Wilkinson and Johnson should look to Umaga's All Blacks

As England prepares to take on Scotland at Murrayfield, perhaps the best thing for the beleaguered side and their most experienced playmaker is to take a page from the book of former All Black captain Tana Umaga.

Despite the fact that there are 15 men on the pitch responsible for a team’s actions, as well as a host of coaches and assistants within the England team, it seems that most of the venom directed towards the team’s lack of ability to fire is directed towards Jonny Wilkinson.

It is a hard and tough task being the English rugby team.

Win or lose, they are criticised one way or another, and despite only losing by four points to the reigning champions in their last match, the defeat at the hand of the Irish only served to increase the barrage coming in from all quarters.

Much has been said about their misfiring attack.

Against Ireland, there were long periods where England dominated possession and territory, but they failed to take their chances.

For the blame to fall solely on Wilkinson is unfair, for it is the responsibility of the men around him to give him the support he needs. Yet as the magician who has dazzled the world with his poise and kicking skills, he is expected as the world record test points scorer to be shouldering the attack.

Never mind that England’s first choice number 12 Riki Flutey has stood alongside him in recent games.

He has had the cattle to support him, but as former England scrumhalf Matt Dawson suggested some time ago, Wilkinson does not have the creative genius of men such as Will Greenwood and a super-powered pack as he has had in the past.

Some criticism has come from the fact that his greatest weapon - his remarkable boot – has been making errant tactical kicks and missing comparatively simple penalty goals.

But most stems from him failing to ignite a running attack.

We of course are not privy to the instructions Wilkinson receives, but much of England’s game plan seems to stem from the Toulon based playmaker being asked to concentrate on what is perceived to be his, and as a consequence England’s, greatest strength.

Him kicking the ball and therefore being positioned deep in the pocket.

He seems almost reluctant to hit the gain line, but standing flat in attack could in the current scheme of things be rugby suicide considering that his pack is not rumbling with the same menacing authority that the old English pack of yore used to.

Yet at Toulon, it is different.

He often gets solid ball from his French clubs pack, and is seen to run at the line with a little more purpose when playing for the Provence-Alpes-Cote D’Azur based club.

Tom Whitford, the Toulon team manager, shed some light on this.

"He can and does attack on the gain line and when he does he is very dangerous,” Whitford said.

“Tana [Umaga, the backs coach] will always say to him, for instance, that when it comes to attacking on the 22 to go for it as he sees fit, playing flat, and not just kick it. Tana talks to Jonny a lot and they
have a very honest working relationship."

When it comes to flat back line attack, Umaga knows a thing or two about an offensive strategy that eventually worked wonders for the All Blacks, but initially earned the 2004 New Zealand test team its fair share of critics.

Pioneered in the modern game as the “Randwick” attack, it was introduced to Umaga’s All Blacks by Graham Henry, and initially didn’t produce the desired results as the All Blacks lost the Tri Nations in 2004.

But the pattern worked with devastating efficiency in Paris later that year, when the All Blacks tore apart the French 45-6 at the Stade de France.

From there the All Blacks ruled the world. Over the next two years they ran rampant winning 23 of 25 games, and while the wily Henry never revealed if the flat attack system stayed in effect, it was one of the first focuses for what would become a brilliant New Zealand running game.

England need inspiration, and could do a lot worse than rely on Wilkinson to relay the intellectual property he has gained from Umaga onto Johnson and England.

If such an approach was implemented, one wonders if England could finally spark their criticised and apparently malfunctioning attacking game.