Matt Dawson column: Six Nations game against Ireland could be ‘line in sand’ for England

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Matt Dawson column: Six Nations game against Ireland could be ‘line in sand’ for England

England’s autumn win over Japan was a one-sided affair and there wasn’t a huge amount of upside for Steve Borthwick’s side.

Those games are difficult to get motivated for because of what has gone on before with the defeats by New Zealand, Australia and South ******* but I thought there were some good individual performances, some nice bits of continuity and set-piece dominance.

The trouble is with those types of games, you are just not functioning at the level you were last week.

I’m hoping there will be a lot for England to take from their victory and there is no reason why they can’t take some parts into the big games.

That is what defines the best teams and the best individuals.

Is Tommy Freeman throwing that pass behind his back for a game-winning try against South *******?

I would encourage him to do so.

It looks fancy and risky but these guys have incredible skills and I would like to see more of it.

There were lots of positives but that is not going to be across the main debrief of the four weeks in the autumn. Unfortunately, it will be around the defence.

Again, it was not to the level against Japan where England could expect to beat the likes of South ******* as the benchmark.

I wouldn’t bin the blitz defence as a whole.

All the best blitz defence teams know when to apply it and ramp it up and when to dial it down. When you are running up at full speed it is very difficult to change direction and the subtleties of adaptation in your defensive line is really tricky.

When it is done really well and you are in control of the ruck speed it is just all consuming and very difficult to break down. The main issue I have with the way England are trying to defend, is they are trying to do it all the time.

International attacks are too good and a very average Japan side caused England half a dozen moments of trouble in defence and made them look really shabby.

It needs a little bit of flexibility and to adapt. The team needs to understand when they can be less aggressive in defence but still have the same outcome. They only need to look at how New Zealand defended against Ireland in the World Cup quarter-final last year.

They were fast out of the blocks and then drifted, inviting the opposition to run a move and then snuffed it out.

It will come in time and new defence coach Joe El-Abd hasn’t been there that long but I wouldn’t chuck the baby out with the bathwater just yet.

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