'We're playing with greater width'
That was more like it! Playing with greater width across the park was something we'd been talking about for ages and we actually put it into practice on the pitch against Samoa. It was a hell of a lot better. We played to our strengths rather than playing route one rugby.
The defining moment for me was us coming through that tricky spell when it was 26-22 and we had that 10 minute period pinned in our own half and we kept them out, which was a huge effort from the boys.
We should never have let them get that close but they kicked very well and some of our decision making wasn't great but all in all it was a much better performance and everybody contributed. But there are still a lot of things we need to patch up on though because that structure has only been in place for about three days.
Areas to brush up on
The mistakes came from playing a little too much rugby in our own half. They turned over a lot of ball in the first half and we seemed to kick everything away, so the message at half time was to not kick possession away when we turned over ball. Unfortunately, we turned over a ball and tried to run it, the ball went loose and they ended up scoring. It's that sort of stuff we need to brush up on, making the right decisions at the right time.
It was good to see Wilko and Barks back in there playing well together and Paul Sackey and Martin Corry scoring the way they did. The pack gave Jonny a good platform and he's only eighty percent fit, so hopefully next weekend he'll be fully fit.
It's now down to Friday against Tonga to decide who goes through to the quarter-finals and they've been a real surprise package. They played very well against South Africa and nearly won the game so we'll have to be on our game to beat them.
We have to be careful
They're a big, physical side and we'll need to try and run them around a bit. At 12 they've got Epi Taione who is absolutely huge and they play with a lot of heart and will take huge confidence from beating Samoa and running South Africa so close. We'll have to be very careful.
As for myself, I was massively disappointed to not even be included on the bench for Samoa, especially as the way we're playing now is my way of playing, the open flowing rugby pushing the ball wide. That's the reason I am where I am, because of that style of playing so it was very frustrating not being able to be a part of that. My theory is that you put people on the bench who can come on and win you a game of rugby if you need it, but it's Brian's choice. But I've just got to keep my head down at training. There's nothing more I can do than that.
From Versailles,
Mike Catt.
Catt on England v South Africa
Watch Mike talk about England's chances
24th September 2007
