Pressure is all on Scotland, claims Youngs

Scotland have to beat England by their biggest margin in 25 years to stand any chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals, following Sunday’s 13-12 defeat to Argentina.

England are not bullet-proof but they head into the Eden Park game unbeaten on top of Pool B and Youngs insists the pressure is all on Scotland.

“We’re three from three and no other team’s done that in our group,” said Youngs.

“We’re the ones in control and the ones who should be confident, and rightly so.

“It’s not arrogance, it’s the fact we are playing well and we had a good result on the weekend against Romania.

“Scotland are the ones who’ve got to come out and play.

“We fully respect Scotland, they do have dangerous players.

“We’ve been playing good attacking rugby. As long as we get that right it should be enough.”

Immediately after England’s 67-3 victory over Romania, England manager Martin Johnson labelled the Scotland encounter as bigger than anything they would face in the Six Nations.

The England coaches are clearly trying to build a mindset in the squad to match the intensity of the occasion, with Scotland expected to tear into them.

“It’s England v Scotland. They’ll be just as up for it as we will. They’re going to throw everything at us and we’ll do likewise to them,” said Youngs.

“We need to be more hungry than they’ll be, we need to be more passionate than they’ll be, we have to match them physically and better them.

“If we do that, we’ll be in a good place.”

England have scored 17 tries in their three World Cup matches and conceded just one but their penalty count has been a major concern for Johnson.

Had Argentina and Georgia boasted a kicker with the reliability of Scotland’s Chris Paterson then England could have found themselves in a world of trouble.

Scotland outplayed England at the breakdown during the Six Nations and Youngs stressed the need for discipline on Saturday, for England to trust the defence that has held up so well.

“It’s a World Cup and we’ve come on a huge amount as a team since we last played Scotland,” said Youngs.

“They pushed us really close at Twickenham. Max Evans scored at the end and we were lucky we got away with it.

“We learned a huge amount and I think we’re in a great place as a squad.

“Discipline has been an area we have really targeted. We’ve been having a bit of trouble there.

“We have to be whiter than white and trust our defence. They have some very dangerous players but our defence has been very good.

“We have conceded one try in the last three games so there’s no reason we can’t let them have the ball and keep making our tackles.”

Johnson will name his team to face Scotland in the early hours of tomorrow morning but he is expected to recall lock Courtney Lawes, who is available again after a ban, and Matt Stevens at loosehead prop.

England prop Stevens is also determined to stay on the right side of the law.

Stevens, who is focusing on the less familiar role of loose-head prop following Andrew Sheridan’s tournament-ending injury, was penalised heavily in England’s victory over Georgia. Stevens missed the 10-try rout of Romania with a minor ankle sprain but is ready to resume at loose-head from Alex Corbisiero if called upon.

The Saracens prop vowed there would be no repeat of the binding issues which saw him fall foul of referee Jonathan Kaplan against the Georgians.

“I stick my hand up,” said the versatile Stevens. “Our intention as an England pack is to always go forward in the scrum, if we get the hit. At loose-head it is important to get a quick early bind and hold that grip.

“Sometimes with the force coming through the packs you miss the jersey or it’s a tight jersey and you can’t get that bind.

“But that is up to me to sort out. That’s what I’m doing and I’ve been working on that a lot in the last two weeks.

“I think there is definitely more of a focus for me on loose-head. Alex Corbisiero showed last week that he is a great player at loose-head, Dan Cole is doing really well at tight-head and Davey Wilson did well when he came on.

“We’ve basically got two international front rows so we’re happy with where we are.

“Scotland are quick across the mark and they scrummed really well against Georgia. They are going to be a tough outfit. As long as I can keep my bind up, we will be fine.”

Stevens only returned to rugby in January after serving a two-year ban for cocaine and he is now a father to twin girls – all of which makes England’s run to the 2007 World Cup final seem like a lifetime ago.

“Experience and maturity are big things,” he said. “It’s very different. I am a Dad now. I definitely feel a lot more grounded now, I know what I want and I am happy with how things are going at the moment. It was a very good experience to have those two years off to reflect on what is important to me. I am definitely a better person.”