England's Scrum Proves Decisive in Historic All Blacks Victory
Captain Maro Itoje has hailed England's vastly-improved scrum as a genuine 'weapon' following his side's impressive 33-19 win over New Zealand at Twickenham. This monumental victory marks only the ninth time in history that England have beaten the All Blacks, and their first triumph in the fixture at Allianz Stadium since 2012.
Set-Piece Dominance Turns the Tide
While England's lineout faced significant pressure from the visitors, their scrum was a dominant force throughout the Quilter Nations Series clash. The set-piece superiority earned England two crucial penalties in the second half, including a remarkable moment where they pushed the All Blacks back over their own ball on the 60-minute mark.
The scrum's resilience was further demonstrated when a seven-man unit held firm against New Zealand's full pack after flanker Ben Earl was sent to the sin bin. This showcased the remarkable development of England's scrummaging power over the past twelve months.
Head coach Steve Borthwick had strategically chosen to withhold a British and Irish Lions-calibre front row of Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, and Will Stuart on the bench. The starting trio of Fin Baxter, Jamie George, and Joe Heyes performed strongly before the substitutes made a significant impact upon their arrival.
From Weakness to Weapon: A Year of Transformation
Itoje emphasised the dramatic transformation, recalling that when Borthwick first took over as head coach at the end of 2022, the scrum statistics were 'nowhere near where an English scrum should be'.
'Our scrum's a weapon,' Itoje stated emphatically. 'We genuinely believe that our scrum's a weapon. I think over the last year, we've been showing that and it's been growing.'
He credited scrum coach Tom Harrison, who followed Borthwick from Leicester Tigers, along with the hard work of the entire forward pack for this remarkable improvement. 'We want to continue to be on that. We think it can be an even greater weapon for us. To win games, to win Test matches, it needs to be.'
The emergence of new Test props like Baxter, Heyes, and Stuart has been particularly welcome, given the international retirements of Mako Vunipola, Joe Marler, and Dan Cole after the 2023 World Cup. Young talents Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Afolabi Fasogbon are also pushing hard for selection, creating valuable depth in the position.
Borthwick expressed his pleasure with the competitive environment, mentioning hooker Theo Dan, who wasn't in the matchday 23, as another quality player. 'We are to continue to develop that scrum because it does have such a huge impact in the game,' the head coach affirmed.
In team news, Borthwick confirmed that lock Ollie Chessum has been ruled out of next Sunday's game against Argentina after suffering a foot injury in last week's win over Fiji.
