Toby Flood talks up England now they’ve found their voice

Fly-half’s experience is in short supply but he says coach’s decision to ditch old guard has let others be heard
p58 BAGSHOT, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 05: Toby Flood catches the ball during the England training session held at Pennyhill Park on November 5, 2012 in Bagshot, England.
9 November 2012

Toby Flood shifts uncomfortably when reminded he is now a ‘veteran’, the only player in the home dressing room with 50 caps as England prepare to face Fiji tomorrow at the start of a crucial run of fixtures.

Having endured the divisive 2011 Rugby World Cup debacle when senior England players were at the heart of the problems, Flood knows that having miles on the rugby clock does not guarantee anything.

The 27-year-old has been involved with England since 2006, been to two World Cups and battled it out for the No10 jersey with numerous rivals including Jonny Wilkinson and Owen Farrell.

The England team for this match at Twickenham have just 215 caps between them and the fact half-backs Flood and Danny Care (33) have won 83 of those highlights the radical change brought about by head coach Stuart Lancaster, who was confirmed in the role in March.

Lancaster has his eyes firmly set on the 2015 World Cup and is giving youth its chance, believing the experience will pay dividends when the tournament kicks off here. Ironically, if his twentysomethings come up short in the next four weeks against Fiji, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, it will see England drop down the world rankings — directly affecting that 2015 Cup campaign.

England are fourth in the standings and that would allow them to head one of the tournament pools rather than being thrown into a group alongside a South Hemisphere giant.

That is why Lancaster is looking to Flood and Care to give steel to the spine of the team because it includes uncapped hooker Tom Youngs, No8 Thomas Waldrom and full-back Alex Goode, each of whom have two caps, and inside-centre Brad Barritt, who has seven.

Has Lancaster thrown away too much experience and put unwelcome pressure on men such as Flood? “The World Cup leadership group had a lot of experience in it and Stuart put together a group that covers all bases,” said the Leicester outside-half.

“The shrewdness of Stuart is that he took away a lot of the experienced voices after the World Cup and the likes of Chris Robshaw, Dan Cole, Ben Youngs and Danny Care are now saying their pieces. The weight of experience and number of caps previously dampened those voices and I’ve been interested to see these guys step up to the plate.

“If you have full coverage of the squad then it isn’t just guys who are 30 years old and are therefore ‘senior’ being heard and that is what he has done.

“Look, the team culture remains the same and I have a lot of respect for the guys who went before — the key to it is that there is a lot of more youthful exuberance because it is all so new and fresh and they are not as cynical as I am!

“This isn’t the third, fourth or sixth time the players have been to this stadium or that one and Stuart has stripped everything back.”

Fiji will offer a very different challenge to the major Southern Hemisphere nations who will turn up on the next three Saturdays for the QBE international series and Lancaster has been ramming home the message to Flood & Co that it is all about England’s 80-minute performance.

It will be Flood’s responsibility to play the game in the right areas and ensure Care mixes up his trademark darting runs with solid distribution.

Flood said: “I am showing more responsibility and that comes with the No10 position. I’m just as vocal as I’ve been in the last couple of years, it’s just that you utilise other people’s experience more and those players are younger now and that does revitalise you.

“Producing the complete performance is almost one of those mystical things because you never have the absolutely perfect game. There will always be errors but they won’t be down to a lack of desire or will to succeed. The defeat against Wales in the Six Nations last season was down to one mistake.

“It is vital not to let negative after negative creep into your game and to constantly erase them from your memory. That is the job of Danny and myself as two of the players with experience in the squad to make sure that happens. The leadership group has to get this across and help the boys in every facet of the play.

“The guys are so excited to play and you have to make sure they don’t force things because they’re so enthusiastic. These four matches are why you play the game and we know Fiji are capable of tearing you apart.”

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