Johnno on... win over Tonga

Hello everyone. I’m a bit bleary-eyed having woken up in France at 5am to get back to England. I had a couple of beers to celebrate the win and can now look forward to watching the other home nations this weekend.

England played to a specific plan against Tonga and it worked. Apart from conceding an early try, we dominated territory. The Tonga kicking game was poor so we kicked a lot of ball although sometimes we were just giving it back to them. But we always seemed to pin them in their half and, in the last 20 minutes, the Tongans weren’t quite the same team.

When we went through phases last night I thought it was good. Even if you aren’t getting anywhere, the opposition are having to work and it gradually wears them down. England’s first-half tries were opportunistic, but the work they did led to the last 20 minutes being relatively comfortable.

There are still some issues though. The whole midfield area is lacking a bit of penetration and doesn’t look like knocking over a defence. Andy Farrell did make a difference, but they’ll probably pick the same back line against Australia depending on Jason Robinson coming back and Mark Cueto being injured.

We also need to react a bit better defensively. I thought at times we stood off and let them run at us which led to the first try. We really need to swarm Australia and look after our ball a bit better as well.

The breakdown remains a problem. Australia have got a guy called George Smith who will punish us at the breakdown. Occasionally we were getting men isolated and losing the ball so that’s a big focus for the team in training this week.

And finally there’s these spells of play which will drive Brian Ashton mad. At the start of the second half, we made basic errors and lost concentration and focus. Even Jonny Wilkinson was affected and at 19-13 it was worrying. We had two or three chances to clear our lines and didn’t do it. If you do that against one of the top five teams, they will come away with at least three points. All the little mistakes add up and the bigger the game and the better the opposition, the more they count.

Nevertheless, England are through. All the talk’s been of them not qualifying but they can relax a bit - the pressure’s now on Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

Johnno: How we can beat Tonga

It’s crunch time for England as they prepare to face Tonga in their final Pool A game which will see the loser go out of the tournament.

So how should England set about claiming the victory that would put them in the quarter-finals?

It’s quite simple really. When you’ve got the ball, you want the game to be quick – going forward and winning quick ball. That makes it so much easier to attack. You’ve got a disrupted opposition defence, and you’ve got gaps to aim at and mismatches to exploit.

When you’re defending, you want the game to slow right down so you have time to organise your defence, sort out the guys at breakdowns, and not get over-committed. The game’s as simple as that.

When you’ve got the ball you want to be generally attacking very quickly. England need to have a driving element in their game against Tonga. They managed to do that against Samoa, but they went away from it occasionally.

When they played fast, they were very effective. So it’s a question of getting the right balance between taking the legs off the opposition in the scrum and maul, and then attacking them with quick ball and good movement.

We saw Tonga play well against South Africa at times but when the Boks played direct rugby and started winning quick ball without being turned over at the breakdown, they opened up Tonga’s defence fairly easily.

England need to work hard and get through lots of phases even if early on they’re not making lots of obvious progress.

That way, they’ll be able to wear the opposition down. It’s about ball-retention, and about moving the ball smartly. You’ve got to create fatigue in your opponents, then chances will come.

They may not be try-scoring chances because their defence might be spot-on, but if you come away with three points from Jonny’s boot a few times in the first 20 minutes you can be nine or 12 points in front, and that’s a great place to be because it puts pressure on the opposition.

There’s no reason why England can’t win if they play in the right way. But for Tonga it’s potentially the biggest game in their rugby history, and they could go out and play their greatest ever game, with loads of inspiration and ferocity.

We can’t control that. But we can control our performance, and be at the required level.

Johnno on... the Aussie chief

Hello again as we come to the nitty-gritty of the World Cup, with England hoping for a win over Tonga to set up a potential quarter-final against the Wallabies.

England v Australia would be an interesting game, especially after the comments of John O’Neill, chief executive of the Australian Rugby Union. Apparently he said: “It doesn’t matter whether it’s cricket, rugby union, rugby league – we all hate England.”

Mmm…I think those words were spoken a bit more tongue in cheek than they actually appear when you see them in print. But for a chief exec to start using words like that doesn’t look too good for him. Yes it may be tongue in cheek, but it’s not a clever thing to do.

I don’t think it will make any difference to England if they beat Tonga and face the Wallabies in the quarter-finals. So what? It’s just words. But I don’t think a player would ever use such a strong word as ‘hate’ before a potential game between the two countries. I suppose it’s one of those situations where, when you’re quoted in context it sounds OK, but when you see it in print it’s not quite the same.

The really important thing as far as England are concerned is that they beat Tonga. Then we can all start thinking about Australia.

Johnno on Vickery's bench role

I was sorting out my washing when news came through of England's line-up for the crucial Pool A game against Tonga.

