George guarantees ‘very different’ England facet with confidence unshaken
E
ngland by no means endure a disaster of confidence, ever. No matter how stark the scenario, they all the time discover the religion required to carry out.
Even a staff that gained simply three of 9 matches in eight months earlier than the Rugby World Cup, and stuttered past Samoa by just a single point final weekend, nonetheless has supreme self-belief.
Hooker Jamie George admits he nonetheless hurts when casting his thoughts again to defeats that occurred three and extra years in the past.
So when he conjures photos from the 53-10 hammering by France at Twickenham in March, or the 30-22 defeat by Fiji in west London in August, these reverses and extra nonetheless sting.
But the Saracens hooker nonetheless genuinely has full conviction that England will lastly hit full stride at this World Cup, beginning in Sunday’s Fiji rematch within the quarter-finals.
Lose in Marseille on Sunday, and England will go residence with all their guarantees and pledges frankly falling flat. And nonetheless, England don’t flinch.
“Our belief manifests itself from the top down, Steve Borthwick talks about it a lot,” stated George. “We’ve got a lot of players who have been there and done that on some big stages.
Confidence high: Jamie George believes England will bounce back against Fiji in Marseille
/ PA“We’ve got players who have experience of a World Cup final and the latter stages of World Cups, players who are playing in their fourth World Cup.
“I think we’ve got a great group of senior players who are very open and honest with the younger players who this could be intimidating for.
“But this is why we’re here. The quarter-final of a World Cup is exactly where we want to be.”
George ranks among the many eldest and most revered of statesmen on this England staff. The 32-year-old will win his 83rd cap in Sunday’s quarter-final in opposition to Fiji, the place Owen Farrell is expected to be moved to fly-half on the expense of George Ford and Marcus Smith probably set to line up at full-back, changing Freddie Steward.
Saracens hooker George admitted that through the years he has needed to work to grasp the big-match strain, however insisted England know precisely methods to management their psychological preparation.
“We can’t shy away from the fact that this is probably one of the biggest games we are ever going to play in,” he stated.
“Early on in my career I tried to feel a certain way, or tried to be perceived to be feeling a certain way, or tried to shy away from emotions. I don’t see why you need to do that.
We can’t shy away from the fact that this is probably one of the biggest games we are ever going to play in
“We’ve got the space to speak to people, we’ve got a really open group and if people are nervous then that’s fine, or if people are excited, then that’s fine.
“But the most important thing for us is focusing on each week and that’s something we’ve done really well. Since we’ve been in France in particular we’ve got clear things to go after during the week.
“We try to be really clear what we’re going to go through each week and be as prepared as we can be. When you focus on that it becomes less about the enormity of the occasion.”
The nagging feeling round England’s supreme confidence stays that, for all their easy progress to this World Cup quarter-final, the Red Rose males are but to face a real, top-level problem in France.
Argentina have been undercooked and error-strewn, regardless of England’s high-quality efficiency with 14 males to prevail 27-10.
Japan are removed from the pressure of 4 years in the past and England noticed them off with lots to spare, whereas Chile are ranked twenty second on the planet and have been dispatched with a much-changed XV.
England had already certified for the final eight earlier than their properly below-par displaying within the last-gasp 18-17 win over Samoa final weekend.
For all of the expectation that England will now ship, the on-field proof up to now speaks on the contrary, and George definitely conceded so when it got here to that stuttering efficiency in opposition to Samoa.
“Last weekend wasn’t good enough, it was poor,” stated George. “We’ve had a really good, open, honest review and we’re very clear that some of the stuff wasn’t good enough, and our energy levels were poor.
“That’s inexcusable to be honest. Would we rather it happened then than now? Yes. Will we learn from it? Absolutely. You’ll see a very different England team on Sunday.”