'Outstanding' Armitage says Johnson
Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:37
Reason to smile: New England manager Martin Johnson
England manager Martin Johnson was in upbeat mood after his first match in charge ended in a 39-13 victory against the Pacific Islanders at Twickenham here Saturday.
Johnson's men ran in five tries with two from wing Paul Sackey and one each from Danny Cipriani, Nick Kennedy and Lee Mears.
But it was the performance of full-back Delon Armitage, one of five new caps on show along with wing Ugo Monye, New Zealand-born centre Riki Flutey, lock Kennedy and replacement hooker Dylan Hartley, another Kiwi exile, that caught the eye.
The 24-year-old London Irish flyer, born in Trinidad, counter-attacked at pace and provided a delightful inside pass for Sackey's first try while, in defence, he was secure under the high ball.
"I thought he was outstanding," said Johnson.
"He has trained like that. But some players train like that and don't play like that," England's 2003 World Cup-winning captain added.
"I just said to him 'I don't think I have ever seen a better debut'."
Armitage, who first played rugby in England before his family spent a few years on the other side of the Channel, where he played for France's Under-16s, was happy with the way he performed in front of more than 55,000 spectators.
"I always wanted to play for England and show what I can do in front of a big crowd," he said. "The first five or 10 minutes, I was a bit shaky - but then I got into the game and started to enjoy it."
Reflecting on the match as a whole, which also saw outside-half Cipriani kick 14 points after landing six out of seven efforts at goal, Johnson said: "I'm reasonably happy with that. We won the game in difficult conditions.
"It was stop-start, and at times we got a bit tentative," the legendary Leicester and British and Irish Lions lock added.
"That's understandable, because this was our first match together and we were trying to put some things
together."
But Johnson was broadly content with England's overall display ahead of the visit of Australia to Twickenham a week on Saturday.
"We're in a pretty good place and we're looking forward to next week."
Man-of-the-match Armitage wasn't even in England's 64-man squad when it was announced in July but his own form and injuries to the likes of Nick Abendanon and Mathew Tait saw him given his Test chance.
But England backs coach Brian Smith, the former Australia and Ireland international who was Armitage's boss at London Irish, said the fullback had been rewarded for his perseverance.
"Sport is a bit like life. Sometimes the floodgates open and sometimes you keep pounding away at the door and nobody's listening.
"Delon has kept at it for England and got his chance. This is his reward for persisting and performing well," he said.
Defeat left the Islanders, a side made-up of players from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, still searching for a first Test victory since their creation in 2002. "Congratulations to England," said their coach, Quddus Fielea. "We made some mistakes, and that cost us.
"We only had three days training together this week but we won't use that as an excuse."
Meanwhile Johnson, relieved to have got this match out of the way, was relishing the more familiar challenge of the Wallabies, 30-20 winners away to Italy on Saturday.
"It may be easier to play Australia than the Pacific Islanders, because we can have a good look at them and know what they're about.
"But the tempo and intensity next week will be higher."
What did you make of the England performance? Johnno's first day in the job - what did you think?
