Alex Goode: Accomplished performance
England coach Stuart Lancaster has told his side they will need to sharpen up their act when they face the world's best sides over the coming weeks.
Lancaster saw an inexperienced side trash Fiji 54-12 at Twickenham on Saturday, as England launched their November campaign with a record margin of victory over the Pacific Islanders.
Charlie Sharples, playing in place of suspended wing Chris Ashton, bagged a brace and Saracens full-back Alex Goode again showed signs of his play-making ability at Test level.
But with Australia (November 17), South Africa (November 24) and world champions New Zealand (December 1) all visiting Twickenham in the coming weeks, Lancaster knows his side cannot afford a repeat of Saturdau's sluggish opening quarter.
England also made a mess of several potential tries and, while that didn't matter much against Fiji, such carelessness is sure to cost them dear against world rugby's top three nations.
"Next week and the week after and the week after that we are going to have to be more clinical," said Lancaster.
"It was good to get the win. We struggled a bit for 10-15 minutes.
"We didn't convert every opportunity but we were pleased with the opportunities we did take.
"It was a good start but we recognised the quality of the opposition that is coming around the corner. We will have to step up a couple of levels next week.
"Our cohesion is growing and that is what we will need.
"Australia, South Africa and New Zealand are cohesive and organised, and we will have to be at our best."
Ashton will be available to face the Wallabies but is by no means guaranteed a place, with Sharples unfortunate not to score a hat-trick against Fiji.
"Chris Ashton is back so there are selection decisions to be made. It's not a nightmare at all," Lancaster said.
"It's a great position to be in. Charlie did what we wanted him to. He was excellent in every area."
Turning to Goode, Lancaster said: "Alex played like he does for Saracens, he was excellent under the high ball and with his ability to move the ball around.
"It was nice for Alex. He did well in the third Test in South Africa (which England drew 14-14 in Port Elizabeth in June) and he has maintained that form."
Up front, debutant hooker Tom Youngs starred in a commanding England pack and forwards coach Graham Rowntree said: "I thought he had an outstanding game,"
"He had a 100 percent line-out and made a huge impact in the loose. To have a game like that on his debut is exciting for us.
"I can't speak highly enough of him."
England were a man down early when Danny Care was yellow-carded by referee Glen Jackson, on the advice of a touch judge, although sin-binning the scrum-half for a 'dangerous' tackle on Fiji lock Leone Nakarawa seemed harsh.
Lancaster said he expected Care to avoid additional disciplinary action over the incident.
"It was a bit unfortunate, a bit harsh. I don't think there will be a citing or should be."
Comments
APV1 says...
@ jamesliveinhope et al - When we train, we don't nominate and wait for a SH every time, especially when just chucking it about. The first two to the breakdown secure the ball and the next one picks it up. They either run with it or pass it, depending on the availability of support, what's in front of them and / or their ability to pass at all! Much quicker. Even if it's a couple of yards at a time, there is almost always forward momentum and progress.
Posted 11:25 13th November 2012
jamesliveinhope says...
@MDCU2584 , @APV1, @markpat - I made that remark on the match thread about how much sharper England looked without a designated scrum-half during Care's absence.
I didn't feel that England's passing was poor so much as the support lines. There seemed to be a number of passes dying as they got to the intended recipient which was stalling their running. It improved significantly as the game wore on and I would be inclined to put it down to rustiness - this is still a relatively new back line.
Posted 09:44 13th November 2012
boksmashoffice says...
The reality is the NZ forward have a superior skills set and game awareness compared to other nations that includes SA. This is why they are by far the best team on the planet right now. They do the basics so well. That is a common line from many commentators when NZ tour. I am thinking back to the early 90's when the AB;s used to play mid week games against North West and South West and so on so forth. I am showing my age here because many people won't have a clue what I am talking about,.
Posted 22:39 12th November 2012
APV1 says...
@ MDCU2584 - Hear! Hear!
Posted 15:00 12th November 2012
markpat says...
@MDCU2584 - good point regarding the distributor, so many times it was Romano or even Franks shipping the ball from the ruck because it was available when he arrived (although maybe because Weepu is slow, lol - but that begs the question as to why Care isn't there before the forwards).
However, regarding the flat passes, the handling of the NZ forwards taking man and ball on flat passes is immense. While we "should" also be more than capable of that, it may be the conservative thought that it's better to go forward slowly than to turn the ball over with a knock on (sometimes you have to recognise your limitations and then improve on them). I'm not saying that Is the case, just that it might be part of the reasoning.
Posted 14:46 12th November 2012
Centre12 says...
@markpat
Interesting point about playing Robshaw at #8 and Johnson & Wood on the flanks, we are certainly not short of flankers at present but #8 is still a bit of an issue, that being said I feel it is paramount for individuals to be playing week in week out in that position for club before being selected in that position for England, which is why England & Sarries need to decide where to play Farrell, as far as i'm concerned, if he is playing at #13 for Sarries then he shouldn't be in contention for #10 for England.
Posted 14:35 12th November 2012
MDCU2584 says...
I'd love to know what is said to the forwards before games, or during training even. Why, when the ball is available at a ruck, do our forwards feel the need to stand over it doing nothing? Part of the reason NZ are so good is, they get lightning quick ball, then the first person there with the ball available, regardless of the number on their back, moves it on. They don't give the opposition any time to realign and that's where the space comes from.
Also, if we decide to hit the ball up, why do we do it from a standing start 5m behind the gainline? Make sure you have support, then take it flat and on the run. Run at the space and the majority of the time, you should get over the gainline. You've then got front foot ball and hopefully with it the chance to go quickly.
Posted 13:32 12th November 2012
rugby_rockstar says...
I was at the match then watched the highlights on sunday. The TV was more forgiving. In real time, I felt our passing sloppy. Enjoyable game but the most experience fijian had about 25 caps. this was just a warm up and Oz will be on another level.
My big tip would be to set up a little deeper so the reciever doesn't get man and ball. I'd say alot of the "sloppy passing" was forced errors from a committed defense. I don't mean have Flood play deeper. but the rest of the back line shouldn't be too deep. Draw and pass is easier when you don't have a 12 ft tall Fijian less than a foot awaylooking to rearrange your spinal chord. :)
Posted 12:14 12th November 2012
markpat says...
@mellkdave, we also need to turn over a lot more ball. Against Fiji, the only person I saw turning any ball over was Cole (who I actualy thought was probably our best player, except for his white line fever moment!).
Sharples is fine in attack but from what I've seen of him, his defence is not great (though neither is Ashton's), but he doesn't have the support game that Ashton does.
I thought Goode was fine, but Brown is still the much better option. Can we not try Goode in the centre, if you want a second distributor, if need be, rather than Barritt?
Waldrom was terrible, I'd have preferred to see how the back row functioned with Robshaw at 8 and Wood and Johnson on the flanks.
I thought Launchberry looked really good when he came on though, as did Vunipola.
We'll have our work cut out against Michael Hooper when we play Australia.
Posted 11:20 12th November 2012
melkdave says...
England definatly will have to be alot better for the rest of the series.Passing and decision making needs to be crisper and more decisive imo,and the pace a tad quicker aswell,with tackling also better.
Posted 09:20 12th November 2012