Johnno - No mistakes this time

Manager predicts better scrummaging contest

Last updated: 18th November 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Johnno - No mistakes this time

Johnson: just one change

We gave away eight kickable penalties. We need to cut out mistakes, cut out penalties and put ourselves in a position in the last 20 minutes to win the game.

Martin Johnson
Quotes of the week

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England manager Martin Johnson has told his men to cut out the mistakes if they are to beat world champions South Africa on Saturday.

Johnson admitted he was tempted to make more than just one change from the side beaten 28-14 by Australia last week - giving away eight kickable penalties of which the visitors converted seven.

But he has made just one change - with James Haskell recalled in place of Tom Croft.

"It's great we can choose between two very young and exciting players in James and Tom," said Johnson. "We want to get some consistency in the team. They are aware of the mistakes we made - but they have the opportunity to correct them.

"The defeat rankles. We are still growing into the way we are playing. It only takes a momentary lapse, a few guys going off script in the heat of battle, for things to break down in that area.

"We gave away eight kickable penalties. We need to cut out mistakes, cut out penalties and put ourselves in a position in the last 20 minutes to win the game.

"The great thing from our point of view is that there are lots of opportunities out there - we just have to see them and exploit them."

England failed to dominate in the scrum as they had done against the Wallabies in last year's World Cup quarter-final, but Johnson said: "We will see a different game this week and a better scrummaging contest."

Motivation

South Africa coash Peter de Villiers has suggested his men may be struggling for motivation in their final Test of a gruelling year, but Johnson dismissed that idea.

"I think they will definitely be up for it. They won't have any problems with that," he said. "They will want to finish the season off on a high and beat us at Twickenham.

"It's a big thing for opposition teams to come here and win, as you saw with the Australians' reaction when they won on here on Saturday. They play with huge intensity, passion and physicality."

He also vowed to work on correcting the mistakes his team made against Australia. "They were little things that added up last week," he added.

"Things like that that can be fixed very quickly. It's about guys knowing their roles, getting details right and getting the points on the board.