English rugby reverted to peak nostalgia mode on Friday to mark the 21st anniversary of the 2003 World Cup triumph, but all the misty-eyed reminiscing merely highlighted the current struggle to live up to former glories.
In a country with a soft spot for sporting memory lanes, it was a familiar case of gazing in the rear-view mirror and taking comfort from favourite, fading images. Rewind a week and footage of Jonny Wilkinson’s match-winning drop goal in Sydney was dusted off and shown on the big screens at Twickenham before the class of 2024 met their predictable fate against world champions South Africa. It came across as a message of desperate defiance: ‘We’ve won it too, remember’.
The Boks and their fans will have gleefully savoured the fact that they have enjoyed three global conquests since that solitary one by England. All the oval-ball nostalgia in these parts has gone on more than long enough. New golden ages and epic triumphs are long overdue.
Unfortunately, while their predecessors are paraded and acclaimed yet again, Steve Borthwick’s squad are stuck in a rut. This Autumn Nations campaign has been a chastening one and nothing that happens against Japan on Sunday can magically transform the situation. When taking on the leading teams, England have kept finding ways to lose from promising positions. This home banker won’t address that issue. Even in front of a near-full house, it will all feel decidedly hollow.
But the hosts can shift the mood, to a modest extent at least. What the English rugby public need is something to seize upon, to provide hope of a brighter future, rather than harking back to the increasingly distant past.
Borthwick’s largely predictable team selection includes one symbol of that – uncapped prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour – and the head coach outlined a mission to add precious tempo to his team. As they say in Top Gun; ‘I feel the need, the need for speed.’ Those words came from fighter pilot Peter Mitchell, call sign ‘Maverick’, played by Tom Cruise. Borthwick is no-one’s idea of a maverick, but he echoed the sentiments.
Steve Borthwick’s England have lost five matches on the trot dating back to their summer tour of New Zealand
Borthwick has picked a predictable team to face Japan this weekend, but it is exciting to see the explosive prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour (pictured) on the bench
Opoku-Fordjour has already played for England A and is now set for his senior debut on Sunday
It is ironic in a sense that a prop is used as the epitome of a quest to add athleticism, dynamism and pace, but it is a valid point. Opoku-Fordjour’s director of rugby at Sale, Alex Sanderson, once offered the following, striking endorsement of his prop prodigy: ‘He’s a tighthead prop with fast-twitch – they are as rare as teddy bear s***’!
The 20-year-old’s presence on the home replacements bench dominated much of the debrief after Borthwick had named a relatively settled starting line-up featuring just two starting changes, with George Furbank and Tom Curry recalled. It turns out that after being promoted to the senior ranks earlier in the month, the star of England’s junior World Cup triumph made an instant impression.
‘The very first training session for Asher – it was three weeks ago when he came to the squad and he certainly took no step backwards,’ said Borthwick. ‘He really went out in the session and everybody in the squad thought, “What a competitive player, this guy is”. He ended up with a load of stitches over one eye and a dead leg – he looked like he played a physical match. It was training, but he throws himself into it and that impressed absolutely everybody in the squad.
‘There’s something in this player. He’s a guy who comes with recommendations by experienced Test match players. He shows incredible competitiveness. I think he’s already shown a lot of resilience in his career. He has developed so fast and so well up at Sale. He deserves enormous credit for what he’s done and Sale clearly for developing him since he left from Wasps.’
Interestingly, for those who have closely followed Opoku-Fordjour’s explosive emergence, he has been named as cover at tighthead – where he plays for his club, rather than at loosehead – where England have used him in age-group rugby. Borthwick spoke about the value of having a versatile prop capable of operating on either side of the front row, as Bath’s Thomas du Toit is able to do so effectively for his club and for the Springboks.
The prospective debutant possesses a phenomenal repertoire already. He has harvested penalties in the Premiership as a remarkably accomplished scrummager at such a young age. He has also caught the eye with his knack for making breaks, showcasing nimble footwork and off-loading like an outside back. He has followed Fin Baxter into the England set-up as another tyro who fits into the mould of modern-day forward actively sought by Borthwick.
‘We’ve got a bunch of young guys and there’ll be more evolution within that front row,’ said the head coach – who was adamant that omitted veteran Dan Cole remains firmly in his plans. ‘You’ve seen Fin Baxter come through so well. We’re looking at who the next props are.
‘One thing’s clear, building on that, is athleticism. As you start looking at the players who I’ve picked over the last 12 months and this next period, with this England team, it’s athletic players.
‘The game’s getting faster. We want to play faster; we want to play with real ambition and courage with the ball. We want to be aggressive with the ball and to do that you need to have athleticism. You’ve seen the best teams in the world have incredible athleticism. Ash has got that athleticism without question.
‘In the front row, you also need to make sure you scrum. Ash has proven at Premiership level that he can scrum really well. Now it’s about making the step up to Test level.’
Twickenham is set to stage a high-octane occasion on Sunday. ‘Japan want to play fast and we want to play fast,’ added Borthwick. ‘This team is capable of attacking with real pace. The ball movement has increased over the last 12 months. I want speed of the ball at the breakdown to increase. I want the players to back their skills and be willing to throw the pass that will break open good defences.’
It promises to be fast and fun, with thrills, spills and tries aplenty. It won’t do anything to improve England’s recurring problems against the true superpowers, but there is no chance of an upset to plunge the RFU into a panicked period of crisis management. If Opoku-Fordjour can enhance the search for a brighter, faster future, it might go some way to reduce the need for nostalgia.
