Johnson: England set for Irish backlash
Both sides suffered chastening weekends in the Six Nations although, as Johnson is at pains to point out, England did at least win in Rome.
Having said that, their 17-12 victory over Italy was dubbed the eternal game in the Eternal City as England failed to get out of first-gear, but their suffering was nothing compared to Ireland’s.
France’s 33-10 demolition job in Paris put paid to dreams of back-to-back grand slams for Ireland, but Johnson is adamant that result spells danger for his team as he expects Declan Kidney’s men to be desperate to prove a point when they head to London.
“Scorelines don’t always reflect what happened in a game, but Ireland will certainly be hurt after what happened in Paris,” said Johnson. “I heard Ireland’s players saying exactly that after the game in fact. It’s weird though — Ireland are coming off the back of a defeat in Paris and they’re getting grief at home; we’re coming off the back of a win and we’re getting grief at home as well.
“In my view, England-Ireland has become a huge rivalry and a huge game over the last decade or so, and they’re still Grand Slam champions. The demand for tickets has been huge, so many people want to come and watch it. I’m well aware that both teams will be missing players, but for me it’s all about who we have available on the day.”
And Johnson has told his team that they will have to improve significantly on their display in Rome despite being one of just two sides, along with France, to have perfect records after the opening two rounds of the Championship. Yet he has launched a staunch defence of Jonny Wilkinson, who many blame for England’s sterile kicking game, while stating no-one is guaranteed a place in his side.
“We know we will have to be better than we were against Italy to beat Ireland,” explained the 2003 World Cup winning skipper. “We made too many errors and if we continue to make a mistake every five minutes then it will be difficult to maintain pressure.
“And the kicking game will be a big part of the match next week. Let’s not pretend we are going to go out and try to counter-attack every time, because if they put a kick in with a good chase then that (counter-attacking) is suicide. We need to make smart decisions and play the right game.
“As for Jonny, he missed a few kicks and then suddenly everyone is calling for his head, which I find pretty disappointing and surprising. It’s now in vogue to have a pop at Jonny and I don’t think that’s right or fair. But no-one is un-droppable, no-one ever has been. Whoever you are there is probably someone better than you who has been dropped.
Jonny needs players around him, guys like Mike Catt, Will Greenwood, myself or Kyran Bracken, to take decisions, then he will execute them brilliantly.”
When asked last week, Wilkinson did not reject the view that he is at his most comfortable playing with a general on his shoulder, barking orders and helping to guide the team around the field.
When England dominated world rugby under Johnson’s captaincy, Wilkinson took the plaudits but always deflected the praise towards Will Greenwood or Mike Catt.
Johnson acknowledged England must improve their communication in that area ahead of the Ireland game, a demand aimed specifically at inside centre Riki Flutey and scrum-half Danny Care.
“We are not playing in isolation out there and that is something we will stress,” said Johnson. “Danny Care is improving all the time in that position and Riki was back for his first game at this level in six or seven months. We can only get better there.”
Johnson has kept 17 of his 32-man squad in camp for the next 24 hours — England’s starting team from the Italy game plus hooker Steve Thompson and prop Matt Mullan. Fifteen players have been released back to their clubs for this weekend’s round of Guinness Premiership action, including Flood and the six bench players who were used in Rome. The released players are: Steffon Armitage, Chris Ashton, Matt Banahan, Jordan Crane, Louis Deacon, Ben Foden, Flood, Shontayne Hape, Dan Hipkiss, Paul Hodgson, Courtney Lawes, Chris Robshaw, Dan Ward-Smith, David Wilson, Ben Youngs.
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