LANCASTER’S ON AN AWAY DAY
England’s forwards must dominate Irish to make a statement
ENGLAND will today take the final step in their meticulous preparation for a home World Cup by emerging from the away dressing room at Twickenham to confront Ireland. Stuart Lancaster’s team have been acclimatising to the conditions they will face during their Pool A matches. Occupying the dressing room normally reserved for visiting nations is the last piece in the jigsaw. Matt Parker, the RFU’s head of athletic performance, is understood to have instigated the move in order to replicate the pre-match routine England will face before they play Fiji in their tournament opener on September 18. Forwards coach Graham Rowntree last night dismissed talk of England being a work in progress by declaring that they are ready to win the World Cup. Following claims by the union’s professional rugby director, Rob Andrew, that the team are likely to hit their peak in two to three years, Rowntree insisted: ‘I promise you this team can win a World Cup now — and that excites me.’
ENGLAND’S pack will go ‘ back to basics’ today in a quest to resume normal service after the shock of being pushed around by France on successive weekends last month.
The national team are treating their warm- up match against Ireland at Twickenham as the start of their World Cup campaign.
On that basis, they urgently need a win allied to a statement of intent up front. For the England forwards, a long-term attempt to broaden their repertoire has been put on the back burner in order to focus on the primary job of effectively throwing their weight around.
With Irish forwards led by the mighty Lion, Paul O’Connell, ready to capitalise if English frailty in the set-piece and breakdown battles is not eradicated, Chris Robshaw and Co will prioritise those staples.
Tom Wood, who has been recalled at blindside flanker, said: ‘Your bread and butter as a forward is to win set-piece ball and obliterate breakdowns. Sometimes you need reminding of that.
‘You spend all week working on fancy little plays and passes and sometimes you need to remember that “bend over and push is your main job, mate”. That’s what we’ve said this week, back to basics. Get that right and then start thinking about the other stuff.
‘We’re very confident. Our pack has set a solid platform for the past three or four years. It’s been our salvation when things haven’t gone to plan elsewhere. We’ve imposed ourselves on the best teams in the world and got really good change out of it. We’re certainly not the finished article but we haven’t become a bad pack overnight. We’ll try to get back to winning ways.’
Wood identified the most significant issue for Stuart Lancaster and his squad. England have always had their forward clout as a safety net. That was the fall-back plan at the end of the last autumn series, when Australia were ground into the Twickenham turf.
English advantage in the main areas of physical conflict is a reassurance for the host nation and their followers, so the notion of that advantage being negated is highly alarming.
It has been a difficult fortnight for Graham Rowntree, the England forwards coach, who had to delay the main thrust of the remedial work while the World Cup squad selections were finalised.
But the last week has been spent trying to correct faults in the scrum and line-out and decision-making lapses at the breakdown.
Despite the worrying events of recent weeks, Rowntree said: ‘We’ve not been the worst pack in the world over the last couple of years. As a coach I’ve looked at performances, I don’t get hysterical about what’s been said and understand what we’ve done in the last couple of years against good opposition. It is important to deliver.
‘The breakdown is a collective effort. I want to spread that load. It’s not just about one or two individuals. If you consider the work of Cole, Marler, Vunipola, Morgan, Launchbury, Tom Wood... and I haven’t even mentioned our No 7 (Robshaw), who is very good in that area himself.’
A lack of ruck discipline was a major factor in England’s 25-20 defeat by France in Paris two weeks ago. They were repeatedly penalised for infringing as they attempted to contest the ball and Wood conceded that there is a need for more composure.
‘The best way to win the breakdown is to win the race, to be instinctive and not to hesitate,’ he said. ‘ But sometimes your eagerness to get in there can cause you to make a bad decision.
‘The breakdown is not just a back-row thing. It’s a collective thing and it’s a mindset. Normally it takes a kick up the backside before you go back to the basics. You can talk about all the technical stuff in the world but it is a mentality.’
In addition to the scrutiny on the England pack as a whole, there will be a particular focus on Tom Youngs’ line- out throwing and Geoff Parling’s attempts to run a more slick operation in that crucial area.
In addition, Lancaster and his assistants will hope to see Ben Morgan at full throttle again, ready to challenge Billy Vunipola for the No 8 shirt.
Behind the scrum, there is real intrigue. Ben Youngs has Richard Wigglesworth breathing down his neck at scrumhalf and a full- blown debate about the fly-half place is in prospect unless George Ford makes a compelling case ahead of Owen Farrell.
Brad Barritt is highly regarded as a defensive linchpin but he’ll want to show a strong hand in attack at centre before Sam Burgess is unleashed from the bench.
Those are the selection agendas, but Lancaster also needs the right result.
Whatever is said publicly, England will be aware that going into a home World Cup on the back of two defeats would be far from ideal.
Twickenham may not quite be the fortress it was meant to be by this stage, but there’s still time to reinforce the ramparts.