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Clear the air conversations in camp have 'clarifed things' for England - Slade
Henry Slade insists England are ready to deliver a performance of disciplined ferocity when they launch their Guinness Six Nations salvage operation against France.
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Fabien Galthie’s tournament favourites visit Twickenham on Saturday with their coronavirus outbreak behind them and the Grand Slam in their sights.
England, meanwhile, were removed from title contention as early as round three when they collapsed against Wales as their debilitating indiscipline reached its nadir at the Principality Stadium.
The focus for the week has been eradicating avoidable penalties and Eddie Jones, assisted by officials Wayne Barnes and Matt Carley, has overseen training sessions that force players to respond intelligently to unfair refereeing decisions.
But while observing the importance of staying the right side of the whistle, Slade insists England must not lose the physical edge that is their hallmark.
“We’ve placed some individual responsibility on discipline. I know it’s been bit of a problem for us for a little while and we’ve been genuinely addressing it,” the Exeter centre said.
“But we have to couple that with our intent to attack the game. We’ve still got be on the edge, you can’t just go into your shells and play soft.
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“You still have to be going for it and pushing the limits all the time, but just with the understanding that discipline is so key. Hopefully we’ll get on the right side of that.”
Eddie Jones is usually all for verbal sparring in Test match build-ups but the England boss has been nothing but courteous about France this week#SixNations #ENGvFRAhttps://t.co/cRTJKkOemV
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 13, 2021
Defeats by Scotland and Wales mean the Six Nations title is beyond England’s reach and with challenging fixtures against France and Ireland to come, they occupy a precarious position.
A strong finish would ease the pressure on Eddie Jones and Slade insists a frustrating Championship can yet be rescued from calamity.
“A lot gets said on social media or in the press. If you’re going badly, you might be the worst team in the world. If you’re going well, you’re the best,” Slade said.
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“We’re quietly confident in what we’re doing. We’ve been frustrated with this tournament because we’ve actually been improving and playing some good stuff.
“We are definitely looking to go as hard as we can during these next two weeks and put a smile back on people’s faces.
“We want everyone to be behind us and we’re working as hard as we can for that. Hopefully we can do the job.”
“That was a pretty stark realisation and Kyle was really important to me through that whole process." https://t.co/wVdhf5WxBS
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 13, 2021
Giving Slade confidence that England are in a better place than their results indicate is the dynamism shown in attack against Wales, even if it was not enough to prevent a resounding 40-24 defeat.
“As the tournament has progressed we’ve got better. The performance against Scotland was nowhere near where we want to be,” Slade said.
“After that game we had a lot of honest conversations and people said what they want to say. We clarified a lot of things and we’ve definitely made a bit of a mindset shift.
“Sometimes our first option was to kick rather than to run and we’ve definitely shifted in the right direction in terms of having a more balanced game and wanting to take people on and run.
“We told ourselves to get genuinely excited about the opportunities we can put ourselves in to take people on.
“We just shot ourselves in the foot in that last 20 against Wales with our indiscipline. If we can sort that out we’re on to something good.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Should've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to comments