England ready to fly out of blocks, warns Haskell

James Haskell has warned Argentina that England are ready to hit them with an explosive mix of desperation, fear and desire in this morning’s Rugby World Cup opener.

England completed their final preparations with an intense training session and then a light run at the Otago Stadium, and there was no mistaking the change of mood in the squad as kick-off neared. Haskell is one of the jokers in the camp but he was deadly serious on the eve of the match, vowing that England will meet Argentina’s passion and fight fire with fire.

“The guys are ready to play,” said Haskell. “We’ve had eight or nine weeks together, guys have been left by the wayside, there’s been competition, there’s been physicality, there’s been ups and downs and it’s just about getting that on the field and letting all that emotion come out. You can feel guys are desperate. With a World Cup like this there’s a little bit of fear, there’s a lot of expectation. And when people come to New Zealand where the whole place is rugby mad, you want to make sure you perform. We all know it’s very important to get a good result on the board to start with. We are in at the deep end against Argentina, our group is very tough. It’s a World Cup. It’s do or die.”

The focus of every England-Argentina clash is on the scrum, with the Pumas boasting one of the most revered packs in the global game. England learned the consequences of losing the physical battle in their defeats last season to South Africa and Ireland and are steeling themselves for a brutal encounter. “I’ve played with a number of their forwards at Stade Francais – Rodrigo Roncero, Juan Leguizamon,” Haskell continued. “If you come to a World Cup and you are not ready for the physical challenge, there’s no point being here.

“We know what Argentina is about, they are very passionate but so are we.”

England: B Foden; C Ashton, M Tuilagi, M Tindall (capt), D Armitage; J Wilkinson, R Wigglesworth; N Easter, J Haskell, T Croft, C Lawes, L Deacon, D Cole, S Thompson, A Sheridan. Subs: D Hartley, M Stevens, T Palmer, T Wood, B Youngs, T Flood, M Banahan.

Argentina: M Rodriguez; G Camacho, G Tiesi, S Fernandez, H Agulla; F Contepomi (capt), N Vergallo; JF Lobbe, JM Leguizamon, JF Cabello, P Albacete, M Carizza, J Figallo, M Ledesma,R Roncero. Subs: A Creevy, M Scelzo, M Galarza, A Campos, A Lalanne, M Bosch, JJ Imhoff.