RUGBY
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'France may not go the distance' says Woodward
15/11/03
England coach Clive Woodward says: 'We are looking fresh'
Just 36 hours ahead of Sunday's big Rugby World Cup semi-final showdown against France, England coach Clive Woodward has rejected claims that his players are looking jaded because of the heavy workload imposed on them.
Woodward: 'They've never been pressurised for 80 minutes'
Woodward has stated that he is confident that his team are fit enough to do what no other side has yet done in this competition and pressurise the French for a full 80 minutes. This follows reports in the English press that a 'player power' revolt had occurred within the England camp, with several players telling their coach that the preparations for last weekend's quarter-final with Wales had been too intense and that training should be scaled down ahead of the French match. But Woodward claims that preparations for this latest match have simply followed the established template, which has seen England storm to the top of the Zurich World Rankings.
"We are going to be fresh Sunday night and there is nothing that I would change going into the game and we have thirty fresh players which again is a fantastic achievement," Woodward told zurichpremiership.com. "Going into the World Cup we thought that if we lost so-and-so we thought that would actually affect us but we are going in at full strength and we are fresh. So we do nothing differently. "I state that categorically, and win, lose or draw there is nothing that I would change in terms of preparation. "The team looks in excellent shape and we have had a great couple of days, we are very fresh and so are the French. It will be a great match-up tonight [Saturday], but I think that ours tomorrow night [Sunday] will be an even more mouthwatering prospect. It has been a great World Cup and I am just glad we are playing our part with this game."
Despite England's enviable record over the past 18 months, France are being heavily tipped to win Sunday's encounter after their some stylish and highly effectives wins over opponents - most notably the 42-21 quarter-final victory over Ireland - but Woodward believes that Les Bleus have not been properly tested yet during the competition and fitness could play a major factor, particularly in the closing exchanges. "We have come strong in the last 20 minutes and we needed to come strong and I don't think that the French have been put under that sort of pressure since that game in Marseille," said Woodward. "They have walked all their matches and even the Ireland game was all over by half-time. I think that this game on Sunday will go down to the last ten minutes. "I don't think that either team are going to pull ahead in this match. We have had the games to go the distance, but France haven't really gone the distance since the game in Marseille which I think England would have won if we'd kept our heads a bit more in the last few minutes and dropped the goals. "France are favourites and everyone is saying they are playing very well but they haven't played England yet and they have never been pressurised for 80 minutes."
By Justin O'Regan in Sydney
Woodward: We have to improve
by Simon Mills
Clive Woodward�s verdict on his team�s performance was swift and direct. Play like that against France and we�ll have no chance. England conceded three tries � more than they have in the last five games against Wales � before hauling themselves out of trouble with a 28-17 win courtesy of a Will Greenwood try and 23 points from Jonny Wilkinson. The result earns them a semi-final place in Sydney on November 16 against a France side who will be the �red-hot favourites� after demolishing Ireland 43-21 in Sunday�s other quarter-final. �I�m disappointed with what happened in the first half and only marginally more pleased with the second half,� said Woodward
�The French fully know that England are going down to play against them in the semi-final of the World Cup, and it's about what happens during the 80 minutes of the game. I don't really care if they are favourites or not favourites "Clearly, we were not at our best today and we made some very fundamental errors, but I am also very confident that we can sit down, have a clear the air meeting next week, and beat France. �We�re winning these games through sheer bloody-mindedness. If we play like we did tonight against France we�ll have no chance � but I don�t think for one moment we will play like that against France.� �
Will Greenwood scored Englands try,
photo by Getty
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England trailed 10-3 at half-time to tries from Stephen Jones and Colin Charvis before Will Greenwood�s score started their revival. And even after going 25-10 ahead, England conceded a third try to an adventurous Wales side when substitute Martyn Williams scored and had to dig in for the last 10 minutes before Wilkinson�s drop goal ended the game. But Woodward insisted his side would improve after their close-shave at Suncorp while he waits for news of whether injured stars Richard Hill, Josh Lewsey and Iain Balshaw.
