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England v Romania
England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson has admitted that the Three Lions haven’t been good enough in their opening two World Cup games and has called on the team to raise their game for the rest of the tournament.
Martin Johnson’s men started with a scrappy victory over those in Argentina RWC Shirts before another unconvincing display against Georgia most recently. Both games were won which is the main thing, but the performances were littered with individual mistakes.
Since the 41-10 win over Georgia, the team have had a ‘brutally honest’ meeting about how things are going and Wilkinson believes that now is the time to put things right.
Speaking after the meeting, the 2003 World Cup winner said: “World Cups are do or die.”
“Mistakes in a World Cup are going to cost you. They could have cost us very badly in the first half against Georgia.”
"Thankfully for us, a few (of their penalty) kicks went wide and we were able to go into half-time in a good position - but who knows what will happen next time?”
"We just can't afford to do it. That's why there is an urgency about the meetings, as sooner or later it will be something we can't come back from.”
"Sooner or later next week doesn't appear for a team in the World Cup. We just have to make sure we don't leave ourselves in that position.”
Wilkinson will have the chance to put things right himself of course after it was revealed today that he would start against Romania at the weekend, replacing Toby Flood in the process.
He himself was responsible for many of the mistakes in the first game of course, missing several penalties and contributing to what was a below-par performance. Having sat out the Georgia game, he will be desperate to be in better form for Johnson and England.
Wilkinson and co are heavy favourites to win against minnows Romania, but this is now about more than the result. The performances, the team’s focus and the tournament preparation have all come under scrutiny of late and it is time this changed.
Wilkinson believes there are positive signs though, saying that the team have reacted well to the meeting and that training has been extremely enjoyable this week.
He said: “Today there was a great buzz in training. Everyone wants to get better. For me, it's great to be part of. It's the team and the buzz that we know England is all about.”
England face Romania on Saturday morning from 7am.
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