Farrell tips England rugby for a successful year
BACKS COACH SAYS ALL BLACKS LOSS WON’T DIMINISH AMBITIONS
England are in great shape ahead of next year’s Six Nations tournament despite their recent loss to New Zealand, according to backs coach Andy Farrell. Stuart Lancaster’s side won two of their three autumn internationals this month against Australia ( 20- 13) and Argentina ( 31- 12), before losing 30- 20 to the All Blacks, who have since become the first national team to go a calendar year unbeaten in the professional era.
With that record in mind, Farrell — who is in the UAE as part of the Joining Jack squad for this weekend’s Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens — wasn’t too disappointed with the defeat to New Zealand and insisted England are still on track for the Six Nations and the 2015 IRB World Cup.
“We are in a very good place,” Farrell, 38, father of England fly- half Owen, told
Gulf News. “Two wins, and one loss to the All Blacks, is not what we wanted. We wanted to win all three. But I think we showed quite a bit of progress.
“A few players will be back for the Six Nations injuries-wise, so we are certainly moving in the right direction. After the disappointment of the All Blacks defeat, we are already looking forward to what is a fantastic competition — the Six Nations — and we are looking to win something. That is the next step for this group.”
Rousing display
Considering the All Blacks’ current strength, Farrell, who won 21 caps for England’s union side after 45 rugby league international appearances, said the hosts fared well against the world champions. “I genuinely thought we had a good chance of winning. We showed that when we brought it back to 2220. We were playing our game against them but a lapse of concentration turned the game on its head and the All Blacks did what they did best. We’ve got to learn those things, but the more we put ourselves in those situations the more we will learn.
“If you look at the combination of experience and what was up against them, our central partnership has five or six caps between them and we had new players all over the place. So to run a side like New Zealand very close and have a good chance of winning and be dis- appointed not to win, shows where we are at.”
Asked if it was difficult to maintain the tempo of England’s rise, with a World Cup on home soil still 22 months away, Farrell said: “Everyone is super keen to be involved in the World Cup squad and they can’t afford to take their eye off the next job, which is the Six Nations.”
He added: “Everyone knows we are a young group who are immature as far as caps are concerned. I think we have a good basis of a good solid squad and we found out a lot of things about a lot of players. Things will start narrowing down very nicely from now on in.”