Six Nations: Larder’s case for the defence

Clive Woodward’s exciting brand of running rugby kicked off the Six Nations in cavalier fashion with six English tries in Cardiff a fortnight ago.

But it is Phil Larder’s scientific approach to defence which has also turned England into the meanest power in world rugby providing a potent combination which makes them overwhelming favourites for the Grand Slam.

Larder, the former Great Britain rugby league coach, assesses the intricate video details of every England international to help construct a human force field of steel-like dimensions.

‘‘We’re miles away from the perfection for which we strive,’’ says Larder.

‘‘But defensively we’ve made tremendous improvement in the last couple of years.

‘‘Before the Six Nations started we conceded eight tries in 10 Test matches. The nearest other team were Australia who conceded 13 in 10 Tests. That record is pretty damn good.

‘‘We probably peaked in the autumn series when we conceded two tries in three matches against the southern hemisphere.

‘‘We’re very confident of the defence but once you stop improving you fall flat on your face.

‘‘The difficulty we’ve got now is keeping that level of performance as the other teams study our defence and get more used to it and work on ploys to break it down.

‘‘It’s a big challenge, it keeps us on our toes.’’

Wales clearly had not done their homework at the Millennium Stadium and Larder was scathing in his criticism.

‘‘Defences as a whole have improved tremendously,’’ said Larder. ‘‘I think Wales are a very good team but defensively they were very naive when we played them.

‘‘It just proves that if your defence isn’t organised, how easy it is to lose matches by pretty big scores.

‘‘Defensive organisation in union is a pretty new thing and for some coaches it is the first time they have come up against our type of formation.’’

Larder has worked particularly with wing Austin Healey and centre Will Greenwood, who have both been criticised for defensive frailty in the past.

Healey, especially, paid the price, losing his place after a poor autumn match against Australia in which he allowed Joe Roff to run through him to set up an easy touchdown.

‘‘The unfortunate thing about playing wing like Austin is that it’s like playing full-back in soccer, if you make one mistake you get punished for it,’’ continued Larder.

‘‘Austin’s not a bad defender. He just made one mistake against Australia and it was a try. And because we are only conceding the odd try it became big news.’’

It would make huge headlines if England failed to dispatch Italy with some aplomb on Saturday though not if the defence reverts to the shakiness of Rome last year.

‘‘Our defence was very poor in Italy last season,’’ said Larder.

‘‘One of the major factors was enthusiasm. I think the players felt that all they had to do was go out on the pitch, throw the ball about and score tries.

‘‘It’s my job to make sure they won’t have the same attitude this Saturday.’’