Speaking after a long-awaited England win on Saturday night, Steve Borthwick sought to highlight the spirit he believes he has instilled in his team even amid a run of near misses. “What really struck me today was how hard the England players were running back,” the head coach explained. “We said in the week that we would have to - because they’re such a good team - but they ran back and tried to save tries. That’s a real sign of team development.”
There was one moment in particular that summed that ethos up. The match had barely begun again after the interval when Marcus Smith found himself pickpocketed on the touchline, Louis Bielle-Biarrey spinning out of the contact with a pilfered pill and making tracks for home. The France wing is properly rapid; for a moment, all English hope appeared lost as he scurried away.
But suddenly, in a flash of English white, his opposite number appeared in his path. Few are capable of matching the top speed of French flyer, but Ollie Sleightholme has him just about covered in the sprinting stakes.
“I knew it was a turnover and I had to bust my nuts to get there, to force something,” Sleightholme recalls having clocked a top speed of 9.2m/s in haring back. “Whether that was a tackle or an offload, I just had to make it so that he couldn't score in the corner.”
The chase paid off. Bielle-Biarrey’s infield toss hit the hands of France hooker Peato Mauvaka and then the deck. It was one of 27 handling errors on the day from the visiting side; one of three guilt-edged chances they passed up with line in sight. It was a peculiar display of boucherie that proved crucial in the final accounting.
“A lot of the coaches I've worked with have had the philosophy of making them make one more pass; make them do something that they can make a mistake with, rather than not,” Sleighthome adds. “If I don't force that, then he scores in the corner. I can make the decision to force something and they might still score - they have a high chance - or they definitely score.
“It's funny, you're always running fastest when you're being chased or chasing someone. It's sort of 'you just run as fast as you can in that moment to get to him'. That's all there is to it. There's not much thought in those situations, I don't think, it's more of a reaction.
“It just shows the ethos of this team, where we're really willing to work our socks off for each other and put our bodies on the line for each other to get the win. You've seen that in previous games. We just haven't had that last little bit which has gotten us over the line but you've seen the determination and philosophy within the squad.”
Sleightholme had missed England’s Six Nations opener in Dublin while shaking off the lingering effects of a hamstring issue suffered while playing for Northampton in November. While he was not involved in the final moments as England executed a perfectly-drilled winning play to snatch a much-needed victory, Sleightholme relished in the post-match celebrations – at least until young baby Lyra forced him away.
While Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is back in camp for rehabilitation this week, a starting wing shirt appears Sleightholme’s to lose for now having impressed with his speed and attacking verve since making an eye-catching debut in New Zealand last summer. A tweaked defensive system is proving more familiar to a 24-year-old who comes from good stock, with Jon, his father, winning 12 caps in the late 1990s.
Sleightholme could race past that tally before the year is out. A confident, sometimes combative character, he enjoys the confrontation, engaging in a tete-a-tete with Damian Penaud in the first half of the France game and driving him into the Allianz Stadium hoardings.
“There wasn't really a thought process,” he freely admits. “It was an in the moment thing. Looking back on it, it looked a bit worse than what it was. I thought I fell into him but it looks like I've shoulder-charged him - which I didn't. There wasn't much in it.
“There's a side of me that does [relish the contest] but I know I have to keep my cool and be calm while playing. But I don't think there's much wrong with a little bit of argy-bargy with your opposite number.”
Sleightholme is beginning to really feel settled in camp, aided by a Saints spine that contains some of his closest mates. Alex Mitchell is entrenched at scrum half; Fin Smith enjoyed a fine first start last Saturday; Tommy Freeman offers a lovely blend of skills on the opposite wing. Full-back George Furbank may be back to bolster the ranks before the end of this campaign.
The quintet were all key as Northampton romped to the Premiership title last season after a couple of frustrating, up-and-down campaigns. With a win under the belts, the hope is that England can build in the same way.
“It just shows how close we were as a group, that we always managed to find a way to win last year,” Sleightholme says of the domestic success. “Moving that forward to now, in an international set-up, we found a way to win at the weekend, which is really positive.
“I think we have to have every confidence in ourselves after that win at the weekend. It has proven to us that we can do it, in a weird way. We have come so close and hit the crossbar so many times. That has now given us the belief. We know that, when we put our game on the pitch and we do our best to nullify their threats, that we can get results against the top teams in the world.”
