Head down to Liverpool’s Cavern Club this weekend and you will be treated to A Night of Beatlemania. Some of the city’s finest tribute acts will stand upon the iconic stage and sing their hearts out in homage to John, Paul, George and Ringo. It is not the real deal but you can hear all the band’s greatest hits and still leave with change from £30.
Head to Hill Dickinson Stadium and you will find a rugby team that is beginning to look like a tribute act. England’s underperforming side feels like a poor imitation of what they should be. After five defeats on the trot, the entertainment value is beginning to run thin.
If you listen to Ellis Genge’s remarks in the team huddle in Johannesburg, moments after the 45-21 humiliation by South Africa, perhaps England think they are something they’re not. ‘For about 60 minutes of that game, they didn’t have any answers,’ said the prop, who believed his team were ‘all over’ the double world champions.
At least Steve Borthwick acknowledged this week, after a long flight home, that his team have ground to make up. ‘South Africa are very street-smart at the breakdown and they definitely edged us,’ he said. ‘That showed the gap of where this team currently is to where it needs to be. That’s been reviewed thoroughly and sometimes you have to experience that gap to see it.’
Can Borthwick inspire his team to close the gap? Many of the public think not. There is no doubt England’s squad has ability. That was evident when they brought power and intensity to France in the final round of the Six Nations. They created more offloads, more one-on-ones and proved they can go blow for blow with Test rugby’s big hitters.
Manpower is not the team’s biggest issue. Rather than ‘analysing the a*** off everything’, one Premiership coach told me Borthwick’s challenge is getting the players to believe in themselves.
Rather than ‘analysing the a*** off everything’, one Premiership coach told me Steve Borthwick’s challenge is getting the players to believe in themselves
Head to Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday and you will find a rugby team that is beginning to look like a tribute act
Fiji are ready to knock England further off their stride this weekend and make it six defeats on the trot
Borthwick does not have the tub-thumping presence of a Rassie Erasmus or a Jurgen Klopp, who thrived in this city. On the flight home from Johannesburg, a guest who stayed at the same hotel as England told me his players did not give off the positive aura of a team that looked like winning.
South Africa boss Erasmus, by contrast, felt comfortable enough to invite members of the UK media for a drink at their hotel bar on the eve of the Test.
Tactics come second to belief, although there are clear areas for improvement.
One alarming statistic from last weekend is that the Springboks won 98 rucks out of 98 on their own ball. England failed to disrupt the South African breakdown even once, which does not reflect well on Ben Earl and Tom Curry. Guy Pepper will be hoping to change that after replacing Curry and the Bath man will be under orders to win more scraps from the aerial contest, which the Springboks dominated last week.
England’s set-piece is solid and they are expected to beat Fiji this weekend, as they have in nine of their previous 10 encounters. If they do not win convincingly, Borthwick’s stock will fall even further. He has already suffered defeat by the Pacific Islanders once before, a 30-22 loss on home soil in the build-up to the last World Cup.
‘It’s very hard to block out noise from elsewhere,’ said skipper Jamie George, whose side were shown two more yellow cards last weekend amid continued disciplinary problems that plagued them in the Six Nations.
‘We need to make sure we keep believing in what we’re doing and stay tight. I’ve seen that this week. We’ve had some really good conversations around where we’re at and where we need to be. Discipline is a really key example for us to use. Our discipline let us down and it’s been consistent previously.
‘We lost by a bigger margin than we would ever want to lose by last week. So, it’s, “How do we start better? What did South Africa do?”. They’re the best in the world for a reason. You can learn from other teams.’
For a shift away from England’s taking-the-positives attitude, Borthwick should consider handing the captaincy to Ollie Chessum on a permanent basis. Chessum is not only a fine player, but a no-nonsense operator who delivered some scathing assessments during Leicester’s slump last year.
Ben Earl was unable to disrupt the South African breakdown at all, as the Springboks won 98 of 98 attacking rucks
For a shift away from England’s taking-the-positives attitude, Borthwick should consider handing the captaincy to Ollie Chessum on a permanent basis
Tommy Freeman (left) was shown a yellow card in the closing stages as England capitulated late on against South Africa
The lock is one the first picks in England’s pack and would be the first non-Saracens player to lead the team since Courtney Lawes in 2022. Northampton fly-half Fin Smith is also emerging as a powerful voice.
If they impress from the bench in Liverpool, there will be a compelling case to start Noah Caluori and Benhard Janse van Rensburg.
The debutants can add more X-factor to England’s backline than Seb Atkinson and Henry Slade, which will be key if England are going to close the gap on the likes of South Africa and France and truly challenge at next year’s World Cup in Australia.
‘I’m excited for new challenges and this is one of them,’ Caluori, 19, told Daily Mail Sport. ‘I feel like people will say, “Is he ready? Is he not?”. But you won’t really know until you’re in front of that challenge.
‘I feel like mentally I’m ready for it and excited for it. I’ve put myself in the position to win my first cap and the management wouldn’t put me in that position unless they felt I could.’
If Caluori and Janse van Rensburg are able to establish themselves in England’s team at 14 and 12 respectively, Borthwick may finally be able to settle upon a backline with Tommy Freeman at 13, rather than his constant switching between centre and wing which continues this weekend.
England’s attack is not as sharp as Test rugby’s big-hitters and the players must be liberated to showcase their skills.
‘I genuinely want every England fan to be excited watching us play,’ said George. ‘I am aware of, and can resonate with, the fans’ frustration around the performances and results we have had over this period of time.
‘I genuinely want every England fan to be excited watching us play,’ said captain Jamie George (second right), while Ellis Genge (left) insisted South Africa no answer for the first hour
Noah Caluori (left) and Benhard Janse van Rensburg (right) are set to make their England debuts off the bench against Fiji
‘I’m excited for new challenges and this is one of them,’ Caluori, 19, told Daily Mail Sport
‘When we take teams on, when we are physical first and foremost, our defence looks secure, and we put teams under pressure with a variety of kicks. Kicking is a big part of international rugby, and the way Fin varied that at the weekend was outstanding.
‘But equally, we need to give our outside backs opportunity by making dents in the middle. We, as forwards, needed to be a lot better in terms of giving Fin options and capitalising on the opportunities we did get.
‘When we get that right, we put teams under pressure, which we did a little at the weekend and a lot against France. That’s us as a team.’
Unlike the happy revellers at The Cavern Club, England’s fans will not accept any imitations.
