Robinson wants Farrell to cross divide
LONDON (AFP) - England rugby union head coach Andy Robinson said he hoped Great Britain rugby league captain Andy Farrell would change codes after persuading the Rugby Football Union to make a bid for the player.
Earlier this week the RFU confirmed they were in talks with Farrell's club Wigan over a move which they hope will end in the loose forward making the same journey from league to union international as his former Great Britain team-mate turned England captain Jason Robinson.
"We hope negotiations turn out so that Andy Farrell becomes a rugby union player," Robinson told reporters at Twickenham ahead of England's Six Nations match here against France on Sunday.
Robinson said the decision, which England hope will culminate with the 29-year-old Farrell appearing at the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, had been taken by the England coaching team where his lieutenants are former league men Phil Larder and Joe Lydon.
"We want him otherwise we wouldn't have gone into the negotiations," said Robinson of a move that, if it succeeds, could cost the RFU one million pounds for a three-year-contract.
"Joe's played with him and coached him, Phil's coached him. He (Farrell) is a phenomenal rugby player and the outstanding rugby league player of his generation.
"We've highlighted him as potentially an outstanding player and his qualities speak for themselves," added Robinson, who played against Farrell for Bath in the 1996 cross-code challenge match.
But before Farrell's 'defection' from league to union can take place, Robinson has the tricky task of guiding world champions England against Six Nations kings France, who somehow scraped a 16-9 win over Scotland in last week's first round of the Championship.
England, by contrast, lost 11-9 against Wales and Robinson has added to the growing pressure on his shoulders by making five changes to his starting line-up.
Most controversially of all he has dropped centre Mathew Tait from the entire 22 just a week after handing the Newcastle teenager his England debut.
Tait's axeing after just an hour of international rugby provoked an angry response from Newcastle director of rugby Rob Andrew.
The former England fly-half told the Daily Mail it was "a bad way to treat a talented young player and shows the England management don't know what they are trying to achieve".
But Robinson refused Saturday to respond to Andrew's remarks, saying only: "I'll make my comments known at some stage. Now is not the time to get in a war of words.
"It's tough on any player to be dropped. The easy decision for me was to pick him this week. The sentimental decision was to do that."
Larder, the defence coach, insisted England would not carry any mental scars into Sunday's match.
"They (the players) have been exceptionally intense. Personally, I felt on Wednesday that the sooner the game arrived the better.
"I just got the feeling that we were ready."
In the pack England have Phil Vickery in for injured prop Julian White while in the back-row Leicester pair Martin Corry (No 8) and Lewis Moody (flanker) return in place of Andy Hazell and Chris Jones.
"Defensively the fact that Phil Vickery is back is a massive plus," Larder said.
"He's one of the best props in the world and he brings us fantastic agility away from the set-piece as well.
"Martin Corry and Lewis Moody bring us the kind of leadership that maybe we were missing a bit last week."
Meanwhile Robinson added: "Playing against the French, sometimes you don't know what to expect.
"They are very physical, have a great offloading game and they can play 15-man rugby, everybody is comfortable on the ball. They get their offloads and get real pace and belief.
"It's something we generated in the autumn (where England beat Canada and South Africa before losing by two points against Australia) but we lost it a little bit last week because of the slow ball we played with."
England have lost seven of their last 10 matches and Robinson, formerly Sir Clive Woodward's deputy, knows another loss on Sunday will renew the debate over whether he was the right man to succeed the World Cup mastermind.
But France coach Bernard Laporte on Friday backed Robinson, saying: "Don't forget he was the real coach of the England team under Woodward. He was handling everything, he set up England's system of play."
And former Bath and England flanker Robinson was in defiant mood Saturday:
"We're in the sport for the pressure and how you come through it," he said. "I've no doubts about us as a management group, us as a team and no doubts about myself.
"Tough calls have got to be made. This is not the time to shrink and hide but to stand up and be counted."
LONDON (AFP) - England rugby union head coach Andy Robinson said he hoped Great Britain rugby league captain Andy Farrell would change codes after persuading the Rugby Football Union to make a bid for the player.
Earlier this week the RFU confirmed they were in talks with Farrell's club Wigan over a move which they hope will end in the loose forward making the same journey from league to union international as his former Great Britain team-mate turned England captain Jason Robinson.
"We hope negotiations turn out so that Andy Farrell becomes a rugby union player," Robinson told reporters at Twickenham ahead of England's Six Nations match here against France on Sunday.
Robinson said the decision, which England hope will culminate with the 29-year-old Farrell appearing at the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, had been taken by the England coaching team where his lieutenants are former league men Phil Larder and Joe Lydon.
"We want him otherwise we wouldn't have gone into the negotiations," said Robinson of a move that, if it succeeds, could cost the RFU one million pounds for a three-year-contract.
"Joe's played with him and coached him, Phil's coached him. He (Farrell) is a phenomenal rugby player and the outstanding rugby league player of his generation.
"We've highlighted him as potentially an outstanding player and his qualities speak for themselves," added Robinson, who played against Farrell for Bath in the 1996 cross-code challenge match.
But before Farrell's 'defection' from league to union can take place, Robinson has the tricky task of guiding world champions England against Six Nations kings France, who somehow scraped a 16-9 win over Scotland in last week's first round of the Championship.
England, by contrast, lost 11-9 against Wales and Robinson has added to the growing pressure on his shoulders by making five changes to his starting line-up.
Most controversially of all he has dropped centre Mathew Tait from the entire 22 just a week after handing the Newcastle teenager his England debut.
Tait's axeing after just an hour of international rugby provoked an angry response from Newcastle director of rugby Rob Andrew.
The former England fly-half told the Daily Mail it was "a bad way to treat a talented young player and shows the England management don't know what they are trying to achieve".
But Robinson refused Saturday to respond to Andrew's remarks, saying only: "I'll make my comments known at some stage. Now is not the time to get in a war of words.
"It's tough on any player to be dropped. The easy decision for me was to pick him this week. The sentimental decision was to do that."
Larder, the defence coach, insisted England would not carry any mental scars into Sunday's match.
"They (the players) have been exceptionally intense. Personally, I felt on Wednesday that the sooner the game arrived the better.
"I just got the feeling that we were ready."
In the pack England have Phil Vickery in for injured prop Julian White while in the back-row Leicester pair Martin Corry (No 8) and Lewis Moody (flanker) return in place of Andy Hazell and Chris Jones.
"Defensively the fact that Phil Vickery is back is a massive plus," Larder said.
"He's one of the best props in the world and he brings us fantastic agility away from the set-piece as well.
"Martin Corry and Lewis Moody bring us the kind of leadership that maybe we were missing a bit last week."
Meanwhile Robinson added: "Playing against the French, sometimes you don't know what to expect.
"They are very physical, have a great offloading game and they can play 15-man rugby, everybody is comfortable on the ball. They get their offloads and get real pace and belief.
"It's something we generated in the autumn (where England beat Canada and South Africa before losing by two points against Australia) but we lost it a little bit last week because of the slow ball we played with."
England have lost seven of their last 10 matches and Robinson, formerly Sir Clive Woodward's deputy, knows another loss on Sunday will renew the debate over whether he was the right man to succeed the World Cup mastermind.
But France coach Bernard Laporte on Friday backed Robinson, saying: "Don't forget he was the real coach of the England team under Woodward. He was handling everything, he set up England's system of play."
And former Bath and England flanker Robinson was in defiant mood Saturday:
"We're in the sport for the pressure and how you come through it," he said. "I've no doubts about us as a management group, us as a team and no doubts about myself.
"Tough calls have got to be made. This is not the time to shrink and hide but to stand up and be counted."
