England need to be relentless in taking Romania apart in their Rugby World Cup encounter today as they look to set a new benchmark ahead of stiffer tests to come, manager Martin Johnson said yesterday.
Johnson has spent much of the last week talking about the negative aspects of his side’s 41-10 victory over Georgia, particularly the sloppy final quarter.
Having seen South Africa drive all the way to the whistle in thrashing Namibia 87-0 on Thursday, he is demanding the same focus from his players in their Pool B game.
“We need to be relentless. We need to come out and play to a certain level to give ourselves the best chance,” he told a press conference after the players trained at Otago Stadium. “We’ve got to set our sights high, higher than they were last week. You can say it any number of ways, but we’ve got to play a lot better. We scored six tries, but I’d be happier if we played a lot better and scored three or four.”
Victory should be a formality against Romania, who are resting several leading players ahead of their game against Georgia on Wednesday, so Johnson and his coaching staff will be looking for his team to follow the much-trumpeted “processes” demanded of them.
Johnson knows that Scotland, who they face in their final Pool B game the following Saturday, and their subsequent knockout phase opponents will provide a much tougher test.
England are virtually at full strength, with only injured duo Matt Stevens and Nick Easter, as well as suspended lock Courtney Lawes, unavailable and Johnson is happy that by the end of today’s game all the squad will have had a taste of the action.
“If they’d come off a long season it may be different, but they’ve not got a lot of game time, so you want to get everybody on the field,” Johnson said.
Easter’s back problem is improving and England will make a decision by the end of the weekend on whether to add Thomas Waldrom to the squad after he arrived in Dunedin this week as cover — meaning he cannot stay, travel or train with the squad.
Johnson still has the option of calling up someone else to replace prop Andrew Sheridan, who has gone home for shoulder surgery. England came out with five props in the group, so they may not make a like-for-like replacement.
Johnson said he was hedging his bets and waiting to see if any new injuries come out of today’s game.
Captain Lewis Moody said he has fully recovered from the knee problem that dogged him all year and kept him out of the opening win over Argentina.
“Getting on the pitch finally was the culmination of a lot of work,” said the flanker, who returned to lead the team against Georgia last Sunday. “It was frustrating, but I got through that game with no issues, so it’s all done and dusted now, and I’m really excited to be going out there.”
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that