Coach Andy Farrell happy with 'fortress' Twickenham results
Tuesday 8 September 2015 18:38, UK
A confident England camp are happy to have strengthened 'fortress' Twickenham while escaping without injuries to key players, according to backs coach Andy Farrell.
Unlike Wales, who are reeling from the loss through injury of play-makers Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Webb, England are largely unscathed as they look now to their opening World Cup fixture against Fiji on Friday, September 18.
Their convincing 21-13 win over RBS 6 Nations champions Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday came from a much-improved performance than that seen in Paris a fortnight earlier, where head coach Stuart Lancaster's side lost 25-20 to France.
"Any game, to win at home, at Twickenham, is always special for us," said Farrell.
"It's our home and it's a fortress that we want to make sure is a very hard place for teams to come and play at. It was most pleasing at the weekend because of the pressure that we put on ourselves.
"We had a few things to sort out from the previous game and I think we dealt with that pressure very well."
He said there had been no point protecting key players by not sending them out onto the field in warm-up matches because the England management wanted them fully prepared for the tough World Cup battles ahead.
"There's no substitute for actually putting yourself in those situations," he said, "and you have to have these warm-up games, otherwise you can be completely undone.
"Injuries are always going to be a part of the game and we feel very fortunate that we've come through unscathed."
Farrell defended Wales coach Warren Gatland's decision to play full-back Halfpenny and scrum-half Webb in their final warm-up game - despite both suffering injuries in Saturday's 23-19 victory over Italy in Cardiff that have ruled them out of the World Cup.
Farrell said: "There are combinations, not just for the team but for the individual to get used to. Leigh himself would have wanted to play, I've no doubt about that.
"He would have had a great 10/11 weeks of preparation. Knowing him as I do, his attention to detail would have been absolutely spot on and he would have wanted to put that out there on the field so he would have wanted to get out there and play.
"It's just unfortunate what's happened - I feel really sorry for both of them."