�Did the Welsh rattle us? Well we won the game. We hold our hands up - we didn�t play well and we made some fundamental errors,� said Woodward. �I thought Wales were outstanding. They played very well and had nothing to lose. It was probably the best Wales performance I�ve seen since I�ve been in charge and that includes Wembley in 1999. �France will probably be red-hot favourites to win it, but they haven�t played England yet. I think we�ll get through. �We've won every game so far, without playing anywhere near what we are capable of. I believe we can put it right, and we need to get it right."
Woodward very confident ahead of SF
11/11/03
'Team will step up a gear against France'
Despite England's lacklustre performance, coach Clive Woodward has consigned last week's quarter-final escapade against Wales to history, and is 'very, very confident' that his side will pick up the tempo for Sunday's RWC semi-final clash with France in Sydney. Speaking to zurichpremiership.com at England's luxurious Manly Pacific hotel, Woodward admitted that his side had yet to fulfil their status as Rugby World Cup favourites, but insists that England are right where they always planned to be - one match away from the World Cup Final.
"We still have not played well but we are winning," said the coach. "There has been a lot of debate about the whys and wherefores - sometimes we tend to over-analyse these things, but the most important thing is that we realise that we are not playing well. "But I believe that the team will step up a gear against France.
"We have come to this tournament as one of the favourites - number one in the Zurich World Rankings - and I think deep in the back of all our minds we would have been very disappointed not to have made the semi-finals. "Now we are at the semi-final stage, and it looks like we will have a full-strength side to choose from. We are playing against France which should be a great match-up; and I'm very, very confident about this weekend. "I just feel that we are where we should be, and we have got a fantastic record over the past few months against these top sides in the world, including France. I am just very confident going into this game." England booked their place in the semi-finals with a 28-17 win over the Welsh in Brisbane at the weekend, but Woodward's men struggled to assert themselves and lost the try count 3-1. It was the steady left boot of fly-half Jonny Wilkinson that eventually saved English blushes, but it wasn't enough to stop media pouring scorn on what they perceived to be an extremely lacklustre England performance. "Although there are a lot of question-marks coming through from the media I think that it is just focussing everybody's mind," said the coach. "I feel more relaxed this week than I did at this point last week going into the Welsh game, which was a huge banana skin. "Those guys played well, they had absolutely nothing to lose and that is how they played. We just managed to scrape through and make the semi-finals. "But that is all history now and we have to learn from the lessons of what happened in Brisbane, no more than that, we are just looking forward to the game and very excited about what could happen on Sunday evening." Woodward has spared his players from the flailing that many commentators have advocated, choosing instead to allow them to recharge their batteries ahead of facing the rampant French. "We have eased off a little, we are going to do a couple of sessions in this evening," said Woodward. "We trained during the day last week and I think that the team looked a bit tired, possibly we spent too much time in the sun. "I believe that we will be picking from our strongest team for this semi-final, which is excellent - it is all about being fresh for Sunday night.
"We need to run through a few things based on what we know about the French team and do things a bit differently to refresh everyone this week. "It is just a case of keeping everybody's mind focussed on Sunday night, everyone is fully aware of what is at stake."
By Andy Jackson
Laporte, speaking to the media about his team's prospects, said he agreed with the general view that England's gameplan is predictable, but that doesn't make it any easier to beat them.
"A lot of people have seen how Mike Tyson fights, it doesn't mean they will get in the ring and beat him," said the wily French coach. Welsh coach Steve Hansen, speaking ahead of his team's 28-17 quarter-final defeat against England at the weekend, said that he had pin-pointed some areas to exploit in the England make-up. But Laporte quipped that Hansen "knew a lot about what was going to happen, but was still going home".
"I'd like to know a lot less and still be here in a week," chuckled Laporte. Laporte insisted that England would start as favourites on Sunday, despite the perception that France are the form team of the tournament after beating Ireland 43-21 with an awesome performance in the first half of their quarter-final clash. "The press and everyone else is talking about England being a laborious side, but no-one has actually beaten them yet," Laporte said. "We're playing the favourites in the semi-final. They're the team that have progressed the best in the past three years.
