Team habit or Owen Farrell’s problem?

Owen Farrell has been liable to act as a lightning rod for the angst of England supporters, so it was entirely unsurprising to see him cop criticism after his team’s 31-14 win over Italy.

Specifically, and understandably, fans have been exasperated by a habit of kicking the ball in promising attacking positions. Farrell did this on four occasions against Italy, as we will explore later.

Ellis Genge is one of Farrell’s vice-captains. You might expect the loosehead prop to be loyal to his skipper, but he also tends to meet straight questions with straight answers.

Last week, on the latest episode of The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast, co-host Mike Tindall asked Genge whether he ever felt “a wee bit frustrated” with team-mates putting boot to ball close to the opposition try-line. The response was detailed, supported by data and indicative of a collective strategy:

Genge has spoken about a ‘pressure plus’ philosophy before, to explain Leicester Tigers’ territory-first tactics under Steve Borthwick. Losing breakdowns, and particularly conceding breakdown penalties, is viewed as damaging because a team will relinquish possession and give up territory. It may be conservative, but it makes sense.

Kick-pressure was a vital component of England’s game plan as they righted a wobbly patch and progressed to the 2019 World Cup final. Even before that, they were kicking cleverly to score tries. This grubber from Farrell released Jonny May against Wales in the 2018 Six Nations:

Later in the same tournament, as Ireland stormed Twickenham to land a Grand Slam, Elliot Daly dotted down from another well-judged nudge:

Story continues

Since the beginning of 2020, however, the numbers are puzzling. According to Opta, England have kicked the ball 33 times inside the opposition 22. Possession has been retained on 10 occasions, with five kicks leading to tries.

As this table shows, Farrell has not been the sole perpetrator. Remarkably, the chip leading to Max Malins’ first try against Scotland was the only time in 10 attempts that England have retained possession from a Marcus Smith kick inside the opposition 22:

The figures here include kicks of loose balls, such as Henry Slade’s against Japan three months ago:

Either way, picking out the close-range kicks of Farrell and Smith in this period and comparing them against the front-line fly-halves of other Six Nations sides does not paint England’s approach in a favourable light. Bar Dan Biggar, all of them seem to be using the boot more effectively:

The fairest way to evaluate Farrell’s output is to examine each individual kick in question to gather context behind it and ask three questions: was it a sound decision, was the skill executed well and what was the outcome?

Even then, the data above will not tell the whole story. For instance, this left-footed grubber for Guy Porter’s try against Japan was struck just outside the opposition 22:

There was a similar kick against Italy. Ollie Lawrence generates quick ball with a punchy midfield carry and Jack van Poortvliet feeds Ellis Genge behind the decoy run of Jamie George. Freddie Steward cuts another out-to-in angle with Farrell and Ollie Hassell-Collins arcing around behind that. Note the position of Edoardo Padovani, sweeping across Italy’s back-field:

After Genge finds Farrell with a pull-back, Italy react well. Ignacio Brex drifts onto Farrell, with Tommaso Menoncello covering Hassell-Collins. Beyond that, Ange Capuozzo is pushing up opposite Malins. That is Farrell’s cue to find the space in behind:

The kick is nicely weighted, popping up just in front of the try-line, and Malins arrives first, but Padovani forces a spill:

To reiterate, this moment does not count towards the table above. But the decision is a decent one, the skill is executed well and England only miss out on a try by the barest of margins. Now to look at each one of Farrell’s kicks in the opposition 22 for England, starting with the Italy game.

One interesting tactic England employed was to switch Steward to the wing in order to make the most of his height with cross-field kicks. Here, just before a close-range lineout, one can see Steward and Malins trading places at the bottom of the screen:

Moments later, with England’s maul having muscled a penalty advantage, Farrell hoists the ball towards Steward:

Steward rises above Capuozzo but cannot hold on:

The decision, again, is sound. The execution, again, is fine. Farrell cannot do much more than to present Steward with an opportunity to use his height advantage:

The outcome, even after the spill, is that England are able to go to touch again from a penalty. In this case, the pressure is not relieved.

Around six minutes before half-time, England are on the front foot. Van Poortvliet snipes towards a gap. Note that Farrell, Hassell-Collins and Steward are on the near side of the ruck:

Van Poortvliet finds a gap before linking with Genge:

Crucially, though, Manuel Zuliani burrows in to disrupt the breakdown:

In this next screengrab, you can see Kyle Sinckler looking to his right. Farrell begins behind his tighthead prop before heading to the blindside:

Van Poortvliet feeds Sinckler, who readjusts to find Farrell. Again, Padovani does well. With Luca Morisi on his inside, he presses up to close down the space but turns his body to allow himself to cover a grubber.

