How England’s relentless second row made Ireland second-best
“We are going to go with six locks next week,” said Eddie Jones, following England’s crunching win over Ireland at Twickenham on Sunday.
It was a joke, of course, but after the performances of the five locks — two more than is conventional in a matchday 23 — England’s head coach picked for this game, it may not be the worst idea. Just like the decision to return Elliot Daly to full-back and put Jonathan Joseph, a centre, on the wing, Jones’s decision to bring back Courtney Lawes and stack his bench with power paid off handsomely.
The second row is an area of great English tradition, but this is an era of rare depth. It provides the platform for George Ford, Owen Farrell and, when at full-back, Daly to pull the strings and makes England mighty tough opponents.
Maro Itoje is the headline act and was supreme yesterday, both in his defensive work and in being a pure pest. George Kruis, as a line-out expert and tight-head scrummager, is the perfect foil for Itoje, even if he would be best served taking grubber kicks off his to-do list.
Joining them was Lawes, back on the blind-side flank. On his 31st birthday, he was the official man of the match for a lung-busting effort that was a triumph of man-management and added balance to a back-row that had been seven-heavy against Scotland.
After being left on the bench at Murrayfield and struggling with an ankle injury, he was given a week off when England trained in London. Lawes is no veteran, but he has plenty of miles on the clock. He looked refreshed at Twickenham.
And, from the bench, Joe Launchbury at lock and Charlie Ewels at No8, then blind-side flanker, came on and added power. Launchbury is an expert mauler, and Luke Cowan-Dickie scored from a powerful maul shortly after the Wasps man came on. It was a slight surprise to see Ewels make the matchday 23, but he may well be back there against Wales.
This was a trick used against England in the World Cup Final, of course. Then, none of South Africa’s starting tight five made it to 60 minutes and the Springboks were able to weather injuries to a hooker and a lock. Huge men poured off a 6-2 bench, heaping pain on England.
Ireland, by contrast, were underpowered in this department after Iain Henderson was withdrawn due to a family issue.
Speaking in the build-up to this match, Launchbury neatly summed up England’s strength in the engine room.
“I’m extremely proud of my last couple of years of playing for England,” he said. “When I first broke into the team, I played a lot and started a lot. That was something I didn’t know would happen, but it happened and I went with it.
“But now we’re in such a fortunate position with the team in that we have so many great players. I look at the strength in depth, particularly in my position, and think, ‘What a great team to be part of’.”
That a player of Launchbury’s quality and experience appears content on the bench tells of Jones’s vision for his “finishers”. Ellis Genge and Cowan-Dickie are become specialists at the end of the game, able to either turn the tide, as Genge did at Murrayfield, or shore things up, as they did yesterday.
“It’s a huge thing to be part of this team and we know that Tests are won in the last parts of games,” added Launchbury. “So, if your role is to be on the bench, then your role is just as important.”
Jones had praised England’s control, which was provided by their gaggle of locks. Much of their work is unglamorous, but when they are at their best, so are England.
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