"They're number one in the rankings and their results speak for themselves." The French coach does not expect England to change their tactics now, considering that they have played the same game throughout the RWC tournament that saw them clinch the Six Nations Grand Slam and wins over Australia, New Zealand (in June) and South Africa (at the World Cup) this year. "They play a highly pressured game. They apply pressure and then spread it wide once they've worn down the opposition," said Laporte. "They can also play a territorial game if they need to. Wales outscored them three tries to one on Sunday - but it was England that won." Ironically, France are the only side to have beaten England in the last two years, with victories during the Six Nations in 2002 and in a warm-up match in August, when the English fielded a second-string side in Marseille.
'France are red-hot favourites' says Woodward
09/11/03
Post-match reaction from England coach
After a disappointing 28-17 Rugby World Cup quarter-final victory over Wales, England coach Clive Woodward has admitted that his side's semi-final opponents, France, are the 'standout' team of the World Cup and 'red-hot favourites' to win next Sunday's showdown in Sydney. While France romped to a convincing and stylish 43-21 win over Ireland in their quarter-final fixture, scoring four tries in the process, England were made to look distinctly second-rate by Wales during a torrid first-half period which saw the Welsh storm into an early lead.
Of course, England did manage to rally in the second period - replacement back Mike Catt having a major impact on proceedings to help rescue the Men in White's World Cup dream - but they were outscored by three tries to one and looked rudderless in the extreme for long periods of the match. "We're holding our hands up - we didn't play well," said Woodward. "We're winning these games through sheer bloody-mindedness, but we are winning. "If we can get a bit more 'nous' in our game and keep that bloody-mindedness I think we'll still beat France. But if we play like we did tonight we'll have no chance next week. But I don't think this team is going to play like that again. "Clearly France are now red-hot favourites for next weekend's game. France know England very well and know which team is coming out to play them in Sydney and I'm looking forward to that game. "Wales had nothing to lose and played tremendously well. It's the best performance I've seen from a Welsh team against England since I've been in charge and that includes the game we lost at Wembley. They did themselves very proud, but they lost."
England depart for Sydney on Monday morning and the team management will have plenty to think about over the next few days as they try to engineer the sort of form they displayed during their June tour of Australia and New Zealand when they looked every inch potential world champions. Nevertheless, Woodward is not ready to give up on his World Cup dream and is adamant that a better performance is around the corner. "We go into every game believing we can win and France are next up," said Woodward. "We've won every game so far and haven't played anywhere near what we're capable of."
By Justin O'Regan in Brisbane
No change to French starting XV
12/11/03
Four switches to the bench As expected, France will field the same starting XV, which beat Ireland last weekend,�for Sunday's Rugby World Cup semi-final clash against England at Telstra Stadium in Sydney.
Laporte: 'It's the match we've all been waiting for'
At a press conference in central Sydney on Wednesday morning, coach Bernard Laporte revealed his intention to keep faith with the team who decimated the Irish by 43-21 in the quarter-final in Melbourne last weekend, although he has made four changes to the bench. With the luckless lock Olivier Brouzet having bid farewell to the squad because of his shoulder injury, David Auradou is promoted to the bench. The other three switches see back rower Cristian Labit replacing Patrick Tabacco, Damien Traille replacing South African-born Brian Liebenberg and Cl�ment Poitrenaud coming in for Pepito Elhorga - the latter having flown home to France to attend his father's funeral.
"It's the match we've all been waiting for," said Laporte. "England are the favourites since the start of the Tournament and this is a chance for France to get revenge for the Six Nations, and whatever happens, this match means a European team will play in the Final. "I don't think the English have dropped away in form at all, in fact, I think the opposite. They've managed to come through a couple of really tough matches against Samoa and Wales and still win. "I still feel they are the favourites. This is still a very, very strong English team." France: 15 Nicolas Brusque, 14 Aur�lien Rougerie, 13 Tony Marsh, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Christophe Dominici, 10 Fr�d�ric Michalak, 9 Fabien Galthi� (captain), 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Olivier Magne, 6 Serge Betsen, 5 J�r�me Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 1 Jean-Jacques Crenca. Replacements: 16 Yannick Bru, 17 Olivier Milloud, 18 David Auradou, 19 Christian Labit, 20 G�rald Merceron, 21 Damien Traille, 22 Cl�ment Poitrenaud.
