Matt Dawson column: Reputations of England players on the line after record-breaking loss to France
- Published
I was captain of an England side that had some of the worst results away from home on the 'Tour of Hell' to the southern hemisphere in 1998.
But there were players on that tour that had World Cup winners' medals around their necks five years later and that is testament to the character of those individuals.
A record home defeat will hurt, and those England players will not have slept last night.
But it's important for them to realise if they bounce back and show their true characteristics on the rugby field over the next week, then Steve Borthwick is going to see something in those players which will make him pick them for the World Cup in September.
The overwhelming sense of disappointment is not necessarily that a lot of players didn't play well. It's more, we are just not good enough. I don't care who you put in the side, we are not good enough and that is quite deflating.
'Van Poortvliet is not a threat'
Eight, nine and 10 have not been able to shift the way England play for a very long time. They are there because of their strategy and how they run the game but England just did not run the game well.
Alex Dombrandt was all over the place and what I saw from Jack van Poortvliet is not how he plays rugby. That is not how he has got himself to be the England number nine. He is not making any breaks around the fringes and is not a threat.
It is incredibly slow and laboured whereas Antoine Dupont is playing a different game. It is like watching Roger Federer in his pomp. He had complete control, even when he was in a bit of traffic.
I can't imagine there will be many more years before people start saying he is the greatest scrum-half ever. I'm the greatest Gareth Edwards fan in the world but this Dupont, in this environment, can keep getting better.
England's gameplan is too predictable and there is very little adaptation, which inhibits Marcus Smith's options.
Six Nations 2023: Highlights England 10-53 France
Having that mindset of a Finn Russell is all very good, but unless the team around you understand what you are up to and how you are trying to manipulate the opposition you become very isolated as a fly-half.
Smith gets tackled so many times in international rugby whereas at club level he may make a line-break and look brilliant.
He may still slightly break the line but he's tackled and goes to the bottom of the ruck and when you do not have a second distributor, things become disjointed and it is very easy to defend.
The Scottish team has understood what Russell is trying to do and he has backed off from being so maverick and has found a sweet spot.
Part of France's tactics would have been to allow Smith to think he can break the line, swallow him up and make a tackle, and then stifle the attack from second phase.
Alex Mitchell did make a difference when he came on at nine. He wasn't doing anything Van Poortvliet can't do, but it's making the decision to get on with it and that is easier to do when you are 24 points down and have nothing to lose.
'None of the England players are world class at the moment'
There has been plenty discussed over the past few years about how many world-class players we have and how we are going to challenge for the World Cup. But viewing France and Ireland, England are simply not at the races in terms of top-tier internationals.
Maro Itoje has been world class but is not now. Jamie George has been world class but is not now. If you go through the team, there is no-one. Freddie Steward is probably England's best player at the moment but I cannot say he is world class.
Hugo Keenan and Thomas Ramos are world-class full-backs. Unfortunately, you cannot say any of the England players are world class at the moment.
That doesn't mean to say they can't be; they do have the potential and some of them have been and will get back to that level.
England have beaten Italy and Wales but France had the mentality they were going into a World Cup semi-final or final and, having made a few mistakes in the defeat by Ireland, they were determined not to do the same thing.
They were expecting it to be as tough an encounter as the Ireland game, whereas England looked like they were going to progress from the win in Wales by doing it their way, opposed to reacting to how France are going to play.
'Reputations are on the line'
There is a chance England can beat Ireland next week. As much as it's very slim, I have been in plenty of scenarios where we have been overwhelming favourites going into the last round of matches and been turned over.
There will be huge amounts of pressure on Ireland. England will be underdogs, they'll be written off and it will be a miserable week. Reputations are on the line.
There will be some harsh words from individuals in the group and they will realise this is the last opportunity under the Borthwick regime to go to a World Cup. That brings a different perspective to a player.
There will be consequences for English rugby as a whole if they lose - from the administration to the coaching.
If England finish the Six Nations with two wins there is something fundamentally wrong with the system and there is potentially a broader consequence to the result next week.
Hopefully, England will embrace that and give a showing that can push Ireland.
England hurting after record home defeat - Borthwick