England 'can't leave anything out there' in 2023 World Cup bow – Tindall

By Sports Desk September 08, 2023

England must leave everything out on the pitch as they aim to set the tone for their Rugby World Cup campaign against Argentina on Saturday, though Mike Tindall does not see Steve Borthwick's side as being among the favourites.

The 2023 World Cup gets under way in Paris on Friday, with hosts France taking on New Zealand.

England's campaign starts on Saturday, when they face Argentina in Marseille.

The Red Rose – who were runners-up to South Africa in 2019 – head into the tournament ranked eighth in the world, below Fiji and two places below Argentina.

After a disappointing Six Nations, England will be looking to put things right, and Tindall wants to see a fast start on Saturday.

"The first game against Argentina, they can't leave anything out there," he told Stats Perform. "They're not in a place where they can build something, they have to play [well].

"Imagine that is the World Cup final and then deal with the outcome of it and then rebuild to go into quarter-finals and semi-finals.

"Argentina for England is the World Cup final. 

"They have to play the biggest game in their first outing that should get them into a quarter-final and hopefully in that time you build momentum and they can then go on."

Asked if he fancied England's chances of going all the way, Tindall said: "To be honest, at the moment, I don't see them be the favourites.

"I think I think they can muster a challenge, and we are on the right side of the draw. France, New Zealand, South Africa, Scotland, Ireland, they're going to take chunks out of each other, and you don't know what's going to happen injury wise.

"So all you've got to do is try and stay in their strike, manage everything, and ultimately believe and if they can do that, I think they could create a shock. But I don't think that they're going in as anywhere near favourites."

For Tindall, New Zealand or France are the favourites.

He said: "Just from the grouping, I would say the winner coming out of the France, New Zealand group.

"Ireland are number one in the world but the schedule and the draw they're on is terrible. It's terrible for them.

"Even South Africa, who are built for big physical guys, I just think that France and New Zealand have that first big game and then they can sort of relax a little bit.

"Not relax, but they'll be able to manage their players and manage their time. And I feel that the winner could come out with those two."

Related items

  • Farrell backs 'composed' Prendergast to shine on first Ireland start Farrell backs 'composed' Prendergast to shine on first Ireland start

    Andy Farrell believes Sam Prendergast is ready to step up ahead of his first Ireland start against Fiji at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday. 

    Farrell has made seven changes to his team, handing first caps to Leinster's Gus McCarthy and Ulster's Cormac Izuchukwu for the penultimate game of the Autumn Nations Series.

    The Ireland head coach has handed Prendergast the number 10 jersey for the first time after he was used off the bench in the closing stages of last week's win over Argentina.

    Prendergast has only started eight games for Leinster, but Farrell had no hesitation in handing him a first start after he impressed on the Emerging Ireland tour of South Africa.

    "I'm confident from what we've seen. We took him on the Emerging [Ireland] and he played in all of those games," said Farrell.

    "The aim of that was to grab hold of that team and make sure that he treated it like it was his own, as though he was in charge, and he did that in spades.

    "This week we've seen the benefit of that, but we need to see it transfer, obviously.

    "Yes, his character is composed, confident but yet not over-confident. He's assertive in what he wants, and he has a nice way about how he goes about his business.”

    Farrell also had a glowing review for Izuchukwu, saying: "Izzy has been in and around the squad for a while. The first Emerging Ireland tour was when we first came across his ability, his athleticism, his point of difference.

    "That was a couple of years ago but the improvement in his maturity of his game, because he was young in the 15-a-side game when the first tour was on, but the difference between the first and second tour was like chalk and cheese.

    "His ability and potential with that maturity, he deserves a shot to show us all what he's got."

    On McCarthy, who captained the Ireland Under-20s to a Six Nations Grand Slam in 2023, Farrell said: "He's been a captain and you can see why because his maturity in how he goes about the game."

    He added: "We took him on the training week [to Portugal] as a development player and he showed up unbelievably well. He forced our hand to keep him in the squad first and foremost and he deserves a shot to see what he can do as well."

    Ciaran Frawley also returns to the bench after missing out last weekend on the back of a poor outing against New Zealand. 

    And Cian Healy must wait another week for a record-breaking 134th cap - having drawn level with Brian O'Driscoll against Argentina - after the prop was left out of the 23.

