Rugby World Cup: England hit back at ‘one-dimensional’ claims ahead of knockout matches

Sadia Kbeya, of England, dives for the tryline in their Women’s Rugby World Cup match against South Africa. Photo / Photosport

Simon Middleton, the head coach, has hit out at claims that his England side are too one-dimensional and warned they will “box clever” in the World Cup knockout stages.

Of the 13 tries the Red Roses scored in their 75-0 annihilation of South Africa, seven originated from their lineout maul, which has become a defining characteristic of England’s forward dominance.

Their cricket score against the Springboks could hardly have been more contrasting to the 13-7 win they ground out the previous week against France, who frustrated the Red Roses at their favourite set-piece, prompting claims that they were becoming too predictable. Middleton, however, brushed off such suggestions and insisted his side’s reliance on the lineout had been blown out of proportion.

”I think there’s way too much being made of the whole driving lineout thing,” he told Telegraph Sport. “It’s a great weapon. We’ve worked really hard on it, but you look at other teams, they’re trying to do it, they just don’t do it as well as we do and they do defend really well these days.

“We’re not going to chuck everything out in the pool stages. There’s some pretty smart coaches out there in the knockout stages, so you’ve got to box clever.”

England went into the game against South Africa having won 18 mauls in this year’s World Cup — more than any other team — and were also the only side to have gained 100 metres from their mauls in the tournament.

Middleton’s side used that tactic to stifle South Africa as early as the sixth minute, when Rosie Galligan powered over from an attacking lineout. Abby Dow was the only back who contributed in her side’s 13-try rout, prompting comparisons between England’s forward-heavy strategy and New Zealand’s electric, free-flowing use of their backline throughout the tournament so far.

Katy Daley-Mclean, the former England flyhalf, was among those who demanded more variation in the Red Roses’ attack. “Everyone will say ‘if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it’, but I do think England’s backline could demand a little bit more,” the 2014 World Cup winner told Sky Sports.

But Middleton countered those suggestions by stressing that while there was plenty more in his side’s arsenal, their game would be built around what he called their “superstrength”.

”We’ve got different facets to our game and you get them out at the right time,” he said. “If you’re dropping the ball left, right and centre and can’t get any continuity, it would be madness not to go to the super strength that you’ve got. Even if it’s just to get your game back on track.

“I know what the score says, but the pressure was that we had to win that game [against South Africa]. If we’re going to win the game by driving the lineout, we’ll win the game by driving the lineout. When we’ve done that, we can look at other stuff. We did that really well.”

Middleton appeared unhappy with the negative reaction to his side’s win against France, a team ranked fourth in the world who have been tipped to go far in the tournament.

”The reaction after the France game was hilarious,” he told ITV after the thrashing of South Africa. “It blew my mind to be honest. It was pretty disrespectful to France because they are the best defensive side in the world. They have some great players and that was a real arm wrestle of a test match.”