Rugby: Five Nations coaches grumble

LONDON - The Scotland and England rugby teams do not usually see eye to eye, but they agree on one thing - they are not good enough to beat the All Blacks, yet.

England sneaked home 24-21 against Scotland and Ireland pipped Graham Henry's Welsh side 29-23 in the Five Nations championship in London yesterday.

After the England-Scotland game at Twickenham, coaches Clive Woodward, of England, and Jim Telfer, of Scotland, said they were too slow in recycling the ball.

"We gave the ball away too many times. If we were to do that against the All Blacks we would struggle to win," Woodward said. "We lacked momentum and made too many mistakes."

Telfer said England were also much slower clearing the ball than the All Blacks.

"There was not as much fluent play today as there is in the Southern Hemisphere, but I have to say that they didn't create as many chances in the Super 12 last year as in 1997, so we will be watching how the New Zealand teams attack this season."

Telfer said the difference between the All Blacks and England or Scotland was that they did not lose the ball, and so provided a continuous stream of possession for their backs.

"Down there, the referees always give the man with the ball the benefit of the doubt. Not here. That's why it was a stop-start affair in the second half."

Telfer said he was happy that Scotland had scored seven tries in two Five Nations games this season and they did well to come back from 0-14 behind.

"John Leslie has made a big difference in our backline," he said. "He goes to Japan [where he is under contract] tomorrow and they have confirmed he is available for the World Cup, for the Italy game in a fortnight and for our World Cup build-up games."

Woodward grumbled about England failing to live up to the standards that saw them beat world champions South Africa in December.

"We won the game but the dressing-room was pretty sombre after the game," he said.

England offered little to suggest they could be serious World Cup challengers when they come up against the All Blacks in less than eight months.

Their forwards ran out of steam after an hour and only erratic goalkicking by Scotland let England off the hook.

Lock Tim Rodber, No 8 Richard Hill and centre Johnny Wilkinson stood out from the rest of their team-mates, who were largely anonymous.

England skipper Lawrence Dallaglio said he was disappointed they had failed to measure up.

"We take pride in our defence. We set standards but we fell below those standards today," he said.

England gave little credit to Scotland, who put in a big effort for Telfer, who retires at the end of the Five Nations.

Across town, Irish eyes were smiling when they ended their Five Nations drought and plunged Wales further into gloom following a riveting contest at Wembley.

Two glorious drop goals from first five-eighths David Humphreys in a 19-point personal haul proved the crucial difference in a titanic second-half struggle.

A spectacular Shane Howarth try sparked hopes of an unlikely Welsh comeback which never fully eventuated.

It was Ireland's first victory under Kiwi coach Warren Gatland in seven matches.

Graham Henry remained certain his attempt to revive Welsh rugby was still on course despite the bitter defeat.

"We showed spirit and some intestinal fortitude in the second half to come back from 26-6 down. That shows there is some character and determination in the group."

Gatland said he had his heart in his mouth before the final whistle.

England head to Dublin next month far from confident in their quest for a record fifth successive Triple Crown. Ireland were the last Celtic nation to beat them, in 1994. - NZPA