Matt Dawson column: ‘I have never seen England on a charge like this’
It was a year after the 2003 Rugby World Cup and I remember going to Australia at Twickenham.
After the Wallabies try, Martin Johnson had us all under the posts and wasn’t interested in landing the kick.
We were behind and the only thing that mattered to him was winning the district in the next five minutes.
He made it clear that we need to be more aggressive defensively, stay in Australia’s 22 for as long as possible and see if they can handle the pressure.
We showed an excellent performance in the last 20 minutes and Ben Cohen managed to score a goal and overcome the score 31-19.
The reason we came back later in the World Cup final against Australia was because of what had happened in previous years.
The tougher the situation for the current England squad, the better. Defeating New Zealand 12-0 could be a vital touchpoint for them to use in their next World Cup journey.
Maro Itoje, along with 30 other players, will remember what happened in different scenarios.
At half-time I watched Itoje walk down the tunnel with the referee and he was giving a very mature, informative speech all the way to the dressing room.
When we go back two or three years, Itoje doesn’t do that as captain, but there is something different about what he brings to the team.
For him, the situation is very simple; Such leaders are much easier to follow than abrasive, more obvious leaders.
Sometimes these guys don’t have the ability to cover all the different features. I can see how Itoje can adapt to his players.
When the final whistle blew on Saturday, Henry Pollock was jumping up and down, jumping on Ben Earl’s back.
No matter how cool Itoje was, he was just shaking hands and Pollock ran up to him and they embraced.
It seemed like a conflict over how to celebrate a big win, but Itoje is able to adapt to his players.
Leadership in tough moments makes the difference in the biggest Test matches. It’s about nailing the important decisions and moments.
George Ford’s decision to score back-to-back drop goals just before half-time is a perfect example.
I’m talking about this England team because I’ve never seen England attacking like this before the World Cup.
I don’t believe any England team is better placed in terms of strength, depth, leadership and individual match-winning ability.
Overall, there is now a stark contrast between where the UK is and where it has been in the last decade.
Steve Borthwick needed to improve as a Test coach and that was always going to take time.
