George: The 'good plan' areas where England are targeting France
Jamie George has identified the main areas where he feels England can get at France and ambush their Guinness Six Nations Grand Slam party. The French are poised to clinch a first clean sweep in the championship since 2010, needing only a round five win over Eddie Jones’ struggling side to cap a sweet 2022 that has so far featured wins over Italy, Ireland, Scotland and France.
Beaten 32-15 last Saturday by Ireland at Twickenham, England arrived in Paris on Tuesday ahead of a Six Nations finale where the title is beyond them. Few are backing George and co to cause an upset but the hooker insisted his team is capable of producing the result that would deny the French and send the title instead to the Irish.
“They are right up there,” said George about the threat posed by this current France team under Fabien Galthie. “You look at the teams that get to No1 in the world, the way that you do it is you have a strong set-piece but you have a clear identity as a team and they do have that.
“When you come up against France you know exactly what their game plan will be against you. They don’t really veer away from that too much. They have been brilliant. They have been brilliant for the last 18 months, two years now and they clearly are a very tight-knit squad.
“You can see that in the way they play and the little clips you see outside of the game. We’re fully aware it is going to be a big challenge for us this weekend but one I am certain we are ready for.”
What areas, in particular, are England targeting? “They have a good lineout set-up run by Cameron Woki. He is an up and coming caller but we have got a good plan in place. We have got great athletes on this team. Lineout is something that has been going well for us over the campaign and when you have got the likes of Maro (Itoje) in the mix he is always going to come up with a good plan to go after it.
“That has got to be something we try and disrupt. We don’t want to give them the set-piece ball that they want because they can be dangerous off the back of that.
“They are a team that kicks the ball a huge amount and making good decisions off the back of that is going to be an important thing,” continued George, one of the shining England lights last weekend after retaking the No2 jersey from the injured Luke Cowan-Dickie.
“Whenever you play France there is going to be an element of whoever wins the gain line wins the game. They like to pick and go in and around the ruck quite a lot. We have to make sure we are nice and physical there, and probably silencing their nine and ten is going to be key to us winning the game.”
George also mentioned the mental and physical battle England are facing to get themselves right after playing 78 minutes a red-carded man down versus the Irish. “Pretty bruised and battered on both fronts,” he admitted about the aftermath of last weekend. “That game was as physical as any Test match against Ireland is but one man down you have to go through a bit more work, the GPS stats were pretty impressive.
“In terms of headspace it was a tough one… bitterly disappointed we couldn’t get over the line and couldn’t be going to Paris for the championship this weekend… Eddie has given us less time on the field (this week) because he knows the physical and emotional strain that we have had.
“We also had a chat as a playing group, some of the senior members spoke about how important the lessons we have learned in terms of the emotion. You all saw we were right up there in terms of how much it meant (last Saturday) and the strain it would have taken out of us.
“We need to make sure we get ourselves right mentally over the next few days so that we can then hit the ground running.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Great comeback to the playing field by Richie Mo’unga after the loss of his father. A great performance by Richie . I know him well and he is a great guy. On and off the field one of the greatest for the Crusaders. Scott Robertson would have loved him in his All Black’s side. A very missed player and person.
1 Go to commentsYeah nah he comes across as a funny bloke, but that stopped abruptly after the Nutcracker Prince debacle✋
1 Go to commentsAt this point I can’t watch him without thinking he’s a dirty slimebag. He should have been banned for the same amount of time that Quinn was out. It took Tupaea near on a fricking year to get fit enough to play again and his leg will never be the same. The other crap thing is that he was at ABs level and now he has to claw his way back there when he could have had several games under his belt.
4 Go to commentsThe Black Ferns 7’s have been without Captain Sarah Hirini now since Dec 23 in Dubai where she suffered a bad ACL injury - hopefully she is on the road to recovery for Madrid and Paris. Now also have Tyler King and Shiray kaka on the Injured List but the Team still found a way to win in Singapore and claim the overall Title.
1 Go to commentsUtter grub, hope he gets his leg broken. Shocking he is still playing after intentionally breaking quinn tupaeas knee
4 Go to commentsGreat to see NZ 7s teams finally coming into form and playing at the level that is expected of them.
2 Go to commentsChief Cheapshot on the market again.
4 Go to commentsCrusaders went all in to buy Hotham and Kemara staight from Hamilton Boys. Then they picked up Reihana and Hohepa; all have been dropped for superstar Havili, who is a very good fullback, that’s it. Ennor and Goodhue were schoolboy stars too but went backwards at the Crusaders. Maybe they have finally decided to give another poach Levi Aumua the ball?
13 Go to commentsJoe S has some talent to pick from. The Reds loosies look the best in Super? Aus might just give Razor a headache this year. Int. experience v Cantab greenhorn:) Should be fun.
13 Go to commentsEnd to end play, “THE FANS” this game was entertainment of the best. The conditions added to the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsSorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
13 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
4 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
4 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
3 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
4 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
3 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to comments