England World Cup winner Phil Vickery has delivered a no-nonsense message to the current crop of players and Eddie Jones, insisting they must find form ahead of the 2023 World Cup - or risk losing their spot in the national set-up.
Vickery became an England rugby legend as he was a key part of the 2003 side that secured World Cup glory before he captained the team to the final in 2007, where they were defeated by South Africa. The 46-year-old is set to play in the testimonial match of former British & Irish Lions teammate James Hook on June 10.
The former prop has sent a clear message to Jones and the players ahead of the World Cup in France, as he believes the mindset is too weak. Vickery pointed to Tests against Australia this summer as the beginning of preparation for the tournament.
“The players need to get out of the mindset where they’re thinking they’ll be around for the next decade and there will be other opportunities,” Vickery told Sportsmail . “It’s about doing it right now.
“They talk about being on a journey. I really contest this word. Stick your journey up your f****** jacksie. I get pumped up about this because it’s very important.
“I think talking of a journey is an easy thing to say. It’s one that’s crept into rugby. When the players are old and wrinkly like I am now, they will want to be remembered for the stuff they did not the journey they went on. England have the right players and coaching set-up – now they need to put that out on the field.”
Jones led England to the final of the 2019 World Cup but has struggled since, only winning two games in each of the last two Six Nations. The Australian has spoken of his ‘new England’ evolving and has received strong backing by the Rugby Football Union ahead of France 2023, which will be his last tournament in charge.
England players have also commented on the development and learning from their defeats, but Vickery is concerned. He knows it's success or nothing, particularly with the World Cup on the horizon.
Ahead of the 2003 World Cup Down Under, England won 22 successive matches at Twickenham as well as 14 consecutive games against New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. Vickery believes England are nowhere near finding similar success to their predecessors, even with a talented squad.
“The build-up to 2003 had a massive influence on us winning that World Cup,” Vickery added. “Losing can become a habit as much as winning and if you can win even when you’re not playing very well, that’s a sign of a good team. At the 2003 World Cup we didn’t play that well.
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“I don’t say that arrogantly. Everyone has this vision we played some amazing rugby. We didn’t. We had a solid scrum and line-out drive. We basically had three moves all of which involved Ben Cohen knocking it up the middle! It was three points all the time from Jonny Wilkinson.
“We were winners, but that didn’t just start at that World Cup. It’s been difficult for England. There has been quite a lot of negativity around with poor results and the team not performing at a high enough level for a long enough period of time. But as they’ve proved before, they’re more than capable. The summer tour is going to be one hell of a challenge with three Tests in Australia. I’m actually incredibly excited by this England because I think it’s a very talented group, but I know talent is just a part of it – it’s not everything!”
