By Kath 19/3/04
April 7 2004

Sir Clive Woodward England's Head Coach talks to Zurich's Andrew Titheridge about the weather, tactics and a more familiar look about the team for tomorrow.

For immediate release: 19 March 2004
Issued on behalf of Zurich

Zurich Report with Clive Woodward
Speaking on www.zurichpremiership.com

Andrew Titheridge: One day to go for the match against Wales, and weather conditions are not looking good.

Sir Clive Woodward: There are looking appalling there is a massive dark cloud coming in from  the Atlantic and it's going to be much like today with very strong winds and torrential rain. I can't recall a Test match that we have played in such bad conditions. We played in New Zealand last year and they were not great conditions but it's the same for both sides and we have got to get on with it.

Andrew Titheridge: When it was rain in Sydney, it was almost a relief because there is no question England can adjust to weather conditions better than most other sides.

Sir Clive Woodward: Yes I think we are good at adjusting to conditions but it wasn't a relief in Sydney. I thought that when we played the French England would have been suited to a dry pitch but we adjusted very well. So nothing will change tomorrow if the weather comes down you still have to get the basics right both scrum and line out and in those conditions it's about getting hold of the ball. Possession is everything even in bad conditions. We've done a lot of soul searching after the Irish game and it's a huge game for the England team tomorrow. Winning is everything and we have got to get England back on track and to winning ways.

Andrew Titheridge: You talk about basics and that is what it is all about, how can you be sure that England will front up and not make the same mistakes that they did against Ireland?

Sir Clive Woodward: Well I know England are going to front up, there is no doubt about that. We must not go  over board about this, we pride ourselves in our line out and you don't win World Cups but not having a great line out. And tomorrow the two main jumpers are Kay and Grewcock and they have been added to with Chris Jones, so it's a strong line out. Its not just a case of those players, everybody has got to perform, the lifters have got to be just right and its not just down to the guys throwing in or the jumpers. We have to work together as a team and historically it's been an area we have been good in.

We set high targets on our own throw and high targets in their throw trying to disrupt their line out. You can still win, we lost by only six points last time and it wasn't all about losing line out throws. We could have snuck the game, we didn't deserve to win but history will show we had to lose that game and move on strongly. It's a big big game for us tomorrow and we've got to ensure that we get the basics of the game right, things that we have put massive store in. We've done a lot of drills this week on line outs and I am sure we will get back to our normal supply of possession tomorrow.

Andrew Titheridge: A lot of people have questioned the fact that England seem to throw the ball long when they are in a defensive situation. Certainly last game the ball was thrown to Lawrence Dallaglio who was not there, because he was defending the try line?

Sir Clive Woodward: I don't what to go into the whys and wherefores all I know is that the line out has become one of the best parts of the game. It is very competitive both on our throw and on their throw where there is a huge opportunity to pinch the ball. On the ground if you have a powerful pack you are not going to lose the ball on your own put in at the scrum.

You rarely see balls against the head as you did along time ago but the line out is one of the most competitive areas of the game because you can always vary it. We will throw to the back of the line out if its not marked up, if its totally free you must throw it there. I don't want to keep going back to the World Cup, but we won it throwing to the back of the lineout, which was a real gutsy call.

When Lewis Moody was free, we could have thrown it to the front which would have been the safe option, but that was marked up. You can look at all sorts of examples such as the Lions in Australia where they threw to the front with Martin Johnson, they lost it because it was so obvious to everyone where the ball was going to go. So you've got to have a pattern that identifies the free area which is a real skill but for some of the commentators of yester year they will see that the game has changed dramatically in terms of scrum halves coming in and lifting and has moved on tremendously even in the last year.

You've got to understand that and work systems where by your hooker is throwing to the free man and doesn't matter where that free man is, if he is at the back of the line out we will throw it to him there all day, and if he's at the front, we will throw it to him there all day. But then if you get the technical things wrong like the lifting and the throwing in, then whilst its probably the right call, its not the right call if the ball doesn't go there or is marked up by other world class players. If it doesn't work it becomes a very embarrassing part of the game as we showed in the last game, and we are looking forward to tomorrow when we can talk about the Welsh line out play and not the Irish.

Andrew Titheridge: But Wales will be confident, won't they? The last time they played England, which was in the World Cup they nearly caused a great upset and with our result against Ireland they must feel they come to Twickenham with
a real chance?

Sir Clive Woodward:   Of course they do, they played very well in Brisbane there is no doubt about that. England again played very poorly but won, but there is no such thing as nearly, you either win or lose in this game and I smile at all our friends from Wales who seem to take great store in that game but they lost and that's it. It's a brutal business you either win or you lose and we are going to win. I can not recall a time when England lost two in a row, so we have put a lot of things right already in training and already between the ears which is where we lost it against Ireland and it is a question of getting everything back on our normal professional level. I am pleased with the preparation, we are also bringing back Tindall and Grewcock and we've got Julian White to come in off the bench which puts a lot of pressure on Woodman and Vickery because Vickery can play lose head as well. We think White is a tremendous player. We have got a more familiar look about the team for tomorrow and we are on the back of a defeat and we are not used to that.

ENDS

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