Scotland boys wanted it more, admits Blaze
U20s coach Richard Blaze predicts a “huge reaction” from his side when they take on France in this Friday’s must-win match at Beziers.
Sloppy finishing against Scotland last week meant England’s hopes of back-toback Grand Slams were destroyed after a damaging 24-17 defeat.
However, a big win over France, while denying their opponents a point, could set up a potential title decider against Ireland the following week. Blaze told The Rugby
Paper: “We made 12 linebreaks and didn’t finish them and because of that we allowed Scotland a foothold in the game.
“Credit to them, they slowed our tempo down and made the breakdown messy, but our execution let us down and we got drawn into a niggly game.
“Scotland probably then wanted it more than us, which as a coach is not what you want to hear, so I’m expecting a huge reaction against France.
“We’ve all had a week to stew on the Scotland result and, while France will be a huge challenge, I’m sure the guys will be looking forward to this.”
Meanwhile, Blaze is enjoying his first foray into top-class coaching since his shock decision to quit as Leicester’s forwards coach last September.
Revealing his reasons, Blaze explained: “I wanted to take a break from the game and have a change of environment. I’ve got a very young family and I’d gone from playing straight into coaching when I had to retire with my foot injury at 25.
“Coaching in the Premiership week-in, week-out is demanding, especially at a team like Leicester where the expectation from supporters is you have to win every week – and win well.
“I’d done it for seven years but I’ve got a twoyear-old daughter now and my wife works as a doctor so I just needed some balance in my life.”
Blaze added: “I still do development work for Tigers and work at Loughborough as defence coach, so I’ve maintained those links and still have coaching ambitions.
“This opportunity came up with England U20s, which I thought would work well, so it’s been a good reintroduction and it’s helping me as a coach.”