Whiffin: England have learnt from Irish loss
ENGLAND U20s attack coach Richard Whiffin insists harsh lessons have been learned about the need to out-passion Celtic opponents ahead of Friday’s second away match against Wales.
An opening night defeat to Ireland in Cork wrecked England’s Grand Slam hopes.
However, last week’s convincing victory over France at Exeter righted the ship and Whiffin said: “It was disappointing to drop that first game but it gave us massive things to work on and that was reflected against France, against whom we simplified things.
“We reflected pretty hard on Ireland and as a group we probably got a bit out-emotioned. Ireland were a pretty tight-knit group who’d been together for four weeks and played two preparation games, whereas we’d only had our Premiership guys the week before that game.
“We probably focussed too much on detail whereas, on reflection, we just needed a good group of players to go out there and be hungry. Ireland probably had a bit more fight in the key areas, but against France our pack was outstanding and overall we were very dominant.”
Premiership call-ups mean England are likely to be without experienced players such as Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton), Tom Hardwick (Leicester), Ted Hill (Worcester) and Joe Heyes (Leicester) for the trip to Colwyn Bay.
Smith’s absence will open the fly-half door to Sale’s Kieran Wilkinson and Manu Vunipola of Saracens, though, while fellow backs Cameron Redpath and Tom De Glanville, right, and back
rowers Rus Tuima, Richard Capstick and Tom Marshall could have bigger parts to play.
Whiffin said: “We’ll have players released back to their clubs but guys like Marcus and Fraser are committed to our programme and will be keen to stake a claim in future.
“It shows the quality of young players we’ve got that guys who go back to their clubs are playing straight away in the Premiership and, while that poses a challenge for us, off the back of that it provides opportunities for others to give us a different emphasis.
“There’s plenty of top talent to come in and we’ll back those guys to deliver.”
Gloucester head of academy Whiffin is enjoying his own foray into the Test arena, adding: “It’s challenging because you have to get your preparation right in limited time, getting everyone used to a new set of calls while trying to assimilate players from 14 clubs.
“At the same time, though, it’s a hugely enjoyable experience.”