Johnson expecting discipline

Johnson: striving for improvement

We are more comfortable as a team now. We have worked very, very hard as a team on our discipline. We are not going to win games by giving penalties away. Matt Giteau kicked seven penalties last year and we had a 14-point loss.

Martin Johnson
Quotes of the week

England v Australia
Saturday 2.30pm, live on Sky Sports 2 and HD2

Related links

Teams

• Australia
• England

Also see

• Sky Sports experts
• Rugby on Sky
• Live scores
• Video highlights

England manager Martin Johnson insists England will not suffer a recurrence of their disciplinary problems against Australia.

This time last year, England conceded a string of soft penalties which allowed Matt Giteau to boot Australia to a 28-14 victory.

The early days of Johnson's reign were then notable for England hitting the self-destruct button, with 10 players being sin-binned in just four matches.

But Johnson is convinced that, despite being depleted by an injury crisis, England will produce a better and more disciplined performance than 12 months ago.

"That improvement is what we are striving for," said Johnson. "I am confident in the players that they can do it. I know that they can play at this level and they have to show that tomorrow.

"Last season we were winning this game with 20 minutes to go but Matt Giteau kicked seven penalties against us. It was one of those games where it slipped away from us in the last quarter.

"We are more comfortable as a team now. We have worked very, very hard as a team on our discipline.

"We are not going to win games by giving penalties away. Matt Giteau kicked seven penalties last year and we had a 14-point loss."

Breakdown

Most of England's penalties were conceded at the breakdown but Johnson is confident England now know just how far to push the boundaries.

"George Smith has got 106 caps so they obviously have a very experienced player there and we've got to try to stop him doing what he does," said Johnson.

"It's about being competitive without going over the limit that's acceptable. It's about getting the balance.

"Our players have got to be competitive at the breakdown area and all over the field without getting on the wrong side of the ref.

"We know we have to be smarter in terms of yellow cards and that's why we have used (international referee) Wayne Barnes for every training session. He has been working on areas we consider to be 'hot' and where we need to improve.

"I have already spoken with Saturday's ref Bryce Lawrence and we discussed various areas where I sought some clarification."