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| Johnson: Premiership can help England • England manager sees benefits in Premiership changes• Hopes to hit the ground running on 6 NovemberMartin Johnson believes the renewed emphasis on attacking rugby in the Aviva Premiership this season will help England to make a strong start to their autumn international campaign, which opens against the Tri-Nations champions New Zealand at Twickenham on 6 November.Johnson, the England team manager, pointed to the Premiership leaders, Northampton, as the model in what will be his most important period in charge with the World Cup starting in less than a year."It has been an exciting start to the season," Johnson told rfu.com. "There have been some really good games and the intensity and physicality of Northampton, the only unbeaten side in the league, have been the best. Their execution levels have been good and they can play in a variety of ways."Ball-in-play time is higher than last year and more tries are being scored. That is what people want to see rather than the ball stuck in the breakdown for long periods. The new directive for referees in the tackle area has made a difference and it is important it is applied consistently."Johnson said he would be looking for England to start against New Zealand in the manner they finished last season when they defeated Australia in Sydney. "We need to hit the ground running, not suffer a dip," he said."The England players will spend a lot of time together in the next 12 months, starting with the autumn internationals. It is the most competitive squad I have had and the focus will get narrower at the top end. We had a number of guys coming through last year who were not regulars with their clubs, such as Dan Cole and Courtney Lawes, and things can change."We want players to put their hands up. We will go into the New Zealand game looking to get momentum through performance. That means playing with intensity, as we did in Sydney. We have a good idea of where we are and you need a team to get consistency on the field by keeping the team together."Johnson will need better fortune with injuries compared with last autumn when England were depleted in several areas. So far, it is the Saxons who have been mainly hit and the Bath hooker, Lee Mears, has been ruled out of action for eight weeks after he suffered an arm injury this month.Martin JohnsonEngland rugby union teamNew Zealand rugby union teamPremiershipRugby unionPaul Reesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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Time for England to match Martin Johnson’s lofty expectations If England truly believe they are making progress — and the claim was made yet again yesterday as a squad battered in mind as well as body flew from Perth to Sydney — they need to show some evidence of it, ideally during this next week in Australia. timesonline.co.uk |