England prepared for huge battle – Walshe
In the run-up to the second match day at the IRB Junior World Championship, we spoke with Nick Walshe, head coach of defending champions England.
Having blown away a few cobwebs as well as Italy in the opening match of their defence of the JWC 2014 title, England can now look forward to a clash with old rivals Australia at the QBE Stadium in Auckland on Friday.
A hat-trick of tries from wing Nathan Earle helped the defending champions to a resounding 63-3 win over Italy, while Australia continued their fine form in the lead-up to the tournament with a 36-17 win over Argentina – their fifth win in a row and their first in three attempts over the South American side at Under 20 level.
“They’ve prepared really well, I think this is probably the best preparation they (Australia) have had for a JWC so they will be in a good place,” said England coach Walshe.
“It’s going to be a huge battle, the rivalry of England and Australia is obviously massive but there’s huge respect there. Their scrum in the Argentina game was fantastic, so we’re going to have to be on our game there. They play with a lot of width and they’ve got some big ball-carriers so we now they have got a very good side.
“It’s going to be a massive occasion and we’ll have to be right on top of our game.”
In the build-up to the match with Australia England’s players, along with Walshe himself, also became the latest to try out the IRB Junior World Championship ‘Drop Kick Challenge’, and there is now a new name on top of the leader board.
Courtesy of IRB
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