Kick-off: 20:00 local, 10:00 CET, 09:00 GMT,
By Justin O'Regan in Sydney
Jones evokes Eden Park spirit ahead of semi
09/11/03
'We should have beaten ABs last time out' Ahead of a tough Rugby World Cup semi-final assignment against New Zealand in Sydney next weekend, Wallaby coach Eddie Jones is taking comfort from his side's close defeat against the All Blacks in the last clash between the two superpowers. That was the Tri-Nations finale back in August, the All Blacks holding on for a 21-17 win at Eden Park despite a late charge by the Wallabies, who scored a try through George Smith in the dying moments of an enthralling encounter to come within four points of their hosts - and nearly produce an upset.
Now Jones is convinced that the closeness of the final scoreline on that night means that his team have every chance of clearing this next hurdle against their cross-Tasman rivals, who are favourites for the title. As the Wallabies checked out of their central Brisbane hotel on Sunday morning following their somewhat stuttering 33-16 win over Scotland on Saturday, Jones stated his belief that a similar gameplan to the one employed by Australia on that rain-soaked clash in Auckland could bear fruit against the All Blacks some three months down the line. "The last time we played them - at Eden Park - we should have beaten them," said Jones. "We'll be working hard to make sure we don't make the same mistakes we made that night. "They'll be feeling the pressure of people talking about them as the No.1 or No.2 side in the world, so that's an expectation to live up to. "Possibly we're in a similar situation to Ireland in the week they played us. Nobody expected us to get here and here we are in a semi-final, so perhaps we can play with a fair bit of freedom." Jones also shrugged off Australia's poor showing in the line-out on Saturday, which saw a streetwise Scottish pack disrupt plenty of Wallaby possession. "We're probably going to have 30 percent less line-outs than in our previous two games, so we'll be working hard on the line-out, but other factors are going to be more important," he said. The Wallabies have not been hugely impressive thus far in the tournament in many departments, but Jones is at least delighted with one aspect of his team's peformance during the World Cup - that of their defence - with Australia conceding a total of just four tries in their five games.
"I thought our defence was outstanding, absolutely outstanding and in these big games defence is going to be pretty important," said Jones. "Whatever's been said in the papers about various aspects of our game, one area that has been no doubts about has been our defence." The Wallabies have suffered plenty of criticism from the results-hungry Australian media - one newspaper branding them the "Bumbling Wallabies" following the Scotland win, but Jones is staunchly defending his decision-making so far. "We were confident we'd get here," he said. "We're exactly where we want to be and if we work hard enough this week we'll be exactly where we want to be again."
By Justin O'Regan in Brisbane
Kiwis mellow in Melbourne 10/11/03
All Blacks have no plans to move to Sydney Reuben Thorne's All Blacks have no plans to move their Rugby World Cup base from Melbourne, despite reports that tournament organisers may force teams to base themselves in Sydney where the last four matches will be played. The Kiwis have been based in Melbourne, in the state of Victoria, away from the bulk of the media limelight, for the past six weeks. And they are happy to continue with their preparations for this Saturday's semi-final against Australia at Sydney's Telstra Stadium, and possibly the Final at the same venue a week later.
New Zealand team manager Tony Thorpe said they were happy in Melbourne - the Victorian capital having been a happy hunting ground for all their pool matches as well as their emphatic 29-9 quarter-final win over the Springboks at the weekend. While all the remaining matches will be played in Sydney, the Kiwis will fly to the match venue (Sydney) a day before the fixture - as they did for their pool matches in Brisbane and Sydney - returning to Melbourne the next day. The Wallabies have adopted a similar approach, preparing for their matches in Coffs Harbour. They will do the same this week, moving late to Sydney for the semi-final.
Even though the Australian media speculated on Monday that the tournament organisers might want to create more awareness and publicity by moving the teams into Sydney for the last two weeks, the Kiwis were having none of it. "The International Rugby Board (IRB) and RWC Ltd have known for the last nine months what our intentions will be if we make it through to the Final," Thorpe said. "There's no reason for them to raise the issue now." All Black captain Reuben Thorne also said his team was at ease with staying at their Melbourne base. "It's been good. It gives us time out to relax when we need it. The facilities here are fantastic to train at and we'd certainly love to stay here," he told allblacks.com .
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