{"id":288065,"date":"2023-09-08T23:38:04","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T23:38:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=288065"},"modified":"2023-09-08T23:38:04","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T23:38:04","slug":"sir-clive-woodward-tap-dancer-alex-mitchell-is-the-key-for-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/rugby-union\/sir-clive-woodward-tap-dancer-alex-mitchell-is-the-key-for-england\/","title":{"rendered":"SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: Tap dancer Alex Mitchell is the key for England"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: Tap dancer Alex Mitchell is the key and MUST call the tune for England&#8230; be bold, be brave and the scrum-half sniper can fire an unlikely bid for World Cup glory<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>To have any success in France, Steve Borthwick&#8217;s side need to be brave and bold\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Here, SIR CLIVE WOODWARD outlines exactly how they can kick off with a bang\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Rugby World Cup 2023: Click here for Mail Sport&#8217;s latest coverage from France\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Like any good party, this World Cup needs all its attendees to contribute and that includes England.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Steve Borthwick&#8217;s side can&#8217;t afford to stand in the corner and blend into the wallpaper.\u00a0To have success in France, England need to be brave and bold.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That starts on Saturday night against Argentina in Marseille.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s how Borthwick and his team can start their World Cup with a bang&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/08\/22\/75231451-0-image-a-87_1694208310136.jpg\" height=\"435\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>To have any success at the Rugby World Cup, struggling England need to be brave and bold<\/p>\n<p><span>Mitchell the key&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Alex Mitchell wasn&#8217;t even in England&#8217;s original World Cup squad so the selection to start him against Argentina must be considered a shock. But I&#8217;m a big fan of the decision.<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell must be given licence to play his natural game.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When you watch him for Northampton, the scrum-half is a running threat who takes quick tap penalties and is constantly sniping around the ruck looking for a gap. England need him to do that in a white shirt.<\/p>\n<p>He is a lovely player to watch. But there is absolutely no point in him starting if he is going to be told to slow the ball down and just kick, kick, kick.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I want to see Mitchell bring tempo to England&#8217;s game and inject some much-needed pace.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If he sees the opportunity to run, take it. If a quick tap is on, don&#8217;t delay!\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Speed has been missing from the England set-up for far too long. It&#8217;s time to release the handbrake.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/08\/22\/75230227-0-image-m-91_1694208368378.jpg\" height=\"474\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Alex Mitchell is the key and must inject the speed the team have been lacking for far too long<\/p>\n<p><span>Get centres on the ball<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant is England&#8217;s midfield pairing. They need to get the ball!<\/p>\n<p>In the warm-up games, pretty much every attacking lineout was driven by the forwards.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Not only was it an unsuccessful tactic and easy to stop, it was also very predictable. The opposition had no problems with it. Argentina are a dangerous attacking side.<\/p>\n<p>They use plenty of decoy runners behind the scrum and have lots of surprises. England need to give Michael Cheika&#8217;s side a taste of their own medicine.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell and George Ford need to feed Tuilagi off the top of the set-piece and give him a chance to power at Argentina&#8217;s defence.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Tuilagi can also be used as a decoy runner with Marchant in the wider channels where he can use his pace.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/08\/22\/75231561-12497827-image-m-2_1694208499004.jpg\" height=\"540\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Manu Tuilagi will make up one half of England&#8217;s midfield pairing &#8211; he needs to get on the ball<\/p>\n<p><span>Don&#8217;t be afraid to make mistakes<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Borthwick&#8217;s gameplan so far has been very low risk. It has been based around a lot of kicking.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It seems to me the players are, if not afraid to make mistakes, aware of the consequences of doing so.<\/p>\n<p>To have success at this World Cup, England need to remove the fear factor. That&#8217;s what Gareth Southgate did and it has helped no end. Errors happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>No team ever plays the perfect game but England need to cast off their straitjacket and try new things. They have nothing to lose.