England A v Portugal: Five takeaways as Red Rose hopefuls stake their claim after a dire Six Nations performance at Murrayfield

England-A-Cadan-Murley-and-Joe-Marler-at-Murrayfield

Following England A’s 91-5 thrashing of Portugal at Matiolli Wood Welford Road, here are our five takeaways.

The Top Line

England reached a total that their cricket team might have been envious of as they put Portugal to the sword, winning 91-5 in a powerful forward display.

The 15 tries speak for themselves, with Harlequins winger Cadan Murley running in a simple hattrick and 11 other players crossing the whitewash in an impressive team performance.

The English performance was one based upon powerful close-quarter running and carrying through the forwards and back row, committing Portugal to stopping waves of short carriers and, in the time-honoured tradition, thus creating acres of space for the likes of Murley, Josh Hodge and Max Ojomoh to enjoy themselves with the ball in hand.

As proof of the England A concept, this was a step in the right direction; however, if these matches are to offer the very best value to the England pathway moving forward, the emerging players might wish for something of a sterner physical test next time around.

Stars of the Show

Player of the Match Tom Pearson has long been mentioned in England dispatches as one of the future stars of the test team, with favourable comparisons made to England’s onlooking back row mentor and legendary flanker, the great Richard Hill. Selected today on the blindside, Pearson had a hand in almost everything that went England’s way, showing a complete skillset in both the tight and the loose, and also demonstrating that he’s a useful option at lineout time where the pressure he put on Portugal’s throw was a key component of England’s superiority.

With a score himself and with questions being asked about the back row balance of the senior side after a nonplussing display at Murrayfield, Pearson couldn’t have timed this performance better, although there might still be questions over his close quarter carrying physicality.

In the backline, both Max Ojomoh and Josh Hodge delivered on their opportunity; Hodge was by far England’s most attacking threat with the ball in hand and his acceleration and interplay with Murley, another who impressed running in a hattrick created by the power of the English forwards, for his first half try demonstrated the attacking potential of the Exeter flyer. With regards to Murley, he has that happy knack of getting on the end of moves to finish them off, a priceless quality in any winger and one informed by his huge

England are starting to realise they have a real paucity of test quality in the centre birth and Ojomoh put in a perfectly balanced display to remind all of his promise. He’s got the girth and gumption to get momentum through the first tackle, but he also has the sleight of hand and gas to switch to a skill-based game when needed. All in all, it was an outstanding outing for the Bath centre and one that might see him promoted to the senior side before too long.

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England’s set-piece thrives

With question marks emerging at the senior level up at Murrayfield yesterday about aspects of the England tight play, the performances of a number of the big boys up front would have pleased the England wider coaching group no end.

Both props, Joe Heyes and Fin Baxter, had an absolute field day against the weak Os Lobos scrummage, with Heyes, in particular, enjoying a real romp on the tighthead side. In fact, at the start of the second half, he appeared to have done enough to break out of the front row and score from a loose ball emerging, but referee Luc Ramos was having none of it, and, much to Heyes’ dismay, trotted under the posts to award a penalty try.

Charlie Ewels, a man that the English fanbase have never quite embraced despite his huge work-rate and technical excellence simply led by massive example and put in a performance of the highest quality, flawless in lineout, intelligent in leadership and conspicuous in the loose. However, for all Ewels’ doughty qualities, his engine room partner Rusiate Tuima is the man with the rockstar qualities, and it was his work in the loose, including one outrageous one-handed dummy and offload to Will Muir that got the tongues wagging and the hands clapping in a chilly Mattiolli Woods Welford Road.

With Alfie Barbearry also coming to the party in terms of big tight line carries and dominating the gainline with the ball in hand, there was a lot to like about the English tight display, with a number of players moving their selection cases forward with impressive displays.

Portugal Struggle

With not one of the Os Lobos XV that acquitted themselves so favourably against Fiji in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, this was always going to be as much of a development side for Portugal as it was for England A themselves.

But whilst a certain lack of cohesion can be forgiven, the absence of basics such as primary defensive shape and maul defence was a big problem for the visitors. Put simply, the England maul was such a given in terms of scoring threat, with both Jamie Blamire and Alfie Barbearry flopping over from short range that they stopped using it in order to explore other options in the backline.

The same could be said for the set-piece, where England ripped them apart when scrummages were allowed to go the distance and in the lineout where even with clean ball Os Lobos struggled to get set up to deliver any form of momentum or threat.

But in scramble, they were athletic and committed and several last gasp tap and tracking tackles stopped England from extending their lead even further, and when one one-on-one opportunities to run came Portugal’s way, Jose Maria Cortes and Alfredo Almeida both had little moments of skill to be proud of, capped off by the brilliant work of Manuel Viarero who exploited a loose aerial contest on the wide right to gather and scamper fully 35 metres to score a try cheered by all of the 15,123 that braved the early kick off and chilly breezes to embrace this fixture.

However, in the wider scheme of the England A programme moving forward, one might argue that whilst Portugal had earned the right to this fixture, it would have benefitted all concerned had they been allowed to gain release of their Top14 and ProD2-based players, something that removed a great deal of test match experience and proven rugby intellect from their team.

Selection Quandries

The burning question will be, has any of the England A tyros done enough to force their way into contention for the Ireland match? This is a quandary that’s also informed by the form of the incumbents, and it’s given after the Scottish match that the senior side might have issues in backup in the front row, back row and three-quarter positions.

Pearson is already in the wider 36-man squad, and his battle with Ethan Roots for the England 6 shirt (or conceivably with Sam Underhill for the openside slot) has gone up a notch after his impressive outing today. Max Ojomoh, too, showed that he’s got the right blend of physicality and gas to be given a run in the inside centre berth, whilst two older stagers, Joe Heyes and skipper Charlie Ewels, also reminded us all that they’ve got a lot to offer at test level when the opportunity arises.

But the real plus was the gas and ambition shown by the back three of Josh Hodge, Cadan Murley and Will Muir, all of whom impressed and scored. Hodge may still be lacking a little in muscle, but Murley and Muir have flirted with senior selection for a long enough time to have demonstrated today that it’s now perhaps time for them to be given a shot at test level.