Jonny May has admitted he is still shocked following England’s defeat by Wales but backed Stuart Lancaster to lead his side to victory against Australia in “the biggest week of my life”.
England know a win over the Wallabies is paramount to keeping their World Cup alive, despite having been in a seemingly comfortable position against Wales before a remarkable late comeback from Warren Gatland’s side.
May scored England’s only try in the defeat, yet the tournament hosts squandered their lead. The Gloucester wing described England’s coaching set-up as the best he had ever worked with and believes the team will learn lessons from the defeat.
“Personally I feel shocked by the result but, fair play to Wales, we have to learn the lessons and move on. We were in control of the game but couldn’t quite finish them off. They hung in there and showed great character and, when their chance came, they took it and beat us at the end,” he said.
“What can we learn from that? Discipline at the breakdown, staying composed, taking points when we can and finishing teams off. It was a similar thing in the first France game. We won by not a huge margin, we came off feeling happy but they could have snuck a try at the end and it would have been a different story.
“The coaching team is the best I’ve ever had and Stuart’s only ever been fair to me. I couldn’t learn more than in this environment. It’s not fair to say they’re like school teachers. In fact it’s quite player-led.”
May could well feature in a reshuffled backline against Australia, with many urging Lancaster to field a more attacking side than the one he selected against Wales. “This is a must-win game, the biggest week of my life, the biggest week of a lot of our lives,” said May. “We have to embrace that. We can completely turn it around. It’s in our control and we’re trying as hard as we can, we’re giving it everything we can and just need everyone to get out and support us.
“They’re one of the top teams in the world, a world-class team, but there’s a top eight and anyone can win on any day. It comes down to key moments and hopefully we can come out on top in those moments.”
