Gat pumps up Patchell
BILLY TRUTH BOOST
BILLY VUNIPOLA has talked of England’s honesty session that led to “handbags” but which he believes has made them World Cup contenders.
A frustrated Eddie Jones called in Australian psychologist Corinne Reid after Scotland reeled in a 31-point deficit during the Six Nations to draw the Calcutta Cup match 38-apiece.
The England coach felt his side were still carrying the baggage of the disastrous 2015 World Cup campaign.
Vunipola revealed that at a training camp in July, the players were asked by Reid to pour out their feelings about that failure – and each other – in a savage and emotional meeting which bruised egos but ended up tightening the squad for Japan.
“Probably the biggest thing we needed to improve was how together we can be,” said Vunipola.
“Every other team says they are doing it but being brutally honest can hurt a few feelings.
‘‘Within the confines of England rugby a lot of us are very precious. When you’re at your club you’re the main man but when you’re with England you’re just the next person.
“Men don’t know how to talk about their feelings and it took us a while but we got there in the end – there were a few handbags thrown but it was good.
“There are always mishaps but I think we have had better tools to deal with it this time than before.”
The willingness to deal directly with issues has seen more face-to-face criticism from NEIL SQUIRES
of each other at this tournament like the spat between Henry Slade and Elliot Daly after they blew a try chance against Tonga.
But Vunipola feels that because of the stronger bonds in the team, there are no lingering problems afterwards.
He said: “I think this is the first (England) team that is willing to go deeper than just say: ‘I think you should have hit this ruck.’ We have got down to it and it has been good.
“We’ve talked about things that we’ve never been able to put out there, as a group, and it’s brought us closer together. There is a lot more respect in that changing room for each other, and it’s been really fun.
“And I really think that with this team when there is a big challenge now, we turn up.” RHYS PATCHELL put a horrific year behind him after Warren Gatland and Dan Biggar “pumped his tyres” to turn him into a World Cup star.
The Wales fly-half, 26, suffered four concussions in 18 months but produced a 14-point haul as Gatland’s side edged a 29-25 thriller against Australia in Tokyo on Sunday. Patchell was an
from ALEX BYWATER early replacement for Biggar and was faultless as the Dragons took control of Pool D.
He said: “Warren is awesome. He understands when players need their tyres pumped up and when we need a bit of stick.
“He gives us a lot of belief off the back of a difficult last year. I am delighted to have contributed to a great team performance.”
Biggar suffered a head injury but geed up Patchell on the sidelines.
After making it two wins from two, a battered Wales travelled by bullet train yesterday to Otsu.
They will not train again until Friday ahead of next Wednesday’s clash with Fiji in Oita.