England v New Zealand: Lineout dominance can lead to crushing All Black victory

International / Geoffrey Riddle / 19 November 2009 / Leave a Comment

Tom Donnelly wins lineout ball - again

" England do not merit being 13.5-point underdogs. They should be at least 17, and I'm going in accordingly."

Geoffrey Riddle speaks with the New Zealand lineout combo of hooker Andrew Hore and lock Tom Donnelly ahead of Saturday's encounter with England

England skipper Steve Borthwick is under severe pressure from the media about his captaincy, but also for his place in Martin Johnson's starting XV. With Simon Shaw returning to front-line duty this Saturday against New Zealand, he is under renewed pressure, with the wrecking-ball Courtney Lawes waiting in the wings, and many calling for London Irish's Nick Kennedy to return to the national side.

But if there is one thing that Borthwick can do this weekend to help his side avoid their eighth successive defeat to the All Blacks, it is to win all of his lineout ball. Nicking some against the head wouldn't go amiss, either.

Earlier this season, New Zealand's lineout was shocking. In their first eight matches of the 2009 campaign, the All Blacks lost 24 lineouts. In Durban against the Springboks in August, Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield stole as much ball as New Zealand won. And yet, since Matfield and Botha did another job on New Zealand's throw in when the Springboks claimed the Tri-Nations with their 32-29 victory in Hamilton in September, New Zealand's lineout has been in the ascendency.

With all the focus on how much tactical kicking there has been this season, it is a crucial aspect of the game for the Kiwis to have made good. All Black hooker Andrew Hore, another tourist keen to grow dodgy facial hair in order to promote Movember, is a key ingredient to his side's new-found success at throw-in time.

"We've got a new calling system that seems to work," explained Hore.

"We changed it at Wellington against Australia. We came up with a bit of a system against them, and we've expanded it since then. Hopefully we can keep it going and keep winning ball."

New Zealand demolished Australia 33-6 in that final Tri-Nations' test, and they didn't lose a throw for the first time since the November Test against Wales last year. They followed up in Tokyo with another dominant win over their trans-Tasman rivals, too. Lock Tom Donnelly made the calls to his teammates as the pack approached the lineout, rather then when they all lined up. It meant the players did not give away where the ball was going through body language. It is a subtle difference, but something that will threaten to bury England should Borthwick and Shaw not front up.

"If I can dominate Borthwick, it's definitely going to help my team," said Donnelly yesterday.

"It's going to be a real test of where our lineout is, against England," the 6ft 7inch lock continued.

"All the research we have done, England have won all of their ball, and they compete really well on the opposition's ball. Borthwick's a good player. It's going to be a real challenge."

With New Zealand's throw-in now patched up, it is difficult to see where England can put New Zealand under real pressure. The All Blacks have won all 17 of the autumn internationals they have played under Graham Henry, 14 of which were HT-FT. They haven't conceded a try in their last six games in Europe, either.

Last year when they clashed with England, the high street layers were offering handicap starts between 18 to 22 points for Johnson's men. Four yellow cards put any illusion of competition firmly out of reach that day, as England crashed to a 32-6 defeat. And yet, the biting point of trade for handicap punters 12 months later is 13.5 points in England's favour.

What has changed? As far as the IRB's ratings are concerned, the gap between the two sides is the same as it was a year ago and if anything, England are one step down the ladder from their position 12 months ago. New Zealand field nine players who contributed to that record Twickenham defeat. England field just four, and how Johnson must wish he could play Phil Vickery, Riki Flutey, Delon Armitage, who all started in that ignominious loss.

"I don't think the media have done us any favours by ripping into England," Hore continued. "I wouldn't read too much into the world rankings, though. South Africa beat us three times in a row, and suddenly we are the world's no. 1 team. I don't really buy into them."

I buy into value, however, and England do not merit being 13.5-point underdogs. They should be at least 17, and I'm going in accordingly.