And Ryan insisted: “We’ve got to look at the whole process before England move on”.
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England’s head coach Stuart Lancaster attends a press conference at Pennyhill Park hotel near Bagshot, south west of London, the United Kingdom, on Sunday, a day after England lost their Rugby World Cup 2015 Pool A match against Australia.
Lessons will be learnt from the results and they will be found in a calm, clear, rational and thorough manner in the fullness of time post-tournament. It’s taken the shackles off and allow us to try and win the pool.
For years, they have talked up their “world class” players, without those individuals proving it on the global stage.
“We knew how tough this group was going to be right from the start, and not just with England, Australia and ourselves, because Fiji are a tough proposition as well”, the New Zealander said.
Lancaster took over after England’s ill-fated World Cup campaign in 2011, when the team’s disappointing displays on the field – it was eliminated by France in the quarterfinals – were overshadowed by a string of embarrassing off-field incidents.
Lancaster hopes the players will back him through the process, saying: “Clearly, I have invested a lot of time in one-to-one relationships with the players and I’d like to think I’ve got an open door where people can come in and tell me any problems and issues that arise. I’ve been in this position before and legitimately questioned our preparation and things that had gone on”, he said.
But the “Pool of Death” would never have come about if, shortly before the draw was made, Wales had not played Australia outside of the official window for worldwide matches.
Double try-scorer Foley is hopeful that one of their best-ever team performances will help build momentum.
“We are delighted to be through and Australia have done us a massive favour”.
“Australia had 750 caps in their starting XV and we had 450 – we can go through why that’s happened but we’d need to go back all the way to 2011”.
Cheika, the only coach to have guided sides to victory in the Northern Hemisphere’s European Cup and the Southern Hemisphere’s Super Rugby, said: “There are a lot of areas we can improve on”.
The exit comes just 15 days into the tournament, with four weeks still to run. Enter now at ssereward.com.
Australia and Wales are now guaranted the top two places in Pool A, and tickets to the quarter-finals.
England’s most recent memories against Wales are happy ones but Tom Wood admits their chastening defeat of 2013 is still a factor for the Red Rose.
With David Pocock and Michael Hooper creating havoc at the breakdown last night, the England coach will have ample time over the next few months to reflect on his decisions, most likely without his job. Instead they were humbled…
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Lancaster admitted his future is uncertain after the defeat even though he has a contract until after the next World Cup in Japan in 2020.
