'We're working with our psych to unpack anything that might be there' - Underhill urges England to put pain of World Cup final defeat behind them
Sam Underhill insists England must find peace by unpacking the pain caused by their World Cup final defeat.
Eddie Jones’ squad for the Guinness Six Nations have conducted a post-Japan 2019 debrief at their training camp in Portugal guided by Andrea Furst, the team psychologist.
Outstanding wins against Australia and New Zealand propelled them into the Yokohama final where they were routed 32-12 by South Africa, their disappointment compounded by knowing they had barely a fired a shot.
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England opens their Six Nations title pursuit against France in Paris on February 2 and flanker Underhill believes it is important to come to terms with the events of November 2.
“The aim ultimately is to learn from the World Cup and be at peace with it. There has got to be an end point to that surely,” the Bath openside said.
“The overriding message from the review was that it was a brilliant experience. It was overwhelmingly positive for everyone that was involved.
“There will be a sense of disappointment and regret around the final, but equally what made it easier was that we felt we had done everything we could.
“Hindsight is a brilliant thing and you can look back and say maybe there was other stuff you could have done but reflecting on it, we did everything we could at the time.
“The reflection is an ongoing thing. We’re working with Andrea, who is our psych, to unpack anything that might be there.
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“Ultimately the aim is be better and make sure it’s not an issue moving forward. We will unpack stuff if it is there to unpack but equally we are not going to dig if there is nothing to dig for.
“I also want to take away the positives. It was the best rugby experience of my life with the best group of players I could think of to have it with. I’m not going to damp down that experience because it was phenomenal.”
One member of the World Cup squad not available for the trip to Paris is Joe Launchbury, who has been ruled out by a knee problem.
Launchbury sustained the injury in the 27-0 Challenge Cup defeat by Bordeaux-Begles a week ago and will sit out the trip to Paris on February 2.
The 28-year-old is receiving treatment at the squad’s Algarve training base and it is hoped he will recover in time for the Calcutta Cup clash with Scotland in round two.
Launchbury was a member of Eddie Jones’ World Cup squad last autumn but made only one appearance, against the USA.
Even if fit, the 62-cap second row was unlikely to be involved in the matchday 23 against France.
France will be Simon Amor’s first match as England’s new attack coach following seven years as Twickenham’s sevens supremo, a reign that includes masterminding Team GB’s silver medal at the 2016 Olympics.
Amor, whose only XV tracksuit experience was with London Scottish, takes over from Scott Wisemantel having overseen sessions in the build-up to the World Cup.
“As someone who has been doing sevens for the last seven years, watching how England have evolved was great,” Amor said.
“Where can I add value to the team? Sevens is all about space and time. Of course the fundamentals are important, but also knowing that if you get things wrong in sevens you concede tries.
“So how do you put people under pressure and challenge them to grow in that way? That’s where I feel we can make some great progress.
“Working in sevens gives you a different perspective and adds to the blend of the coaching team, which is really important in any coaching team.”
New Springbok coach fronts up to the media:
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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