So what do I think? Not about my smalls - but Brian Ashton's team selection. He has two back-rowers on the bench which could be very handy. And he's got Corry starting in the back row because he can also cover the second row.

England obviously played their best game of the tournament so far in the win against Samoa, so with Phil Vickery coming back after suspension, it does make it a bit awkward for the coach when it's your captain.

Phil isn't in the starting XV but as a replacement he'll be very effective coming off the bench. And if you look at our bench now, you can bring on Lee Mears, who I thought would maybe have been on the bench last week, Vickery, Dallaglio and Worsley. You've got huge impact there.

I'm not saying that the starting line-up is undynamic, but if necessary Brian can change half his pack into a dynamic unit during the game. Those replacements can give England a big boost against a side like Tonga, and I think Brian's right in that regard.

Maybe Danny Hipkiss was the only guy to have a serious chance of coming into the starting XV to give the backs a bit more directness and penetration. He would have had to come in at 13 for Matthew Tait.

But I'm not saying I would have made that change. The back line that started against Samoa had never played together before so if Brian is backing them as his best back line, he has to stick with it.

I'm a little surprised to see Lewis Moody coming in at 7 because I reckon Joe Worsley did OK against Samoa. I thought Lewis may have come into the number 6 spot, and either Corry or Easter move over. But perhaps there are things going on behind the scenes that we don't know about with injuries or whatever.

As for Vickery and the fact that Corry will start as captain, it can be awkward but they're all very sensible guys and I can't see it causing problems if and when Vickery comes off the bench. Phil can play both sides in the front row and maybe he'll come on and add something in the last 25 or 30 minutes.

I'll be back later in the week to give my views on the way we should play against Tonga - and on a Wallaby jibe against England.

Johnno on... the win over Samoa

Hello again, it's fair to say I'm slightly happier tonight than compared to the Friday before last!

It was a great occasion - a really enjoyable Rugby World Cup day - and England not only won but we played better rugby as well. We would all have taken that win before kick off and definitely when it was 26-22. If Samoa had scored next at that point the game was really in the balance.

When we played direct and won the ball quickly we looked like we were going to cause trouble. We had the perfect start going 10-0 up, but we just seemed to play what was in front of us better. If the kick was on we kicked it; if we thought it was on to go round them we did that. We played a pretty high tempo rugby.

Andy Gomersall has been one of the biggest differences. He got the ball away very quickly. He had little subtle variations; a break here and there, a kicking game - he controlled that area pretty well. Obviously having a genuine number 10 in Jonny Wilkinson helped. He missed a couple of penalties, but the guy's human. I thought his tackling was great - he put in some big ones for the team. In fact, our defence was pretty solid throughout.

We still had problems getting out of our territory and conceding 22 points to Samoa is probably seven or eight too many. We need to work on our kicking game - when that ball's in the air we're not reacting quick enough and teams will punish us as Samoa did. But we showed a lot of composure and resilience after they battled right back into the game and won comfortably in the end.

As for the Tonga game, Phil Vickery and Jason Robinson, assuming he's got over his injury, will come back into the mix so it starts to give the team a few more options in the back three and the front five. I think 12 and 13 are still the biggest issues. Matthew Tait and Olly Barkley didn't quite work, but it's the first time they've ever been together. The only option is to bring in Danny Hipkiss at 13, but if Brian Ashton thought Tait was the right guy before today and then we win by 20 points, he'll probably stick with it.

Rule me out of England job - for now

Hello there – It's Johnno here again. I’m trying to come to terms with the fact that Ladbrokes have made me second favourite behind Dean Richards to replace Brian Ashton as the next England coach.

I’ve got some advice for you – don’t put any money on me. I’ve never coached in my life. People have a perception that because you were successful as a player, you can go back into the game and be successful as a coach.

If I want to get back into the game, I’ll do it in my own time and in my own way. I think that to go and do the biggest job in English rugby without any coaching experience would be a very difficult thing to do, to say the least.

Looking further ahead, I wouldn’t rule it out completely because you can’t rule anything out completely. But at the moment I’ve got no plans to go into coaching, and particularly with the England job.

The sad thing is that England are in a position where they haven’t played too well in this World Cup so people are starting to speculate during the tournament about who’s going to replace the coach when he’s actually still in the job.

It’s just media speculation – one of those things that comes up when England aren’t playing well. In fact they’ve still got a good chance of making the quarter-finals.

The players need to be concentrating on the game against Samoa, and on what’s actually happening, not on all the media speculation. It’s vital that they beat Samoa.

As for Dean Richards, he’s won four leagues and two European Cups and is now doing a good job with Harlequins, so his name is always going to get a mention as well. At least he’s been doing a coaching job for some time, unlike me!

Other names in the hat? I’m not going to add to the speculation because there’s no hat to put them in at the moment.

I wouldn’t have minded the Chelsea job though! They say that Jose’s expecting a £25m pay-off. That’s not a bad little package.

