Johnno: Injuries hurt us

England manager rues the loss of key players

Last updated: 7th December 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Johnno: Injuries hurt us

Johnson: Left to rue injuries

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England manger Martin Johnson has insisted that a spate of the injuries was the real reason behind his side's poor form.

England endured a disappointing autumn campaign, with a stuttering win over Argentina sandwiched between defeats to Australia and New Zealand.

Worryingly England's performances in those matches were below-par, with the squad managing just one try.

However Johnson believes that the preparation for the November Tests was severely hampered by injuries to key men - with the likes of Andrew Sheridan, Lee Mears, Phil Vickery, Tom Rees, Riki Flutey, Toby Flood and Nick Easter all missing.

"England have struggled the last couple of years for whatever reason, and there is no one particularly to blame," Johnson told The Guardian.

"The team has changed so much and that has happened again this year. When you look at the side who played Scotland in March and then the side who played Australia in November, there were 11 different guys starting again.

"That was through injury obviously so you try to develop a team, but it is difficult when the guys aren't there.

"In saying that, we have done well, though. We have had some of the senior guys come back into it and step up to leadership roles. Lewis Moody has come back well as has Jonny Wilkinson and Mark Cueto who all played well in the autumn series. So, when we have a full squad, it will be pretty competitive for spots."

Comments (19)

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Cian Scollard says...

in response to Stephen Yorke: that makes perfect sense that Ireland's team is past it's sell by date. That must have been why England won the grand slam last year...oh wait... they didn't

Posted 14:23 10th December 2009

Stephen Yorke says...

Fact is that this year England thrashed France when both were at full strength . When England have everyone back fit they will (a) beat Wales and Ireland at twickers this year , and (b) give France a run fro their money in Paris . A pack of forwards that reads : Sheridan , Thompson , Wilson , Shaw , Borthwick , Worsley/Croft , Easter , Moody will give any side in the world a run for its money , and with JW there to kick goals we may not be the most exciting side ( we have only ever once been that ) but we will be very hard to beat and I agree with the bookies ....England will be one of the semi-finalists in the 2011 RWC . Dont despair , I would much rather be an England fan than an Irish one ( that side is aging and past its sell by date ) , or aWelsh one ( could end up with the wooden spoon ) .

Posted 17:23 9th December 2009

Craig Bateman says...

One try in the autumn internationals says it all. I feel sorry for all of the England supporters who follow a team that can't win against serious opposition, let alone entertain! Since winning the World Cup in 2003 they have marched backward at an alarming rate. When they play the might of the southern hemispere they have all of the commitment required, unfortunately they lack the skill base. Get the players out of the gym and teach them the basics, otherwise it'll be a long, boring road for the supporters to follow.

Posted 16:44 9th December 2009

Tony Moss says...

BC, is yours a real question to me? Did I watch the games? Of course I watched the games you wally. How could I possibly base an opinion on something I hadn't seen. Wilkinson was poor, granted he was playing of very poor forwards ball. He may tackle well but we need a damn sight more than that from our ten. He has no pace, no invention, no creativity and the depth of his play absolutley stiffled Geraghty who unsurprisingly carried the can. As for your annalogy of your own business, don't talk such nonsense. There is a group of 64 elite players primed and ready to play for England and between them they should have been able to stick a few phases of play together against Argentina. There were a lot more things wrong than just Wilkinson, but for Johnson to use him as an example of someone who played well is simply foolish.

Posted 10:24 8th December 2009

David Dickens says...

Nice to see the Johnson fan club out and about. How about this for praticality, the players selected, and who have failed under Johnsons tutorship, ihave variably returned to their clubs and began to play well. Gerahty for example, dropped because he couldn't create for England, returns to dominate the premiership. Erm..... clearly second string. Can I suggest to some that they take the Johnson et al rose tinted glasses off. We were awful, now the question is, is it a player issue or a coaching issue. I refer you to the Northampton fly half to answer that question, so its a coaching issue. If thats the case the manager quite rightly takes the flak and should act. To say that without Vickery, Flood and the rest we were hampered is utter utter garbage. They have hardly been dominant since 2003, so I don't see how their return will suddenly change things. Johnsons fear of change, his lack of tactical and motivational skills, organisational skills have shone through. And as far as challenging poor performance goes, well I don't know what to say. It would appear we are stuck with this group of buffoons until after 2011. So i fear we are doomed to another eighteen months of drab slow and unintelligent rugby before being dumped out of the group stages in RWC. Let me guess the excuse for that....errrr...'Injuries effected us'.

Posted 09:26 8th December 2009

Paul Edmonds says...

Martin Johnson's comments were of course correct and yes we would all have loved for the second string to do better, but that is why they are the second string. Do you not feel that at times regardless of the circumstances that critics will always stick the knife in. You can imagine reading, "despite the England team being in wheel chairs, they failed to even score one try against the All Blacks". Be practical with your comments or keep your mouth shut. On the subject of different players with different skill sets, this is nothing new. A good team is made up by good team players who sometimes do not sparkle, but can do what they are meant to do. Some of the greatest All Black teams lack star players, but have star team members. This will never change and why Martin Johnson was employed over someone with more technical experience.

Posted 00:39 8th December 2009

Adam W says...

I have to agree to a certain extent that injuries were a major underlying factor for the poor performances but as was said there are so many in form young players in England crying out for the opportunity to play but we seem to spend so much time playing guys who are good club players but never in a million years international players, or as said before old mates of johnno! Wilkinson was in no way shape or form the culprate for Englands lack of creativity but he was not helped by a back three where guys were out of position, and then the innept decision to play hipkiss and Erinle together? I am all for using experience when there are injuries but with so many it was the perfect opportunity to blood some youngsters around the experienced players and if that as he said he would select on was the form team of English players then i will happilly eat my own foot!

