On Saturday at Twickenham, one team recorded 522 running metres, 164 completed passes and eight clean breaks, kicking the ball 23 times. The other kicked the ball 28 more times but was inferior by the rest of those stats, managing a paltry 243 running meters, completing 120 passes and recording just two clean breaks.
Based on the past two Six Nations meetings between the two sides, you would expect England to be the less comprehensive team. Many suspected that they would only employ heinous predatory tactics to suppress Ireland in the fourth round. Instead, two weeks after their faultless night at Murrayfield, the hosts' fearless attack dictated the terms.
Perhaps more than any other selection call, the decision to retain George Furbank as starting full-back epitomized how Steve Borthwick was willing to risk losing - or at least make mistakes - to win.
Furbank completed a neat move in the first phase to score against Scotland, but messed up a few passes in an English game that lacked synergy. One costly drop led directly to Duhan van der Merwe's second attempt. Furbank made more mistakes on Saturday. But overall he embodied a bold approach. Within four minutes Furbank had inspired an excellent try.
Note his position from this restart, which comes after Ireland went up 3-0:
Throughout the game, England aimed these kicks at Bundee Aki, pressuring the catcher with Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Ollie Chessum. They then brought in Sam Underhill and Maro Itoje to tackle the next phase. James Lowe would then come forward to clear, ideally from an awkward angle under pressure. And sure enough, Ben Earl can get in the kicker's eyes here:
Furbank gathers near the sideline and spears into the middle of the field before feeding Tommy Freeman, who flattens Calvin Nash. George Martin and Jamie George dig in to blow Josh van der Flier out of the slump:
Rewinding to the point where Furbank puts the bouncing ball in the field, look how quickly Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence have retreated to join this kick return. Both are on their way to the far sideline:
The story continues
Slade and Lawrence's work, as well as Furbank's, are paying off in the next phase. While Ireland hovers close to the caterpillar, England engulfs the other side. Furbank peels away to get behind George Ford and helps the hosts create an overlap with straight running and well-timed passes:
Furbank's own try, which arrived in the second period, also involved taking control of the ball. Collectively, England was much more alert to providing opportunities for return. Furbank, Itoje and Sam Underhill are all seen in this screenshot as Jamison Gibson-Park makes the point:
Ford catches the ball and moves it to Slade. Lawrence is caught in possession but is handed off to Feyi-Waboso and a strong carry buys time:
The ball is recycled and once again Ireland have come close to the ruck. Their defensive structure is a mess, with five players against one attacker, Earl, on the blind side. England sees space and quickly takes on a phase shape:
Underhill, Itoje and Furbank, undoubtedly an outside organizer, are the last three to touch the ball:
Furbank set a goal to improve the contact area last summer and showed a willingness to push to the edge of the frontline, outside his wings, as part of the blitz defense:
In the tense exchanges where Freddie Steward was so imperious against England, Furbank was generally solid. That said, Lowe caught it on the edge of half-time.
Gibson-Park feigns to move right at the back of this scrum before turning away to Ireland's left. Lowe sends the ball over Furbank's shoulder, leaving him unsure whether to catch the ball or let it go straight out. Furbank elects to catch and steps over the touchline, receiving a lineout that scores three points for Ireland:
After half-time, Ireland scored a fine transition try of their own after Freeman failed to deal with a box kick from Gibson-Park.
However, a few minutes earlier, Furbank had fought this Ford up and down, allowing him to force a Jack Crowley downer. England should have been awarded a penalty for Tadhg Beirne who played the loose ball from an offside position:
Later, in the 55th minute, as tensions rose, Furbank and Feyi-Waboso combined forces to win back this Crowley high ball:
Overall, Furbank's presence certainly strengthened his team as an attacking force and seemed to encourage them as well. Here, after a stolen line-out, England play quickly out wide. Watch as Furbank hits the line and Henry Slade points into space. Slade sells a dummy to Furbank before feeding Feyi-Waboso:
When the dust settles, England's players and coaches should be excited about the potential they have to refine their game with this new attacking posture. Because they had chances to score more points against Ireland.
Here, in the 10th minute, Furbank forms an arc behind Slade as Lawrence cuts off a short line. Watch Ciarán Frawley play at full-back for Ireland as they move towards the frontline:
Slade pulls the ball behind Lawrence to Furbank, but he is displaced and concedes a bad turnover to the jackaling Van der Flier:
At this point a lagging country could have turned Ireland around and caused serious problems:
About 14 minutes later, when Lawrence received a pass from Ford behind Underhill, Furbank almost scored himself from a cute grubber:
Just before half-time, England launched a popular attack from a lineout beyond the Irish 10-yard line. Earl stands in midfield and cuts a short line off Slade's shoulder, with Ford behind and Feyi-Waboso spinning from the wing on the blind side:
The move backfires after Feyi-Waboso is fed behind another lead from Lawrence and Furbank:
Furbank and Feyi-Waboso immediately discuss the scenario:
From the former's body language, it seems like he wanted Feyi-Waboso to get up from this position or play an earlier pass. Other options would have been a miss-pass straight to Tommy Freeman or a kick behind Frawley:
In reality, England might have made their lives easier if they had gone through fewer phases in the middle. In this case, from a Conor Murray kick...
...Furbank counters and gets swamped, giving away a second penalty for holding on:
It was to his credit, and again symbolic of the perseverance shown by England, that Furbank kept coming. By working in a second-receiver slot behind Marcus Smith here...
... he creates space for Chandler Cunningham-South as the frontrunner:
Watch his work rate here too, as Freeman appears to be in danger of being held up. Furbank makes the tackle and helps force his fellow Northampton Saint to the ground:
Furbank also rushed close to the try line prior to Marcus Smith's drop goal at the death.
All things considered, his performance felt extremely important. It rewarded his head coach's faith and confirmed the bold direction in which England are moving, not to mention the players' insistence that they have been working on their attack in training.
It's worth repeating that Steve Borthwick has picked Marcus Smith at full-back for a World Cup quarter-final. Borthwick's reputation for caution and conservatism may be exaggerated. That said, Freddie Steward will certainly add to his 33 caps if team tactics call for his skills. He was excellent against Wales.
But as Borthwick suggested before the weekend, England will continue to improve with more cohesion and more time together. Furbank, now certainly his full-back on the front line, has proven that.
