England v New Zealand: bring it on
Watching both quarter finals yesterday I asked the question which no doubt will attract as much coverage in your press as where Boris goes from here, namely “Can England win?”
Of course they can – anyone can win a one-off match given the vagaries of form, the referee and luck but I believe the All Blacks will triumph this Saturday.
Why? Both sides are relatively well-matched but New Zealand’s locks – Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock – are much better than Maro Idoje and Courtney Lawes.
In particular Lawes is an impact player but his tackling is on the edge which could get him sin-binned or worse and he does not have an all round game.
Itoje is mobile and effective in the line-out but I don’t see any chemistry with Lawes.
England’s midfield defence did extremely well to stem the initial Wallabies onslaught and Eddie Jones’ decision to pick Owen Farrell and drop George Ford was fully vindicated.
However the midfield three – Farrell, Tuilagi and Slade – will also have to cope with Retallick and Whitelock this Saturday.
England have yet to be tested. Argentina played with 14 men most of the match, the game against France was abandoned and the Wallabies made errors in selection and tactics. David Pocock and Michael Hooper were immense but I did not see any other top class talent in their pack.
You never know with Jones: Joe Marler and George Kruis could return for Vinipola and Lawes.
I’m meeting up with my old Hawkes Bay pal Wayne Smith who is now coaching the Kobe Steeler’s in Kobe for a few beers on Thursday and we are proceeding together to Tokyo and then Yokohama to watch the game that might will determine the World Cup champions.
