English stars told not to dwell on rout

SCRUM coach Graham Rowntree warned England will “get thumped” by New Zealand if they go into tomorrow’s game fearing a repeat of last weekend’s 42-6 record home defeat to South Africa.

The All Blacks arrive at Twickenham as the best team in the world and one victory away from completing only the third ‘grand slam’ tour in their history.

Rowntree knows New Zealand will prey ruthlessly on any weaknesses — either mental or physical — and he told England they cannot afford to carry with them any hangover from that Springbok nightmare. “If we go into this game on the weekend feeling sorry for ourselves then we will get thumped, we will get thumped,” said Rowntree.

“It’s hard. The players are hurting but they are very young and inexperienced and we were honest with them.

“But then we have to build them back up again. We have to instil that confidence in them. We are not going to enter the game with fear.

“Over the years this whole aura got built up around New Zealand. I couldn’t give a stuff what they have done in the past. This is the last game of the series for them to give a good account of themselves.”

Erasing the mental scars of last weekend’s defeat is a not inconsiderable task.

England enjoyed around 65% of possession and forced the Springboks to make over twice as many tackles — but lost the Test five tries to nil.

Forwards coach John Wells believes England will have to take those painful lessons on the chin if they are to develop into a world-beating outfit once again.

It took Clive Woodward six years to take England from a 76-0 defeat to Australia to winning the World Cup.

“You should not accept these kinds of results for England — but this is a young side,” said Wells.

A major factor in England’s failure to convert their swathes of possession into points has been their inability to regularly win quick ball at the breakdown.

Wells admitted his young back row, schooled in academies and the Guinness Premiership, are not streetwise enough to match the hardened packs from the southern hemisphere and that is a major lesson England must learn quickly.

“A major issue was the number of damn players in green shirts that were lying over the ball, on the ball or around the ball almost to the point we were pointing it out to the ref. The new laws take some of the violence out of the game. That is disappointing because it helps everybody win quick ball.