Friday 4 September 2015 16:00, UK
Graham Rowntree believes England can win the World Cup despite possessing a team whose best years lie ahead of them.
Rowntree, the England forwards coach, was responding to comments made by Rob Andrew in which the RFU's professional rugby director stated the current crop of players will not reach their peak for another two or three years.
England's starting line-up for their final warm-up game against Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday has won 439 caps, far less than the average of 664 for the four sides who have won the World Cup since 1995.
Rowntree accepts the squad is still early in its development cycle but has not dismissed their chances of winning the title.
"As Rob said, we know that we can win a World Cup with this group of players. And that excites me," said Rowntree.
"This team will only get better and better with experience, let's all agree that. I can see that from working with the guys day in, day out.
"We will absolutely get better with experience and we will be become more experienced in three years' time."
England face Ireland at Twickenham in their final World Cup warm-up match on Saturday knowing they must work on their pack following a poor display in the defeat to France two weeks ago, with the set-piece - and particularly the line-out – in need of attention.
Lock Geoff Parling, who has been restored to the second row in the hope his calling expertise will result in an improvement, insists England have not suddenly become a poor set-piece side but Rowntree wants to see proof of that against the Irish.
"We've not been the worst pack in the world over the last couple of years," added Rowntree.
"As a coach I've looked at the performance and don't get hysterical about what's been said and understand what we have done over the last couple of years against good opposition.
"I told the players that there are elements of our game that have to do better. We've looked at it and corrected it. Now it's important that we deliver against Ireland.
"They have an exceptionally run set-piece through Paul O'Connell. They're always a challenge to play against, they're well-coached and a clever team.
"I promise you one thing, the lads have trained exceptionally well this week. Last week was a tough week all round for everyone for many reasons."
Watch England take on Ireland in their final World Cup warm-up game on Saturday. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 1 at 2pm.