Joking apart, the important thing for Brian and his England side is to concentrate on the Samoa game on Saturday. I’ll be back shortly after the match to give my verdict. Join me then.

Johnno on under-fire Brian Ashton

Hello there. It's Johnno here again with some thoughts on England's upcoming World Cup Pool A game with Samoa, but firstly a few words on the coach Brian Ashton.

He's only had a very short time with the team but when you take a job you know what you're getting into and at World Cup time people will want to know why this has happened.

If you play a team that's better than you, with more experience, skill and control and they get the better of you that's one thing. But England haven't played anywhere near as well as they can, that's the disappointing thing.

If that was as good those players can be, fine, but it's not. We know they can be a lot better. When you're coaching and you're not getting anywhere near the potential of your team, that's disappointing.

We can still beat some of the best teams in the world but we have to start worrying about our performance. Forget about qualification or anything else, just start the game well.

We started the South Africa game and were 10 points down within 10 minutes and that'a a very, very difficult thing to come back from in a big game against a team like that when you're short of confidence. We need to keep the tempo of the game high and control the ball.

Looking at the line-up Ashton has selected against Samoa, it's a whole new midfield from the South Africa game. They've almost ripped it up and started again. Samoa are not facing the most physical England midfield I've ever seen but it's a pretty skilful one.

When he came on against South Africa Andy Gommersall was far sharper round the base of the breakdown, so you expected that change to happen. Joe Worsley's athleticism has got him in. I'm surprised Lewis Moody isn't starting in the back row. I thought he might fit into the back row somewhere, maybe Martin Corry go to the second row.

It's a bit of a shame for Danny Hipkiss not getting a go at 13. It's good to see George Chuter get a start. Olly Barkley is now playing 12, which he wasn't brought on the tour to do. England have struggled at 12 for the last couple of years so it will be interesting to see how he goes.

It really typifies what England have been through in the last few years - going from one game to the other with vastly different players. There has been no continuity in any of the key positions. They're not sure what their best team is.

The Samoans' endurance is not their strength so the last 30 minutes is when you can start taking advantage of that. We really need to start very, very quickly and aggressively and not let Samoa get early points on us.

I'll be back on Thursday as we build up to Saturday's crunch Samoa game. Catch up with you then.

Johnno picks his team for Samoa

Hi, it’s Johnno here again. Sorry I haven’t updated my blog for a few days - it’s taken me a while to get over Friday night!

Torture it was. England were just so poor - it’s hard for anyone to watch that. But it’s time to look forward to the crunch game with Samoa on Saturday. Brian Ashton has some big decisions.

I don’t know if wholesale changes are required. It’s good news to have Jonny Wilkinson back. At every level, not having a regular number 10 playing for you is a big disadvantage. Wilko’s a top-class player - he’ll help everything; variety of kick offs, directing the play, strong defence and kicking at goal.

I think they’ll have to play Danny Hipkiss at 13 and Mike Catt at 12. A lot of people were criticising Andy Farrell after the South Africa game, but in a team performance which is that disappointing, I don’t think any individual can be picked out. Having said that, I think Wilkinson at 10 and Catt at 12 would be our first-choice team. Elsewhere in the backs, I think Andy Gomersal will start at scrum half, Josh Lewsey will probably drop back to full-back to replace Jason Robinson while Mark Cueto will return on the wing.

Up front, Matt Stevens scrummaged pretty well but Phil Vickery will probably replace him as he’s captain. George Chuter will start. The back five may be somewhere which gets a bit of change. I would like to see Lewis Moody and Joe Worsley start to give us a dynamic back row and put Martin Corry back in the second row.

We’ll find out whether Brian agrees later in the week. I’ll be back to give my views on the team and preview the Samoa game in more detail. Bye for now!

Johnno on the crunch Springboks clash

It's Johnno here again, getting ready to head out to Paris for England's big showdown against South Africa on Friday.

Losing Jonny Wilkinson and potentially Olly Barkley for the match is always going to leave the squad looking a bit thin. You have to hedge your bets and put other guys in and it disrupts preparation.

I'm sure Mike Catt will have to play at 10 and Andy Farrell at 12. They also don't know yet whether Phil Vickery is going to be playing or not. However, the squad has been together so long you should be able to overcome these things.

If they go out on Friday night with the right attitude, minimise the mistakes and cut down on penalties England have got a chance to win this game. South Africa are under huge pressure, there's a large amount of expectation on them and England have to approach it as just another 80 minutes of rugby.

South Africa were decent against Samoa but they can be impressive one week and not the next; that's the nature of sport.

England have to pressure them all the time. Every little tackle, ruck and maul situation, England have to be right on the edge. Every kick South Africa take there has to be a guy bearing down on him. Every little scrap of ball we'll have to fight for.

