Autumn Nations Series: David Flatman says ‘there will still be question marks’ over England despite Japan rout
Published 24/11/2024 at 21:43 GMT
"There will still be question marks" over Steve Borthwick's England side according to former international David Flatman, who refused to get carried away with Sunday's nine-try win over Japan. England lost five straight matches heading into the Autumn Nations Series clash with Japan at Twickenham, but won 59-14 to end a difficult year on a high.
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England ended a barren run with a dominant victory over Japan on Sunday, but David Flatman is adamant that "there will still be question marks" over Steve Borthwick’s side.
Since England beat Japan 52-17 in June, they have lost all three matches against New Zealand, while they were also dealt defeats by Australia and South Africa in a run of five straight losses.
However, they secured a big win to bookend their bad run of form and wrap up their Autumn Nations Series campaign on a high.
But the performance against Japan - who have won just one of their last five under former England coach Eddie Jones - has not left everyone convinced.
"I’d be much happier with the second half than the first as a spectator, and I’d be much happier with the attack in the second half, especially than with the defence overall," Flatman told TNT Sports.
"There will still be question marks over the England team because they played against a really callow, inexperienced Japan team lacking caps.
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"Actually, Japan did some lovely stuff in that game. We shouldn’t be surprised because there are some really good players in there.
"But England once or twice left themselves open wide and they got caught by the Japanese, and once or twice they delivered some brilliance".
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Highlights: England thump Japan to end five-game losing streak
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Lawes: Blitz strategy ‘can definitely work’
Former England flanker Courtney Lawes also gave his view on England’s defensive "blitz" strategy.
Although the Northampton Saints legend is confident "it can definitely work", Lawes feels it needs a lot of work.
"I think a lot of it is to do with composure in the blitz, because you’re revved up to get off the line, but if you go too early you can leave a dog leg, and you can get exposed at this level," Lawes told TNT Sports.
"That has been the problem over this Autumn Nations. I think it can definitely work, but I think it needs to be perfected and trained properly, and the more you do it, the better you’ll get".
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On Sunday’s win over Japan, Lawes added: "The game plan looked legit to me. You were going to target them in the air, and then any 50/50 knock-ons you were going to try and dominate them in the scrum, and that worked out really well.
"But you also flipped that on its head and managed to get the ball into the wide channels and really expose them there which was really fantastic."
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