How reassuring to find a headline referring to England arrogance yesterday morning. It would not be the Six Nations if someone, somewhere had not opined on the character flaws of the English. Usually, if in dire need, a reporter can find his way to Jim Telfer’s door for the required line. On this occasion, it was Stuart Hogg, the Scotland full back,who delivered.
To be fair to Hogg, he did not say “arrogant”. But he was on the back page of the Daily Mail yesterday, having “slammed” England for showing “no respect” for Scottish rugby.
Really, Stuart? Do you really mean that? In this modern world of digital communication and when different nationalities rub shoulders so regularly, and especially when England have not won anything of real note for so long, do people really still think that of the England rugby union team?
I would say the exact opposite. England just do not seem arrogant enough. I am not suggesting that they should be rude to taxi drivers or disrespectful to waitresses with Celtic accents. But in a rugby sense, on a rugby field, where is that raging inner sense of belief that England could be conquering all before them?
Here are two versions of the same story. The RBS Six Nations Championship starts with Chris Robshaw in the tunnel of the Millennium Stadium, sniffing that he might be on the end of a Welsh stitch-up and, then, refusing to be sent out early. This has been interpreted as a moment when the England captain stood his ground, bared his teeth, showed his mettle and, of course, it won him comparisons to Martin Johnson and the famous show of we-shall-not-be-moved defiance at the old Lansdowne Road in 2003.
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The way I have been told it, though, was that England had known what might be coming and spent two days discussing the politics of Millennium Stadium tunnel etiquette and persuading an uncertain Robshaw that, if it came down to it, he would have to make a stand. And, of course, when it did come down to it, it was not so much Robshaw playing the hard-man role but Mike Brown, his full back, who was right up at the front of the line next to him.
One version has England showing character. The other has England wondering if it is OK to do so.
It is instructive that Brown should have come into the equation. It is Brown who is remembered in Scotland from last year’s Murrayfield game, not because of his try, but because he said afterwards, of the pitch, which was indisputably substandard: “I’m not sure it’s good enough to play an international match on that.” This irritated some. Brown had actually qualified his opinion by saying: “I’m sure they’re doing the best they can to make it right,” and “I’m sure the Scotland players are as frustrated as us” — which sounds entirely reasonable, but with a bit of editing can probably come over as disrespectful.
Against Ireland nine days ago, England missed Brown, not just his qualities as a full back, but also his personality, his belligerence, his refusal to take a backward step. As much as it is a game about passing, catching, tackling and — oh yes, kicking, of course — rugby is about this, about character. And when England lost to Ireland in Dublin, they did not show enough of it.
They lacked for leadership, they lacked big, angry personalities baring their teeth and showing their mettle. They needed some arrogance.
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I have written in these columns before that England need to be unleashed, and the Ireland game now stands as evidence. When Stuart Lancaster took over as England’s head coach after the shambolic 2011 World Cup, his intentions and methods in redesigning the team and their values system could not be faulted.
He resold to the players the dream of playing for England. He gave them an identity as proud Englishmen, proud to represent their country. He insisted that they were model superstars; he made them fine ambassadors of English rugby.
And that was not just good PR, it gave them and their cause some meaning. That is a strength. Yet if this new culture displayed by the England team has left the players short on character on the field, then it is not working.
When Graham Henry discusses his World Cup-winning All Blacks, he pinpoints as crucial the moment when he allowed the players to run the team. He stopped micro-managing and making the decisions, he empowered them by trusting them to run the show themselves, breaking the teacher-student relationship and effectively telling the players that they had left school and had to take responsibility.
Whether he meant to or not, Sir Clive Woodward did the same. His players insisted on having ownership and they merrily recall Woodward standing in the team room giving instructions and Johnson then closing the door behind him when he was finished and saying: “Right, forget that. Let’s do this.”
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The tale may be apocryphal, but the message is the same, and Lancaster needs to find a way of taking it on board. Loosen the reins. Allow the players to roar; at the moment, they have short back-and-sides and tend to make a noise only when they are told to.
They do not, as a group, have arrogance pumping through their veins, whatever Hogg or others may believe. But they need to find some on the field.