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The Joe Marchant reason why Lewis Ludlam has confidence in England
England arrived in France last Thursday with a sense of foreboding ahead of the Rugby World Cup. However, the closer it gets to their opening match next Saturday versus Argentina in Marseille, the greater their belief that everything is suddenly about to come just right after an August pock-marked by suspensions, injuries and losses.
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Lewis Ludlam is one such believer. He was a bolter four years ago, a surprise Eddie Jones inclusion off the back of two warm-up games. He went on to make four appearances at the finals in Japan, three as a sub, but he is now very much a back-rower in his prime.
Under Steve Borthwick, the 27-year-old played every single minute of the Guinness Six Nations earlier this year and has now arrived in France oozing enthusiasm that England are ready to click even though they have been so very publicly written off.
“I can only speak personally; there are a lot of different feelings around the camp,” he said when asked what was giving him reasons to be confident after a run of just one win in England’s last six matches. “We are obviously under pressure but coming into a tournament as underdogs is a beautiful position to be in.
“With lower expectations, you can free yourself up more easily, you can express yourself because nothing is given to you yet. Sometimes when you are No1 and you have achieved things pre-tournament you can be reaching for that too much.
“When you are a little bit behind and your back is up against the wall you are a lot more present with things. Personally, it’s quite a nice spot to be in. It would have been brilliant coming off the back of three or four wins but it’s a situation we find ourselves in and we have got to enjoy that.”
So with skipper Owen Farrell suspended, who has stepped up and shown leadership in recent days to ensure all is in readiness for taking on the Pumas? “Especially this week the most impressive thing is everyone is speaking up, everyone is so keen to make a change,” he explained.
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“We have got voices you wouldn’t necessarily hear, the likes of Joe Marchant who hasn’t been involved a tremendous amount in this team. He is stepping up really well and talking about how we can move this team forward. It’s encouraging – we have got a lot of lads who want to step up, we want to make a change.
“We have got that old voice as well in the likes of Farrell and Ellis (Genge) and Courtney (Lawes) as well who can step up and lead with experience too. We have got a great blend and there are a lot of people who want to move this team forward.
“The good thing is that whatever had happened over the past four, five weeks, there are no games won or lost in a World Cup yet. We are fully aware we are not playing the type of rugby we want to at the moment and are not performing to our potential.
“But I feel like now we are at a World Cup, the lads are really, really keen to go and put a performance on as they always are but there has been a different focus this week and now we are out here it is a completely different challenge. We are looking forward to it.”
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Settling in at Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, their group stage base camp by the sea in the Hauts-de-France region, has helped turn the mood away from recent gloom. “It’s been lovely,” vouched Northampton skipper Ludlam, who has been sharing a hotel room with the Toulon-bound David Ribbans.
“We had the weekend to settle in and unpack our rooms, have a look around. It’s a lovely little spot. Everyone here has been very welcoming to us as well. It seems like the perfect sort of base to start our World Cup journey.
"TOM CURRY'S TRAINING TODAY": Boost for England as Curry, Courtney Lawes and Kyle Sinckler go through their paces in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, but Billy Vunipola had to train on his own… – with Liam Heagney ? #EnglandRugby #ENGvARG #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/OCD2Qr2FrE
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 4, 2023
“It feels really real flying out here and having the opening ceremony. It feels like we are at a World Cup now and it is really beginning, really starting to come together so you can tell in train, the two days we have had, there has been heaps of excitement about the boys and it has been an added sort of edge about us this week. It’s encouraging.”
What does Ludlam make of the Argentinian threat, though? “They are a team that fights tremendously hard. They play as a team, they are physical the way they have got some really good strong carriers; they are extremely physical at the breakdown as well.
“They are a team that have never gone away in their games, they have fought until the very end. They are a team with heaps of character and a really tough opponent to beat.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’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.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 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…
2 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.
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