England chief Lancaster demands positive reaction

ENGLAND head coach Stuart Lancaster admits the “pressure is on” after seeing his side throw away another winning position.
England coach Stuart Lancaster looks dejected after during the QBE International at Twickenham, London.England coach Stuart Lancaster looks dejected after during the QBE International at Twickenham, London.
England coach Stuart Lancaster looks dejected after during the QBE International at Twickenham, London.

He was helpless in the Twickenham stands as the Red Rose conspired to lose 31-28 against South Africa, a fifth successive defeat which should have been so easily avoided.

Having also lost by just three points to New Zealand a week earlier, there is a theme clearly developing; England’s inability to close out tight games.

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Granted, the first four matches in that losing streak were against the world champion All Blacks and South Africa are presently rated No 2 in the international rankings.

Yet, given England’s hopes of winning a World Cup here in 2015, the manner of this latest defeat – basic errors, poor discipline and a lack of game management all too visible – is perturbing.

They will be thankful that the far less heralded Samoa, who arrive at headquarters on Saturday night unless a loose threat to strike over pay conditions comes to bear, should mean their losing run is not stretched to six games.

But Lancaster was left with more questions than answers after the Springbok disappointment. He is expected to make a raft of changes for Samoa with George Ford likely to start at fly-half and Ben Morgan – who scored a terrific try on Saturday – in at No 8. But captain Chris Robshaw, who struggled at openside, is unlikely to be dropped.

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Regardless, the ex-Leeds Carnegie chief envisages a fulsome response from those who gain another chance and those on the periphery coming in to try to earn a spot in the final QBE autumn international with Australia.

“Every defeat hurts and more so in the situation we put ourselves in on Saturday,” said Lancaster, after an intercept try helped gift the visitors a 10-0 lead.

“We were 13-6 down at half-time having not really asked them to do much to get those 13 points. It does hurt.

“But, obviously, you do want to make sure you build and put a positive performance in next week. People want and expect that – as do we.

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“We’ve had five games against the top two sides in the world and we’ve not been smashed in any of them. In a lot of ways we’ve been reasonably dominant in lots of areas against them.

“Clearly the pressure is on because we’ve not achieved our objective. But internally there’s a very strong group working hard together to improve. There’s no sense of the pressure affecting people.”

Privately, however, Lancaster will know that some of his players are perhaps simply not good enough currently for the examinations brought by Test football.

“In my mind, I’d already thought about changes we’d make,” he added.

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“We’ve got to develop and see other players and how they perform. The trick is to win in the short term and develop a team in the long term.

“It’s got to be the case (that selection for Australia is competitive). That’s the challenge for the squad that gets picked next week: to train well, apply themselves well, put in a strong performance.

“I want to give people opportunities for that reason – to find out who can deliver in the Samoa game and then, ultimately, pick the side for the Australia game.”

Having fought back from 20-6 down to draw level 20-20 – and with Springbok lock Victor Matfield sin-binned – England somehow conceded a try to their opponents to lose momentum again in the second half.

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When England hooker Dylan Hartley’s discipline problems continued (he was yellow-carded for stamping) their hopes of avoiding a 12-match winless run against South Africa, now their worst run against any single nation, were further diminished.

“When we review the game I’ll be making it clear we can’t afford to be losing guys to the bin or conceding penalties,” said Lancaster, when asked if he was worried by Hartley’s discipline. “There were a couple of penalties that hurt us a well as losing a guy to the bin.

“The maul try when they had a guy in the bin was generated through field position which was ultimately down to our guy (Tom Wood) competing in the air.

“He goes up to compete for the ball, but gets a nudge in him and then it’s a penalty in the corner. It’s those bits of technical discipline we need to improve.”

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer offered some comfort.

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“They’re a quality side and they will be better for this,” he said.

“The last three games we’ve played them, one was a draw, one a win by a point and this by three.”

Dave Craven’s England match report: Page 5.