England finally find a ruthless streak
Even the England rugby team, who sit proud and deservedly atop the world rankings after beating New Zealand 15-13 on Saturday, had to endure a hat-trick of bundled Grand Slam bids and were drop-kicked out of the 1999 World Cup by South Africa.
But through those disappointments has emerged a ruthless squad of players who, over the last year, have begun to inflict on others what was all too often done to them.
England were victorious over the All Blacks yesterday for only the second time ever on New Zealand soil having spent 10 minutes down to 13 men and almost the entire match under the kosh.
The triumph, with all points scored from the boot of Jonny Wilkinson, set a new national record for 12 consecutive Test victories and represented the first time England had ever defeated the All Blacks in back-to-back matches.
“We are doing things that England teams haven’t done before,” said Clive Woodward when asked about the resolve that exists in the squad.
“We are beating Australia by a point, we are winning games when you have got 13 men. I just don’t think you get lucky.
“It’s a very close bunch of players, there is a great pride when they come into the England environment.”
Woodward, who has developed an environment that ensures the players’ ruthless edge remains sharp, no matter who it is in the jersey, explained how critical this tour is to the mental preparations ahead of the World Cup.
“We have purposely put these guys under as much pressure as we can,” he said.
“You can never replicate what it is going to happen in October and November at the World Cup, but we try and put as much pressure, internally as well as externally, to build us all up.
"My mindset is that we have a group of players now and regardless of who plays we can win.
“It’s about getting across that there is no tomorrow. This is what the World Cup is going to be like. That brings it home. We would be hugely disappointed if we had lost that game last night.
“We want to win every game in our World Cup pool. It’s the toughest group, but they respond to that and play better the more we are brutally honest.
“I have changed a lot of how they handle the media, we have got to start saying we are favourites. They thrive on that.
“Australia will have to play well to beat us at the weekend.”
England have the opportunity to complete a fourth consecutive victory over the Wallabies following that nail-biting 32-31 win at Twickenham in November, one of nine consecutive over southern hemisphere opposition.
But on the day England flew into Melbourne, the Wallabies sunk into further disarray when fly-half Elton Flatley was ditched from the squad for Saturday’s Test after missing the compulsory recovery session in Parramatta.
“The Wallabies have a strict disciplinary code and failure to comply with that code can lead to the type of action we have taken with Elton,” said coach Eddie Jones.
“We will review Elton’s situation after the England Test.”
It leaves Australia without any of their front three fly-halves, with both Stephen Larkham and Matt Giteau out injured.
They have been relying on centre Nathan Grey and winger Joe Roff to provide back-up to Flatley for the wins over Ireland and Wales, and Jones is likely to start with one of them at stand-off.
Despite the difficulties in the Australia camp and delight in England’s, there is no danger the tourists will suffer a lapse in concentration ahead of next weekend.
Indeed, after the final whistle in Wellington the victorious England players sat in the changing room watching Australia stutter against a plucky Wales outfit.
“We have got 24 hours to enjoy it and then it is off to Australia and I think we will be quite hard on ourselves,” said hooker Steve Thompson.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
