England need to channel spirit of 2007 at Rugby World Cup
England could, realistically, be knocked out of the Rugby World Cup in France by 10pm on 17 September.
The car crash that is the national team head across the Channel in the coming days to play Argentina and Japan in their opening two matches. After that they take on Chile and Samoa, but by then it could be all over.
Losses in those two fixtures could spell a premature end to any distant dream of lifting the William Webb Ellis trophy in October.
So with the wheels already off the car, England and head coach Steve Borthwick must channel the spirit of teams gone by – of 2007 and 2019 – if they’re to surprise anyone and make the latter stages of the tournament.
In 2007 under Brian Ashton, England finished third in the Six Nations, then got tonked by South Africa in two tour matches in the southern hemisphere and lost two of their three warm-ups.
They were pumped 36-0 by South Africa in the World Cup but managed to make the final with knockout wins against Australia and France. Winning the trophy, though, proved a bridge too far.
In 2019 under Eddie Jones, England came second in the Six Nations and had impressive wins against Ireland and Wales in warm-ups but had the nation in a gloomy mood ahead of the side heading off to Japan.
Against expectations, Jones’s side reached the final but, again, lost to South Africa.
This year, following their poor Six Nations campaign, dire warm-up series and disciplinary issues, England must try to recreate that fighting spirit and place themselves into a bubble.
George Ford’s comments about training being an issue should cause alarm bells to ring, as should Ellis Genge’s online comments about being written off.
But maybe this is what Borthwick and a coaching set-up lacking in international experience need: to be completely cast aside from all chats about potential World Cup winners.
England need to work together, become a tight unit and stabilise. Then they can let rip.
Despite his ban, Owen Farrell will feature, but I see this as Borthwick having his hand forced. He will need to rely on Ford and Marcus Smith in the early stages, against the tougher opposition, and it could spark some creativity.
But that will not be enough on its own, as is the case with any rugby team. England will need to fall back on their talent – which they have in abundance – and skill.
Their experience, too, will be paramount to any success in France over the next two months.
England have so many good players. Premiership winners, European Champions Cup winners, Six Nations winners – they have them all.
So there really is little excuse for their disappointing performances but I believe they can still pull it together and at least challenge at the tournament. They’re going to need a lot of work to get to that point, though.
There are nine days until England play Argentina, and it’s their biggest test of the pool stages.
It is sink or swim for Borthwick and his side, and it could be a pool exit like it was in 2015. We all remember what happened to Stuart Lancaster and co back then.
Former England Sevens captain Ollie Phillips is the founder of Optimist Performance, experts in leadership development and behavioural change. Follow Ollie on Twitter and on LinkedIn.