NIK SIMON: England have the world's worst attack!

NIK SIMON: England have the world’s worst attack! If they’re not dropping the ball they’re kicking it away… how Steve Borthwick’s boys went backwards 

• England have fallen well behind their rivals in rugby and there’s a reason why
• Mail Sport have broken down some of the key statistics behind their struggles
• WATCH: ‘It’s All Kicking Off’ – Episode 2 – Mail Sport’s brand new football show

The numbers are damning — England have fallen well behind the pack. 

The national team are approaching crisis mode as their attack falters.

Furthermore, their stalwarts fail to deliver and discipline unravels. 

Steve Borthwick studied economics before turning to coaching and data from his team’s displays makes for difficult reading. 

With help from Opta, former England attack coach Martin Gleeson and Wales No10 Dan Biggar, Mail Sport broke down some of the statistics.

The numbers are damning — England have fallen well behind the pack.

Steve Borthwick studied economics before turning to coaching and data from his team’s displays makes for difficult reading

Mail Sport have broken down some of the statistics behind England’s poor performances

RIVALS HAVE FIGURED OUT THEIR KICK-HAPPY TACTICS

During his time with Leicester Tigers, Steve Borthwick’s golden number was 1,000 kicking metres per game. The rough theory being that the more metres you kick, the more you pressurise the opposition, the more you win.

England have kicked further than any team in the world this year but it has been playing into opposition hands. Ireland were locked and loaded at the weekend, stacking their backfield with receivers ready to launch a counterattack. Mack Hansen ran riot.

Gleeson said: ‘The kicking metres are up a lot from Eddie Jones’s team in the autumn. If you take a bird’s eye view of the pitch, there’s generally a run-space or a kick-space.

‘It should come down to your chief decision makers to see what’s on and have trust in them to make the right decision. If you’re set up to run, you can still kick quite easily. If you set up to kick, it’s much harder to run, and it becomes much easier for the defence to read. At the moment, England look a team set up to kick.’

Martin Gleeson opened up on some of the reasons behind England’s struggles

WOEFUL CONVERSION IN THE 22 — AND IT’S ONLY GETTING WORSE

So far this summer, England have averaged one point per visit to the opposition 22. That’s halved from the dismal Six Nations campaign and is now the lowest in the world.

During the Jones era, they compared entering the 22 to storming a castle. Increasingly, they are being met with fierce resistance. Defensive lines are thicker in the 22 because there is no backfield cover, and England do not have the muscle to break through.

Biggar said: ‘England are trying to play a huge amount off nine and if you front up physically against that then you stand a good chance. They aren’t winning enough of those collisions, so the backs aren’t getting clean ball. There’s a lot of one-out runners and sometimes that’s the easiest thing to defend if you’ve got guys who are hungry to tackle, which teams like Wales do!

‘You know what’s coming. They look like a team trying to arm wrestle you, rather than manoeuvre you around. It’s similar to how Leicester played when they were very successful but you need a bit more at Test level. Ireland have got big men but they use tip-on passes and balls out the back. Everything’s connected.’

Wales No 10 Dan Biggar believes England ‘look like a team trying to arm wrestle you’

BORTHWICK’S TEAM ARE GIFTING THE BALL AWAY

Although Ben Earl and Jack Willis are proven jackalers, England are badly missing Tom Curry at the breakdown. The pack were penalised at the ruck in Dublin and lone runners are ripe to be turned over at the ruck.

They are spilling the ball cheaply, throwing passes into touch and struggling to find fluency. During the 2022 tour of Australia, England were making 3.5 handling errors per game. That autumn it increased to 8.5 as Eddie Jones’s reign collapsed. Now that figure is up to 9.3.

Gleeson added: ‘Selection looks set up for a low-phase, high-kicking game. If you wanted more of a running game then you’d pick someone like Henry Slade to act as a second play-maker. There’s no surprise, the team are playing in the image of Borthwick but they’re not playing it as well as they’d like to.

‘They seem to be getting turned over a fair bit, which is generally down to a disconnect in attack, with players getting isolated. England don’t have carriers who as big as South Africa or France, so they need to use some deception and short passes to make it more difficult for the defence.’

England are badly missing Tom Curry at the breakdown

SLOW RUCKS AND BACKS STUCK IN A STRAITJACKET

Shockingly, none of England’s backs have scored a try since March. They’ve gone six hours of play without crossing the whitewash, with the driving maul the main source of points.

Their speed of ball at the ruck was the lowest in the Six Nations — and only Argentina’s ranks marginally lower this year. There is a lack of invention or creative spark, with England’s players appearing to be stuck in a statistical straitjacket.

They have overlooked the artistry of Slade and are struggling to manipulate defences.

‘England have players at their disposal to play many different ways,’ said Gleeson. ‘Five of the top six teams in the Premiership really added to their attacking game last season. They’ve got players like Henry Arundell and Anthony Watson who can score spectacular tries.

‘They can play any way they want to but it comes down to how the coach wants the team to play. But things can change quickly in rugby, they’ve got some fabulous players, and hopefully it’s just a matter of time before they click.’

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