Johnno was tactically undone
KICKING INTO TOUCH WITH
BRENDAN VENTER
THEY may have lost but Martin Johnson’s England can take plenty of encouragement from last weekend’s defeat by Australia.
England acquitted themselves well against the Wallabies only to be undone tactically when the 10 and 12 pair of Wilkinson and Geraghty were separated in the second half. The two dominated the game in the first half, playing the field position, defending well and putting pressure on the set-piece – while also supported well by a big, strong forward unit. In the second half, however, England changed tact and started to swing the ball, allowing the Wallabies to take over.
Wilkinson and Geraghty are back starting together for tomorrow’s game against Argentina and it’ll be interesting to see if they can make the same contribution.
CLINICAL
All eyes will also be on South Africa, who, after their defeat to Leicester last week, take on France in Paris tonight. After two days travelling, I think the Boks will do well to get a result there against what is a good, young French side.
From there, the Boks are then back over the UK to take on my Saracens team at Wembley on Tuesday night in what promises to be a memorable night.
Personally, I do not understand the concept of a friendly match in any walk of life, whether it’s going head-to-head with the Springboks or playing your wife at tennis.
In my eyes you play to win or not at all and the game against the Boks at Wembley is equally as important to us as tomorrow’s LV Cup match with Northampton or next Sunday’s Premiership clash with Wasps. We play to win them all.
I was disappointed not to have beaten a weakened Bath by 40 points last week having missed five try-scoring opportunities in the first half alone, we will need to be more clinical against the Saints this weekend.
l Brendan Venter is head coach of Saracens.For Sarries tickets, call the box office on 01727 792800.