Ashton relishes underdog label
Ashton believes England can exceed expectations
Also In The News
|
Brian Belo has unexpectedly won the eighth series of Big Brother, winning 60. |  |
Saturday, 01, Sep 2007 12:17
Brian Ashton says England are revelling in their status as World Cup underdogs and believes his side are capable of exceeding people's expectations.
Ashton claims he uses the opinion of experts who have condemned England's chances to motivate his players.
Despite losing their final two warm-up games to France, Ashton insists England are close to where they need to be for the tournament which begins next Friday.
The former Bath coach says having a number of players from the 2003 winning side in the squad is of great benefit and believes their experience will show at some point in the competition.
"A lot of people have forgotten we are world champions and we are defending the title," said Ashton.
"No one's ever done that before and what a fantastic opportunity for a team that has been written off all over the world to actually go out and do something like that."
Ashton says he is not focused on pre-tournament predictions and is simply trying to develop the players he has at his disposal.
He said: "I really do not mind what other coaches say about what we should be doing. We will just get on with developing our team the way we think best."
The coach has encouraged his team to get the ball to Sale winger Jason Robinson. Ashton feels the 33-year-old can be a match winner and that the side must get the ball to him when he is in scoring range.
Ashton concluded by saying he was happy with the basic game England had established during their warm-up fixtures and now wanted to progress from there.