There has been one particularly telling contribution made by an England scrum half this autumn; spiky, incisively delivered and sparking debate before England face Japan this weekend.
Unfortunately for home supporters at Twickenham, that contribution was made by Danny Care — who retired from international rugby earlier this year — with the publication of his autobiography, which shone such a damning light on Eddie Jones’ tenure as England head coach.
When Jones returns to south-west London as Japan head coach on Sunday, it may be that the most searching questions he is posed relate to Care’s criticism rather than the challenges his players face in containing England’s present generation of scrum halves.
Over the last three disappointing weeks, there have been a series of unconvincing performances from England’s No9s: Steve Borthwick, the England head coach, backed Ben Spencer for the first two games against New Zealand and Australia, then discarded Spencer, summoning Jack van Poortvliet to face South Africa instead.
On his return to the international stage after a 15-month absence, Van Poortvliet endured a miserable afternoon, his attempted box-kicks repeatedly charged down by Eben Etzebeth. Harry Randall, brought off the bench for the final quarter of all three games, has struggled to impose himself as England have wavered in the closing stages. The reputation of Alex Mitchell, the first-choice scrum half, has been enhanced in his absence with a neck injury, but the struggles of his replacements have once again exposed England’s lack of depth in this key position.
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And Jones, of course, played his own part in this malaise. For much of his time in charge of England, he stuck by Ben Youngs as his first-choice No9, but failed to build any sort of succession planning for life after England’s record cap holder. During Care’s long period in purdah, from 2018 to 2022, Jones repeatedly showed a lack of faith in the next best scrum halves in the country. Dan Robson, Spencer, Mitchell and Randall were all given brief exposure at international level by Jones, but not enough to allow them to acclimatise.
Even at the high point of Jones’ reign, the semi-final victory over New Zealand at the 2019 World Cup, his mishandling of his scrum halves became abundantly clear, his mistrust of the alternatives persuaded him to take only two No9s to Japan. When Willi Heinz, Jones’ idiosyncratic choice as understudy to Youngs, injured himself in the semi-final, Spencer had to fly out from England and prepare for the World Cup final against South Africa at a few days’ notice.
Whatever the situation he inherited, though, Borthwick has been in charge for long enough now to take his share of the responsibility. He has been unfortunate that Mitchell has been injured, having established himself as first-choice No9 and played an influential role in England developing a higher tempo to their attacking play. At 27, he has won only 18 caps, but can be expected to return to the starting line-up for the Six Nations.
Van Poortvliet also enjoyed a run as first choice before he spent a long spell on the sidelines after injuring his ankle during a World Cup warm-up match against Wales. He is still only 23 and, providing he is not haunted by images of Etzebeth’s outstretched hands looming above him at every ruck, he still has plenty of scope for further progress.
He has certainly impressed his new head coach at Leicester, Michael Cheika, the former Australia and Argentina coach, who has seen a few international scrum halves in his time. “Like all great players, he’s got a running threat, passing threat, kicking threat,” Cheika said. “I still think there’s a heap of improvement in him, but he’s growing as a leader.”
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The decision making over England’s best option at No9 should certainly be well informed, given that Richard Wigglesworth, Borthwick’s senior assistant coach, was a scrum half who played alongside both Spencer at Saracens and Van Poortvliet with Leicester Tigers. But over the past three weeks, this has been an area in which England have often looked second best.
Contrast this position with that of South Africa. Last weekend, Grant Williams scored a breathtaking try to underline his continuing development. Cobus Reinach was a highly experienced option to introduce from the bench, while Jaden Hendrikse and Morné van den Berg were both given opportunities by Rassie Erasmus, the director of rugby, during the recent Rugby Championship.
All of which has been going on while Faf de Klerk, 33, such a singular influence in both the Springboks’ World Cup wins under Erasmus, recovers from a thigh injury. Such a picture of depth perhaps gives an indication of how far England are at present from competing consistently with the world’s best.
A glimpse of the next generation of English scrum halves came at the Twickenham Stoop on Sunday, where England A overcame Australia A 38-17. There was an eye-catching performance from Will Porter, who plays alongside Care at Harlequins and has been a regular starter this season. From the bench, Archie McParland, 19, of Northampton Saints, made an appearance, swiftly promoted from the England team that won the World Under-20s Championship last summer.
At 25, Porter is older than Van Poortvliet and, after spells with Wasps and Bristol Bears, he is now in his second season with Harlequins, but his performances this season caught Borthwick’s eye and led to his selection for England A.
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“We were so pleased he got the recognition because he’s been outstanding for us,” Danny Wilson, the Harlequins head coach, said. “This year, he’s really earned the right to be alongside Danny, to play a few games as a starter, and it’s great that we’ve got the pair of them.”
Another scrum half who is likely to return to contention is Raffi Quirke, 23, of Sale Sharks. Quirke made his name by scoring a brilliant try on his second England appearance against South Africa three years ago. He has since been hampered by injuries and will make his first appearance of the season for his club in the Premiership Rugby Cup away to Newcastle Falcons on Friday. A return to form and fitness for Quirke would certainly add some of the depth England are missing.
When the conversations around selection for the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia next year gather pace later this season, Jamison Gibson-Park, of Ireland, will be the front runner to start at No9, perhaps with Tomos Williams, of Wales, as his nearest rival. Will an English No9 be in the mix? On his form of the past year, Mitchell could be a candidate for a tour place and a return from injury for the Six Nations would be most welcome, as Borthwick’s team battle to regain the momentum they have lost this autumn.
