Rugby Union: Lewsey Ready to Step Up

It has been hailed as Twickenham’s "tackle of the century" and it may yet save Andy Robinson’s job as head coach. Josh Lewsey, though, was modesty personified yesterday. To his mind he was merely fulfilling his full-back’s duty when he made his last-ditch, corner-flagging hit on South Africa’s Jean de Villiers last Saturday, and considers the task of propelling English rugby back to former glories has only just begun.

Others, however, were less restrained. The defence coach Mike Ford described Lewsey’s try-saving intervention as "probably the best tackle ever seen at Twickenham" and, after gentle persuasion, the man himself finally agreed to give a blowby-blow account of the now-famous tackle, which involved a desperate 60-metre sprint, an uncanny awareness of geometry and the perfectly timed impact of a small rhinoceros.

"I was expecting him to step inside but I could see the try-line coming up and thought: ‘I’d better make this tackle pretty soon,’" said Lewsey. "He’s a big old lump and I knew I needed to bump him as well, otherwise he’d just slide over. Because of the closeness of the victory people have made a lot of it but it looked more dramatic than it was. Having said that, he must have been kicking himself he didn’t score."

He made it sound easy, and De Villiers would also have recognised the determined defensive footwork the full-back employed yesterday on the symbolic third anniversary of England’s World Cup triumph in Sydney. While acknowledging that Robinson’s critics are "sniffing blood", Lewsey is not among those who believes a solitary tackle has the power to halt or hasten a potential revolution in the coaching ranks. "Someone even talked about the walls of the Bastille, which I thought was somewhat melodramatic," he muttered, rightly suggesting Robinson’s future should hinge on a broader range of criteria.

In Lewsey’s view, England are slowly getting to where they need to be. "Last week it was very telling how much the boys wanted to play for each other. Let’s hope that continues, whatever system the powers-that-be decide to choose. There’s obviously been lots of noise and attention but I would say the squad, the coaches and the management have come together really well over the last month. I’m not Mystic Meg but all teams go through phases and you learn more about yourself in adversity. I thought we learned more about each other than if we had won by 20 points.

"Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope some of the problems we’ve had over the last two years manifest themselves in the form of some gnarly old men in 10 months’ time."

Yet even the Wasps stalwart, who turns 30 next week, cannot deny that he would prefer to concentrate on just one position, whether it be full-back or wing. "I’ve been shifted around all over the shop," he said. "If the goalposts keep changing each week it’s very difficult to set your objectives. You’ve got to work within the coaches’ framework and keep them happy but I want to be allowed to settle into one spot, otherwise you won’t get the best out of me."

That is one for Robinson and the backs coach, Brian Ashton, after England’s threequarters yet again failed to fire last weekend. The space-loving Ashton was horrified to discover on the video that, at one point, all 15 England players were to be found occupying an area measuring just 11 x 12 metres. "By my maths that’s 132 square metres when there’s over 7,000 square metres of pitch," sighed Ashton.

"I'd imagine most people would take [another] win this weekend and be reasonably happy if we did so without making any progress. I wouldn't necessarily. I want us to make progress and play better than last week. I want us to play more intelligently and in a more confrontational manner.

"I admit I thought we’d made some progress before the New Zealand game and that our mind-set was different but we have not progressed on the field since then. There’s no hiding from how we have played. We need to continue to work as we have been doing to make it happen. This is not a case a waving a magic wand, it’s not an overnight job but, ultimately, I’m convinced we will get it right."