Six Nations: England v France, Twickenham, Saturday, 4.45pm – Live on Virgin Media One
Henry Slade has called for controlled aggression as England seek to stay on the right side of the law against France amid claims of "psychological warfare" from the opposing camp.
Eddie Jones's side are seeking to avoid a third defeat in four Six Nations matches and a first home loss to France in the championship since 2005 and are only too aware that they must improve their discipline to do so. They have shipped 41 penalties in their three matches so far and their tally of 14 against Wales last time out ultimately proved pivotal.
In an interview with the French newspaper Midi Olympique on Friday, the France centre Gael Fickou spoke of the "psychological warfare" that surrounds this fixture, and told of how "the arrogance of the English is part of this decorum that reigns" around it.
England, for their part, have kept their counsel this week when asked about the needle associated with Le Crunch – no doubt aware their discipline will be under the spotlight -– with Jones bristling at the line of questioning and Mako Vunipola simply insisting his side will "unsettle them on the ball".
Slade meanwhile, is adamant England will continue to play on the edge but will do so legally. “We’ve still got to be on the edge, you can’t just go into your shells and play soft. You still have to be going for it and pushing the limits all the time, but just with the understanding that discipline is so key. Hopefully we’ll get on the right side of that.
“I know [discipline] has been bit of a problem for us for a little while but we’ve been genuinely addressing it. I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m hoping we’re much more disciplined at the weekend. Penalties give teams massive ins into the team and pile the pressure on, so we understand that important that is. But it’s coupled with our intent to attack the game.”
The irony of England's defeat by Wales is that discipline developed into a problem they ultimately could not overcome, just as they were getting on top of their previous number one issue, their attacking fluency – or lack thereof. In Cardiff England produced some of their finest attacking rugby since the 2019 World Cup and the hope is that Max Malins can add to that on the fullback's first England start.
“As the tournament has progressed we’ve got better,” added Slade. “The performance against Scotland was nowhere near where we wanted to be. After that game we had a lot of honest conversations and people said what they wanted to say. We clarified a lot of things and we’ve definitely made a bit of a mindset shift.
“Sometimes our first option was to kick rather than to run and we’ve definitely shifted in the right direction in terms of having a more balanced game and wanting to take people on and run. We’ve got a lot of talented individuals in this team, talented ball carriers up front, people with exciting footwork and pace out wide.
“We told ourselves to get genuinely excited about the opportunities we can put ourselves in to take people on. I don’t think the scoreline against Wales reflected how the game went. We are definitely looking to go as hard as we can these next weeks and put a smile back on people’s faces. We want everyone to be behind us and we’re working as hard as we can for that. Hopefully we can do the job.”
Slade comes up against the returning Virimi Vakatawa, who makes his first appearance of the competition on Saturday. The pair went head-to-head in the European Champions Cup final last October, with Slade’s Exeter edging a thrilling final but Vakatawa still shining in defeat for Racing 92.
“We all know he’s a dangerous runner,” added Slade. “He’s got good footwork and he’s a strong lad. Just from playing against him in the Champions Cup final, little cues about when he’s stepping and when he’s getting on the ball. You can tell from watching on the TV or on computers but until you get up close and personal, those are the things you need to be up in their face to see.”
ENGLAND: Max Malins; Anthony Watson, Henry Slade, Owen Farrell (capt), Jonny May; George Ford, Ben Youngs ; Mako Vunipola, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Kyle Sinckler; Maro Itoje, Charlie Ewels; Mark Wilson, Tom Curry, Billy Vunipola. Replacements: Jamie George, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, Jonny Hill, Ben Earl, Dan Robson, Ollie Lawrence, Elliot Daly.
FRANCE: Brice Dulin; Teddy Thomas, Virimi Vakatawa, Gael Fickou, Damian Penaud; Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Dupont; Cyril Baille, Julien Marchand, Mohamed Haouas; Romain Taofifenua, Paul Willemse; Dylan Cretin, Charles Ollivon (capt), Gregory Alldritt. Replacements: Camille Chat, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Dorian Aldegheri, Cyril Cazeaux, Cameron Woki, Anthony Jelonch, Baptiste Serin, Romain Ntamack
– Guardian
