England won't let Greenwood down

Sometimes, it’s only when you lose a thread of solid, consistent playing excellence that it dawns quite what you are missing. For three seasons now, it’s been easy to take the almost ever-present Greenwood for granted as he’s invariably popped up as England’s most opportune finisher, just as when he chased up Lewis Moody’s splendid, hounding charge-down of Louis Koen’s kick here.

This was his 28th try in just 43 Tests — only Jeremy Guscott (30 tries in 65
Tests) and Rory Underwood (49 in 85) have scored more for England — a staggering strike rate which tells only part of Greenwood’s footballing nous.

He is an inventor as well as a poacher, creating openings for others as he shapes and directs the back line while bringing subtle variations to England’s attack.

For someone once hailed at Leicester as “Cheesewire” for his string-bean frame, this 6ft 3in, 15st customer has also turned himself into a titan of a defender too, again on Saturday creating what seems an impenetrable midfield barrier with Mike Tindall.

Brian O’Driscoll may be the world’s most thrilling centre, but is he any more effective than Greenwood?

More than all this, there’s the smile Greenwood brings to the England ranks. These are tense times for the team. No one will let up on them.

Even Saturday’s critical win has been pounced on here by every critic, from the Boks’ Joost van der Westhuizen to Australia captain George Gregan, as a sign that England now look vulnerable to cracking under pressure.

Much of it has sounded like wishful thinking. England were poor by their standards yet still eventually won with a bit to spare against a side brimming with fire. This is a rare art.

With his ability to bring a light touch to the most suffocating of occasions, Greenwood would have loved poking fun about some of this rubbish being aimed at his team.

Georgia’s coach had claimed Woodward wouldn’t be able to crack a smile at the moment even if you gave him “a bag of tickles”, yet you don’t need a bag of tickles with Greenwood around.

The Manchester City fanatic got his coach laughing with the description of his try: “First touch, Goater-style, nudged it forward, put it in the back of the net . . .”

His team-mates even chuckled their forgiveness after his apology for that one glorious “cock-up” when he failed to touch the ball down behind his own goal from Koen’s missed penalty just before half-time. “Sorry about that. You must remind me not to forget next time,” he grinned.

It was only later that they all realised why Greenwood could be forgiven any lapse. He hadn’t told them about his trauma because he didn’t want it to distract them.

They are going to miss him while he’s away but it would be well for them to recall his old philosophy.

“You must never forget why you are there. It’s meant to be fun,” Greenwood has always said.

England need to remember that as the pressure builds and they long for the return of their crown prince.