I just hope that after 15-20 minutes we're still in the game. The longer the match stays close, the more pressure will be on South Africa.

All of the Home Nations have played now and none of them have been particularly impressive in their opening games. They've all had similar sorts of games where they've been expected to win. The good thing is they've all got bigger games to come that will effectively decide their pools.

Wales, who face Australia on Saturday, have been disrupted by Stephen Jones not being available for the pre-World Cup games. They don't usually play well in the tournament warm-ups but then they turn it on in the real thing.

They did that four years ago then played some really decent stuff in the tournament itself. I expect them to play really well on Saturday and give the Aussies a really good game.

Johnno on USA win and a return to action

Hello, it's Johnno here, fresh from watching the England game, with my latest blog!

It was undeniably a very poor performance against USA. England didn't get any momentum - it was very messy. But the States are a tricky team to play against because they don't mind giving penalties away - that frustrated England.

It's very hard to pick out individuals when the team plays like that. But Olly Barkley was probably our most direct and dangerous runner. He made two or three breaks and played pretty well, but if England are struggling to win the ball, it makes it so difficult to attack with any potency.

Nobody in the England team will be thinking "I'm assured of my place against South Africa". Phil Vickery could be in trouble because he tripped someone and it wasn't seen - he might be banned. I'm not sure whether the back row combination worked well either - Brian Ashton's got choices there though with Corry and Easter on the bench.

I'm out in France next week for the South Africa game so I'm looking forward to sampling the atmosphere. The game finishes fairly late but hopefully there'll be time for a quiet night out. But when you're in a town full of rugby fans, it's hard to find a quiet bar. I'll be looking for a bit of advice!

It will be interesting to see who's out there. The world of rugby will be about and I'm sure there'll be some England lads around.

I do still keep in touch with some of my former Leicester and England teammates but not as much as I would like. I played cricket with a couple back in July and we loved it; in the changing room getting ready for the game we were all saying we should do this more. But everyone's busy. Where I live there's still opportunity to catch up with the Leicester guys but some former teammates I don't see at all. The retired players really enjoy it because we're obviously not on the circuit and playing that much.

The start of the World Cup has made me think about how much I've missed playing rugby this year - not just at the top level with Leicester - just any game. Don't be surprised if I turn out and play a couple of games this year for someone. I'm not sure who though!

Martin Johnson on England v USA

Hi there! The Rugby World Cup is finally upon us and the final countdown has started to England’s opener against the USA on Saturday.

As a fan of American football, I’ll be interested to see how the USA shape up on Saturday.

There are pockets of real rugby interest on the east and west coasts of the States, but it’s such a huge country that getting a national system up and running and working well is difficult.

The big sports like American football and baseball dominate over there. But there are moves afoot by people in the American Rugby Union to tap into the potential of those athletes who don’t make the higher echelons of American football. And those guys are real power athletes.

As for the opening Pool A game, I think the USA will be very physical and won’t let England have it all their own way.And I don’t think England need an easy game.

They need a physical match because they’re getting ready for a tough clash with South Africa the following week.

England are far better off having a competitive first game rather than scoring a lot of points in a walkover. I think the real focus for England in their first game will be whether they are playing the right way, doing the right things.

If Brian Ashton’s side can do that, they should win and be in good shape for the tougher tests to come.

Martin Johnson gives his RWC predictions

Hi -  welcome to my latest World Cup blog. It’s prediction time for what’s shaping up to be a highly competitive tournament.

New Zealand have got to be favourites to lift the trophy. I think they’ve been the best team in the world for the past three years or so.

They lost once to Australia in the Tri-Nations but they’ve got tremendous depth in their squad and some outstanding players.

You’ve got to have a good number 10 to be successful in the World Cup, and in Dan Carter the All Blacks have one of the best in the business.

They’re a far better all-round side than they were in 2003 when we won the trophy.

The one thing that might count against them is the tremendous pressure that they’re under this time round. They won the first World Cup in 1987 but haven’t been able to repeat that success since then.

There will also be a lot of pressure on France as the host nation. But they’re looking good in the run-up to the tournament and will be hard to beat. I can see them reaching the semi-finals.

The same goes for Australia, who can never be ruled out.

Ireland are in a tough pool which includes France and Argentina, but they must fancy their chances of reaching the semi-finals for the first time in their history.

As for England, I think they’ve got to beat South Africa on 14 September and win their pool. If they can do that then Brian Ashton’s side have a chance of reaching the semis.

Only one team has ever got to the World Cup final after losing a pool game. We did it in 1991. One thing in that could be in England’s favour is that South Africa’s opening game is a tough one against Samoa, the day after England play the USA.

If South Africa lose some key guys because they get hurt against Samoa, it might make life a bit easier for England on the 14th.

But it’s going to be a fiercely competitive game against the Springboks, who have a fantastic runner in Bryan Habana.