Former England fly-half and Steve Borthwick critic Stuart Barnes was blown away by their display in the dismantling of Wales on Super Saturday.
The Red Rose ended the Six Nations Championship with a stunning 68-14 demolition of their arch-rivals as they finished in second place.
Although it was not enough to win the title, with France getting the job done against Scotland, the result and performance hints at a brighter future for Borthwick’s men.
England and the head coach have been heavily criticised at times over the past year, including by Barnes, but the ex-playmaker hailed their efforts at the weekend.
Barnes raved about the Springboks
The 62-year-old even suggested that it was better than what the all-conquering Springboks produced in the Autumn Nations Series last year.
“The statistics can say what they want. This was a chilling display of finishing on England’s part. When South Africa won 45-12 in Wales last autumn, I thought I’d witnessed a new level of dynamism from the world champions’ pack,” he wrote in his Times column.
“On Saturday there was a dynamic blast to the England game, a precision in the passing, a finality of finishing. Not many teams would have lived with them.”
Barnes believes that the difference in England – and Borthwick – between the 2023 Rugby World Cup and now is stark.
“It is hard to believe the same man coached England in the 2023 World Cup, when dynamism was a dead word,” he wrote.
“Then, Steve Borthwick insisted only on attrition. England played it safe. Each man had his specific role in the team as they played rugby by numbers.
“In Cardiff they played with the pace he had promised before the game. Wales cannot say he didn’t warn them.
“What was most glorious from an England fan’s point of view was the pace put on the game by the forwards. For too long England have been on their heels and plodding towards the tryline in that inch-by-inch style.
“Against Italy there were clear signs of an extra English dynamism but Cardiff was another level, as impressive in its demolition as South Africa’s astonishing first 20 minutes when Eben Etzebeth and his pals ran all over Wales last Autumn.”
England’s caveat
The one caveat in England’s big win comes in the form of their opponents, who have now lost 17 Tests in a row, but Barnes insists that it should not detract from the visitors’ display at the Principality Stadium.
“That Wales have now lost 17 matches in a row is being used to dismiss them in the aftermath, but plenty thought they would scare England, if not beat them,” he added.
“Welsh ineptitude is the storyline stopping us from recognising a breakthrough in the English game.
“While the forwards played a radically different game of rugby in the Welsh 22, the fly halves — first Fin Smith, then George Ford — produced a precision of passing rarely witnessed in an English Test team.
“This was the most clinical display of final-third finishing we have seen from England in ages.”
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/stuart-barnes-claims-englands-dynamic-blast-eclipses-the-springboks-as-few-teams-would-have-lived-with-steve-borthwicks-side
