{"id":592131,"date":"2025-11-25T04:46:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T04:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/592131\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T04:46:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T04:46:23","slug":"dan-biggar-englands-unbeaten-autumn-has-made-them-one-of-the-best-of-the-rest-behind-south-africa-but-heres-why-their-fans-cant-get-carried-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/592131\/","title":{"rendered":"DAN BIGGAR: England’s unbeaten autumn has made them one of the best of the rest behind South Africa… but here’s why their fans can’t get carried away"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am a huge, huge fan of this England team. They\u2019ve just completed their first autumn clean sweep for four years and their winless run is now at 11 matches. These are impressive facts.<\/p>\n

I know how hard it is to reach those sorts of numbers as between 2018 and 2019, the best Wales side I played in went 14 matches unbeaten. I\u2019ve got nothing but praise for England\u2019s progression. They\u2019re not only winning, but building impressive strength in depth.<\/p>\n

The age profile of their squad is very, very good with the 2027 World Cup in mind and I also like the way the team has connected with the fans in the last year. All that said, I would urge caution.<\/p>\n

I think England supporters are again at risk of getting ahead of themselves. I don\u2019t think that will happen inside the camp as Steve Borthwick<\/a> isn\u2019t the sort of coach to let his players get distracted by praise. But the reality is that for all England\u2019s undoubted progression, there is still a huge, huge gap between them and South Africa<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I think that much was shown by the 27-23 victory over Argentina. England weren\u2019t at their best and had the Pumas nailed their last lineout, they could very well have lost. It showed me there is still a lot of work for England to do. Borthwick will know that.<\/p>\n

I can say this as a Welshman. But sometimes, I think England fans can get too excited, too early. It happens in all sports. When the footballers beat teams like San Marino and Albania, all of a sudden they\u2019re going to win the next major tournament.<\/p>\n

\"England <\/p>\n

England weren’t at their best as they squeaked past Argentina and it showed me there is still a lot of work to do<\/p>\n

\"Had <\/p>\n

Had the Pumas nailed their last lineout, England could very well have lost<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen it in cricket too, which is pertinent right now after the first Ashes Test. It\u2019s definitely true of rugby supporters too. A good example is the 2015 World Cup. And we all know what happened there!<\/p>\n

The fallout from the Argentina game has focused on Tom Curry\u2019s tackle on Juan Cruz Mallia. It\u2019s always awful when any player suffers a serious injury, as Mallia has by rupturing his knee ligaments. To me, Curry\u2019s hit was slightly late and at worst reckless and clumsy. It clearly irked the Argentina players and coaches, causing a proper bust-up on the field and in the tunnel. But a tunnel fracas comes and goes. Far more important is the long-term development of this England side.<\/p>\n

To win the next World Cup, England will have to beat South Africa and on the evidence of what I\u2019ve seen this autumn, there is no side on the planet capable of doing that right now. The Springboks are a scary, scary team. They\u2019re so good in fact they\u2019ve been winning games with 14 men!<\/p>\n

You could make a very good argument to say that South Africa\u2019s reserve side is good enough to be ranked the No 2 team on the planet such is the quality of their resource. England supporters just need to take things slowly. Borthwick\u2019s team are among the best of the rest chasing the Springboks, along with France, New Zealand and Ireland. But there is still a significant gap for them to breach.<\/p>\n

England\u2019s next target has to be a first Six Nations title since 2020. It won\u2019t be a total disaster if they don\u2019t win the 2026 championship. But equally, it would also be very disappointing as it is both the natural next step for this team and at the same time also a more-than-realistic goal.<\/p>\n

Borthwick has done very, very well. Only 12 months ago, he was under pressure with England losing a series of tight matches. He\u2019s clearly a very good coach. But what he\u2019s also done well is surround himself with good people. Lee Blackett and Byron McGuigan have been great additions as assistants.<\/p>\n

England\u2019s Six Nations fixtures aren\u2019t the worst either. Their big games will be at home to Ireland and away to France. They do have to travel to Edinburgh where they have a poor recent record, but England should be confident of beating Scotland. England are going in the right direction and they still have players to come back into their squad with George Martin a notable figure in that regard.<\/p>\n

While they weren\u2019t at their best against Argentina, the performance of Max Ojomoh showed just how deep England\u2019s talent pool is.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"South <\/p>\n

South Africa are by far and away the best team in world rugby right now – and they proved that in Dublin on Saturday with a comprehensive dismantling of Ireland<\/p>\n

\"Damian <\/p>\n

Damian Willemse’s early try and celebration showed the confidence this Springboks team has<\/p>\n

\"They <\/p>\n

They completed a clean sweep of their own this autumn and the rest of the world is playing catch-up<\/p>\n

