Stuart Lancaster has admitted England will “need to be better” if they are to avoid losing to Wales in their crucial Pool A fixture next week. Changes to his starting pack are now distinctly possible, with Lancaster seeking a more direct forward effort at Twickenham next Saturday.
While the management were hugely relieved to secure a try bonus point via Billy Vunipola’s last-gasp score, they are concerned about the lack of dynamism in England’s play. “We need to improve, there’s no doubt,” the head coach said. “We’re going to have to look at a couple of areas … we didn’t get as much clean set-piece ball as we would want and Fiji were very competitive at the breakdown. We need to be more direct, to be honest. We were too lateral in the first half, particularly after the first 20 minutes. We also need to look at some of the accuracy of our decision-making at the breakdown.”
Lancaster insisted he was never worried about England losing, even when Fiji closed to within seven points. “It wasn’t the nicest position to be in but I was always confident the players were in control. I don’t think they ever really broke us down defensively. But if we’d been offered four tries and a bonus point before the game I’d absolutely have taken it. We won’t be the only team Fiji will cause problems to in this tournament.”
The Fijian coach John McKee also suggested the pool was “far from over” despite the outcome. “A lot of things will happen before 10 October. England will be looking at it and saying they have to sharpen up for Australia and Wales. At times we felt we had England under pressure but critical penalties and critical errors let them back into the game.”
In terms of selection, Lancaster will review his options over the weekend. Geoff Parling came off with a shoulder stinger but should be available for selection, while both Vunipola brothers advanced their claims. “Some of the guys really put their hand up,” Lancaster said. “We’ve got an eight-day turnaround but with the quality of the team we’re coming up against next week we know it’s a big challenge. We need to be at our best and selection will be a big part of that.”
The bonus point, however, has given England a little breathing space, as Lancaster was swift to stress. “That was a big try in the context of this pool. Bonus points are absolutely invaluable because subconsciously it puts pressure on the opposition to go out and score four tries against Fiji. I’m sure Fiji will have something to say about that against Australia and Wales. It was a big last five minutes for us.”
Lancaster also had no complaints about the TMO’s decision to rule out Nikola Matawalu’s try after the referee had given it. Had the conversion attempt been attempted quicker the score would have stood but the England management felt the right call was eventually made. “We want to see accurate decisions,” Lancaster said.
The atmosphere was hailed by the England camp as the best they had experienced. Chris Robshaw, the England captain, said the national anthem was “the loudest I’ve ever heard here” and Lancaster was equally impressed. “The whole thing was phenomenal as an occasion. Twickenham was rocking when we arrived. We couldn’t hear much in the changing rooms ... the boys were like caged animals because normally they’d be out on the field warming up. I think that built up the nerves a bit and we took a while to settle.”
