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Harry Randall of Bristol runs with the ball against Exeter
Harry Randall’s call-up for England offers the tantalising prospect of running rugby in the Six Nations, but the balance between defence and attack is still tilted heavily one way. Photograph: Stanislav Kasala/ProSports/Shutterstock
Harry Randall’s call-up for England offers the tantalising prospect of running rugby in the Six Nations, but the balance between defence and attack is still tilted heavily one way. Photograph: Stanislav Kasala/ProSports/Shutterstock

Six Nations teams need to show more adventure – but don't hold your breath

This article is more than 3 years old

Emphasis on physicality and defensive kicking unlikely to provide much relief for viewers of this year’s championship

International rugby, as Danny Cipriani reflected this week, has become a war of attrition and territory, a physical grind that repudiates risk and makes for dull viewing. All that threatens to be unpredictable about the looming Six Nations is whether it will go ahead in its entirety, with the French government concerned about exposing its citizens to the Covid-19 variant that has boosted transmission rates in the UK and Ireland.

The championship will be mentally and physically demanding for players who for eight weeks will largely remain with their squads, housed in a bubble and unable to leave their hotel without permission, even for a stroll in the grounds. The confinement will be even stricter than it was for the Autumn Nations Cup and if head coaches do not feel a duty to make sure the rugby is not dull on the field, they will need to provide stimulation off it.

The Wales head coach, Wayne Pivac, says the busiest member of his management team in the past six months has been Dale Thomas, whose remit is mental skills: the field that used to be referred to as sports psychology, a term that tended to unnerve players who thought they would lose face if they were seen to be consulting a shrink.

“I am sure Dale will continue to be busy,” Pivac says. “He plays a big part for us and the mental side is very important. Whether the tournament should go ahead at this time is not a question for us: it is on as it stands and we will prepare accordingly. We are privileged to do what we do and have a responsibility to get it right: that means being in the best frame of mind.”

When Eddie Jones announced his England squad on Friday evening he included a number of players, and not just from Saracens, who have not played this year because of Covid cancellations and the abandonment of the final two rounds of the European Champions and Challenge Cup group stages. It followed the intervention of the French government, which will only give its blessing to France continuing in the Six Nations after their opening match in Italy if the health protocol submitted by the organisers is considered acceptable by its health ministry.

Cipriani took aim at Jones when he noted the kicking game favoured by England had dripped down into the Premiership, but the head coach has varied attacking options in the Six Nations. He called up the uncapped Wasps three-quarter Paolo Odogwu and the Bristol scrum‑half Harry Randall, whose speed of pass elevated him above Ben Spencer. While they are unlikely to feature in the opening match against Scotland, they are not token selections.

It is not as if Jones only has Plan A. His choice of fly-half, George Ford or Owen Farrell, will dictate tactics, with the latter more likely to be at 10 for the most attritional matches, although the absence of spectators strips the hostility out of trips to Cardiff and Dublin.

A question is why England, blessed with Ford, Elliot Daly, Anthony Watson, Henry Slade, Jonny May and Max Malins, persist so much in kicking in their own half. They are hardly alone, given the prevailing theory that Test defences are so hard to break down that playing in your own half contains too great a risk of being turned over in a vulnerable position or conceding a penalty.

What does it say about a sport where the balance between defence and attack is tilted so heavily one way? Wales under Pivac set out to open up after the Warren Gatland era, but four successive defeats in last year’s Six Nations have persuaded him to postpone the future and trust in experience while Scotland, scarred by their failure at the 2019 World Cup when they looked to attack from anywhere, were more discriminating last year, although Finn Russell only played in their final game against Wales and then not for long.

France are, if not unpredictable, less predictable. They came within a disputed penalty of defeating England in the Autumn Nations Cup final with a reserve side and might have won the grand slam but for a red card when they were leading at Murrayfield. They should again provide the main challenge to England, although they have to visit Twickenham, where they have not won in the tournament for 16 years.

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England’s strength is gauged by the players who are not in their 28: Mako Vunipola, who is injured, Kyle Sinckler, who is suspended for the opening match against Scotland, Manu Tuilagi, Jack Nowell, Jack Willis, Jonathan Joseph, Joe Cokanasiga, Joe Marchant and the Simmonds brothers, to name 10.

At least Jones no longer has to field questions about Cipriani now the fly-half is taking time out of the game, but given the options he has and the success of the past 18 months, confidence should fuel ambition.

There is a saying: aim high and miss and you still have a chance of succeeding. Aim low and miss and you have had it. Never mind kicking to the skies, England should be reaching for them.

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