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England win ugly against France
It may not be pretty but Dewi Morris says England's tactics must stay the same if they are to have any chance of beating South Africa in the World Cup final on Saturday.
Against all odds Brian Ashton's men have fought back from their 36-0 beating in the pool stage to beat Australia and France and reach the final. A final where they will meet the team that handed out that beating. South Africa.
Dewi, who was happy to eat plenty of helpings of humble pie after dismissing England's chances in this competition, believes that England have to keep up the pressure if they want to defend their 2003 title.
"They have been heroic," said Dewi. "They have gone in with a basic game plan and bravely executed it by a team of brutes.
"England have to start well, they cannot afford to let South Africa get off to a good start like they did in that pool stage. They have to exert some pressure and stay in the match and if they are in with 20 minutes to go, they have a good chance of winning it.
"It is about putting pressure on the other team to come out and play, it was the right game plan against Australia and against France and I don't see it as any different against South Africa.
"The 36-0 will hang over them because every press guy will be writing and talking about it.
"But they will learn from their mistakes and this is a totally different England side to what it was in the pool stage where the white flag was up before they even played," added the former England scrum-half.
"No one was hitting rucks; there was no width on the ball and no one running onto the ball.
"Luckily Brian Ashton has cleared the air. A lot of credit should go to him, he has only had this team for eight months.
"It may not be pretty rugby, but it is winning rugby, and I will take that and the supporters will take that too. England fans don't mind if they go out and do their best.
"They were not doing that in the early stages. They are doing that now and luckily they are winning, so who knows."
The only change to the side that beat France has been Mark Cueto coming into the wing position for the injured Josh Lewsey.
Cueto has not been in the best of form and many pundits predicted that centre Mathew Tait would move to the wing to make way for Dan Hipkiss.
"I think it was a difficult decision, but I think it was the right one," explained Dewi.
"I know Hipkiss came on and played very well against France but I think Brian Ashton was concerned about not breaking up the partnership of Mike Catt and Tait which has served them very well in those two incredible games.
"The only doubt is his form, he needs to get back some of his form that he had for Sale when he first burst onto the England scene. I am sure he can, he is a great footballer and a great kicker of the ball.
"He may not be that quick or sharp, but he is a natural footballer. He is good under the high ball and he will grasp this with both hands and will not let his team-mates down."
The high ball should play a big part in Saturday's result, and Dewi is hoping that England use it to their advantage.
"I would like to think of the bombardment that we are going to put up at the South Africans because Percy Montgomery has not been tested," explained Dewi.
'The two wingers, well Bryan Habana is pretty safe but there are question marks over JP Pietersen. I would expect Jonny Wilkinson and Andy Gomarsall, who has had a fantastic tournament, to put the box kicks up at them.
"They need to kick tactically and also give the centres something to run onto. Mike Catt is a very good chaser of the ball. I don't think England are going to play too much rugby, especially not in their own half. Put it up high on Percy and see what happens."
Dewi says that while the Jonny Wilkinson has not been in great form, he does bring a certain edge to the England side.
"Wilkinson gets the headlines, but he is not kicking well. He is not playing as well as he did in 2003, but he does give an incredible buoyed feeling to the team, and more importantly the opposition fear him."
However, having rugby's golden boy in their side may not be enough against a side brimming with confidence and who have a golden boy of their own.
"South Africa are a team with total confidence and I don't think we will see the same failures from them as we did from Australia and France," explained Dewi.
"They have an enormous pack who are comfortable with ball in hand. Eddie Jones has taught them some simple offloads which is working with their big back row.
"Bryan Habana is one of the quickest in the games and is brilliant to watch. We have to stop him and pressurise him.
"We don't want to be throwing those big loopy passes either. He will read it and be over the try line before you have even look round.
"They have got Butch James at 10 who looks to have a new lease of life and Fourie Du Preez at scrum-half to orchestrate things. All round they are one of the perfect sides. Will they get ruffled?
"Well we will have to wait and see."
