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Mike Tindall urges England to drop Test centurion
Mike Tindall has urged England to pick Alex Mitchell or Danny Care for their critical World Cup opener against Argentina in the hope it will ignite their misfiring attack.
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A dire build-up to the tournament that begins next weekend has led to a run of five defeats in six Tests, plunging Steve Borthwick’s team to eighth in the global rankings.
One of the few positives to emerge from a calamitous loss to Fiji last Saturday was the dynamism visible at scrum-half from Mitchell, a late call-up to the squad because of Jack van Poortvliet’s ankle injury.
Tindall, a 2003 World Cup winner, believes either Mitchell or veteran Care must start even though that means dropping England’s most-capped player in Ben Youngs.
“Alex Mitchell did a fantastic job of lifting the pace,” Infinity Sports Travel ambassador Tindall told the PA news agency.
“The pace we play at has become a problem. If you look at every nation around the world now, speed of ball is the key.
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“You need fast ball so you play Alex Mitchell or Danny Care with the other one on the bench because you need to keep the tempo that high.
“No disrespect to Ben Youngs, he’s been one of the great servants to English rugby but that’s something he doesn’t do well now.
“He slows the ball down a lot because he’s trying to make decisions. With the type of athletes we have, you want them getting fast ball on the front foot.
“The team since 2019 hasn’t fired in attack. Every game we’ve played since 2020 it’s looked like we’ve tried to beat South Africa in the final again.
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“England are at their best when playing high tempo, trusting in their skill set and varying their attack. That’s disappeared over the last couple of years.”
England’s qualification from a group that also includes Japan, Samoa and Chile was considered a formality until a series of warm-up fixtures that produced a solitary win against Wales at Twickenham.
A pivotal opener against Argentina on September 9 has now take on even greater significance but Tindall is convinced if the players take ownership, they can turn the ship around.
“Expectation has dropped to the point no one is expecting anything of them. The players have got to feel that hurt. They’re the only ones who can change it,” the former Bath and Gloucester centre said.
“You can see there’s still a good camaraderie off the field, which is half the battle given where they are.
“They are one performance away from turning the corner and getting some self-belief back. Hopefully that’s against Argentina. That’s their World Cup final.
“Don’t just scrape the win, they need to back themselves to the hilt and put in a performance.
“You never expect England to be ranked eighth in the world but that’s where they are and World Cups are very unpredictable.
“They’re two big performances away from being in the semi-finals and then anything can happen. There are lots of things in their favour if they can just find some form.”
* Join Mike Tindall on an exclusive Rugby World Cup cruise with Infinity Sports Travel. Trips for the quarter-finals with match tickets are still available at www.infinitysportstravel.com
Comments on RugbyPass
Who listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
40 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
40 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
39 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
1 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
40 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to comments