    Ireland team to play Fiji

    Jamie Osborne; Mack Hansen, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale; Sam Prendergast, Craig Casey; Andrew Porter, Gus McCarthy, Finlay Bealham; Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne; Cormac Izuchukwu, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt).

    Replacements: Rob Herring, Tom O'Toole, Thomas Clarkson, Iain Henderson, Cian Prendergast, Conor Murray, Ciaran Frawley, Stuart McCloskey.

  • Slot deserves praise for modest approach to Liverpool job – Mills Slot deserves praise for modest approach to Liverpool job – Mills

    Arne Slot deserves praise for not being "arrogant" with his approach to succeeding Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool boss, according to Danny Mills.

    The Dutchman has made a hugely positive start to life at Anfield since replacing long-serving Klopp ahead of the 2024-25 season.

    The 28 points Slot has collected is the joint-most of any manager in their opening 11 Premier League games along with Guus Hiddink at Chelsea.

    Liverpool's only blemish on an otherwise perfect start to the top-flight campaign was a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest in September.

    Indeed, only in 2019-20 (31 points) have Liverpool collected more points after 11 games of a Premier League season than their 28 this campaign.

    Former Leeds United and Manchester City defender Mills has been particularly impressed by Slot's approach to a new era at Anfield.

    "Arne Slot has surprised me," Mills told Stats Perform. "They did have a difficult defeat against Nottingham Forest at home. That was a defeat not many people saw that coming, but the start he's had is unbelievable. It's incredible.

    "Training might be slightly different, but the style of play is very similar. The players are comfortable with it. They've been high-energy, closing people down, and playing at 100 miles an hour when they win the ball back.

    "It shows managerial intelligence to understand the players' qualities and build on what they had when they were successful. He hasn't overthought it or tinkered too much. 

    "He hasn’t been arrogant and said, 'I'm going to rip it up and start fresh'. It wasn't broken; it was already successful. He's just added to it."

    Liverpool won a first ever Premier League title during Klopp's eight-and-a-half years in charge, as well the Champions League in 2018-19.

    Klopp also lifted the FA Cup, two EFL Cups, the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, setting a high benchmark to follow.

    "Liverpool identified the man they wanted, brought him in, and he's been very clever," Mills added. "He looked at the squad and thought, 'these are good players. I don't need to change too much'. 

    "That's smart because Liverpool were very successful under Klopp. If you come in and rip up the playbook and it doesn't work, players will question why they're not doing what worked under Klopp."

    Liverpool have conceded just six goals in the Premier League this season – four fewer than next-best Nottingham Forest.

    They are conceding at a rate of around 0.5 goals per game, compared to around 1.1 in Klopp's final season in charge (41 goals in 38 matches).

    "Slot has tweaked things slightly, maybe made them more defensively solid, which they needed to really challenge," Mills said. "Championship-winning or Champions League-winning teams are built on solid defences. 

    "You don't win without that. He's shored up the defence and allowed the players to continue doing what they were doing before."

  • 'World-class' Scotland will provide Wallabies' sternest test – Skelton 'World-class' Scotland will provide Wallabies' sternest test – Skelton

    Australia will face their sternest test to date when they continue their autumn tour against a "world-class" Scotland team at Murrayfield on Sunday.

    That is the view of forward Will Skelton, who believes the Wallabies' victories in England and Wales have brought a new energy and confidence to their camp.

    Having crashed out in the pool stage at last year's World Cup in France before finishing last in the Rugby Championship, Australia have looked a team reborn in recent weeks.

    A first victory at Twickenham since 2015 and a 52-20 rout of Wales – their biggest-ever away win in matches between the teams – have made it an excellent tour to date for Joe Schmidt's side.

    But La Rochelle lock Skelton feels their toughest assignment is to come this week, saying: "We've won two games, we're very aware of that.

    "The Test against Scotland is going to be the hardest one yet. We're excited about this weekend and we're looking forward to ripping into it.

    "Physically they're up there with the top five in the world. I think set-piece wise they're really strong.

    "You've got a guy like Finn Russell who's a maestro at the back there. I think it's going be a close one and we'll be up for it.

    "There's some class players in the Scottish team and, when they're at it they're world-class, so we're going to have to be on top of our game."

     

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.