England's second game, against Georgia, was to take place in the Dunedin greenhouse again. Yes the Georgian pack is big, yes they were likely to cause problems, but the biggest concern for me was the referee.
I must not get distracted by Jonathan Kaplan
I must not get distracted by Jonathan Kaplan
I must not get distracted by Jonathan Kaplan
8 years ago, England ran up numbers that would have made even a UBS Warburg broker think twice, but that was never going to be the case tonight as Georgia's mainly France based side are pushing for inclusion in an extended 7 Nations Championship (Tblisi in February anyone??)
A missed Georgian touch early on saw Foden, Flood and Tuilagi charge, but a knock on saw Georgia push England back in the 22, where a quick line-out saw England regain midfield through the sprightly 38 year old Shaw. Hape picked up having spotted a mismatch and ghosted through a gap as big as the Greek National debt to settle any English nerves. Flood converted. Shaw was evident early on, running like a centre, then embarrassingly having the ball ripped from his massive grasp by a centre. Georgia responded with energy, but knocked on and pressure was relieved. The scrum was ragged and Georgia almost squeezed in the corner, but England survived a close TMO decision as the Georgian winger put a foot in touch.
Kaplan penalised England for an unlikely offside next and Kvirikashvili should have pulled 3 points back for the Georgians, but butchered his effort. Georgia had started well with the ball and were making England make tackles and concede penalties (so what's new?). Kvirikashvili is clearly Georgian for Wilkinson though, and another attempt drifted wide. Kaplan seemed addicted to giving penalties against England, some justly so, others ridiculously imagined.
England couldn't get their hands on the ball, as Georgia controlled the game, but they suffered at the whistle of the referee too, as moving forward with the ball on the floor, England got the put-in. A comedy of early errors from the South African. When England did get the ball, the backs looked dangerous, but Kvirikashvili (wish he was called Smith) pushed them back into their own 22 and Youngs had to clear.
England attacked from deep, with Tuilagi, Foden and Armitage looking dangerous. Ashton finally got involved, and Flood distributed well. Second time in the Georgian half, second Hape try, second successful Flood kick. 14-0. An undeserved margin maybe, but England were highly efficient both in attack and defence, if somewhat erratic at the breakdown.
A quick tap by Youngs led to an immediate penalty for obstruction under the posts against an English side that were trying their hardest to crate, but the Georgian 10 was having such an off day (he said politely) and another 3 went begging from between the posts. Tuilagi was penalised for a spear tackle when all he did was grab a leg, as the Kaplan show continued. Kvirikashvili, who had struck the ball like a bag of wet sand so far, finally managed to score and Georgia were on the board belatedly.
While England looked dangerous in the back three, it was still a slightly disjointed effort, much of this due to the aggressive intent of the Georgians. That said, England had scored 2 tries and Flood slotted a penalty after the Georgian scrum half allegedly went offside at the scrum to restore England's 14 point advantage. Though on the stroke of half-time, another infringement on the England line by the brainless Hartley both gave the Georgians a chance for three points and a man advantage for 10 minutes. Georgia opted for the scrum, and Wood was replaced by Thompson somewhat bizarrely when England were defending a 5 metre scrum. From said scrum, the number 8 Basilaia picked up and powered over to put a deserved Georgian try on the board. Half Time: England 17 Georgia 10
England had been poor in general. The old problem of discipline resurfaced. 8 of the 11 penalties they conceded were blatant, and while 3 of them were hamfisted attempts at refereeing, 8 is still way too high. Martin Johnson had work to do at half-time. With this discipline and this performance England will not go on to win the tournament, and something needed to happen in the second half to brighten the England fans' day.
They started much brighter in the second half, Hape and Shaw to the fore again as they were in the first 40 minutes, and in a mirror image of the early action , Armitage saw a try chalked off in the same corner when his foot crossed the touch line at virtually the same point the Georgian foot had when their try had been disallowed. 14 man England looked much brighter though, and it was Georgian indiscipline that littered the early minutes. Haskell woke up and burst through and Georgia yet again conceded a penalty. England had not conceded a penalty for 6 minutes; almost cause for a celebration in itself. Flood kicked to touch, ball was won and while advantage was being played, Armitage was sent over for the third try, wide enough to make the kick difficult, and Flood failed for the first time.
Stevens failed to bind at the next scrum, and another Georgian penalty missed by a country mile. England had certainly benefited from the poor kicking of opponents thus far, both against Argentina and here. England were next to break and Shaw again made the yards, before an optimistic (make that terrible) pass from Youngs provoked another knock-on. Every time they looked like stuttering into life though, they conceded another penalty, and again, from under the posts, Kvirikashvili missed a sitter. Had he had his boots with him, this would have been a vastly different game. The England scrum was creaking as much as the Scottish scrum had during the week and another free kick gave momentum to Georgia, though the game had entered a lull and neither side could gain a foothold with ball in hand and England calmly defended and the danger dissolved.
At last though, from a line-out, quick ball off the top reached Flood, whose quick pass to Tuilagi saw a gap open up and his third try in 4 Tests. Flood converted and daylight finally appeared on the scoreboard as England wrapped up a bonus point. Changes were made now and England occasionally looked like a half decent side. Foden broke, Ashton threw a wild pass, Flood fed Wood who broke though and slipped to Ashton, who finally got to do the swallow dive as he ran over to stretch the advantage to 26 points, when Flood added the conversion that is.
It was at this point that it struck me that England didn't appear to have a game plan. There had been no trying to play the game in Georgian territory, there had been little attempt to suck in defenders and create space on 3rd and 4th phase, it was a little harem-scarem and every man for himself. After a long delay while Todua was treated and ultimately removed (he didn't seem to know what day it was, who he was and where he was after getting his head in the wrong place in a tackle). Simpson came on to make a Test debut for England, and Banahan brought on his dreadful tattoos.
Credit where it's due, Kaplan had had a much better second half. The game meandered to its end though, with England looking more secure at the breakdown, and better in the scrum, yet still looking to make the impossible pass or offload from the tackle on every possible occasion. Still, there were occasional green shoots, with Croft looking positive after coming on, Armitage looking dangerous and Simpson showing more than Wigglesworth had in the first game. Indeed at the final whistle, the English scrum which had become dominant since Gorgodze had been moved to become the biggest wing in international history, pressured enough for Haskell to feed Simpson, who fed Foden, who passed off the floor for Ashton to round things off with his second try and England's 6th. Flood couldn't convert, but England rounded off the game with a patchy if never really too stressful victory.
Full Time England 41 Georgia 10
So England top the Pool courtesy of the bonus point win, and another bonus point win against Romania next week will guarantee their qualification from the Pool. A more adventurous performance, against a side who are progressing quicker than any Nation in World rugby should not hide the cracks though: indiscipline, a front row that doesn't convince, a back row that can't compete with the best on current form. England will still come out and beat a reasonable side comfortably in this World Cup, when everything gels, but they are far from potential world beaters on this form.
Georgia can be proud of their first hour. 4 days after a gruelling encounter with the Scots they offered a lot, particularly up front, and they will have won plenty of friends. They tired later on though, and didn't really offer much outside of scrum half, an area they need to improve on to make the next step.
So after Wales breathed a sigh of relief, it was England's turn. Neither side convinced really, but given how unconvincing Australia were when they lost yesterday, no doubt the oft-repeated mantra of recent England press conferences "A win's a win" will get another run-out.
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