Laying blocks for slam quest

The Red Rose head coach, who places enormous emphasis in a post-match review process that involves all his players and his coaching staff, believes the building blocks for their current success are put in place in simulated game scenarios.

As his England squad reconvene at their Pennyhill Park base in Surrey this morning in the wake of a third straight Six Nations win over France, Lancaster will begin the programme of review.

“On a Tuesday afternoon, we do 15 versus 15 in a simulated game, giving them different scenarios to deal with which I give them,” said the former Leeds player and coach.

“When you look at the quality of those 30 players, the guys who are in the none starting XV are giving us lots of problems, which is giving our defence more to think about.

“We had a back line of Danny Care, Toby Flood, Billy Twelvetress, David Strettle, and Joel Tomkins – it’s a good backline.

“It’s that sort of session on a Tuesday that gives us the learning.”

Saturday’s win has put England on the cusp of a grand slam with Italy at home and the more daunting trip to Cardiff to face Wales standing between themselves and their first European clean sweep for a decade.

Despite that, Lancaster rightly feels there is much still to be improved upon if England are to claim the grand slam.

“There’s plenty to work on definitely,” he said. “We do a lot of off-field coaching and different game scenarios and the players’ ability to manage that.

“It’s a sign that we’re getting the detail of that right and of how a game is won at Test level.”

Planning for the visit of Italy will begin next Tuesday when the squad return from a four-day break.

Already, though, Lancaster is being questioned about making changes, with England’s squad depth in the majority of key areas not replicated on the wings.

Chris Ashton is a player who goes through peaks and troughs of form and although he scored a try in the opening-day win over Scotland, he has struggled to be a factor in the last two more attritional games.

He was even at fault for the try Wesley Fofana scored for France at Twickenham when he allowed the bulldozing centre to round him too easily.

“He’s trying hard, he’s working hard,” said Lancaster. “But equally he knows there are areas of his game he needs to work on. Like everyone, he’ll be disappointed with the try he conceded.

“There are people pushing him, one of the options is playing Manu Tuilagi out there and Billy Twelvetrees at No 12.”

Forward Tom Wood says England must embrace the fact they are now just two steps away from the grand slam.

Two years ago, Martin Johnson effectively banned all talk of a clean sweep as England built towards their decisive game against Ireland.

But the decision to keep preparations low-key backfired. England were blown away in Dublin by an Ireland side who relished the prospect of ruining the grand slam party on St Patrick’s weekend.

Wood stressed England must learn from those mistakes heading into their games against Italy and Wales.

The Northampton forward is not afraid to frame those fixtures in a grand slam context because he is convinced England will not get carried away with the hype.

“We took the approach a couple of years ago where we just batted back (questions about the grand slam) as much as we could and refused to talk on the issue,” said Wood.

“You’ve got to entertain the fact that that’s going to be a huge expectation and that it is going to be something the opposition want to take away from you as well.

“That’s extra motivation for them. We have to be ready for that extra desire in the opposition that comes with trying to rob the English of a potential party.

“The second we forget what got us here, we are in trouble. We’ve got very grounded coaches that instil that in us from the start.

“We like to play things down, not get ahead of ourselves and make sure we are always working hard.

“It’s important we stick to those values. We are a very tight group, a very humble group I like to think. But within the camp we have a lot of faith in each other.”