Scoring two tries and grinding it out from there should be enough to get a team home in the Rugby World Cup, according to England’s attack coach Brian Smith.
It may not be pretty, but it works and the World Cup is all about winning, said the former Australian international, who switched hemispheres at the end of his playing days.
Although he has a backline brimming with talent and England have unleashed a more expansive game in recent years, that was irrelevant to Smith in a World Cup tournament.
“We don’t care how the tries are scored, whether it’s through the pack or the backline,” he said.
“We want to be productive. We want to put the opposition under a lot of pressure so they concede cheap points and if they concede cheap points we’re going to take them.”
In Pool B of the Rugby World Cup opening in New Zealand on Friday, England are up against Scotland, Georgia and Romania as well as Argentina — a team boasting a powerful pack of -European-based, match-hardened forwards.
The South Americans have held their own against England in recent series, winning two of the four Tests they have played in the past five years.
In the same period, England have won three, lost two and drawn one against Scotland.
A bonus point system is in place for scoring four of more tries in a match and might be crucial in determining the two quarter-finalists, but for Smith, two tries was more of a priority.
In a series where lop-sided pool games can produce high-scoring results, New Zealand have scored the most tries in the six-tournament history of the Rugby World Cup with 232 from 36 matches.
Australia have 153 tries from 34 matches, France 142 from 36 and England 111 from 25. South Africa, who have only played four tournaments, have scored 94 tries in 24 games.
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