Much has been made of the Eagles rise, the victory against Scotland last year helped to announce the USA’s arrival on the International stage. This victory v Scotland was a strong performance but the game against England saw their threats nullified. The USA struggled to get any real possession having to play out their own half frequently.
This kick game however needed it was played right into England’s hands. Starting right at the beginning of the game. The USA kicked from their own 22, the ball travelling just to the touchline in their own 50. However they struggled to find grass, with Ford catching it on the full.
Obviously England were prepared, almost treating the kick return as a set piece. This meant that Billy Vunipola was sat right back. Able to see the US defence coming up Vunipola was able to isolate the USA openside, His slight change of direction enabled him to break a loose tackle and really make ground. It also meant that he split the line and was running at Macginty. The low tackle from Macginty struggled to bring him to the floor. Then following this England were able to spread the ball. This was a theme of the attack. England attacking from wing to wing spreading the ball following each break.
The carry in the outside channel attracted in US defenders. As a result of this momentum England were able to attack positively. George Ford bossing a traditional shape. Kruis on his inside, with a pod of 3 on his outside. However with adherence to a pre planned move he shifts the ball out the back, Elliot Daly fulfilling his role as a secondary distributor. The ball moves across and Cokasinga carries. Interestingly Cokasinga stays inside of Piers Francis using his carrying threat to prevent the over drift of inside defenders shutting down Francis.
By the time Francis receives the ball he is in the US 22m, a real show of superiority by England, their ability to progress was a key theme of their dominance. They recorded a progression of 61% from US 50 to the US 22. This general pressure would keep telling on the US themselves only escaping the English 50 to 22, 8% of the time. However while it seems great in this context, England may have a little problem with their general progression from Opposition 50 to Opposition 22 sitting at 21% of the time the joint lowest of Tier 1 sides. Especially having played Tier 2 teams you would have expected this to be higher.
However the clinical nature of England when in the opposition 22 was great to see. They converted at the same rate as New Zealand, at 11.1% of opportunities. This stat after especially after significant rotation showed just how well England were playing.
The passage described above, resulted in George Ford’s try, yet England didn’t score again for the next 20 minutes. The USA perhaps beginning to cope with the English team’s kicking game.
However, the game also saw England ruin the US mauling game. This was good to see, whilst not like the backs where a team may want to conceal a tactic or move, in defensive mauls it is just a time to see the team’s preparation, and for English fans at least this was a positive.
George Kruis was a menace, completely breaching the US defences at the maul to lock onto the ball and win a turnover in the 15th minute. This is incredibly interesting, especially due to the apparent lack of specialist maul defenders at the World Cup this time round. This means it could be a really valuable asset especially against Argentina when looking ahead.
However England didn’t have it all their own way, a fiery performance from Brad Davies meant that Willie Heinz was kept under pressure at times. The prevention of England’s clean service definitely helped the US keep a respectability upon the scoreboard even if they struggled to actually escape their half.
Overall, England came out with an assured performance. While nothing to write home about the performance did show some interesting advances on their game plan. Most importantly they began to really execute a kicking game. They kicked 46% of their possession really tightening the screw. USA had some bright lights yet some simple errors at a time restricted them but they were not able to create due to the suffocating nature of the English defence, another positive for Eddie Jones’ men.
The Analysis Guy 