'I think that's unfair' - Gatland's England jibe rankles George
Jamie George has delivered a robust rebuttal to Warren Gatland’s claim that England are chokers in the wake of Saturday’s defeat by Wales in Cardiff.
A 21-13 loss at the Principality Stadium has placed the Grand Slam beyond the reach of Eddie Jones’ team but they remain favourites to seize Ireland’s crown, with Italy and Scotland still due at Twickenham.
Gatland amplified England’s misery by declaring “when it’s really mattered, I’ve questioned whether they can win these big games” as a World Cup year took a fascinating twist.
Jones delivered a “no comment” when pushed for his response having fallen to his Kiwi rival for the first time in four meetings, but George refused to recognise the accusation.
“I think that’s unfair. Warren can say what he likes. He’s in a position of power after winning that game so fair play to them,” Saracens hooker George said.
“What I know having been in the camp is that we are a team that wants to build and we are a team that wants to improve.
“We will learn from this. We have won big games before and we are going to win big games again.”
"It was a brutal Test match… we are gutted."
Action & reaction from Cardiff.#WearTheRose? pic.twitter.com/tFEC7FQaEX
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 24, 2019
George bristled when it was suggested that contributing to England’s downfall was the fact the occasion was of greater importance to Wales, who set a new national record of 12 successive Test wins.
“It definitely does not mean more to them. We have got the most passionate team I have ever been a part of. I wouldn’t say it means more to them,” George said.
“Let’s take it back to Ireland when people were talking about how we are wearing our hearts on our sleeves. Hopefully we will always show that.”
England splintered at the seams when under pressure in the second half and were tactically outsmarted to undo much of the good work evident in resounding wins against Ireland and France.
We have got the most passionate team I have ever been a part of.
Among the pivotal moments were the successive penalties conceded by the otherwise outstanding Kyle Sinckler at a time when Wales were forcing themselves back into contention.
Gatland’s claim that Sinckler was an “emotional time bomb” was proved partly correct and the combustible prop was quickly replaced by Jones, who demanded a sympathetic assessment of the 25-year-old.
“Trying to single him out and trying to make a villain of him will do him a disservice,” Jones said.
“He’s a very good young player, a young prop. He’s got 20 caps and is playing in one of the most difficult positions on the field and he’ll come through as a great Test player for England.
“Every player you’ve got to look after, but I’d ask you not to go after him because you’re desperate to go after him. Give the boy a chance.
“He’s a good young player and he’s doing his best, and like everyone we all make mistakes, but he’ll be all right.”
England’s problems are mounting with the magnificent Courtney Lawes suffering a significant calf injury that will rule him out of the rest of the campaign while Jonny May departed in the second with possible concussion.
Mako Vunipola has already been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament by an ankle issue while Dylan Hartley has been lost to a knee problem. The hope now is that Maro Itoje recovers from knee ligament damage as soon as possible.
“We’ve lost three of our best forwards and we’ve got to be able to cope with that,” Jones said.
“Maro’s coming along well. He might have a chance against Italy.”
By Duncan Bech, Press Association Sport England Rugby Correspondent
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould'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.
30 Go to comments