It’s the team….those 5 losses in a row. But perhaps it’s the coach. Here are some inexplicable things:
1 Why play a big guy Lawrence at 13, and Slade at 12. Dud Allende vs Slade was always going to be a problem. Esterhozen would also have put Slade away. And Lawrence is a tank at 13.
2 Why is George Ford still on the bench. Does anybody still think this man is a closer….our persistence with Libbok pales in comparison.
3 Why play von Poorfeet, who was worth at least 10points to us, he is a gift to the opposition.
4 Then you have Genge, the gift that never stops giving. Not only has this useless loosehead been retained but is now a fixture in the team.
5 At tighthead Will Stuart was doing a very credible job and then Cole comes on….he completely missed a crucial clean out, but thankfully had no crucial scrums to navigate. But if he had, no doubt he would have donated again. Why take off an effective tighthead if penalties from scrums is how the Boks win close games
6 Finally tactics. England has lost 3 straight matches in the last 15 minutes by shutting up shop. Today again England stopped playing after the Boks goal line stand. Why not get the ball to the backs who were reasonably effective….go down fighting, not playing safety first.