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Joe Launchbury for England at Twickenham
England’s driving force Joe Launchbury, right, looks to pass Australia’s Will Genia during his side’s 33-13 defeat at Twickenham. Photograph: Seconds Left/Rex Shutterstock
England’s driving force Joe Launchbury, right, looks to pass Australia’s Will Genia during his side’s 33-13 defeat at Twickenham. Photograph: Seconds Left/Rex Shutterstock

Joe Launchbury’s towering display puts him in frame to be next captain

This article is more than 8 years old
The England lock’s world-class performance against the Wallabies proved that he is the natural successor to Chris Robshaw

There was no consolation for England in their desolation on Saturday night, booed off by spectators who had given them a rousing reception for the third week running. But, as the pain of their humiliation starts to let up and reason replaces raw emotion, they should reflect on a player who did shine a light in the gloom and will be a candidate to replace Chris Robshaw as captain: Joe Launchbury.

Robshaw’s time as leader is up regardless of who is coaching the side by the start of the Six Nations and, if he has a place in the side, it will be at blindside flanker not on the open side. The beard he has grown during the tournament may come to serve as a useful disguise but the international career of an honourable man will come to a dishonourable end because, for all his qualities, he lacked one of the most important of all: decision-making under pressure.

There were times during the defeat by Australia when Launchbury seemed to be taking the game to the Wallabies single-handedly, at one point starting a counter-attack down the wing and then, after the ball had been lost, not for the first or last time, thwarting the response with a smother tackle. Along with the wing Anthony Watson he was one of the few players in white who would have looked comfortable in green and gold and he would also enhance the Wales second row in tandem with Alun Wyn Jones.

Launchbury does not have much captaincy experience but neither did Sam Warburton when Warren Gatland asked him to lead Wales in 2011. Both are the epitome of the modern international rugby player: clean-cut in image, thoroughly professional and fiercely competitive. They both give the impression of being laid-back while performing media duties but it is on the field where their characters exemplify the fighting qualities required on the biggest stage. Too many England players did their talking against Australia off the field, how they were going to do this and that, but Launchbury was one of the few to have something to say during the game, leading by example.

As two former captains, Will Carling and Lewis Moody, pointed out some 12 hours after Romain Poite had blown the final whistle on England’s World Cup campaign, the Rugby Football Union should be mindful that sacking the coach, Stuart Lancaster, could be counter-productive because the squad he built up is relatively inexperienced and should be peaking by the next World Cup.

The likes of Launchbury, Billy Vunipola, George Ford, Jonathan Joseph, Watson, Jonny May and Henry Slade have more than promise. England, and not just because they were hosts, should have arrived at the tournament as a settled side rather than one in which new combinations were still being tried out. But such was the overhaul Lancaster, under the remit he was given after being appointed in the fall-out from the 2011 campaign, was obliged to carry out that they were never going to be as mature as most of their rivals. He was also hampered by a run of long-term injuries with Launchbury, who missed most of last season after having neck surgery, among the casualties.

England are no longer in the World Cup because they were not good enough in a group containing sides in Australia and Wales that were coached by two hard-nosed accumulators of trophies. But, whereas there had to be a clear-out after 2011, that is not the case this time. The bulk of the current squad, 24 of whom were appearing in their first World Cup, will be around in 2019, probably supplemented by such as Maro Itoje, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jack Clifford.

There is no need to panic and in Launchbury, who took a while to find his peak form after injury, they have an alternative leader, a player of warrior spirit who is worth his place in any side.

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