Martin Johnson tells England: be clinical, seize the day

England will have to score at least three tries a game if they want to avoid an early exit from the World Cup according to 2003-winning captain Martin Johnson.
The former lock, who coached England in New Zealand in 2011, reckons 25 points is the target Stuart Lancaster’s men should set themselves in order to come out of the Pool of Death and secure their eighth quarter-final in as many tournaments.
“You’ve got to be able to score tries at Test level,” Johnson told The Rugby Paper. “You’re looking at 25 points to win a Test match and if you score three tries you should be there.
“England are capable of beating anyone. They can win their Pool but it’s not unimaginable to see them not making it out – someone out of England, Wales and Australia is going to go home before the quarter-finals and that’s going to be brutal.
“Fiji could cause a huge upset too because I have no doubt they will be hugely motivated after only hearing people talk about the other three teams since the draw.
“It’s going to be a fascinating tournament. There’s no tomorrow at a World Cup. The future doesn’t matter. Someone will have to go home after the Pool matches and you don’t want it to be you.”
To find their way over the whitewash, Johnson is backing the pack to deliver good ball to the backs with George Ford orchestrating the attack from fly-half.
He added: “The forwards can make sure we have a good share of the ball so we’ll have to make sure we make good use of that possession. Being clinical and taking your opportunities to score tries will be decisive in that Pool.
“George is a fantastic 10 and he’ll only get better the more he plays but I think England will miss Manu Tuilagi. JJ (Jonathan Joseph) has played well but the wingers like Anthony Watson, who have little experience at this level, will have to step up.
“It’ll be interestng to see how they use Sam Burgess. They obviously rate him but I’m not sure Stuart would start him at 12 against Australia.
“This World Cup promises to be bigger than ever in terms of audience and potential distraction but they will have to put that aside and remember that it’ll come down to 15 men against 15 and you have 80 minutes to find a way to win.”
Last Tuesday, Johnson attended the premiere of the documentary Building Jerusalem which takes a look England’s triumph at the 2003 World Cup.
He added: “This film is not only about how we won the World Cup but rather takes a look at the journey the team went on from the late 90s to 2003.”
*Building Jerusalem is on Blu-ray & DVD 14th September
NICK VERDIER