May insists England are growing faster than the Kiwis and will be ready to turn them over at the World Cup
CONOR MURRAY will be “firing on all cylinders” if he tackles the All Blacks in Dublin on Saturday That’s the view of Ireland lock Iain Henderson. Scrum-half Murray (above) has not played since injuring his neck on the summer tour of Australia.
Boss Joe Schmidt left Murray out of his original 42-man autumn Test squad to spare him any pressure to return this month.
But Henderson said: “I have no doubt in my mind that Conor would be back firing on all cylinders if he steps back in to play.
“We just have to wait and see how his fitness is, how he slots back in to the training regime.
“Conor has been a massive part of our game over the last few years, he’s a quality player.” ENGLAND will have New Zealand’s number in time for the Rugby World Cup.
That was the bold prediction from Jonny May after an agonising one-point defeat by the world champions.
The England wing cast aside the frustration of a controversial loss after Sam Underhill’s late try was ruled out by the Television Match Official.
And he warned the
All Blacks that England will be ready to exact revenge when it really matters at Japan 2019.
“My feeling is that we have played in tougher games,” said
May. “People didn’t give us much of a chance and we’ve definitely shown we are capable of doing it.
“I am convinced we’ve got more growth in us between now and the World Cup than them. Convinced.
“They’ve got so much experience and they’ve been together a lot longer than us.
“They will improve, of course they will, but I think we’ve got more growth in us. We are at the start of our season, we are missing players and we are only going to gain experience.
“There are some players to come back in and there are individual and team developments to come.”
The near-miss against New Zealand after back-to-back wins against South Africa suggests the chariot is back on course after losing its bearings in the first half of 2018.
“It has been a tough year for this group and people probably thought our bubble might have popped, but we stayed tight within our group,” said May. “The games we lost were by fine margins and I think we will be stronger for going through that kind of patch and we are not as far off as people think.
“It is definitely a positive to come that close against New Zealand.”
Eddie Jones, smarting from an accusation by Japan captain Michael Leitch that he bullied players when he was in charge of the Brave Blossoms, delivered the following advice to England’s next opponents.
“Go to the temple and pray. We’re going to be absolutely ruthless,” said Jones. “We want to smash Japan, physically smash them, because I know they’re going to come full of confidence.
“I’ve heard some of the things they’ve said, they’ve been a bit cheeky so look out.”
The England coach is likely to resist the temptation to experiment against the weakest of England’s autumn opponents, but he may have to make some enforced changes.
Dylan Hartley went off at half-time against New Zealand with a thumb injury, Courtney Lawes dislocated his thumb and George Kruis pulled a calf muscle.
Manu Tuilagi, who has missed the first two games with a groin strain, is also unlikely to feature.
“Probably not,” said Jones. “He’s 99.99 per cent and we won’t play him until he’s at 100.” EMIRATES FA CUP 1st Round ALFRETON (0) 1 FLEETWOOD (2) 4 Sinnott 70 Madden 13, 60 pen Att: 827 Hunter 20, Garner 90 BARNET (1) 1 BRISTOL ROVERS (0) 1 Robson 16 Lines 66 pen CHORLEY (2) 2 DONCASTER (1) 2 O’Keefe 2 Kane 11, 77 Meppen-Walter 43 Att: 3,239 GUISELEY (2) 4 CAMBRIDGE U (0) 3 Hatfield 25 Ibehre 65, 90 Moyo 40 Maris 89 Felix 48, James 55 Att: 1,097 HITCHIN (0) 0 SOLIHULL (0) 2 Att: 3,148 Yussuf 72 pen
Wright 78 CHARLTON (0) 1
Stevenson 73 MANSFIELD (1) 1 Hamilton 45 Att: 3,240
PORT VALE (1) 1 Pope 35
Att: 7,238 SHREWSBURY (1) 1 Norburn 25
Att: 4,351 WESTON-S-M (0) 0 Att: 1,170
SUNDERLAND (2) 2 Honeyman 1 Gooch 19 SALFORD (1) 1 Rooney 27
WREXHAM (0) 2 Summerfield 51 Beavon 81
PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL (0) 1 Mkhitaryan 86 Att: 60,030 CHELSEA (0) 0 Att: 40,345 LIVERPOOL (1) 2 Salah 41 Shaqiri 53 MAN CITY (1) 3 Silva 12 Aguero 48 Gundogan 86 SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP LIVINGSTON (0) 0 CELTIC (0) 0 Att: 9,016 RANGERS (3) 7 Arfield 8, 61 Tavernier 35 pen Morelos 38 Middleton 59 Grezda 68, 75 WOMEN’S INTERNATIONAL England (0) 0 Sweden (2) 2 VANARAMA SOUTH
Truro City (2) 3 Dulwich (1) 2
JD WELSH PREMIER
Cardiff MU (2) 2 Aberystwyth (0) 3
WOLVES (1) 1 Cavaleiro 13
EVERTON (0) 0
FULHAM (0) 0 Att: 53,128
MAN UTD (0) 1 Martial 58 pen Att: 54,316 MOTHERWELL (1) 1 Main 25 Att: 49,802
3rd ONE DAY INTERNATIONAL Hobart: South Africa 320-5 (D Miller 139, F du Plessis 125) v Australia 280-9 (S Marsh 106) South Africa win by 40 runs
3rd T20 INTERNATIONAL Chennai: West Indies 181-3 v India 182-4 (S Dhawan 92, R Pant 58) India bt West Indies by 6 wkts
INTERNATIONALS
England (15) 15 N Zealand (10) 16 France (16) 26 S Africa (9) 29 Ireland (15) 28 Argentina (14) 17 Italy (18) 28 Georgia (7) 17 Scotland (21) 54 Fiji (17) 17 Wales (3) 9 Australia (3) 6 PREMIERSHIP CUP
Exeter (22) 29 Harlequins (6) 13 Saracens (10) 34 Worcester (12) 22 Wasps (13) 19 Bristol (13) 30 CHAMPIONSHIP CUP
C Pirates (16) 22 Bedford (10) 20 Doncaster (13) 20 Coventry (5) 19 Ealing (17) 34 Jersey (17) 41 Hartpury (7) 7 Lon Irish (21) 35 Yorkshire (24) 38 Nott’ham (7) 19
INTERNATIONAL
England (0) 0 N Zealand (18) 34 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP France (14) 28 Scotland (4) 10 Wales (20) 40 Ireland (4) 8
NITTO ATP FINALS, O2 Arena, London, Singles Group B:
K Anderson (Rsa) bt D Thiem (Aut) 6-3 7-6 (12-10), K Nishikori (Jpn) bt R Federer (Swi) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3
Doubles Group B: J Murray (GB) & B Soares (Bra) bt R Klaasen (Rsa) & M Venus (Nzl) 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 10-5, JS Cabal (Col) & R Farah (Col) bt N Mektic (Cro) & A Peya (Aut) 6-3 6-4
NEDBANK CHALLENGE, S Africa, (par 72): -15 L Westwood (Eng), -12 S Garcia (Spa), -11 L Oosthuizen (Rsa), -8 R Fisher (Eng)
CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS, Ricoh Arena, Coventry, Final: R O’Sullivan (Eng) bt K Wilson (Eng) 10-9
BBL CHAMPIONSHIP Plymouth 104 Manchester 78
EMIRATES FA CUP 1st Round Hampton & R v Oldham (7.45) BOSTIK PREMIER Carshalton v Whitehawk (7.45) Haringey v Tonbridge (7.45)
INTERNATIONAL T20 SERIES Gros Islet: England Women v Bangladesh Women (8)