England star, Jason Robinson, whose brilliant weaving run in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final set up Will Greenwood’s match-defining try in Brisbane, has been moved back to fullback from the inside-centre position he has filled in this year’s RBS Six Nations Championship.
“Fullback is Jason Robinson’s natural position,” Hansen said yesterday. “He’ll be a lot more dangerous back there than in the midfield. He’ll get a free shot back there, if we kick him the ball, we have make sure we put in a good chase and make our first-up tackles.”
England Head Coach, Sir Clive Woodward, has brought Mike Tindall back from injury to fill the No.12 jersey, a move Hansen agrees with.
“I think that’s a stronger looking side,” said Hansen. “Tindall gives them a bit of go-forward and some grunt, he’s got a bit of dog about him. He’s not as good on his feet as Jason, but he frees Jason up to play his game.
“Will Greenwood is a good player. He scores tries all the time because he’s got great support lines. Defensively, he’s missed Tindall a bit, they’re a good combination.
“They’ve brought (Danny) Grewcock back in and he’s very experienced. Tindall comes back, which will strengthen their midfield, and (Chris) Jones comes in on the loose, so they’re going for a big lineout.”
Asked if he knew much about Sale youngster Jones, Hansen replied: “I know he’s Welsh, he’s got Welsh blood. He’s a good player.”
Hansen said he was wary of England after their loss to Ireland, but he wasn’t getting carried away about backlashes: “They’ve lost and any team that’s been beaten and is worth their salt will come out better the next time play. Some of the problems they’ve got, like us, they’ve got to iron out pretty quickly. It’s up to us to go out and put pressure on them early.
“They’ll pose problems across the park and we just have to make sure we pose a few as well.”
Asked if his side was stronger than the one who narrowly lost to England in Brisbane, Hansen replied: “I think we have grown a bit more. They’ve lost two key players (Martin Johnson and Jonny Wilkinson) but as time goes on, they’ll learn to cope with that.”
Hansen confirmed he had a fit squad of players to choose from when he names his side tonight but is expected to make only one change, bringing in Robin McBryde for Mefin Davies at hooker.
“Rob is as good as gold,” he said. “He trained well today and has come through his tonsilitis fully. The boys trained well today and as the week goes on, the intensity will come and reach the level where it needs to be to play.
“You obviously target the things you’re not doing well and that’s what we’ve done, we’ll see how far we’ve come on Saturday. Take the scrum out and I think we competed very well against France. Both sides competed well on the other’s lineout, which was more indicative of the competition. We both got turnovers and it was a really competitive game.”
