This time last year Steve Borthwick was preparing to omit Henry Slade from England’s World Cup squad. The Exeter Chiefs centre had played 30 of the 37 Tests since the previous tournament in 2019, more than any other England back during that period, but was suddenly surplus to requirements, squeezed out to make room for an extra wing.
Borthwick’s brutal decision was indicative of how he wanted England to play at the World Cup, a direct style which placed a premium on wings who could chase kicks and less value on creative outside centres. Slade had spent long periods of his international career frustrated at how little he was seeing the ball. That would not have changed out in France.
Still, it was an enormous blow. Slade has conceded during this tour that he strongly considered calling it quits with England and joining Jack Nowell, his old house-mate, and the exodus from the Chiefs over to France. Top 14 clubs were keen and there were lucrative contract offers on the table.
Slade’s career had reached a fork in the road. The fact that, less than a year on, he is now one of England’s most important players — probably the most important in the eyes of Felix Jones, the defence coach — is testament to his own resilience and to how England have changed their game.
Jones joined after that tournament and brought with him a blitz defence system from South Africa, with whom he had won two World Cups. That immediately altered the prospects for Slade, given that the Chiefs have been defending in a similar fashion and the outside centre plays a critical role in the system.
Advertisement
Within seven months, the 31-year-old has gone from World Cup spare part to England vice-captain and defensive leader.
“The easy thing for Henry Slade to have done would have been to play out another year at Exeter and then go off to France, because that was a difficult selection around that World Cup squad. But he said he wanted to play for England,” Borthwick, the head coach, said.
“He has improved his game. He has taken that disappointment and turned it into a positive. He would be a great example to show every player who has a disappointment, because that was a big disappointment, missing out on the World Cup squad. To turn that around and take his game forward was a brilliant example of resilience and toughness.
“It is not just his performance but his leadership of this team. It has been excellent. He is key in our defensive system, with Felix, in helping other players develop into that system.”
The blitz system is an aggressive defensive approach predicated on quick line speed that is designed to cut down the time, space and passing options of the opposition. The dream outcome is to catch players man-and-ball behind the gainline and create attacking opportunities through defensive pressure, by causing chaos and forcing turnovers.
Advertisement
Slade’s role requires multiple shuttle sprints and a huge workrate. Against New Zealand on Saturday he almost created a try by knocking the ball free in a tackle on Jordie Barrett and he picked off yet another interception, which is becoming something of a trademark.
The wing on his outside must also jam in and make tackles. Early in the Six Nations, Elliot Daly struggled to stay connected. His natural instinct was still to hold his position and drift but he was picked off by Italy and Wales.
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is much more comfortable bolting infield from his wing, as Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse do for the Springboks. Feyi-Waboso credits Slade with his rapid rise through the Chiefs team and into England colours.
“Whatever I have done this season has definitely been as a result of him,” the 21-year-old said of the team-mate ten years his senior. “All my best performances, I’ve been playing with him. I’ve been with him the whole of this year and it’s been amazing. Defensively, offensively, he’s just easy. He’s an unbelievable player.”
England’s blitz defence had its toughest test so far against New Zealand in Dunedin. They landed some blows and made some good reads but the All Blacks are highly skilled and managed to escape the net a few times, whether through the quick hands of the fly half Damian McKenzie or by evading the onrushing pressure with slick footwork.
Advertisement
England got hands on a few times but could not complete the tackle, allowing elusive players such as the wing Mark Telea to make breaks. “We have to increase our tackle completion,” Borthwick said. “The speed they have, the agility they have and the ball-handling skills they have put you under a real test. A lot of the players had not experienced that until Saturday. We will be better for that experience.”
The front-line blitz is phase one of the system. It is high risk, high reward and requires an effective scramble as a safety net, which is something the Springboks do brilliantly and England recovered well against the All Blacks.
The fascinating element of a two-Test series will be how each side now responds in Auckland. England are talking about bringing even more line speed, doubling down on the blitz.
Meanwhile, in the All Blacks camp they are plotting new ways to defuse England’s strategy by slowing down the line speed; most likely by playing narrow and more direct at times to make it harder for England to reload, or by chipping over the top.
There is an interesting dynamic with Jones’s defence going up against an All Blacks attack run by Jason Holland, a long-time friend. Holland was coaching at Munster when Jones, a full back, broke his neck. When Jones moved into coaching, he travelled to the Hurricanes and spent time learning from Holland.
Advertisement
“I know him pretty well,” Holland said. “He has got a real drive. He was a No15 who put his body on the line. I was scared with where he was putting his body.
“He’s really analytical. We’ve got a couple of ideas around how we make sure it’s hard for them to bring that line speed — as in, you have to go backwards to come forwards.
“We can’t get predictable, we’ve got to make sure we’ve got a little bit in our game and a little bit more than what we had down in Dunedin. If you start throwing big, wide balls over it they’re really good at recovering, as you would have seen on the weekend.
“Their wingers chop back in. It’s a form of defence that Felix loves and he has the English boys really buying into it. We’ve got to make sure we’re going to the spaces when it’s there.”
Jones backs Slade to be up for the challenge. He has never had a reputation for being a defensive hard-man, although Jones always knew it was in Slade to be more than a silky playmaker.
Advertisement
They played against each other in a game between the Irish Wolfhounds and England A in 2015, when Slade started at fly half with Sam Burgess at inside centre, and laughed over a clip of that game in Cork last week.
“I was trying to steal a ball, and we had a bit of argy-bargy and he came to shove me off the ball,” Jones said. “I have always rated him.”
New Zealand vs England
Saturday July 13, kick-off 8.05am (BST), Auckland
TV: Sky Sports Action/Main Event
