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Ben Youngs and England look to use Six Nations angst as motivation Ben Youngs and England look to use Six Nations angst as motivation
(about 2 hours later)
Ben Youngs has insisted England’s fourth successive runners-up finish in the Six Nations will not diminish the squad’s World Cup chances. Stuart Lancaster’s side missed out on the title by six points after the most gripping day in the tournament’s history, during which 27 tries were scored in three spectacular games, but the scrum-half believes England have improved over the past weeks and are in a good position to challenge for the World Cup in the autumn.Ben Youngs has insisted England’s fourth successive runners-up finish in the Six Nations will not diminish the squad’s World Cup chances. Stuart Lancaster’s side missed out on the title by six points after the most gripping day in the tournament’s history, during which 27 tries were scored in three spectacular games, but the scrum-half believes England have improved over the past weeks and are in a good position to challenge for the World Cup in the autumn.
“Come the end of the year if we are lifting the Webb Ellis trophy no one will remember who won the Six Nations,” said Youngs, who scored two tries in England’s extraordinary 55-35 win over France after Ireland had beaten Scotland by 30 points to win the title. “It depends how we react to it … but we’ve made huge gains. We’re five from five now at Twickenham and we’re going to have 15 weeks in World Cup camp together. I think we’ll be in a good place.” “Come the end of the year if we are lifting the Webb Ellis trophy no one will remember who won the Six Nations,” said Youngs, who scored two tries in England’s extraordinary 55-35 win over France after Ireland had beaten Scotland by 30 points. The two results meant the title went to Ireland. “It depends how we react to it … but we’ve made huge gains. We’re five from five now at Twickenham and we’re going to have 15 weeks in World Cup camp together. I think we’ll be in a good place.”
His head coach, Stuart Lancaster, also believes England can still hoist the World Cup despite their latest narrow failure to top the Six Nations table. “Yes, definitely. We’ve beaten Australia, we’ve beaten Wales and we’ve put 55 points on France. We’ve beaten New Zealand before and pushed them close in last summer’s series. So, absolutely [we can win],” he said. His head coach, Stuart Lancaster, also believes England can hoist the World Cup despite their latest narrow failure to top the Six Nations table. “Yes, definitely. We’ve beaten Australia, we’ve beaten Wales and we’ve put 55 points on France. We’ve beaten New Zealand before and pushed them close in last summer’s series. So, absolutely [we can win],” he said.
“Playing at home is a huge factor as well. You felt in that driving maul at the end of our game that there were 82,000 people pushing them over the line. It wasn’t quite enough to convince the referee, unfortunately.”“Playing at home is a huge factor as well. You felt in that driving maul at the end of our game that there were 82,000 people pushing them over the line. It wasn’t quite enough to convince the referee, unfortunately.”
The England management were not entirely convinced the ball was not touched down by an English hand at the bottom of the maul, moments before Nigel Owens awarded a crucial final penalty against them. For a second, the England management were hopeful the ball had been touched down by an English hand at the bottom of the maul, moments before Nigel Owens awarded a crucial final penalty against them.
“My perception was the ball was over the line and for whatever reason there was no call made,” said Lancaster, admitting the pain of missing out on the title would take some swallowing.“My perception was the ball was over the line and for whatever reason there was no call made,” said Lancaster, admitting the pain of missing out on the title would take some swallowing.
“It is very hard when you’re Chris Robshaw or Mike Brown who have played in four championships and come second four times. It will take a while but … the players’ mindset is to use it as a motivation to make sure they don’t feel that pain again. It does not create a scar. Chris said we had to use the pain as strength for the World Cup campaign.”“It is very hard when you’re Chris Robshaw or Mike Brown who have played in four championships and come second four times. It will take a while but … the players’ mindset is to use it as a motivation to make sure they don’t feel that pain again. It does not create a scar. Chris said we had to use the pain as strength for the World Cup campaign.”
Lancaster also feels the return to the squad of backs such as Manu Tuilagi, Brad Barritt and Owen Farrell will improve England’s composure and defence, arguably the areas that cost them the title. The former Ireland and Lions captain Brian O’Driscoll, however, believes his own country are well placed to prosper this autumn after clinching back-to-back titles for the first time in 66 years. “We’re playing with a huge amount of confidence, we’ve got a very distinct understanding of what our strategy and our gameplan is and everyone’s singing off the same hymn sheet,” said O’Driscoll. “If we can be fortunate with injury I don’t see why we can’t find ourselves in a semi-final. All bets are off when you get to that point.” Lancaster also feels the return to the squad of backs such as Manu Tuilagi, Brad Barritt and Owen Farrell will improve England’s composure and defence, arguably the areas that cost them the title.
Ireland’s 40-10 demolition of Scotland at Murrayfield meant Wales’s eight-try 61-20 win over Italy in Rome counted for nothing. “We won’t be going into the World Cup with any fears of not qualifying from our group,” said the Wales coach, Warren Gatland. “There is no fear about playing England or Australia at Twickenham because we know we will be in good shape if everyone stays fit.” A peak BBC audience of 9.6 million viewers watched the championship’s sparkling conclusion. The former Ireland and Lions captain Brian O’Driscoll, however, believes his own country are well placed to prosper this autumn after clinching back-to-back titles for the first time in 66 years. “We’re playing with a huge amount of confidence, we’ve got a very distinct understanding of what our strategy and our gameplan is and everyone’s singing off the same hymn sheet,” said O’Driscoll. “If we can be fortunate with injury I don’t see why we can’t find ourselves in a semi-final. All bets are off when you get to that point.”
Ireland’s 40-10 demolition of Scotland at Murrayfield meant Wales’s eight-try 61-20 win over Italy in Rome counted for nothing. The Wales coach, Warren Gatland, said: “We won’t be going into the World Cup with any fears of not qualifying from our group. There is no fear about playing England or Australia at Twickenham because we know we will be in good shape if everyone stays fit.” A peak BBC audience of 9.6 million viewers watched the championship’s sparkling conclusion.