Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'That is the great thing about the situation we are currently in': The straw England are clutching after losing Six Nations title grip

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

England assistant John Mitchell has insisted it is not all doom and gloom amid preparations for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations round four game with France following a disappointing February where defeats to Scotland and Wales sandwiched an average performance against Italy.     

ADVERTISEMENT

Those losses have left fourth-place England well off the pace in their title defence, trailing leaders Wales by eight points and second place France – who have a game in hand – by three.

Coming off the back of their much-criticised indisciplined surrender to the Welsh in Cardiff, where they fell away to lose by 16 points having drawn level with less than 20 minutes remaining, England will be on the back foot when they host the Grand Slam-chasing French.

Video Spacer

Dan Lydiate joins Dylan Hartley and Jamie Roberts on the latest RugbyPass Offload

Video Spacer

Dan Lydiate joins Dylan Hartley and Jamie Roberts on the latest RugbyPass Offload

However, rather than feel they have nothing to play for with the title out of reach, Mitchell believes there is still much for England to gain in a match that is taking place 14 weeks after they needed extra-time to squeeze past a much understrength French XV in the Autumn Nations Cup decider.

“We have got a huge amount to play for because we want to find our best and we want to find our best performance,” said Mitchell when asked about the challenge of England picking up the March pieces following an unsatisfactory February.

“That is the great thing about the situation we are currently in, that we have got a great opportunity to find our best and you learn more from being in these situations and your belief you will find a way is the real positive thing about it. We haven’t found our best yet but we have an opportunity to find our best which is exciting,” he added about a fixture where many eyes will be on France’s Antoine Dupont.

“The biggest lesson has been seen, has been acknowledged, that we need to improve our discipline. What is key to that is how we respond – some things we can control and some things we can’t. It’s a matter of what we can control. There is definitely greater awareness, there is an education around the area. Not for one minute do we want to stop playing on the edge and continue to be physical… but it’s important that we are a lot cleverer and smarter in the situations.

ADVERTISEMENT

“It’s a feeling thing. It comes through connection, togetherness. We are working hard and it will come. There is no doubt about it. The timing will come because it is something we really enjoy and it is something we pride ourselves on so we are not going to throw away something that is really important to us and is ultimately a strength that we can bring week in, week out.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Classic Wallabies vs British & Irish Legends | First Match | Full Match Replay

Did the Lions loosies get away with murder? And revisiting the Springboks lift | Whistle Watch

The First Test, Visiting The Great Barrier Reef & Poetry with Pierre | Ep 6: The Ultimate Test

KOKO Show | July 22nd | Full Throttle with Brisbane Test Review and Melbourne Preview

New Zealand v South Africa | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

USA vs England | Men's International | Full Match Replay

France v Argentina | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

Lions Share | Episode 4

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

S
Soliloquin 1 hour ago
Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us

I don’t know the financial story behind the changes that were implemented, but I guess clubs started to lose money, Mourad Boudjellal won it all with Toulon, got tired and wanted to invest in football , the French national team was at its lowest with the QF humiliation in 2015 and the FFR needed to transform the model where no French talent could thrive. Interestingly enough, the JIFF rule came in during the 2009/2010 season, so before the Toulon dynasty, but it was only 40% of the players that to be from trained in French academies. But the crops came a few years later, when they passed it at the current level of 70%.

Again, I’m not a huge fan of under 18 players being scouted and signed. I’d rather have French clubs create sub-academies in French territories like Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia and other places that are culturally closer to RU and geographically closer to rugby lands. Mauvaka, Moefana, Taofifenua bros, Tolofua bros, Falatea - they all came to mainland after starting their rugby adventure back home.

They’re French, they come from economically struggling areas, and rugby can help locally, instead of lumping foreign talents.

And even though many national teams benefit from their players training and playing in France, there are cases where they could avoid trying to get them in the French national team (Tatafu).

In other cases, I feel less shame when the country doesn’t believe in the player like in Meafou’s case.

And there are players that never consider switching to the French national team like Niniashvili, Merckler or even Capuozzo, who is French and doesn’t really speak Italian.

We’ll see with Jacques Willis 🥲


But hey, it’s nothing new to Australia and NZ with PI!

109 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING The stat in which the Springboks outperformed everyone fivefold in July Where the Springboks outperformed everyone fivefold