Samoa have withdrawn England boycott threat, says IRB

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/nov/12/samoa-withdraw-england-boycott-threat-irb

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The International Rugby Board says there is no danger of England’s game against Samoa next week being called off, despite a threatened boycott by Samoa’s players. The Samoan squad sent a letter to the IRB last month criticising the “incompetent” Samoan Rugby Union and stating they would not fulfil the fixture unless their concerns were addressed.

In a statement the IRB said the threat had now been withdrawn and talks had taken place to resolve the dispute. The players have expressed disquiet about various issues, including misuse of funds and interference in team selection. “These issues are affecting our success on the field and we can no longer play under such poor leadership,” they informed the IRB in a letter subsequently obtained by The Rugby Paper.

Among other grievances the squad say their tour allowance payment has remained unchanged since 1990 and players are expected to pay their own airfares back to Samoa for end-of-year tours. Cancelling a Test match at Twickenham at such short notice, however, would incur huge costs and the IRB says it “fully expects the Samoan Union to honour its November Test commitment in full.”

Meanwhile Chris Robshaw has challenged his England side to pile into South Africa on Saturday and achieve the major victory they could not manage against New Zealand last weekend. The England captain accepts there is increasing pressure on the home side but still believes they can follow Ireland’s example by defeating the power‑laden Springboks.

Not a single member of England’s matchday squad has enjoyed a Test win over South Africa, who have not lost this fixture since 2006. The players are well aware of that statistic and Robshaw says it will increase England’s motivation to respond positively to Saturday’s 24‑21 defeat by the All Blacks.

“There’s probably nothing worse than starting a series with a loss, so there’s a huge amount of pressure on the guys to go out and deliver this weekend,” said Robshaw, who has led England to 16 wins in his 28 Tests in charge. “We’re not going to wait for the physicality and intensity, which I’m sure these guys will bring. Being at home we want to impose ourselves and get back on track. All the guys know the situation we’re in, that we need to go out and deliver. We feel let down with the way we played after half-time against New Zealand. Even in that first half we feel we didn’t produce what we’ve shown in the past.”

England are set to confirm their starting line-up on Thursday with Stuart Lancaster hoping that by giving several individuals a second chance he will be rewarded by an improved performance. With Semesa Rokoduguni injured, his Bath team-mate Anthony Watson is in line to fill the enforced vacancy on the wing ahead of Harlequins’ Marland Yarde, the other specialist winger in England’s squad.

There are likely to be only four starting survivors from England’s last home game against South Africa two years ago, an encounter the Springboks edged 16-15 thanks to a slightly fortunate try from Willem Alberts. Robshaw is among those looking to make amends, having copped some stick for asking Owen Farrell, after a lengthy discussion, to kick for goal at 16-12 down in the closing minutes.

“It was definitely one of the toughest [experiences] for me,” the captain admitted. “There have been a couple, unfortunately, but that created a backs-to-the-wall mentality.”

Robshaw feels similarly in the wake of Saturday’s defeat. “Hindsight is a wonderful thing. You’re not in the heat of the moment, getting smashed and having people coming at you from everywhere.

“It’s easy to sit down afterwards and say: ‘We should have done this.’ Now we have felt the intensity of the Test match arena again, hopefully we will get back to our ways.”

England also paid the price for underestimating the wet weather approaching from the south-west, ending up playing into the elements in the second half, despite having won the toss. “We thought in the build-up there would be rain at some point but I don’t think we thought it would be quite like it was,” Robshaw said.

“When conditions are like that it’s almost better not to have the ball because it’s coming down so hard. Unfortunately we couldn’t quite get far enough up the pitch to get our game going again. That’s something we’ll be addressing this week.The guys all know this is our place and with what is coming up in a year’s time we need to deliver.”

Robshaw added: “It’s probably the biggest challenge we could face as a forward pack. We speak about having an all-court game and I think last weekend the forwards went away from the stuff we have developed. We thought we’d out‑maul and out-scrum New Zealand and we did that but it’s about having that balance.

“At international level there are always guys snapping at people’s heels, so you have to make sure you deliver every weekend. We have another chance to do that and I’m sure the guys will grab it.”

Probable England team to play South Africa, 2.30pm Sat 15 Nov

M Brown (Harlequins); A Watson (Bath), B Barritt (Saracens), K Eastmond (Bath), J May (Gloucester); O Farrell (Saracens), D Care (Harlequins): J Marler (Harlequins), D Hartley (Northampton), D Wilson (Bath), D Attwood (Bath), C Lawes (Northampton), T Wood (Northampton), C Robshaw (capt; Harlequins), B Vunipola (Saracens). Replacements R Webber (Bath), M Mullan (Wasps), K Brookes (Newcastle), G Kruis (Saracens), B Morgan (Gloucester), B Youngs (Leicester), G Ford (Bath), M Yarde (Harlequins).