Posted 23:47 7th December 2009

Neil Martin says...

Fair play to Johnson, he did have a bad run of things with injuries to key players (Sheridan, Rees, Vickery, Flutey, etc). Although this is no excuse for the lack of ambition the players who were selected showed on the pitch. It's easy for us to say it's the players fault, the managers fault or the coaches fault, maybe we should focus on the areas that desperately need improvement and worry about blame/praise later. If we don't start playing attacking rugby with the ball in hand, then we can kiss goodbye to our chances of competing against the likes of Wales, France and Ireland. England used to play some excellent, entertaining and effective rugby not so long ago, the likes of Greenwood, Wilkinson, Back, etc, were world beaters. Now we struggle to beat some very average opposition, I don't blame the players, the manager or the coach, the problem isn't with anyone one of them, it's a collective problem that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. When you look at the attacking flair of the All Blacks, Australia, Ireland and South Africa, you can only prey that England remove the shackles from their players, add some pace out wide (Varndell, Foden, Sackey) and give this whole kick the ball back and forth all game a rest. It's boring, uneffective and a waste of good ball. Please, make the upcoming six nations the platform to launch something new and entertaining, who knows, a pleasant side effect could also be some impressive score lines in Englands favour...

Posted 22:51 7th December 2009

R T says...

And another thing...! Jonny Wilkinson is a shadow of the player he once was, he may recover to be a world class 10 (after all he has been out of the game for a long time), however I doubt it. As for suggestions from ignorant observers that he could be tried at 15 that is frankly risible. To be a world class 15, you need pace and what little he had has deserted him, also his kicking for length is not up to it. He is currently the biggest problem Englands backline has and Johnson needs the balls to admit it. I find it sad to see him so out of his depth at the highest level.

Posted 19:42 7th December 2009

R T says...

So one of the reasons for our underperformance has been the absence of Toby Flood....? Dear God, it makes me want to cry.

Posted 19:32 7th December 2009

B C says...

Tony Moss, were you watching the same games?. Johnny Wilinson was fantasticm with the exception of the odd wayward kick. Totally committed and adds a bit of solidity to the England side when on the pitch. I totally agree with Johnno, having that many injuries is incredibly difficult. I run a business, if the majority of my people were off sick (Injured in this case) and had to pull together some temps we would be in trouble. I say it was good to give a few newuns a run, and England will pull together the quality players it has for the 6 Nations.

Posted 16:28 7th December 2009

David Allwood says...

For those of you agreeing with M Johnson... you clearly haven't seen a game of rubgy in your lives! Martin Johnson was a great, great player. However, he lacks the ability to coach a national side. We played badly because he selected a lot of the wrong players and made mistakes in playing people out of position. We were awful this time last year and we've made no progress. You can argue that this is due to injury, but I've seen most B sides play with more cohesion. It's easy to make excuses, but surely he should be judged on results and they point to the door.

Posted 16:16 7th December 2009

Tom M says...

while injuries is a convenient excuse; it hasn't helped establish any kind of consistency in England as a team. You can't build a cohesive unit with 11 out of 15 top-level starters out injured. I don't think Jonno did a good job with what he had, but to a certain extent he is right.

Posted 15:28 7th December 2009

Sally Wilkes says...

Same old excuses, there are plenty of good players out there under 25 years of age if Johnno would look beyond his old mates and pick players in form who are the future of england rugby

Posted 15:23 7th December 2009

Tony Moss says...

Martin Johnson!! Shame on you. May you never speak in public again. To say Johnny Wilkinson played well in the three tests is daft. I would never expect him to say he played badly, just don't say anything at all. Wilkinson was awful, he was probably the main individual culprit for our lack of speed and ambition in attack.

Posted 15:21 7th December 2009

Lewis Townsend says...

thats just rubbish u say forwards dnt score many tries n thats true but how u expect backs to get the ball without are best forwards stealing the ball and protecting it. just wait for the 6 nations they will do good .

Posted 15:08 7th December 2009

Colby Short says...

With all due respect Jack B, forwards may not score the tries but they certainly do win you games. Martin Johnson played Geraghty in the first test and Geraghty was useless. Not because he played badly or because he is a bad player but because he was up against a brick wall defence of Aussies because they simply had too much time to get their defence lined up. Martin Johnson would have known this of course. So he had two options, bring in Erinle and play bish bash bosh rugby or try and turn an underperforming, slow pack into a mobile explosive one. Only one of those could be accomplished in a week so he chose the former. Of course Johnno made alot of mistakes in his selection/game plan (especially against Argentina) and to blame everything on injuries is a bit of a cop out. But they definitely had a massive impact on the performances of the Autumn!

Posted 15:07 7th December 2009

Jack B says...

How long has the rugby world been waiting for the excuses from from english rugby team and management. Riki Flutey aint even english hes a kiwi, toby flood is another one trick wonder and the rest are fowards. they aint gonna score many tries with forwards. looking forward to the six nations to see whart other excuses the English Rugby Union can conjure up.

Posted 14:30 7th December 2009

Andrew Clarke says...

I have to agree with jonno here we were completely depleted and ended up having to draft players into positions they do not normally play...That said if these players are the future of England we could be in trouble we cant be relient on Wikinson to bail us out all the time.

Posted 14:22 7th December 2009
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