Barrington ready to power up the Mob
RICHARD Barrington has signed up to the Ampthill “Mob” reassured that he’ll still have a target on his back most weeks.
Skivington keen to build identity
GLOUCESTER won their first trophy for nine years last season and reached the Challenge Cup final, but when George Skivington went on holiday the day after the campaign ended the words in his head were never again.
Roebuck targets England success
WINNING a maiden England Test cap to top the best season of his career will not be enough for Sale winger Tom Roebuck.
Booth: Tough telling players I was leaving
TOBY Booth admits telling his Ospreys players that he would be leaving at the end of the season was one of the hardest things he has had to do in his career.
Stephens' debut try sees off old rivals
DORKING had to dig deep in another tight game between two old rivals, with the lead changing hands twice and result in doubt right up to the final whistle.
