Survivors from 2015 ‘have learned from their mistakes’

BEN Youngs is England’s senior player, and, as a veteran of the 2011 and 2015 World Cup disappointments, the 88-cap scrum-half says he is confident Eddie Jones’ squad is better primed for the 2019 tournament than the other two.

The 29-year old Leicester scrum-half says: “If I look at the things that went wrong in the previous two they were totally within our control. We can ensure that doesn’t happen by making sure we are in control of what goes on off the field, and also tactically and preparation-wise.”

He adds: “This squad and this regime have been building towards this for four years, and I believe we have a tremendous squad and a tremendous opportunity.”

Youngs lists what he considers to be the essential difference between England now and in 2011 and 2015.

“Tactical understanding. Team belief. The ability of understanding, within our strengths, how to win. One thing you can’t get (instantly) is experience, and in this side in the key positions we have a huge amount of experience.”

Youngs says the adjustments he has had to make at scrum-half since 2011 highlight the need to be ready to adapt.

“The emphasis on defence nowadays is huge compared to 2011, and kicking strategy in terms of where you play the game is key. In 2011 you could probably get away with playing a lot more in your own half, but defences cut down your time and space a lot more now and are very unforgiving. Games are quicker and it’s probably more physical.

“Every side is tactically so good and defences are so sound that you need an individual who can do something special. That’s when you need guys like Jonny May and Ant Watson to create that spark and pull something out of nothing.”

Youngs says that the Pool stage exit in 2015 was hard to take, but he suggests that players who have been through the mill and coped with disappointment are often better prepared.

“You look back at it and think maybe we weren’t ready then... I do feel that a lot of this side has gone through the highs and lows, not just internationally but clubwise, and all those experiences add up. Ultimately, those experiences help you to prepare, and they get you through those games when you are not firing on all cylinders, but you find a way of winning.”

Youngs believes that is essential to understand as a side what best suits you.

“Sometimes you focus so much on ‘we’ve got to improve in this area, or that area’, when actually some of the bits of our game are really good, and we want to continue to grow that.

“For example, our set piece is fantastic – our scrum, our maul– and there’s a big emphasis on our kick-chase and tactically how we try to squeeze teams offensively. We want to lead in those areas, so it’s about understanding our strengths, and playing to them.

“We can play with the ball, there’s no doubt about that, but I think we are very good at being patient and making sure we get it in the right areas before we do that.”

Youngs says that England’s dips against Wales and Scotland recently have been a result of not trusting enough in their strengths.

“At times we came away from that in key moments in key games – that’s when you need to fall back on your basics, fall back on your principles as a side, and we weren’t able to do that. Sometimes we were saying the right things but we didn’t have that buy-in.”

However, Youngs is convinced that England have learned from their errors and are ready for lift off in Japan.

“Now it’s clear and obvious that we are further down the line. Now it’s, ‘okay, this is what we do, and this is how we do it’. Eddie (Jones) will give us the tactical framework, and then the players have to own it and make the adjustments accordingly.”