England stepping in the 'right direction'
Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:42
The right direction: England flank Lewis Moody
Veteran flank Lewis Moody says that England's narrow defeat to France in the final game of the Six Nations was a step in the right direction for Martin Johnson's side, and hopes that they can carry that form into their upcoming Australasian tour.
The Bath-bound loose-forward was the stand-in captain for the 12-10 loss, and although England were disappointing in the lead-up to the tournament's finale, their display against the Grand Slam winners showed signs that the squad is on an upward curve, according to Moody.
The 31 year-old was most impressed with the performances of the new introductions to the team such as flyhalf Toby Flood, fullback Ben Foden and wing Chris Ashton, who all made made a good impression in replacing more experienced players for the match against Les Bleus.
"When you see those [new] guys getting their hands on the ball and running with some real verve, it gets you going," Moody told the Leicester
Mercury.
"Those guys were involved in the cracking try we scored in the first half. We spoke about taking our opportunities and we did that after just five minutes."
Now having shown that the team can compete with the best of the Northern Hemisphere nations, Moody is confident that they will be a forced to contend with on their tour of the Southern hemisphere in June.
"We know as a team how tight we are," he said, "We sat down and had an honest chat with each other before the France game and said we know we are better than what we are producing at the minute."
"The France game was a big step in the right direction. Now we have to do more and continue that good work in the [English] summer."
England will play five matches in a little over two weeks between June 8 and June 23 - two against both Australia and the Australian Barbarians, and one against the New Zealand Maoris.
This tour has been organised with a view towards
the World Cup in New Zealand next year, and one man who did his reputation no harm against France was Flood, who put in a good showing in place of the misfiring Jonny Wilkinson.
The Leicester Tigers man is also hoping to use that game as a springboard for greater things, both from a personal and team perspective.
"Of course we were disappointed that we lost but, from a personal point of view, it was nice to be a part of what we did and a lot of guys can be proud of that performance we put in. It's a big stepping stone for us and we are all looking forward to the summer tour now.
"If we all stay fit, and healthy, it will be a huge test against Australia and the Maoris and they will be another step up from this [Six Nations]."
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