Steward and Hassell-Collins follow Farrell, who will have asked himself whether a simple pass might have been the better decision here. Steward has shown himself to be a strong finisher, so why not give him a chance to carry? As it happens, Padovani can retreat to cut off the ball. Jamie George is the closest chaser, which makes the decision more questionable and helps Italy escape:

Now, the introduction of a goal-line drop-out means that close-range kicks into the dead-ball area carry less jeopardy. Previously, this situation would have been a 22 drop-out for Italy. Under laws that were introduced at the start of the 2021-22 season, England are likely to receive the ball far higher up the pitch, keep possession and maintain territorial pressure.

Ironically, this approach has parallels with rugby league, where attacking teams will often kick into the dead-ball area. If they do not score, a good consolation prize is for the defence to clear from their goal-line and have to absorb consecutive sets of six tackles.

That does not excuse Farrell’s last kick inside the Italy 22. The sequence begins after England have forced a turnover. Van Poortvliet feeds Genge…

…and Farrell stays on the near side of the breakdown for the next phase. He gets crowded out, though, with Tommaso Allan pressing up out of the defensive line, and a poke through is fielded by Padovani:

Sometimes a kick that does not retain possession can bring about a positive outcome with a good chase, perhaps with a jackaller exerting pressure at the breakdown. That is not the case here. Rather, it looks like the mark of a backline battling for cohesion with the thought of kicking high on the mind of their playmaker. 

To run through Farrell’s other close-range kicks since 2020, in chronological order, this high ball against Georgia pitted Jonny May and Lasha Khmaladze:

May climbs higher but knocks on…

…meaning this is categorised as a retained kick by Opta. In any case, England come back for a penalty advantage.

Later in the same game, Farrell arcs around a ruck before snaking through a grubber that is over-hit. A pass to Elliot Daly may have been a more threatening option:

This midfield chip against Ireland came with the buffer of penalty advantage. Daly has to swerve to stay on-side…

…and cannot get there as Chris Farrell turns to catch:

England come back for a maul offence and moments later, May beats Hugo Keenan to reward Farrell’s contestable kick:

Another cross-field bomb in the Autumn Nations Cup final aimed to give Anthony Watson an aerial contest against Baptiste Couilloud, the France scrum-half defending out wide:

It does so, but Watson knocks on:

Finally, in November 2021 against Australia, England have earned another maul advantage. Farrell takes the ball at first-receiver as part of a familiar pattern, with Manu Tuilagi cutting a hard line and Smith fading out the back.

A left-footed grubber dribbles under the posts and Tuilagi is blocked, albeit not severely enough for referee Jaco Peyper to award another penalty:

All in all, then, if you include goal-line drop-out receptions, England have surrendered possession after four of Farrell’s nine kicks inside the opposition 22 – one against Georgia in 2020, one against France the same year and two against Italy on Sunday.

For the three of those – all except the second-half grubber mopped up by Padovani – the opposition have to play away from either a lineout or scrums on their own five-metre lines. To some degree, the pressure stays on. But it is completely fair to ask whether they should be aiming higher.

In Saracens matches since 2020, Farrell has accrued just seven kicks inside the opposition 22. Two have led directly to tries, with this one against Exeter Chiefs in January underlining the value of backline cohesion.

Alex Goode steps up at first-receiver to flick an inside pass to Malins. Note Farrell, Nick Tompkins and Sean Maitland begin in a deeper wave:

With quick ball, they burst into life, and Farrell’s deft dink is pounced upon after he identifies space in behind the Exeter front line:

Maitland is perhaps fortunate to be awarded the try, because he appears to fumble on the ground, but undoubtedly demonstrates a mutual understanding with Farrell. Borthwick will aim to develop similar cohesion.

Clearly, space is more difficult to find in Test matches and opponents may have become wise to England’s tactic of using the boot. Padovani, selected for this match ahead of Pierre Bruno, certainly appeared to be on alert.

One reason for England’s faltering results towards the end of Eddie Jones’ tenure was a crippling inability to convert territorial pressure into tries. Further improvements to the driving maul will aid them here, but they may also endeavour to keep the ball in hand at close range and back their phase attack to breach the try-line rather than going to the boot.

Ireland are setting the standard in this regard, even if they were held up by France on a number of occasions. Genge’s short pass to Ollie Chessum against Italy…

…and Alex Mitchell’s snipe to set up Henry Arundell were encouraging:

Interestingly, George Ford punctuated his cameo for Sale Sharks on Saturday with a sliding grubber from just outside the Northampton Saints 22. In greasy conditions, it caused havoc and eventually yielded a five-metre scrum for his club.

Variation, and using players other than Farrell and Smith to probe defences, will help England. Freddie Steward, laid on this try for Joe Cokanasiga against the USA in 2021, which serves as an example of how to find space by kicking from the edge of an attacking line:

As ever, striking a balance is critical. And, as ever, Farrell’s decision-making will be under scrutiny.