IT’S TOUGH being an England rugby player sometimes, writes Rugby World editor, Paul Morgan. We give the Georgians ultimate respect but at the same time expect Martin Johnson’s side to wipe the floor with them and it’s rare they put in a performance, which leads to acclaim.

Against Georgia, we must give the Georgians immense credit as they turned in an impressive performance that rattled England and had Merab Kvirikashvili brought this kicking boots to Dunedin (he missed five straightforward penalties) then England would have trailed until the hour-mark.

As it turned out because Kvirikashvili kept missing England weren’t punished for conceding 14 penalties although Dylan Hartley had ten minutes in the sin bin. How the hooker thought Jonathan Kaplan would miss him putting his hands in a ruck on his own goal line is anyone’s guess. The South African official didn’t and Hartley was trudging off.

Delon Armitage continued his return to his Test match form of 2009, this time on the wing and Manu Tuilagi produced a trademark burst to smash through the Georgian line for his third try in four Test matches.

As James Haskell acknowledged to me after the game England need to be hard but not too hard on themselves after this match. Of course some parts were unacceptable but if they are too negative it could lead to worse at the breakdown next time. Four years ago at this stage of the tournament England we down and out having been beaten by South Africa, but a few weeks later beat France for a place in their second successive World Cup final. How things can change quickly. And how even it is between the top nations, as Ireland discovered when beating Australia.

Last Wednesday I travelled to Invercargill to watch Scotland beat Georgia 15-6 and emerge from the game with credit. It seems 41-10 is not good enough for England, leading Martin Johnson to read the riot act in the dressing room after the match. They should appreciate what they have achieved.

He accused the players of being “sloppy” and suggested that if they played like that again they would be “going home early”.

Many of the penalties England are conceding are due to three key things:

1.  Over-eagernes

2.  Lack of trust in the defence

3.  Panic

Which means that they will never win a World Cup semi-final or final if they don’t fix them and if they are too hard on themselves in their video analysis this week No 2 will get worse.

You can see from the Welsh performance against Samoa that Wales have a defence that everyone in the side trusts. It may not be perfect but works as a collective – England seem to think they will concede try every time the opposition come into their 40, and it shows.

Stat Attack

Penalties Conceded – England: 14, Georgia: 9.

Tackles Made – England: 101, Georgia: 103.

Tackles Missed – England: 6, Georgia: 20.

Clean Breaks – England: 5, Georgia: 1

Offloads – England: 14, Georgia: 3

IT’S TOUGH being an England rugby player sometimes, writes Rugby World editor, Paul Morgan. We give the Georgians ultimate respect but at the same time expect Martin Johnson’s side to wipe the floor with them and it’s rare they put in a performance, which leads to acclaim.

Against Georgia, we must give the Georgians immense credit as they turned in an impressive performance that rattled England and had Merab Kvirikashvili brought this kicking boots to Dunedin (he missed five straightforward penalties) then England would have trailed until the hour-mark.

As it turned out because Kvirikashvili kept missing England weren’t punished for conceding 14 penalties although Dylan Hartley had ten minutes in the sin bin. How the hooker thought Jonathan Kaplan would miss him putting his hands in a ruck on his own goal line is anyone’s guess. The South African official didn’t and Hartley was trudging off.

Delon Armitage continued his return to his Test match form of 2009, this time on the wing and Manu Tuilagi produced a trademark burst to smash through the Georgian line for his third try in four Test matches.

As James Haskell acknowledged to me after the game England need to be hard but not too hard on themselves after this match. Of course some parts were unacceptable but if they are too negative it could lead to worse at the breakdown next time.

Last Wednesday I travelled to Invercargill to watch Scotland beat Georgia 15-6 and emerge from the game with credit. It seems 41-10 is not good enough for England, leading Martin Johnson to read the riot act in the dressing room after the match.

He accused the players of being “sloppy” and suggested that if they played like that again they would be “going home early”.

Many of the penalties England are conceding are due to three key things:

1.  Over-eagernes

2.  Lack of trust in the defence

3.  Panic

Which means that they will never win a World Cup semi-final or final if they don’t fix them and if they are too hard on themselves in their video analysis this week No 2 will get worse.

You can see from the Welsh performance against Samoa that Wales have a defence that everyone in the side trusts. It may not be perfect but works as a collective – England seem to think they will concede try every time the opposition come into their 40, and it shows.

Stat Attack

Penalties Conceded – England: 14, Georgia: 9.

Tackles Made – England: 101, Georgia: 103.

Tackles Missed – England: 6, Georgia: 20.

Clean Breaks – England: 5, Georgia: 1

Offloads – England: 14, Georgia: 3

England 41 (17)

Tries: Hape (2), Ashton (2), Armitage, Tuilagi

Cons: Flood (4) Pens: Flood

Georgia 10 (10)

Tries: Basilaia Pens: Kvirikashvili Cons: Kvirikashvili