Mike Catt thinks England would be 'in a bad place' if they listened to critics
Tuesday 29 September 2015 14:46, UK
England backs coach Mike Catt says criticism of the team and coaching staff will have no impact on this Saturday's massive World Cup showdown against Australia.
The tournament hosts find themselves in a must-win situation after last weekend's costly 28-25 defeat to Wales.
And the team and coaching staff have found themselves under attack in the media from several former England players - including Stuart Barnes and Will Carling - who have slammed the decision to go for a match-winning try late on rather than attempt a penalty which could have salvaged a draw.
However, Catt says the squad are not overly concerned about their critics and are not being distracted from preparing for the showdown with the Wallabies.
"If you get concerned about the external effects, you are not in a good place, and you lose focus on what your job is," he said. "Our job is to beat Australia, not to worry about the criticism from ex-players.
"The criticism is pretty much external white noise, which is irrelevant to this weekend to be honest. Our focus is beating Australia.
"It is a must-win game and we are massively excited by the fact we have got Australia at Twickenham. It's going to be an exciting match and everything is on this one game for us. The boys are excited by the challenge."
Regarding tactics, Catt rejected the suggestion that England would try not to become involved in a very open game, insisting they have just as much firepower as the Wallabies.
"Whoever we pick is capable of scoring tries," said Catt. "Whoever we select or whoever is fit, we have total belief we can go and score tries against teams. Australia love an open game but we are also capable of scoring tries."
A number of England players picked up knocks during the brutal encounter with Wales, resulting in Billy Vunipola being ruled out of the remainder of the tournament, but Catt is hopeful the rest of the squad will be fine for the weekend.
"The walking wounded? They are all recovering nicely at the moment," he said. "We had a little jog-through this morning and there is no rush for us to finalise the team until Thursday, but everybody is progressing nicely."
