Steve Borthwick has come under fire as a result of his conservative tactics (Image: GETTY)
Will Greenwood believes that is putting his team in a ‘dangerous place’ with his regimented tactical approach.
England breathed new life into their campaign with a hard-fought win over , their first since 2020, last weekend to wrestle back the Calcutta Cup.
However, their kick-heavy approach went against the free-flowing style of rugby that supporters have been crying out for during Borthwick’s time in charge.
Greenwood, who was a crucial member of the England side that won the in 2003, has not been impressed with the conservative tactics on display.
Will Greenwood has not been impressed with England’s tactical approach (Image: GETTY)
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“We’re at home, 82,000 people, we win a great lineout but, bang, box-kick straight away,” he told the podcast. “Our first option tells Scotland everything they need to know about how England are going to play for the rest of the afternoon.
“Do something different. There’s a great phrase that we like to talk about which is ‘freedom within a framework’. Let me use Brian Ashton as an example, who was a magnificent backs coach.
“We were given the autonomy and the space and the ability to move ourselves. If a 10 wanted to stand at 12, if 12 wanted to stand at 15, according to where the skill sets were, you then got five different options according to how the defence set themselves up.
“This team at the moment feels like all framework and no freedom, and that’s a dangerous place to be as a rugby team.”
Greenwood believes it is a mindset issue rather than a problem with individuals, suggesting the coaching methods are preventing a talented group of players from reaching their full potential.
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“The personnel you can’t argue,” he added. “It’s not necessarily about selection, it’s about the team removing shackles, letting rip. It’s that straightjacket that I feel the team are in.
“The problem now is that no matter what the coaches say, in the desperation to get results it feels like they’ve completely regressed and said: ‘Winning is everything’.”
After the final whistle against Scotland, Borthwick admitted that he took little pride in instructing his players to kick more and explained that his tactics were out of necessity.
“These are good teams we’re playing against,” said the England boss. “There are times where you’re in the ascendency and there are times where they are and you have to maximise your opportunities and minimise theirs.
“Each of these games has been very different. What pleases me is I think the team’s evolving. We don’t necessarily want to play the way we played today. We want the ball in hand, we want to move the ball.
“We’ve got a whole lot of creative talent, but Scotland are trying to stop you from doing that. They did it really well, but we found a way to win and we’ll make sure we’re better for this experience.”