With England well into their World Cup campaign, we’re looking at the Tigers in the camp. Can Leicester’s Tigers lead the Roses to World Cup glory?
For years the best players from Leicester Tigers have made up key parts of the England squad. Think back to 2003 being led by Martin Johnson, that 2019 win against New Zealand being powered by Manu Tuilagi and George Ford, Tigers players have been such a pivotal component of England’s success. England are not the team they were 20 years ago much less the team from 2019 but if England have any hope of having a successful World Cup, much of this will come down to the performances of Tigers players in key positions.
England’s current style is like a song with the music set to Dancing Queen by Abba yet the lyrics are Hurt by Johnny Cash (not technically the original but its the best version). They have the players to play a very heavy on ball style, yet tactically they kick a lot and long and they use players such as Ford, Steward and Itoje to play an off-ball style. It looks like they are caught in two minds on how to play and this is resulting in their results falling off. One thing is clear about England’s plan that so much of it relies on a strong lineout both offensively and defensively. As a result, this impacts second row selection.
Without further ado lets meet the Leicester Tigers and how they can help England win the World Cup in France.
Dan Cole (36) Tighthead Prop 102 Caps
Stalwart doesn’t do justice to Dan Cole. He has silently been one of the best performers for Tigers over the last years and has had a real resurgence in his England career over the last 12 months. With Kyle Sinkler and Will Stuart’s recent performances I think Cole could be in line for plenty of minutes for England in France at his fourth World Cup. His playstyle is perfectly suited for parts of England’s game. He is a strong mauler, good lineout lifter and is England’s best scrummager at Tighthead. Some of his maul work is really impressive with his ability to set a hinge with his lifting position for England to swing around and attack a weaker part of the maul defence. Although he doesn’t offer much carrying option, he is often used as the secondary man in the ruck securing the ball. This work rate allows other players to focus on carrying in the tight.
Ollie Chessum (22) Second Row 11 Caps
On the opposite end of the spectrum to Cole, Chessum’s England career is just getting started and he’s deserving of selection to his first World Cup. Despite picking up an injury that saw him miss games recently, he was selected as quickly as possible by Borthwick, demonstrating his importance to the side. As mentioned, a large part of England’s style relies on the maul meaning Maro Itoje is a regular in the England team. However, this means that the second row that’s paired with him needs to offer plenty of power. The success of this can be seen through the selection of George Kruis in the 2019 World Cup. Chessum is the answer to this problem. He fills this “tighthead lock” role so well for England. He gets through a mountain of work defensively, often lining up in that C spot (3 men wide of the ruck) to shut down opposition forward pods. His power was really impressive against Fiji but with Lawes in the backrow, he has to use a lot more lateral movement meaning his efficiency declines towards the end of the game from fatigue. His lineout work is something England fans can look forward to as his defensive nuance is great for a guy his age and a lot of England’s success will depend on his ability to offer plenty of power in the loose.
George Martin (22) Second Row 3 Caps
Winner of the Barest Bottom at the Millenium Stadium 2023, George Martin is certainly a more complex player to understand and one who looks to be most hurt by England’s uncertainty in style. When playing for Tigers he looks much better playing a slightly lighter role, carrying off 10, strong breakdown entries as the primary clearer and less of a maul focus. When he was asked to play a heavier role, as he was against Wales in Twickenham, he looked under powered failing to dominate tight collisions. However, a week earlier with the more powerful David Ribbans next to him, he looked a lot better in that slightly lighter roleset. Defensively, he’s a great counter jumper in the lineout and can be used well in that B gap (2 defenders wide of the ruck) as he has enough power to stop players but also enough lateral mobility to cover inside passes. I think he’ll be looking at being a great role replacement for Maro Itoje for the World Cup. He lacks tight power to start with Itoje but with a heavier second row paired with him, he looks much better. His breakdown work could do with some improvement as it can be really inconsistent but that’s an easy fix as shown by James Ryan recently.
Ben Youngs (33) Scrum-half 124 Caps
England’s most capped male player is the second part of the Tigers duo going to a fourth World Cup. Sadly, Ben Youngs is the only Tigers scrum-half England are taking to this World Cup after Jack van Poortvliet’s ankle injury ruled him out of the whole tournament. That being said, there is a clear reason that Youngs and JvP are consistently selected ahead of the supposedly more in-form scrum-halves Danny Care and Alex Mitchell. Youngs offers a much more developed box-kicking game. Although England kick the furthest of all teams in the 6 Nations and with the most volume, accurate box kicking is vitally important to England’s game plan. JvP kicked with the most length of any England player during the Six Nations but it didn’t see much success. This is partly because of poor cohesion in kick chase, so when Ben Youngs is asked to replicate this when he starts at scrum-half for England he may have to reduce the distance on his kicks. This will also allow England to play with a heavier pack as they are asked to cover less distance on the kick chase, making them more effective. If England are to succeed with a heavier pack selection, then Youngs’ box-kicking needs to be incredibly accurate for them to hurt teams.
Freddie Steward (22) Fullback 26 Caps
There’s a reason why Freddie Steward is the only English player to retain his position in every game for England under Borthwick, it’s because he is so important to England’s game plan. Owen Farrell is a phenomenal player and a great leader but George Ford is also a world class fly-half and can recreate Farrell’s style with impressive accuracy, whilst adding his own skill. However, no one in England’s squad comes close to replacing the ability and importance of Steward. His kicking is superb matched with his brilliant kick chase, results in him being highly effective in England’s system. His ability to vary his kicking distance is another great asset of his meaning he can challenge teams in a variety of ways. He has massively improved his kick returning, He’s starting to challenge teams transition defence and I think hes building the right pictures for himself to become one of the best fullbacks in the world. There isn’t a whole deal of emphasis on his ball in hand skill in the second layer of England’s attack due to Farrell at 12, meaning he can focus on his support lines in attack, rather than being a primary playmaker.
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England are blessed with a much easier World Cup draw. Despite their results, they could realistically make it all the way to the semi-final without a real challenge. (As an Irishman I’m unsure what a World Cup semi-final really is but I’m sure it’s good). Like Johnson in 2003, England will be looking for Tigers to lead them forward and with the current players in the squad, I think if England can nail their style, they can cause teams problems in the business end of the World Cup.
Words by Francis Cullinane.
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