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Falling short England still not a match for south, says Leonard
LONDON (Reuters) -- England, playing an entertaining brand of 15-man rugby, is still not on a par with the Southern Hemisphere giants despite its romp through the Six Nations and defeats of Australia and South Africa, the country's most experienced player said Sunday. Prop Jason Leonard, the most capped Englishman in history and the world's most capped forward, warned fans not to get carried away after his side's historic 43-3 defeat of Scotland with fullback Iain Balshaw compared to New Zealand's Christian Cullen, the most dynamic runner in world rugby. "Realistically, I think we are there close to the Southern Hemisphere but we've just got to make sure that the consistency is always in our game," said Leonard who earned his 90th cap in the six-try defeat of Scotland, its biggest margin of victory over the Scots in a rivalry which first began in 1871. "We are only three games into the Six Nations and obviously we had a good autumn (against Australia and the Springboks). It's a case of reproducing that form for every single game, every single season." Leonard, who also has three British Lions caps to his name, warned: "Before everyone gets carried away, I think we are going really well and becoming a better side. But until we crack that, the Southern Hemisphere are still just that tiny bit away from us." No European team has ever won rugby's most prestigious prize, the World Cup, since it started in 1987 with the All Blacks, Australia (twice), and South Africa dominating the competition. Change of style But England has changed its style since coach Clive Woodward took over in 1997 and is playing a much more expansive game involving all its players -- "total rugby." It had a disappointing World Cup in 1999, making a quarterfinal exit to South Africa. But the defeat of the Wallabies and Springboks at Twickenham in November and December have been followed up with impressive victories over Wales, Italy and Scotland in the Six Nations during which England has entertained the crowds with a remarkable total of 22 tries. Its 80-23 defeat of Italy was a tournament record. The speedy Balshaw has been an inspirational player this season with his dynamic running from deep. He scored two tries against the Scots to add to his two against Italy. But the England forwards, once known as dogged but far from swift and skilful, have also proved they can match the Southern Hemisphere in speed and handling skills. England's back row of Lawrence Dallaglio, who also crossed the line twice against the Scots, Richard Hill and Neil Back is among the best in the world. England's form this season has added an extra dimension to the British Lions' tour of Australia at the the end of the European season in June and July. First cap Leonard, who won his first cap in 1990, summed up the change in tactics under Woodward perfectly. "Before, when I first got into the English set-up it was a case of the forwards had hold of the ball and we'd give it to the backs when we had finished with it, " the 32-year-old said. "Now when you have players (in the backs) like Mike Catt, Will Greenwood, Jonny Wilkinson, Iain Balshaw and Austin Healey, you can can give them the ball and they are off and running. "It changes the emphasis on the points of attack. That is one of the strengths of the team." Before Saturday's game some people criticized Balshaw for being more of a wing than a fullback, questioning his confidence under the high ball. But afterwards, Scottish captain Andy Nicol put him on a par with Cullen. Leonard was also full of praise. "He was totally in control at the back," said the Englishman. "He didn't let anything loose in the air. And once he gets the ball in his hands, he's lightning." England's problem now is that they could lose momentum because of the disruption caused to the Six Nations by Britain's foot-and-mouth disease. Saturday's scheduled Wales-Ireland game was postponed until the end of April in a bid to prevent the spread and England's fourth-round game against Ireland on March 24 in Dublin is in serious doubt. A decision is expected in the next week. The tournament is now likely to stretch into mid-May, or even September in a worse-case scenario.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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