Ben Youngs believes ball-in-hand rugby must define England’s evolution under Steve Borthwick after their recent over-reliance on a kick-heavy game.
Boos rang out at Allianz Stadium at the sight of another Alex Mitchell box-kick in the second half of Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash against Scotland at Allianz Stadium.
England edged to a 16-15 victory but were inferior in attack throughout, with Scotland outscoring them 3-1 on tries, as Borthwick was forced to defend his tactics.
Youngs, England’s all-time record appearance holder, welcomed a first victory over Scotland since 2020 and explained how a transition in defensive approaches could be affecting the style of play.
“First and foremost, England needed a win, and they got that,” 127-cap international Youngs told Sky Sports. “It’s been a long time since we’ve beaten Scotland, so that is great.
“There’s high kicking at the moment in the England game and some of that is because, when you look at the blitz defence that was there previously, kicking a lot married up to that aggressive defence and getting the ball back in further down the pitch.
England’s Maro Itoje celebrates with the Calcutta Cup after winning the Six Nations rugby union match between England and Scotland at Twickenham in London, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)
“England have obviously now dropped off the blitz with [defence coach] Joe El-Abd coming in and looking at a more connected defence, but still a high kicking game.
“At the moment, it’s probably just a balancing act of trying to come away from such a kicking game and trying to let some of these backs get the ball and distribute and do the things they do that we see so often with their clubs.”
Asked if he would want to see England run the ball more, Youngs replied: “I want to see England win, which they’ve done, so that’s great.
“I think the next step for this England team is a little bit of the edge defence and working on that.
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“The other thing, of course, everyone wants to see this team with ball in hand and show what they can do, because we’ve seen glimpses of it. There’s no doubt we’ve seen moments where they look really good, build pressure, ball in hand and I think that’s the next layer.
“Now England have got the wins, we’ve got rid of that 20-minute spell that we’ve had in the back end of games in those 12 months prior to the Six Nations. It’s important now that we see the next evolution of England.
“As spectators, we can be quite impatient and we want the wins. I think Steve is obviously talking about it. The players will be desperate to do it and play more of that. I just think it probably hasn’t got the alignment just yet.”
Is the Fin-Marcus experiment working?
It may have been Fin Smith’s second Test start at fly-half for England but his performance against Scotland provided more evidence the 22-year-old has the strength and character needed to perform in the Test arena.
Sparked into life by a momentum-changing tackle on Tom Jordan, the Northampton Saint would go on to kick England to victory with a monstrous 50-yard penalty, as opposite number Finn Russell squandered a conversion at the death to win the match for Scotland.
Marcus Smith, England’s fly-half at the start of the Six Nations, has seen his output diminish since moving to full-back to accommodate Fin Smith in the starting XV.
Youngs questioned the longevity of the Marcus Smith full-back experiment but welcomed the extra competition and verstatility the two Smiths have brought to the England back line.
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“It’s a really interesting debate. Who do you put? Which Smith?” Youngs added.
“Fin Smith plays that structured game that Steve probably wants really nicely. He has got a great international career ahead of him.
“I’m a big Marcus Smith fan as well. He’s been terrific in terms of what he’s done over the last 12 months. When you think of the games that England have narrowly lost, they’ve been in the game because of this guy’s brilliance, because of what he brings.
“At the moment, Marcus is having to move to full-back to be an extra distributor, but then England are going to high-kicking games. So again, like I said about that balance, I’m not quite sure.
“I’d like to see Marcus get another go in the next two rounds [of the Six Nations], whether he does or not is not my decision, but I think the greatest thing England have right now is a huge amount of depth in that position, which is great, because they also play two different styles.”
Six Nations fixtures: Round 4
Saturday March 8
Ireland vs France (2.15pm)
Scotland vs Wales (4.45pm)
Sunday March 9
England vs Italy (3pm)
