Simon Middleton, the head coach, has hit out at claims that his England side are too one-dimensional and warned they will “box clever” in the World Cup knockout stages.
Of the 13 tries the Red Roses scored in their 75-0 annihilation of South Africa, seven originated from their lineout maul, which has become a defining characteristic of England’s forward dominance.
Their cricket score against the Springboks could hardly have been more contrasting to the 13-7 win they ground out the previous week against France, who frustrated the Red Roses at their favourite set-piece, prompting claims that they were becoming too predictable. Middleton, however, brushed off such suggestions and insisted his side’s reliance on the lineout had been blown out of proportion.
”I think there’s way too much being made of the whole driving lineout thing,” he told Telegraph Sport. “It’s a great weapon. We’ve worked really hard on it, but you look at other teams, they’re trying to do it, they just don’t do it as well as we do and they do defend really well these days.
“We’re not going to chuck everything out in the pool stages. There’s some pretty smart coaches out there in the knockout stages, so you’ve got to box clever.”