England ace ignores whingeing Aussies

JASON ROBINSON has dismissed the relentless barrage of Australian media criticism that has followed England on their World Cup campaign.

Despite brushing aside South Africa to potentially ease their route to next month's World Cup final, England are being portrayed Down Under as public enemy number one.

"Is That All You've Got," screamed one headline yesterday alongside a picture of Jonny Wilkinson kicking England home against South Africa.

The remotest chance to take a swipe at England in print is grabbed with relish, and its intensity will increase now that England have swapped Perth's rugby union backwater for the Melbourne metropolis.

"The best thing to do is not read the newspapers here," Robinson said. "We've come to compete in the World Cup, not to study newspapers. Nobody wants to give us any credit, so we just get on with doing our professional job."

No-one would think the English had actually beaten the Springboks by 19 points as most reports lavished praise on South Africa.

"I think that South Africa would have caused other teams a lot more problems than they caused us, because they are a very fine team," Robinson added.

England have now begun preparations for their third Pool C game an appointment with current Pool C leaders Samoa at Melbourne's Telstra Dome on Sunday.

Head coach Clive Woodward plans to announce his starting line-up tomorrow on Wednesday, and there could be several changes from the side that beat South Africa, with the likes of Iain Balshaw, Mark Regan and Julian White possibly making their first tournament starts.

But England will not be taking Samoa lightly in what will be a first meeting between the countries since 1995 at Twickenham, when half-backs Matt Dawson and Paul Grayson both made their Test debuts, and Lawrence Dallaglio his first international start.

"I only see the next hurdle," said Woodward, refusing to look towards the knockout stages. "England will still field a very strong team, and we are back in the Telstra Dome, where we beat Australia 25-14, and 3-1 on tries, in June."

Samoa flew into Melbourne yesterday M0n today, hoping to maintain the adventurous approach that highlighted their runaway wins against Uruguay and Georgia, but England's forward power could seriously dent those adventurous ambitions.

"England are the number one team in the world," said Samoa skipper Semo Sititi. "But I am sure we've got the spirit, and we will try our best.

Coach John Boe added: "We are being ourselves in this tournament. Our biggest strength is our entity and our culture. The Samoans are very gentle, humble people, and while we don't always win on the field, we win off it. It is a big test next Sunday, but also a wonderful opportunity to play against a team of England's quality.

"We keep saying we are not here to make up the numbers. We are going to attack and have a go, and know we will need to take another five or six steps up in our performance."