Brian Smith is hoping New Zealand's shock World Cup win over Australia can inspire England at Twickenham on Saturday.
Coach hoping to draw inspiration from World Cup shock
Attack coach Brian Smith is hoping New Zealand's shock win over Australia in the final of the rugby league World Cup can inspire England to victory at Twickenham on Saturday.
After losing to Australia and South Africa in the recent autumn internationals, the All Blacks are widely expected to complete a clean sweep of victories by southern hemisphere opposition over England.
However Smith, appointed as the national attack coach by manager Martin Johnson, is hoping England can take inspiration from the recent shock victory by New Zealand Down Under.
The Kiwis defied the bookmakers to register an unexpected 34-20 over the Wallabies to clinch their first ever World Cup, and Smith has challenged England to replicate such a feat at Twickenham on Saturday.
"There are times when you're going to have your backs against the wall," Smith told
rfu.com podcast.
"As raging favourites, Australia dominated the tournament. But in the final, New Zealand were still in the game after 60 minutes and they were good enough to beat the team everyone else considered untouchable. There's a lesson there for us.
"I've been around the block enough to know that winning and losing are all part of the process.
Commitment
"If you get distracted by either, it can get you unstuck. The most important thing is to reinforce the things that were good and address the things that were bad.
"If you've got a commitment to do that and you work your tail off, then you'll get there in the end."
The All Blacks have been in imperious form since arriving in the northern hemisphere, recording impressive wins over Scotland, Ireland and Wales ahead of Saturday's showdown.
And Smith, while accepting Graham Henry's Tri-Nations winners are worthy favourites for the contest, has warned the public to write off a wounded England at their peril.
"Understand this, in this year's Tri-Nations series, New Zealand lost to South Africa, then they lost to Australia," he said.
"They were staring down at a third straight defeat. But they went on to win it."
Saturday's match is for the first to be played for the Hillary Shield, in honour of the New Zealand icon - the late Sir Edmund Hillary - the first man to climb Mount Everest in 1953.
