Ben Spencer has earned his weekend off. Toulon will breathe a sigh of relief at his absence. If Finn Russell was the man who made Bath tick more than any other player in last season’s treble season, this campaign it has been the Bath scrum half and metronomic performer conducting the operation of the team.
It wouldn’t be an over-exaggeration to state that the 33-year-old has found the form of his life. The man Eddie Jones suggested was too quiet to direct a Test team has thrived since his appointment as Bath club captain in 2022. Leadership has added an air of authority to his game. Keep an eye on Spencer during the all-too-frequent lapses in play. Ever so politely he’ll be pointing out this or that to the referee.
There have been times in the past three seasons when you’d swear Spencer was in charge of proceedings, not the referee. He is pushing very hard to be England’s starting scrum half.
Spencer’s kicking variety is unrivalled among English scrum halves
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In November I wrote a column in praise of the selection of Spencer as a starter against Argentina by the England head coach Steve Borthwick. Northampton Saints’ Alex Mitchell, I suggested, was the clear all-round pick of scrum halves at Borthwick’s disposal. Spencer’s award of the No9 shirt was a smart way to ensure the gulf between Mitchell and the rest didn’t grow as great as back in 2019, when Spencer got a late call to fly out to Tokyo for a losing experience against South Africa in the World Cup final.
If England were to avoid the over-reliance on one man that occurred with Ben Youngs during the Jones era, Spencer’s starting berth against Argentina was vital. And it was a shrewd selection. Spencer played well in the 27-23 victory. He kicked a lot and he kicked with the sort of accuracy expected of him. But here was a man with a chance to make his mark. He was scrum half but not the boss.
In Bath’s blue, black and white he runs the show. At present, Russell is playing an understated and unselfish cameo role. Spencer is the King of Bath. In round one of the Champions Cup, Munster were mauled by the power of the Bath pack but it was the startling kicking game of the scrum half that established the territory, the pressure, the opportunity to see Bath almost out of sight within 20 minutes.
Mitchell may be more effective for England coming on in the later stages of matches
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Whether it was lofted, left-footed box-kicks, kicks to the corner or ground-grabbing gains, he had Munster sprawled and wriggling. In the first four minutes he put boot to ball four times. Every one precise. Munster had no easy out. His fifth kick ended with Bath’s first try.
He kicked one aimless ball; maybe mishit would be a better word. That was in the 20th minute of the match. Munster made easy metres for the very first time. Bath were stretched in defence for the first time. Three penalties were conceded in a short space of time. The little pocket of Irish pressure ended with a try. The question isn’t to kick or not to kick. It’s a question of precision. As excellent a boot as Mitchell possesses, it’s not a match for the varied range of Spencer.
The Bath man is as quick, if not quicker than the Saints supremo, but he doesn’t have the sniping skills around the fringe and scrums that open up areas for Mitchell’s fly half, be it George Ford for England or Fin Smith against the Bulls this Sunday afternoon. Overall the balance of Mitchell’s attributes suggest Borthwick is just about right to regard Mitchell as England’s first choice. But it isn’t a matter of first choice.
Spencer should start for England. In the aftermath of the Munster performance, when interviewed as man of the match, Spencer used two words — “transfer pressure” — to explain the philosophy of Bath’s tactics and his kicking.
It is the perfect description of what Borthwick believes in. Lee Blackett, the former Bath attack coach, has been added to the England set-up to improve the side’s cutting edge, not to turn them into a Barbarians team tuned into the thrill of endless counterattacks. England are set up to take teams on from close range and limit risks in their own half. The transfer of pressure is designed to drain opposition. That’s the purpose of a potent bench. To cause chaos when the game and the opposition loosens up around the 50-minute mark. This is when the Mitchell mayhem can work to maximum effect.
Mitchell, darting around in the opening stages, is less likely to open up a defence than when that glimpse of tiredness reveals itself. Later, not sooner, is when opportunity comes knocking for Mitchell and his broken-field buddies.
Spencer has run the show for Bath this season and has relished his captaincy role at the club
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Spencer’s prime role should be to ensure England play in the right parts of the field from the first whistle. He does that better than any scrum half in England. If allowed to grow into the starting scrum half he possesses the skills to dictate where the pack can set up camp and Ford can orchestrate the tryscoring potential of the back line.
England are similar to South Africa in how and where they want to play the game. On a straight comparison it is difficult to see the former Saint, Cobus Reinach — although he was brilliant against La Rochelle on Saturday — winning any battle with the frightening all-round game and speed of Grant Williams for the scrum half’s No9 shirt. But there is no battle in Springbok colours. The one sets the scene and, quite often, the other one steals the show.
Spencer is a scene setter. The man who can put England in all the places the team would like to be to base their game. The more he starts, the more confident, the better he will become. The more he starts the more impactful Mitchell can prove in the final half an hour or so. The two men should not be rivals for the No9 jersey, those days are dying. Test matches are about component parts working in tandem. Spencer should start against Wales when the Six Nations begins in February.
Toulon v Bath
Champions Cup
Sunday, 3.15pm
TV Premier Sports 2