The scrum that might have ended some England careers
It is not very often that England get bullied quite like they did at Twickenham on Saturday against the Springboks.
The world champions came away 27-13 winners, and even played with 14 men for the last quarter to give England a chance. The warning signs were there from the very beginning though, particularly with a scrum on twelve minutes that that was so savage that it has barely been seen on the Test stage.
England loosehead Mako Vunipola was the unfortunate victim against Frans Malherbe, who almost made the Saracen somersault mid scrum. The sight of his feet flailing in the air is one that is likely to be shown time and time again.
The most bizarre thing was that England actually won a penalty from this, but the Boks made a clear statement and one that plagued Vunipola and the England front row for a number of years now.
Take a look at the scrum:
Washing machine? Frog in a liquidiser? The Crumple? I'm going for The Twister! Don't ever remember seeing anything like this on a rugby field before .. Talk about being owned in a scrum! pic.twitter.com/9PSyfd6H8J
— Front Row Grunt (@FrontRowGrunt) November 28, 2022
After a dismal autumn campaign, and a couple of years in general, the RFU will be holding a review over the coming weeks over Jones’ performance.
“The reviews are always uncomfortable when you’re not winning. I haven’t found the review comfortable when you’re not winning,” Jones said.
“I’m sure the fans have doubts and feel that I don’t know how to coach, but it’s a progression to the World Cup and we have our ups and downs.
“We want to be stronger in the Six Nations and put ourselves in the position where we’re fourth or fifth going into the World Cup, ready to go.
“I’ve got a plan for how England can win the World Cup, but it doesn’t go in a perfect line.
“Sometimes you need these games to make you understand the areas which need to be bolstered.
“We’re not off track. You have days like against South Africa. I’ve had worse days than that.
“We felt really confident going into the game. We knew where South Africa were coming, but on the day we weren’t good enough to win those areas.”
