Andy Farrell has urged England to “batten down the hatches” inside and outside the camp in preparation for their World Cup decider against Australia on Saturday, issuing a rallying cry and dismissing stinging criticism from a former captain, Will Carling, who believes Stuart Lancaster treats his players like schoolboys.
England’s Pool A fixture against the Wallabies is now a must-win match following the 28-25 defeat by Wales. That result prompted Carling to question Lancaster’s team selection and slate Chris Robshaw’s decision to opt for an attacking lineout in the closing stages when a penalty would have levelled the scores.
Lancaster on Monday called up Nick Easter to his squad after Billy Vunipola was ruled out of the tournament with a knee-ligament injury sustained against Wales. Easter, a No8, is in contention to start on Saturday given Ben Morgan’s knee problems.
Farrell, the England backs coach, said Carling’s criticism was disappointing and a number of players voiced their scathing disapproval at his comments. The former England captain blamed the defeat and Robshaw’s late tactics on a “classroom-orientated environment”, saying the players were being treated as “schoolboys”.
Farrell responded: “It’s disappointing, especially from someone who has not been in the environment. I’ve been involved in many environments as a player and as a coach. This environment is as good an environment as I’ve seen. It allows players to express themselves and get better as players and leaders. I don’t buy into that [criticism] whatsoever.
“It makes it easier to batten down the hatches. It is what it is. It’s disappointing, we need everyone behind us this week. You guys, the whole of the nation, the crowd. We need to batten down the hatches if we can.
“Let’s go for it, we’re English aren’t we? We’re English, that’s what I’d like to see. Do we all want to do well in this competition? Do we know what’s at stake this weekend? Of course we do. Let’s get behind the team, everyone, let’s help them. Let’s get a feelgood factor throughout the country and let’s do this together.”
Carling had said: “My view is that he [Lancaster] has had leaders and that he needed to have trusted them and develop them. What we watched in the last 10 minutes was a confused debate between people who have never been given responsibility to lead and drive the team.”
England’s selection against Australia will come under the microscope later this week, given Lancaster’s ultimately unsuccessful decision to rest George Ford and play Owen Farrell at fly-half against Wales, with Brad Barritt and Sam Burgess starting as centres.
Farrell is optimistic Morgan will recover from a knee injury and said that Jonathan Joseph, who missed the Wales game with a chest problem, has made significant strides this week towards featuring on Saturday. However, the lock Courtney Lawes will not train on Tuesday because of a knee injury and neither will Ben Youngs.
Easter, who joined the squad on Monday, said the atmosphere among the players was positive despite the defeat and dismissed Carling’s criticism. On suggestions that they were treated as schoolboys by Lancaster, he said: “Well, we’re not. He is very much about empowering players, giving leadership roles to players. He has, over his tenure, found out who thrives in those positions.
“It doesn’t make any difference to me. I’m speaking from my perspective. You just concentrate on your game on the park, if you’re in the 23, just playing your game. You can’t afford to be getting involved in anything from the outside, allowing it to influence you getting in the zone to play the game of your life.”
Much has been made of Robshaw’s decision to opt for a lineout in the closing stages against Wales rather than take a kick at the posts. Farrell said: “There are always different permutations that have to be worked out. That penalty was literally two metres from the touchline. A kicker of this magnitude will go for anything, but what if he misses? Everyone will say, ‘You should have gone for the corner.’ The execution of what happened next wasn’t great but Wales had a part to play in that.
“We know what it’s going to be like after a game like that; there’s going to be fierce scrutiny. We’ve got to batten down the hatches and get on with it. All that matters is that we’re in knockout football. We learn lessons but we move on. We’ve got a big week ahead of us and we can’t let anything get in the way.”