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England bat away derogatory claims by legendary cricketer Ian Botham that they 'don't look a happy camp'
England have batted away claims by legendary cricketer Ian Botham that they “don’t look a happy camp” two games into their Guinness Six Nations title defence. Eddie Jones’ side bounced back with an expected round two win over Italy on February 13 after their opening day ambush by Scotland.
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Their rugby was at times sluggish, with their attack especially coming under scrutiny, and Botham, whose grandson James is a member of Wayne Pivac’s Wales squad, believes England are now ripe for a beating in Cardiff next Saturday.
“Wales can take them at this moment in time because England don’t look a happy camp to me, looking from the outside in,” said Botham to BBC Sport, a comment that didn’t go down well in the England camp when put to forwards coach Matt Proudfoot.
“Strange how someone can look inside the Lensbury bubble and know how happy we are. We are happy,” he shot back ahead of the standout match in this weekend’s round three.
“There is continuous stimulation and ways of people interacting to create a real togetherness and feeling of a team environment… what people must not underestimate is this is a competitive competition and you learn in defeats. It doesn’t make you unhappy. It doesn’t make it an unhappy camp.
"He is probably a better set-piece player than he gets credit for"#SixNations #WALvENGhttps://t.co/61KXpPvtqH
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 24, 2021
“This is a camp where you learn, you learn to bring your best every moment of the day and we all do that. Scotland were competitive against us. I thought we were a lot more dominant and a lot more together in the Italian game and I suspect an improvement this weekend. So I don’t think we are an unhappy camp, I think we’re a very determined camp.”
A veteran of 102 Test matches and 116 one-day internationals for England, Botham nailed his Wales colours to the mast for Saturday. “I’m actually very happy to pull on that red shirt when they play England because obviously blood is thicker than water.
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“I’m a proud Englishman, but I go UK for that weekend. It is a UK match. I’m supporting Wales, of course I am. What grandfather wouldn’t? That’s the question I would put to people.”
Wales go into the game having won their opening two matches against teams who were reduced to 14 players, Ireland’s Peter O’Mahony and Scotland’s Zander Fagerson getting red-carded for charging into breakdowns and illegally making contact with the head area.
Bearing in mind this clampdown on contacts at the ruck, Proudfoot has explained that his forwards have been training hard this week to be more accurate with their entries for fear of becoming the third opposition in succession to suffer a red card against the Welsh.
“We have done a lot more breakdown work, a lot more reaction and body position work. How you enter the breakdown is crucial. Players safety is paramount. That is the message World Rugby is driving and rightly so,” agreed the England assistant.
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“We have had to take on board where attacking players go into the breakdown. We have taken on board how to enter, the reaction time to get there before the contest so that situation doesn’t materialise. that is definitely an area we have focused on this week.”
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— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 24, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Starts 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
2 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.
2 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.
3 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!
3 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?
228 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.
3 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 commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
87 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
19 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
228 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
228 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
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