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The area where Courtney Lawes believes England most need to improve
Stand-in skipper Courtney Lawes has named the area where England most need to improve. Steve Borthwick’s team snapped a three-match losing streak with last weekend’s comeback Summer Nations Series victory over Wales.
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That success came after a dramatic Twickenham second half where the home side were at one stage reduced to 12 players. A Maro Itoje try from a lineout drive was pivotal in the 19-17 success, but tries have been difficult to come by during Borthwick’s first year in charge.
England have scored just three in their four most recent matches and with the Rugby World Cup set to start with a September 9 assignment versus Argentina in Marseille, Lawes has spoken about the areas where his team must quickly get better.
“We have not performed as well as we would have liked to,” he admitted ahead of this Saturday’s daunting Summer Nations Series fixture away to the world No1-ranked Ireland. “There is a lot of stuff for us to work on. The attack is a big one for us, we are working very hard on it.
“We want to go out there and score tries, we want to play good rugby because we have got the talent in the team. So, that is a big area for us obviously.
“Set-piece and general kind of forward work is going to be huge for us as well going forward because we want to be a pack that is feared again. Plenty to work on but we are definitely going in the right direction.
“It’s just a matter of getting to know each other and trying to bring out the best in each other, playing to each other’s strengths,” he added. “We are working hard on it, and we get another opportunity this weekend.”
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Head coach Borthwick added to Lawes’ verdict. “I’ll come in and build on that. These players are incredibly high quality. This should be a building process for a number of years to get to be where we want to be as a pack.
“I care deeply about forward play and working with these guys. What we are doing is squeezing every minute out of training that we can. It’s immense credit to Courtney and the other forwards who are working as hard as they possibly can to step forward.”
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Tamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
1 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
1 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy 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 …
33 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!😭😭😭 !!!
33 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
33 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 comments