Johnson Likes His Young England But Gives No Guarantees

Martin Johnson has heaped praise upon his new, young stars after an autumn series that showed plenty of promise, but also a stark reminder after the loss last week to South Africa that there is much work to be done.

And the England manager has also sent a warning shot across his players’ bows making it clear that no place has been nailed down for the World Cup next year, and that someone from outside the current test squad is likely to break into the team.

“I can’t say that anyone is pencilled in just yet for the World Cup,” Johnson insisted last night. It has to be on a game by game basis. The current squad need to perform consistently well.

“If someone else is playing better than them then there is still time for them to get their chance. It’s up to those who possess the jersey right now to work very hard to not only keep their places, but also improve in order to become world-class.

“Will it be the same group of players next September when the World Cup begins? I’m sure there is someone from outside the squad who will come through. There are plenty of young guys out there who still have a chance. That’s why our selection process for both the senior EPS squad and the Saxons will be so very important.”

Although his message is clear to every single player who was involved in the match day 22 against the Springboks last week, it seems as if he has no plans to discard any of his new, young players who shone collectively throughout the autumn.

“We all know how well Ben Foden counter-attacks but his all-round game, especially under the high balls, has really come on,” Johnson said. “Chris Ashton’s all-round game has also come on immeasurably. Ben Youngs had big expectations on his shoulders after what he achieved in the summer but he met them well. Toby Flood’s become a real leader in the team, Courtney Lawes really stood up to the rigours of intense, test match rugby and Dan Cole just got on with his job each week as if he’d been playing test rugby for a long time.

“They are all really good characters and they have the ability to be playing international rugby for a very long time. If you picked a British & Lions squad tomorrow a lot of the current England team would be on that plane, but that doesn’t mean there are not still huge areas of improvement still required.

“You can’t make the mistakes we made last week against a top side like South Africa and expect to get away with it. Our execution needs to be better and we should have thought a bit more about how we were playing the game because although our attacking policy worked against Australia, it didn’t against the Springboks.

“As a group the past four weeks have been fantastic to come through, something that cannot be replicated on the training field. The intensity of these games will be of great use to the younger players as we go into 2011.”

Next year will be the year where Johnson hopes to win England’s first Six Nations title since he raised the trophy, after a Grand Slam in 2003. Then comes the small matter of the World Cup.

“We don’t need to win the Six Nations to be competitive at the World Cup, but we’d certainly like to,” he said. “In 2003 we went from winning a Grand Slam we should have secured a few times before to winning the World Cup but in 2007 we had no form in the Six Nations but lost the World Cup final. If you get into a knockout match at the World Cup and there’s ten minutes to go then what’s happened before is irrelevant. The World Cup is so big it’s about being able to handle it. All I can say is that we’re much better and stronger for the past four tests and I hope this will be evident in the Six Nations.”