Anyone who has played sports knows that sinking feeling of despair. One minute the world is a wonderful place and you’re doing what you love most. Then, suddenly, everything went exactly as Pete Tong said it would. Costly lapses in concentration, tiny missed putts, simple missed catches. Heartbreak is as much a part of the game as heroism or happiness, perhaps more so.
The more talented the individual, the worse it gets. Demand higher standards. They could suddenly be accused of letting down not just their teammates, but the entire country. Television cameras highlighted every facial twitch. What follows is the rest of the media pack to pick apart, especially if the scoreboard says the wrong moment can be the difference between a win and a loss. Call it the Rory McIlroy Mystery.
There tend to be two schools of thought on this point. One is that dealing with intense disappointment makes people more likely to succeed in the future. What matters is not the nightmare you wake up from, but how you face it. Keep doing what you do. No one is capable of being a sage. Sooner or later the wheel of fortune will swing back into your favor, eliminating self-doubt and building character faster than Rudyard Kipling.
Additionally, especially in professional team sports, ruthless calls need to be made. Does the coach maintain confidence in the batsmen who are consistently hitting the ball in good form? Or an experienced striker who hasn’t scored in a dozen games? Or was it the talented flyback whose inconsistent goalkeeping had just helped the All Blacks avoid a historic defeat? Fair play to Rudyard Sr., but surely he knew modern sport was a results business?
Welcome to the delicate crossroads England rugby head coach Steve Borthwick now finds himself at. His football counterpart Gareth Southgate has been there for a few weeks. And, who knows, maybe the latter’s support for someone was one of the key factors in the penalty shootout victory over Switzerland? Regardless of success or failure, you are still my number one. This is apparently a subject in which Southgate himself has a master’s degree.
Borthwick was also at pains not to leave his number 10, Marcus Smith, out to dry after Saturday’s frustrating 16-15 loss to New Zealand. Over the course of a season, these things usually go away on their own. Who scored the late winning goal against Ireland at Twickenham in March? Who shone in Japan last month?
But when the entire team begins experiencing a string of near-misses, the debate becomes more thorny. Since the end of October, Borthwick’s side have lost to South Africa and New Zealand by one point and to France by two points. Granted, they’ve also beaten Ireland by one point, Wales by two and Italy by three this year, but only Ireland are ranked higher than them. In a game with shrinking margins, a pattern is becoming apparent.
This might just be a reality check. If your glass is half full, Borthwick’s young side are not a million miles away from being the best in the world. Remember all the painful defeats Clive Woodward’s side suffered on their way to becoming world champions in 2003? Keep the faith. But again, South Africa sealed last year’s World Cup title with three consecutive single-point knockout wins. This was no accident, just as England’s frustrating near misses were not all a vagaries of fate.
That’s the sentiment expressed by England number eight Ben Earl after another whirlwind individual performance in Dunedin on Saturday night. Competitors like him want to be winners now, not six or nine months from now. “Obviously we’re improving, but now we have to start winning these close games,” Earl said. If both players and management are brutally honest, it means recognizing that Saturday’s loss exposed some basic truths.
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Some bases can’t be covered overnight. With Joe Marler and Ellis Genge injured, Marco Vunipola heading to France and Dan Cole embarking on his Sinatra-esque farewell tour of the world’s top venues, England are desperate to dig out some New prop idol. Hopefully Fin Baxter, who made his debut on Saturday, can be one of them, with a number of other possible lads currently in this year’s U20 squad. A greater bench impact would obviously help as well.
But at least a quick solution is readily available. England came into the game against the All Blacks with a starting XV goalkeeper who has converted 29 of his last 30 attempts and has been providing Exeter with laser-pressure from all angles all season. Some of us wrote before the tour that Henry Slade should be used as goalkeeper, and Saturday did little to downplay the situation.
The counterargument is that Smith’s confidence could suffer if kicking duties are shared or temporarily removed. But what if it helps improve his own game and the team’s collective prospects? For Smith, who had a kicking rate of 85 per cent at Test level before Saturday’s costly three turnovers, it was hoped he could keep it at 10 at Eden Park this weekend but instead handed the kicking ball to Giving it to Slade, who is currently in fine form, would not be the slightest bit disloyal to Smith. Because international sport is not something where one’s pride can be hurt. This is about improving collectively and giving the team the absolute best chance of winning. Now it’s time for Borthwick’s England team to show they really take the game seriously.
