England at the World Cup

George Ford, left, celebrates his Bath team-mate Peter Stringer’s try in the Premiership semi-final against Leicester. Photograph: JMP/Rex Shutterstock

The other day Jason Gillespie took part in a fascinating Q&A in the Long Room at Lord’s. It may not have earned him the England coaching job but the former Australia pace bowler was very interesting on the subject of how to transfer pressure back on to the opposition in an elite team sport.

The Yorkshire coach’s view was that, on occasions, doing the safe, obvious thing such as leaving the ball outside off-stump was not always the best policy. As a coach he said he preferred his players to back their talent where possible and if it felt right, to take the risk of trying to drive the odd wide delivery for four. If they did so, he argued, it had the potential to change the course of the game, by encouraging team-mates to have the confidence to do the same and sowing seeds of doubt among the opposition. Playing conservatively rarely has the same galvanising effect.

His words felt all the more relevant as Bath tore apart Leicester in the Premiership semi-final. The Tigers were more than competitive up front but Bath kept playing their shots regardless and blew away the visitors. It was the same in January when they thrashed Toulouse away from home, working on the principle it was better to stay true to their instincts with ball in hand than be throttled by the fear of the big sudden-death occasion.

The biggest test of all awaits at Twickenham in Saturday’s grand final. Bath, though, have already pledged not to change their preferred method, correctly assuming there is nothing to be gained by doing so. Saracens may be an excellent defensive side but even they will feel some disquiet at the prospect of Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph, Kyle Eastmond and George Ford in full cry. In the modern game, positive thinking seems to be reaping increasingly impressive returns.

It begs an obvious question in a World Cup year: what would happen if England chose to adopt a similar mindset when they host this autumn’s tournament? They already have the spectacular foundations of the final Six Nations weekend to build on, Stuart Lancaster’s side having stuck seven tries on France as they sought – in vain – to boost their points difference and deny Ireland their title. May we not be approaching the point where pursuing the Bath blueprint is England’s best way forward?

The traditional reaction is to take the opposite tack. Defence wins titles and all that. So it does in a nine-month league season but these days, in a knockout situation, pretty much every contender has a tight defensive line. What can make the difference is the positivity, precision and sharpness of the attacking threat, as the All Blacks have long proven even when they do not have forward supremacy. In the shape of Bath’s chief executioners, English rugby have the personnel to do something similar.