Johnno on... the crunch quarter-final

Hello again - the moment of truth beckons for England as they prepare for their quarter-final against Australia.

This is a massive game for all sorts of reasons, but it's going to be tough for us to repeat our success of the 2003 final.

So how should Brian Ashton's side go about their job? England have a strong scrum, which is an important part of the game. But it's not going to win us the match if other parts of our game aren't up to scratch. To be honest, I think they'll also have to play well in every other area. Defensively we need to be faster getting forward and getting into people. Lewis Moody showed some real urgency and speed in defence against Tonga, and that's why he's in the starting line-up again.

We're going to have to be competitve at the breakdown, and we need to win more turnover ball. That's going to be crucial.

I think England can win, but our error count has to be lower than it has been so far in the tournament. If it isn't, the Wallabies will punish us, no question. I don't believe we can concede more than one try and win this game. If we concede a couple of tries, then we're in big trouble. And we need more things to go right than the Australians do.

We need to make things uncomfortable for them physically - with the pace of the game we play, the physicality of our game, the pressure of our defence, our set-piece play - all these have to be in good order to squeeze the Wallabies out of the zone they want to be in.

But it's not going to be easy. Australia will attack our midfield. That's why it's important that we need to be at our best defensively, and to be more competitive at the breakdown.

People love these England v Australia clashes, and I'm really looking forward to it. I'll enjoy it even more if England can raise their game and reach the semi-finals. Whatever the outcome, I'll be back to give my verdict over the weekend.

Comments

[Big Rog]

So again we are struggling with injury. This is further complicated by the fact that the candidates for inside centre, when fit, are Farrell, a great Rugby League player whose move to Union was delayed by injury to the point where he has not had sufficient match time for him to gain confidence in his decision making. He knows the attitude that the press have about him and I think that that inhibits him, so he is not firing. We then have Barkley, a very good player and Catt, a great player, neither of whom have sparked either, again I believe through confidence issues. With both Farrell and Barkley injured we then have Catt & no specialist back up.
If we lose on Saturday then as of today neither Farrell nor Barkley will have any more games in this year's World Cup. If Ashton feels that we need a player with big physical presence in order to win, then send one of them home and replace him with Mike Tindall. He's fit again, scoring for Gloucester and would have been in France but for injury. I'm sure that he can cope with the position and has the kind of hard nosed, driving power that Ashton seems to want.
I notice that the Aussie have started their usual pre-match whinge. Apparently the Wild Colonial Boys think that the England side could be a bit rough. Ooh scratch your eyes out! I think that they've been watching re-runs of Monty Python, Bruce. I think that what may really be worrying them, is that Andre Watson is otherwise engaged and they may have to complete a scrum!
Come on England! Win or lose I'll be back to my one eyed best come the Six Nations