England are taking the scenic route into this Six Nations, opting to relocate from Portugal to Paris in the lead‑up to their opening fixture against France rather than returning to home comforts. A few days in the Algarve paid off a year ago when they secured a resounding round‑one win in Dublin but even the best-laid plans can be disrupted at any time.
In this instance the Exeter hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie, who had been pressing for Jamie George’s starting place, has had to return to the UK for family reasons, opening up the prospect of Bath’s Tom Dunn winning an unexpected first cap off the bench.
Mako Vunipola also missed training because of an eye problem, although England’s management insist he is not a serious doubt for the game at Stade de France on Sunday.
All this comes, appropriately enough, at the exact moment that England have been talking about the importance of being more adaptable when circumstances demand it. There is now widespread recognition they did not respond well when things started going awry in the World Cup final against South Africa in November and Paris will be a litmus test for their progress in this vital area.
As their fly-half George Ford has been reiterating, there is a lot more to winning games of rugby than simple physicality, particularly when the intended target is a fast-moving one.
“Being brutal doesn’t always mean trying to knock the wall down and trying to run over the man straight in front of you,” Ford said. “You have to be smart and controlled and take the sting out of the game a little bit, or maybe throw something at a team that they are not quite expecting. Defensively it is more a case of ‘Right, let’s go get ’em and whack ’em’, but from an attack point of view you can be brutal and smart at the same time.”
With Shaun Edwards now in charge of marshalling France’s defensive operation it could be that England’s management decide it is not a day for messing around or blooding too many new caps. It is more than possible that Courtney Lawes will be asked to wear No 6 with the combative Tom Curry at 8 and any huge starting XV experimentation behind the scrum feels unlikely.
If Anthony Watson, Elliot Daly and Jonny May are raring to go the starting back three – in whatever order – virtually picks itself and it will be a surprise if the 10-12 combination of Ford and Owen Farrell is not reunited, if only to ensure England have sufficient kicking options to put France on the back foot.
“I don’t know if flair is the right word,” Ford said. “We want to be a team that can be creative, of course we do, but above all we want to be a team that connects and executes clinically. I can only speak from my point of view but there is still disappointment [about losing the World Cup final]. When things like that happen, there is always a niggle that you want to get rid of. It only makes you hungrier.”
If any further incentive is required World Rugby has announced that the pool draw for the 2023 Rugby World Cup will take place after this November’s international fixtures. This puts an added onus on all teams to enjoy a successful 2020 if they wish to avoid ending up with a potentially tougher draw for the tournament, which will be hosted by France.
Watson, meanwhile, hopes his Wiltshire-reared teammate Dunn will finally be given the chance, at 27, to export a bit of no-nonsense Chippenham aggression across the Channel this weekend. “If you wanted one person to run through a brick wall he’s probably the first person I’d ask,” said Watson. “It doesn’t matter how high or deep it is; he’s going to run full pelt into it regardless.
“He’s not the most explosive but he’s not going to take a backward step to anyone and I think you’ve seen that for Bath this year. His work‑rate is phenomenal and he’s also got probably the hardest – and biggest – head in world rugby. He’s like a ram; he always gets stuck into things.”
