Talk is cheap at the business end

In family circumstances yesterday in which I watched the whole of England’s 24-17 victory at Twickenham against Argentina and then the first half of Ireland’s 27-24 win over Australia in Dublin on television, it is fast becoming a moot point as to which of these home nations will be favourite to win next years’ Six Nations tournament.

Ireland have achieved the remarkable feat of recent victories over New Zealand, Australia and South Africa thanks largely to the emergence and blossoming of new younger players and a core of vets stepping up combined with the tactical efforts of Joe Schmidt and new defence coach Andy Farrell. A new all-out intensity has been added to the traditional Irish brio around the field and – provided that it can be maintained (I say that because, both on the training paddock and in game time, it requires continual eyeball-busting effort and therefore a greater risk of injury) – I expect the men in green will be very difficult to beat, especially at home.

Meanwhile, for all the outstanding ‘plucky rearguard’ display of England in overcoming the exhausted and under-estimated Pumas with only 14 men after Elliot Daly took his long slow red-card walk within 5 minutes of the kick-off yesterday, I am not yet entirely convinced by the Eddie Jones Show which has become a media staple over the past twelve months and thirteen consecutive victories.

Jones – like Jose Mourinho in soccer – is undoubtedly manna from Heaven for rugby journos who suffer (as we all do) from a mountain of monosyllabic and ‘jargon talk by the yard’ patter of head coaches at interview time, but sometimes his hype-talk is better than the reality. He could effortlessly make a 20-point loss sound like a million dollars if he wanted, just as he cleverly tends to complain of deficiencies whenever England win comfortably with plenty to spare.

The fact is that Jones’ England have consistently leaked tries, some of them ‘soft’, at times when – had they been as controlled and ruthless as Jones claims is his constant goal – this should not have happened. Equally, too often there are instances of slow-moving forwards giving away silly penalties at key moments in games, or even needlessly when faced with innocuous situations on the floor or around the rucks.

Never mind ‘bad luck’, this is rank stupidity – as was, no more than 72 hours after World Rugby had deliberately upped the stakes on tip-tackles and ‘taking the man out in the air’ by specifically ordering referees to get their cards out without fear or favour (and also knowing that yesterday’s ‘Sir’, Pascal Gauzere of France, has a reputation for going to his pocket earlier than most), Eliot Daly flying in – albeit totally without malice aforethought – on the Pumas’ Number 8 Senatore and committing a classic ‘in the air’ offence.

Put it down to revved-up adrenalin, or enthusiasm, or even misfortune if you wish, but it was an act that could have ended England’s winning streak at a stroke. And possibly nearly did. In an atmosphere where – we are led to believe – competition for places is so tight that every England player may pay heavily for the slightest error, Daly may find himself in the dog-house until midway through the Six Nations, even if he should get only a two or three week ban. After all, it is not as if England are lacking in centres and wings knocking at the door to press their individual cases.

Every since the summer’s tour to Australia, Eddie Jones has been putting pressure on his defence coaches (headed by Paul Gustard, who at least is used to being dressed down by Eddie, having previously worked under him at Saracens), but so far marked improvement has eluded them. In the previous outing (against Fiji) the hosts leaked tries at times just when they should have been closing down the game and yesterday –  in the always-crucial time just before and after the break, just the period they would have been coached to be wary of all week – they allowed the resurgent Argentinians right back into the game with two well-taken tries.

It was only by an admittedly resolute and impressive ‘backs to the wall’ effort that England emerged on top, assisted by Gloucester winger Jonny May’s exemplary finishing of a try opportunity.

As things stand, whilst I can foresee England making further progress before February, merely on form my pick for 2017 Six Nations glory has to remain Ireland.