Lewsey: We need confidence boost

World Cup winner Josh Lewsey has underlined the importance of England delivering a confidence-building performance against Canada this weekend.

England, even allowing for a much-changed team in new coach Andy Robinson’s first match at the helm, should steamroll a Canadian side crushed 51-6 by Italy.

But with major tests against Tri-Nations champions South Africa and World Cup runners-up Australia looming later this month, Robinson, his players and a probable 40,000 crowd will expect Canada to be dispatched in style on Saturday.

“On form, if we play to our best then we should beat them [Canada] and beat them comfortably,” said Wasps wing Lewsey.

“But it is not just the scoreline that matters. It is our performance - because we have got bigger challenges coming up in the two weeks after Canada. We have got to lay down a performance which gives us confidence.

“I would love to play an expansive game and I think we may have gone away a bit from what made England the best team in the world. I hope we can get back to that fairly shortly.”