Corry upbeat over Eng place

2006-03-08 18:26

Bagshot - Martin Corry insisted he has no doubts about his position as England captain ahead of this weekend's Six Nations clash away to France.

The Leicester No 8 was taken off 15 minutes from the end of last month's 18-12 Calcutta Cup defeat against Scotland at Murryfield - a loss that scuppered England's hopes of a Grand Slam.

He was replaced by former England skipper Lawrence Dallaglio - the man he used to understudy at Test level - and that led to speculation that England coach Andy Robinson might restore the Wasps No 8 to his starting line-up for Sunday's match at the Stade de France, where England last won in 2000.

But Corry, who was also replaced by Dallaglio in the 47-13 first round win over Wales, said: "Andy has said I am the captain for the Six Nations - and he is a man of his word.

"We speak all the time, and he rang me on Monday to reinforce his position and my position.

"There is nothing wrong with healthy and lively debate, and that is what this is," the back-row forward also told reporters at England's training base here on Wednesday.

"I have said countless times that I am extremely happy with what is happening within the England camp - I have got a huge amount of confidence in what is going on.

Keep people on their toes

"I am just amazed it has gone on for as long as it has. It is intense competition. But we are in a very competitive environment, and I enjoy that.

"Competition is what keeps people on their toes and keeps people working hard, and that is exactly what we should have in the England set-up."

England need to win in Paris to give themselves a realistic shot of winning the title and Corry said it was vital his side learned from the Scotland defeat where several promising moves were squandered.

"We didn't take opportunities to score against Scotland, and those opportunities are probably going to be even less against France - so we have got to make sure we are a lot more clinical and we execute our moves a lot better. When we do get half a chance we must take it.

"We cannot change what happened at Murrayfield. We know what it is going to take to win on Sunday, but I feel totally prepared - I just cannot wait for this game."

- AFP