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/08\/22\/75231581-12497827-image-a-3_1694208537844.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>So far, Steve Borthwick&#8217;s gameplan has been very low risk with players afraid of making errors<\/p>\n<p><span>If all else fails, look to Smith<\/span><\/p>\n<p>MarcuS Smith is a fly-half and I&#8217;d have liked to have seen him start there against Argentina. He will be on the bench in Marseille but if England aren&#8217;t delivering, then I would love to see him come on at either 10 or 15 to spice up England&#8217;s attack.<\/p>\n<p>Smith loves to try things. He is a wonderful kicker and runner. Full-back is a position he doesn&#8217;t have much experience in but when I talk about England being ready to take a risk, playing Smith in the back field where there is more space is exactly that.<\/p>\n<p>Borthwick, the team and their supporters should not be fearful of that happening.<\/p>\n<p>The prospect of Ford and Smith on the field at the same time would certainly give England a dual playmaker option.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/08\/22\/75231447-0-image-m-92_1694208382069.jpg\" height=\"477\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Marcus Smith is a superb kicker and runner and would afford his side multiple options<\/p>\n<h3>My thoughts on the home nations&#8230;<\/h3>\n<p><span>IRELAND\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Andy Farrell&#8217;s Ireland are the most likely of the home nations to go deep into this tournament. They head into the World Cup as world No 1 and Six Nations Grand Slam champions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Farrell has done a wonderful job and his team is primed and ready. Everyone knows their roles and Johnny Sexton is back after injury and a ban which is crucial.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ireland start their tournament against Romania and that&#8217;s a nice way into things for them because they then have Tonga before huge clashes with South Africa and Scotland. Ireland have a poor World Cup record but they have the ability to change that and be major contenders this year.<\/p>\n<p><span>WALES<\/span><\/p>\n<p>While Steve Borthwick is at his first World Cup as a head coach, Wales boss Warren Gatland is at his fifth and you just can&#8217;t buy that sort of experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s so important to have a man in charge who has had success and been there and done it. Gatland has taken Wales to two semi-finals and a repeat in France would be a remarkable effort given the struggles his team has had. But it is also not beyond the realms of possibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Like England, Wales are in the easier half of the draw. Beat two of Australia, Fiji and Georgia and they&#8217;ll likely face England or Argentina in the last eight for a semi-final berth.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Wales&#8217; young players shouldn&#8217;t fear that route and they have experience around them in the likes of George North, Dan Biggar and Taulupe Faletau.<\/p>\n<p><span>SCOTLAND\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Gregor Townsend has got Scotland playing in exactly the sort of style I&#8217;d like to see from England. I watched Scotland play France away in the warm-ups and their attacking game is excellent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>They are a real threat with Finn Russell guiding them from No 10. It&#8217;s a huge ask for them in their first game against South Africa as I have my doubts over whether Scotland can match the giant Springbok pack.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But I think their game with Ireland will be very close and I wouldn&#8217;t rule out an upset there. Scotland&#8217;s pool is the most competitive at this World Cup so for all their strengths, if they make the quarter-finals it would be a fine feat.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12497827\/SIR-CLIVE-WOODWARD-Alex-Mitchell-England-bold-brave-World-Cup-glory.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: Tap dancer Alex Mitchell is the key and MUST call the tune for England&#8230; be bold, be brave and the scrum-half sniper <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/rugby-union\/sir-clive-woodward-tap-dancer-alex-mitchell-is-the-key-for-england\/\" title=\"SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: Tap dancer Alex Mitchell is the key for England\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288064,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-288065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rugby-union"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: Tap dancer Alex Mitchell is the key for England - Sportstoft<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/rugby-union\/sir-clive-woodward-tap-dancer-alex-mitchell-is-the-key-for-england\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: Tap dancer Alex Mitchell is the key for England - Sportstoft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: Tap dancer Alex Mitchell is the key and MUST call the tune for England&#8230; 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