Ashton and Wilko confident ahead of SA tour
Brian Ashton heads off to the southern hemisphere in confident mood
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Tuesday, 15, May 2007 11:44
Coach Brain Ashton and fly-half Jonny Wilkinson have issued rallying cries to the rest of the England touring party ahead of their visit to South Africa.
With South African rugby resurgent and the squad missing key players due to the European club commitments of Leicester, Wasps and Bath, many observers are concerned England could be on the wrong end of an embarrassing mis-match.
But Ashton, who took charge of the team at the end of last year, is confident his men can improve from an indifferent Six Nations showing.
"Damage limitation and Brian Ashton don't sit together. We are going to approach the Tests in a very positive way, and let's see what happens in the first Test," he said.
"It is about sticking out our chests and being pro-active, rather than just hanging on in there."
Wilkinson, who scored the winning points in the 2003 World Cup, is equally determined to approach the warm-up matches for the 2007 tournament in the best frame of mind.
"At the moment we need to go there and get that consistency. What we do know is that we have positive and very realistic expectation of going there and competing to the end of both games," he said.
Saracens number eight Ben Skirving is a late addition to the squad after Gloucester's Peter Buxton was forced to withdraw from the tour with a thumb injury.
England will meet the Springboks on May 26th in Bloemfontein before the second test a week after in Pretoria.