Nick Easter said an RBS 6 Nations championship will put everyone’s doubts of England’s kicking game to rest. England had a mediocre performance in the 17-12 victory over Italy in Rome last weekend. Next up for England is reigning champion Ireland at Twickenham and Easter said the days of beating Italy are long gone.
“It’s simply not possible to run every time you have the ball in international rugby,” Easter said. “Kicking is an essential part of the game whether you like it or not. You have to pick your moments and move the opposition about to create mismatches. That is something we will need to work on.”
Easter didn’t hold back on his feelings after the game against Italy. He said his team was too predictable and only gained an edge off the counter-attack, saving them from an upset. England will need to improve the communication and vary up the attack against Ireland. That puts sides under pressure, like the tournament opening win against Wales when England scored on three tries.
The Italy match ranted from moments of exhilarating rugby to long spells of aimless punting. One high was a try for Mathew Tait. Johnny Wilkinson took the blame with World Cup teammate Matt Dawson that England’s star fly-half can’t manage a game. Manager Martin Johnson rejected the criticisms.
“There were times we could have kept the ball in hand but we are kicking to try and create something, we are not kicking because we can’t think of anything else to do, said Johnson. “We are doing these things because they are effective, not because they are entertaining. If we need to kick the ball for 80 minutes we will kick the ball for 80 minutes.”