More magic from Rassie\u00a0<\/p>\n

I have teamed up with R\u00e9my Martin VSOP Cognac to highlight Moments of Excellence on and off the pitch from this month\u2019s Quilter Nations Series.<\/p>\n

I have to recognise the absolute coaching genius of Rassie Erasmus. My R\u00e9my Martin Moment Of Excellence is the South Africa coach\u2019s decision to replace both his props at the end of the first half in his team\u2019s 24-13 victory over Ireland. No other coach would have thought to do it.<\/p>\n

Erasmus\u2019 decisive call summed up to me how far ahead both he and his team are of their rivals. At the time, South Africa were 12-7 up and Ireland were all at sea with both Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley in the sin bin and James Ryan having been handed a 20-minute red card.<\/p>\n

Erasmus sensed blood and went for the jugular. With the clock in the red, he replaced his starting props Boan Venter and Thomas du Toit with Gerhard Steenekamp and Wilco Louw.<\/p>\n

Erasmus was aware the first half in Dublin had been very intense with lots of scrums and mauls, so he knew his props would already be tired. Additionally, his starting front row only normally plays in the region of 50 minutes anyway. But I doubt any of Erasmus\u2019 fellow bosses would have been prepared to make a double tactical change before half time as he did.<\/p>\n

It worked a treat, with Steenekamp and Louw \u2013 who is 22st 9lb by the way \u2013 coming on fresh and, under Erasmus\u2019 instruction, absolutely emptying the tank at scrum time.<\/p>\n

The result was it forced Ireland to concede another yellow card and huge set-piece pressure. With Andrew Porter the latest home player in the sin bin, Ireland were down to 12 men. It meant 22-year-old replacement Irish prop Paddy McCarthy had to come on. If I\u2019d been McCarthy, I\u2019d have called in a bomb scare or anything at that point to have avoided coming on!<\/p>\n

The next scrum was so one-sided the Irish pack almost ended up on the roof of the Aviva Stadium. South Africa destroyed them, aided by Steenekamp and Louw, winning a crucial penalty try which laid the platform for victory. It was incredible rugby, aided by outside-the-box coaching.<\/p>\n

\"Wilco <\/p>\n

Wilco Louw, who is 22st 9lb, took Ireland apart at the scrum after Rassie Erasmus’ masterstroke<\/p>\n

Wallabies show where France are vulnerable\u00a0<\/p>\n

England\u2019s final Six Nations game is against France in Paris on March 14. There is a lot of water to go under the bridge between now and then, but that tie to me has all the makings of a potential Grand Slam decider.<\/p>\n

England have had a great autumn and Borthwick will have noted Australia’s display in France on Saturday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Australia are out on their feet and have made unwanted history by becoming the first Wallaby team since 1958 to lose all of their northern tour matches. Even with that poor record, Australia still managed to score some nice tries in Paris and move France\u2019s defence around.<\/p>\n

But they\u2019ve got Antoine Dupont to come back for the Six Nations and they\u2019ll be a totally different team with him at the helm. Like England, France have a great age profile to their team which bodes well for the future of both sides.<\/p>\n

\"Even <\/p>\n

Even with their poor record at the end of a long season, Australia still managed to score some nice tries in Paris and move France\u2019s defence around<\/p>\n

What a bumper autumn\u00a0<\/p>\n

This year’s autumn internationals have been absolutely fantastic. The quality of the rugby has been outstanding on the whole with bumper crowds watching on.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve loved being a part of it and it\u2019s made it crystal clear to me that the international game is in rude, rude health.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rugby gets lots of bad press and sometimes rightly so. But at the same time, we must also celebrate the good moments. The past four weeks undoubtedly fit into that category.<\/p>\n

Dan Biggar is a R\u00e9my Martin ambassador. Please Enjoy Responsibly. https:\/\/www.remymartin.com\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I am a huge, huge fan of this England team. They\u2019ve just completed their first autumn clean sweep…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":592132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[37482,186402,748,92,393,4211,4206,4884,4207,4212,4204,4208,2196,186401,93,26349,16,15,4213],"class_list":{"0":"post-592131","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-all-blacks","9":"tag-argentina-rugby","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-dailymail","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-england-rugby","14":"tag-france-rugby","15":"tag-great-britain","16":"tag-ireland-rugby","17":"tag-italy-rugby","18":"tag-rugbyunion","19":"tag-scotland-rugby","20":"tag-south-africa","21":"tag-south-africa-rugby","22":"tag-sport","23":"tag-steve-borthwick","24":"tag-uk","25":"tag-united-kingdom","26":"tag-wales-rugby"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115608525839056423","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}