Eurosport - Sat, 29 Nov 12:32:00 2008
Eurosport expert and World Cup winner Neil Back insists that England must eliminate individual mistakes if they are going to stand any chance against the All Blacks.
There are many areas in which England must improve if they are going to trouble to New Zealand, but if individuals miss their tackles and allow the All Blacks easy breaks then we can say goodnight.
England must make their tackles because the All Blacks are masters at making a team pay for any mistake. Each England player must concentrate on making his tackle and have faith that their team-mates will do the same.
The breakdown is another area of the game that has not gone well for England this past month but again it will be crucial to the outcome.
I'm not party to how they coach the breakdown within the England camp, but I do know that is all about building relationships with your team-mates. And these relationships are not developed overnight.
They need to get a common thread going at the contact area. At Leeds, we visit the breakdown three times a week during training, that's how much time we spend on trying to get it right.
I imagine England have not had time for more than one session per game on the breakdown, which gives you an idea of how long it may take to get it spot on.
It's all about making the right decisions in the heat of the game, and that comes with experience.
Crucial to the breakdown is how many players you commit, both in attack and defence. I will be interested to see if England change their approach for the All Blacks.
England must also match the All Blacks physically. This is something we have mostly managed to do in the past, though obviously it has never guaranteed success against them.
I cannot see Martin Johnson going into the game with damage limitation on his mind. He will want to win, but he knows his players have to bring their very best Premiership form on to the pitch at Twickenham to stand any chance.
I've not spoken to Johnno throughout the series, but I have sent him messages of good luck before each game.
It can't have been easy for him after the South Africa defeat. It was a tough post-match interview and I know his furrowed look was a reflection of how the players were feeling in the dressing room.
Much has been written about the haka recently and I imagine fans will be waiting to see how England approach it after the dramatic moments ahead of the Wales game last week.
Personally, I have always admired the haka, whether I have been facing it on the pitch or watching it from the stands. I never found it intimidating and cannot remember an England player who did. Like Wales, we enjoyed accepting the challenge.
Nor do I think it gives the All Blacks an advantage. When I was playing for England, we would take a few moments after the haka to take off our tracksuits.
That way the game would start when we were ready, not when the haka was finished.
England face a huge challenge on Saturday but if they can eliminate individual errors and take the game to the All Blacks then there is no reason why they cannot cause an upset.
Comment 1 - 8 of 8
bistoca1612 What cant England take?
robierto87, really pleased to see you take an interest in the England Rugby team even when it is underperforming. Great to be English all the other nations seem to spend more time commenting and therefore presumably watching England rather than their own national teams. Proves we have the only side worthy of international interest even if we are having a bad patch. Keep it up chaps win or loose the others will be interested in us.
Lets face it the only team all other nations are desperate to beat is England and thats in any sport, we therefore clearly set the marker of a challenge even when we are bad.
BTW roberio is right, the English just can't take it.
England are going to get hammered tommorrow. As I said after England beat the pacific islanders, 3 losses to come. No heart, no passion, barely any skill. Tough times for the limeys. A freak world cup run doesn't paper over the cracks that is English rugby.
i am not an England supporter but i would not say that thay were s$%^t they are going throught a period of rebulding and yes i think that they will not win on saturday or win the 6 nations this year but they will be back and become the power that they were
No robierto87 isn't an England supporter, just a mealy mouthed moron. He probably can't put a decent sentence together.
not an england supporter then robierto??
england are @#$%
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