Ex-England scrum-half Danny Care has been providing insight and analysis for TNT Sports throughout the 2024 Autumn Nations Series. Here is his latest column on what the autumn has said about England, including his predictions for the Six Nations. Watch Ireland v Australia this Saturday live on TNT Sports and discovery+
Vice-captain role needs clarity
It’s been slightly strange to see Jamie George coming off early in games this autumn. Normally your captain would be on the pitch for – if not the whole game – then most of it. Back to the days when Dylan Hartley was captain, luckily then we had Jamie on the bench who was an unbelievable replacement, but also you always had Owen Farrell on the pitch. If Dylan ever went off, then Faz was almost the captain anyway when Dylan was there, because they worked so well in tandem.
When Jamie comes off, there are four vice-captains still on the pitch, it’s then like, who is that next guy? I know Jamie doesn’t want to come off at 50 minutes, he wants to be on there for the whole game, but maybe it’s just a positional thing. You see Codie Taylor for New Zealand, one of the very best in the world, he comes off early. Maybe that’s a trend that the coaches are seeing that they want to change their front row relatively early into the second half, so it’s then unfortunate that the best choice of captain for England is going to be off the pitch for nearly half the game. It’s probably something they have to look at again and nail down that vice-captain position and who that is, rather than having four or five of them.
Leadership doesn’t happen overnight
If you put it into context, the lads who left after the World Cup were Courtney Lawes, Ben Youngs, and Owen Farrell. All three of them, 100+ caps for England. You can’t buy that experience. George Ford isn’t on the pitch at nearly 100 caps, and other players like myself, Manu Tuilagi and Lewis Ludlam are not there anymore, Billy Vunipola, Kyle Sinckler – boys with tons of caps. We’re all gone now, which is great for the squad that there are these new players coming through. But it does take a while to embed new personalities and characters and leadership on the field.
It doesn’t just happen overnight, you don’t just become a great leader in your fourth or fifth cap. Sometimes it takes 60 or 70 to realise ‘this is what leadership is, this is what the team needs from me at this point’. When I came back for the World Cup when Steve gave me the opportunity to play again, one of the key things he said to me was ‘bring your experience, one of the things I want you to do is to calm people down’, which is what I’m good at. To be jovial when I need to be, but also drive standards and try and make us play quickly. I really embraced that role of doing that.
But there aren’t many senior players in that squad anymore. Elliot Daly is in the squad but not getting picked, Ford the same. So the only real proper experience you’ve got is Jamie, Maro Itoje and Henry Slade. Then you’ve got the likes of Ben Earl, who I think will be England’s captain long-term, whenever it is ready for Jamie to step away from England, and I’m not saying that’s going to be anytime soon, he’s still one of the very best in the world. But if I was thinking of that squad in the next five, 10 years, I could envisage Earl leading that team.
The No. 9 dilemma
It’s no secret that Alex Mitchell is the only No. 9 that’s been given one of these central contracts, so obviously Steve sees him as his number one scrum-half. I feel really sorry for Ben Spencer, because I actually think he played well in the first two games of the autumn. We probably didn’t see the full, core game we’ve seen from him the last couple of years in the Premiership, but it’s kind of understandable. You’re coming in and playing against some of the best teams in the world. You just want to put your foot in the door and not try too many things because you don’t want to force it.
Unfortunately for Ben, it’s the nature of international rugby. Because we didn’t win those first two games, he’s suddenly found himself third choice, which is mad when you think about it. I found myself in that position a few times before when you get an opportunity to start as 9, but if the team result doesn’t go your way, you find yourself fully out of the squad overnight and you find yourself going ‘how have I jumped from first to third choice here?’ So I’m sure he’s going to be gutted. I still think they’re waiting for Mitchell to get back fit, and I think they probably don’t know who their second choice is now.
Six Nations predicted champions?
Looking at it right now, I’d say France. They’d be my favourites, but behind them I don’t think there’s much to split between Scotland, England and Ireland now. I think any one of those three could beat France on their day, this is the beauty of the Six Nations. I probably would put the French as favourites, but I would have those three teams right just behind them.
My England XV to face Ireland
Starting XV: Genge, George, Stuart, Itoje, Martin, Cunningham-South, Earl, Underhill; Mitchell, M Smith, Feyi-Waboso, Slade, Lawrence, Freeman, Furbank.
I’ve pretty much named you Steve’s usual team. It’s not like there’s anyone else we could call upon right now that’s playing brilliantly for their club that you go ‘well he should be in’. I don’t think there are any conversations like that at the moment.
It’s the right team that Steve’s picking, and he will probably keep some continuity with that team so they keep learning and getting better, I think that’s the only way you get better as a team. I’ve been in squads before where it’s swapping and changing the whole time and you never ever feel confident, so you’re a little bit edgy when it comes to a game. Whereas I do feel Steve wants to settle on combinations and back them to then develop and get better through wins and losses, so I think it will be a similar squad.
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