Coach leaps to defence of Denny

ENGLAND defence coach Paul Gustard is confident rugby league convert Denny Solomona will quickly get to grips with the defensive side of the 15-man code.

The Sale winger endured a horrendous start to his England career with two defensive lapses within minutes of entering the action in Saturday’s first Test against Argentina in San Juan that enabled the hosts to turn a 23-17 deficit into a 31-23 lead.

The former Melbourne, London Broncos and Castleford player redeemed himself by scoring the last-minute winning try that secured a 38-34 victory but head coach Eddie Jones urged him to go shopping for tackle bags and studs when the squad returned to Buenos Aires on Sunday.

Gustard expressed his confidence in Solomona’s ability to get up to speed as the squad began their preparations for Saturday’s second Test in Santa Fe.

“The way he defended for the first try, he didn’t stay square, so he needs to stay square to protect the ball and for the second one he wasn’t connected to Alex Lozowski and George Ford,” Gustard said. “It was a poor three minutes for him but we’ve obviously got faith in Denny’s ability. We’ve seen him play for Sale and we’ve seen him play a lot of rugby league, I’m sure he will come good.”

Despite conceding four tries, Gustard said there is no panic over England’s defensive efforts in San Juan, insisting it was a commendable performance from a new-look side containing 10 debutants.

“I thought we defended really well,” said the former Saracens defensive coach. “Unfortunately, the tries we conceded were really cheap.

“But for the large part there was huge improvement in terms of the some of the tackle and contesting areas I’ve been working very hard on.

“There were a lot of young guys out there making their debuts so I was very pleased with the effort they put in.

“There is always room for improvement. We still conceded four tries, whether we like it or not, and there are things we will work on this week.”