One of the most important messages I drove to the England team I coached was ‘TCUP’ – thinking correctly under pressure. We would have meetings to plan for every possible scenario. Handling pressure situations does not come down to instinct, but through planning and anticipating future events.
I wanted the players to be left in no uncertain terms that whatever happened on the field, they would know how to react based on the preparation we’d done. The key word in ‘TCUP’ is ‘correctly’.
To be a top team in international rugby, you must be able to respond to pressure situations in the right way. That only happens through detailed work. When the pressure comes on, as it did for England in Paris on Saturday night, the worst thing you can do is act on instinct. If you do, you stand a far greater chance of responding in the wrong way and will be accused of choking or freezing when it matters most.
The heartbreaking, last-gasp loss to France showed me Steve Borthwick’s current England side simply hasn’t done this kind of planning or discussion at the level required to nail the Test game’s big moments. When the heat came on in the final eight minutes at the Stade de France, they didn’t use ‘TCUP.’
England didn’t know how to handle a big pressure situation and that must be a huge learning curve for Borthwick as coach and all his players.
If England don’t heed the lessons from Paris, they’ll never win the most important matches because it is in those situations where the pressure is the highest and ‘TCUP’ comes into its own.
Steve Borthwick’s England side won just one game at this year’s Six Nations tournament to finish fifth
Borthwick’s side produced a much-improved display in their final match against champions France but suffered defeat in heartbreaking fashion in Paris
On the whole, I would give England’s Paris display a mark of nine out of 10. Borthwick’s men played the sort of rugby we all know they’re capable of. The performance was packed with pace and power. But because they didn’t nail the ‘TCUP’ moments, it still wasn’t enough for victory. These are the fine margins at the highest level.
My opinion is that despite leading England to a fifth-place finish and their worst ever Six Nations position, Borthwick must stay as the man in charge. But the way the team played in Paris actually made the campaign as a whole even more frustrating. It showed how good England can be.
But where was that level of performance in the rest of the Championship? The nature of how the team played in terms of attacking verve must now be a standard setter for the future. More of that please and less of the aimless kicking!
England played some brilliant stuff to score seven tries. It should have been enough for victory and if they’d learned and practised ‘TCUP’, it would have been. Preparation is everything and at the moment, it is clear to me this England team does not understand how to handle pressure situations both individually and as a team.
The thrilling Paris finale showed that to be the case. In the 77th minute, Tommy Freeman’s converted try gave England a two-point lead. There then followed a series of moments that cost England the game and that they must learn from.
When Freeman scored, why did Henry Pollock bait the French crowd instead of focusing on the restart? Why, after the outstanding Ollie Chessum collected the kick-off, did Jack van Poortvliet kick away possession? England had to – and I mean had to – hold on to the ball then and run down the clock.
Why did Pollock – after brilliantly stripping possession from Thibaud Flament – attempt a crazy pass and why did Cadan Murley attempt to kick it rather than dive on the ball? All these instances showed me England were acting on instinct rather than using ‘TCUP’. They all contributed to giving France the field position from which Thomas Ramos’ penalty won the match and the title for Les Bleus with the last kick of the game.
It’s also important to note that ‘TCUP’ moments can happen at any point in the game, not just at the end. For example, when Chessum did brilliantly to intercept Matthieu Jalibert to race clear and score, he could in my opinion have gone closer to the posts to enable an easier kick.
Tommy Freeman thought he had given England victory three minutes from time
But the visitors were unable to see out the win as Thomas Ramos kicked the championship-clinching penalty
These are small moments that make a huge difference, but champion players thrive in these pressure moments. England failed to do this. Another good example of England lacking ‘TCUP’ was Maro Itoje shouting at Fin Smith over a penalty disagreement in the Italy defeat. A good team would already have known at that point what the call should have been.
To prove he is the right man to lead this team forward, Borthwick must answer the tough questions about handling pressure during games. If I was in his shoes, I would ask Pollock to explain just what he was thinking when he went for that pass, what the team thinks and what can each player learn from these situations.
Only by getting to the bottom of these moments can England progress. Ultimately, they didn’t think correctly under pressure in Paris and it cost them. My hope is history shows these very painful lessons were the making of this team and especially Borthwick.
