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An ‘inexcusable’ England shortcoming has wound up Jamie George
Seasoned hooker Jamie George believes England are poised for a much-improved performance this weekend at the Rugby World Cup after last Saturday’s pool scare versus Samoa.
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Steve Borthwick’s side came within a whisker of being humbled by Samoa, clinging onto an 18-17 courtesy of a last-ditch Danny Care tackle, and much better is now expected when they tackle Fiji in the quarter-finals in Marseille.
“Last weekend wasn’t good enough,” he baldly stated at a post-training media appearance in Aix-en-Provence, England’s base camp for the week leading into their last-eight knockout game.
“It was poor but we have had a really good open, honest review and it’s very clear some of the stuff wasn’t good enough.
“Our energy levels were poor and that’s probably inexcusable to be completely honest. Would we rather it happened then than now? Yes. Are we going to learn from it? Absolutely. So yeah, you will see a very different England team on Sunday.”
George’s experience at the 2019 finals in Japan is feeding into his optimism. England defeated Australia in that campaign’s quarter-finals and then dethroned the All Blacks in the semi-finals before losing out to the Springboks in the decider. “I guess it manifests itself from the top down, so Steve (Borthwick) talks about it a lot.
“We’ve got a lot of players who have been there and done that on the big stages, we have players who have experience of World Cup finals, latter stages of World Cup, we have got players who this is their fourth World Cup and we have got a great group of senior players who are very open and honest with the younger players who this could be intimidating for.
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“This is why we are here, we want to play on the biggest stages. Quarter-final of a World Cup is exactly where we want to be and next week we want to be in the semi-final and so on.
“It’s exciting times and the more experienced players probably need to draw on those experiences and make sure that everyone is in good spirits going into the weekend.”
George admitted to not handling these big weeks best when he was younger. “You can’t shy away from the fact this is one of the biggest games we are ever going to play in and I don’t think we should shy away from any emotion that comes with that.
“Early on in my career I probably tried to feel a certain way or tried to be perceived to be feeling a certain way or shy away from emotions. I don’t see why you need to do that.
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“We have got the space to speak to people, we have got a really open group and if people are nervous then that’s fine, if people are excited that’s fine but the most important thing for us is focusing on going from week to week.
“It’s something we have done really well since we have been in France in particular, we have got clear things that we need to go after in the week and we try and know our opposition as best we can and be really clear what we are going to go through in that week and be as prepared as we can be and when your focus is on that it can be less than the enormity of the occasion.”
"Fantastic, men. Fantastic!"
– England polish their defensive press in Aix-en-Provence ahead of next Sunday's Rugby World Cup quarter-final versus Fiji in nearby Marseille. #ENGvFIJ #EnglandRugby #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/1hPUz0rXVY
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 11, 2023
Comments on RugbyPass
Spot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
5 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
6 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to commentswel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
5 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
5 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
5 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
6 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
6 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
6 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
6 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
238 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to comments