Rob Andrew today paid tribute to coach Brian Ashton after England's 44-22 victory over Samoa, before admitting his relief that the team had emerged from "a pretty difficult week" with their dreams of retaining the World Cup still intact.
The RFU's director of rugby confirmed that several meetings took place between coaches and players in the wake of the 36-0 hammering by South Africa last Friday, but Andrew was keen to look ahead to Friday's game against Tonga, which will determine who will claim a quarter-final place.
"When you lose 36-0 in a World Cup game you need to deal with that," said Andrew. "Brian [Ashton], the coaches, and senior players in particular, dealt with it very professionally last weekend in a very difficult scenario. They've had a pretty difficult week and I think they've handled it very professionally, and got what they deserved yesterday. Overall you have to be pleased with the final score: 44-22, four tries, some good rugby."
Nevertheless, England still need to beat a Tonga side that narrowly lost 30-25 to South Africa yesterday, and Andrew knows England must keep their momentum. "There were still bits of the game the players and coaches will want to improve upon over the next week, and hopefully over the next fortnight," he said. "Some of the kicking in the second half against Samoa just put us under a bit of pressure because the one thing the Samoans do very well is run the ball back at you."
Andrew is now focused on the game with Tonga, rather than any potential last-eight showdown with Australia and a repeat of the 2003 final. "All campaigns are based on dealing with what's in front of you," he added. "We've a knockout game against Tonga which will decide whether we go into the quarter-finals or not."
The South Africa full-back Percy Montgomery echoed Andrew's caution. "You can never write off the big teams like England because they have so much experience and they have the back-up," said Montgomery. "[But] I think it will tough for them. The Tongan team have got some good momentum at the moment, they've got some really good players.
"It wouldn't surprise me at all if they were to win. They have had a great World Cup, they are playing attractive rugby and it's a strange game. We needed all our composure to beat them and England will find it hard."
In the meantime, Tonga's Epi Taione, whose career in English rugby came to an unsavoury end last year after a controversial biting incident, cannot wait to face the world champions. "It's the biggest game in our history, it's going to be massive," he enthused. "It depends on how much the players want it. If we are hungry and want it more than England, then I don't see a problem. We know them inside out, we have played together for a long time, we knew their strengths. So it comes down to the day and we can surprise them."
