Street, Mclean, Fleetwood reaction

We spoke to England coach Gary Street, Captain Katy Mclean and hooker Victoria Fleetwood after their World Cup Semi Final win over Ireland plus video highlights from the 40-7 result.

Published by Alison Donnelly, August 14th, 2014

7 minute read

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Street, Mclean, Fleetwood reaction

Gary Street

Is that the best England performance you have been involved with?

There were  a few against New Zealand in the past that we could look at but in the context of a World Cup semi final and having to perform against a fantastic opposition that was as good as we could have hoped for.

Why do you think you ran away with it so comprehensively in the end?

We have a great team here - including medical and support staff - and in this competition, which is a hell of a tournament with five games in 17 days, we were confident that the team behind the team on the pitch were as a good as could get. What it meant is that we are four games in and there are players saying they are still fresh and it might be over-exuberance having just won a semi final but we had 16 fit players to choose from. We have been able to rotate in the tournament.

You looked a different team compared to how you were against Canada - how do you make sure this is the team that are out there this weekend?

What happened today was about staying with our processes which we talked about since January and it came out today. There was a nervousness in the team in that Canada game. I think England getting to the semi final was huge and we had to get out of the pool and that pressure came across. We said to the players the other day, this is our time to show the world what we can do. For me as a coach I think we have got the best side in the world and I want the players to show everyone else and so I was pleased with how Katy led the side and how 1-22 everyone was on song.

Will your experience help given lots of the players have been here before?

Undoubtedly. When we did our jersey presentation we had 1,180 caps in the 22. The forwards average over 60 caps, the backs over 50 and then there is a debate about benches if they can add or subtract. Our bench I am confident that they add.  If you are taking off Maggie and bringing on Marlie that is a hell of a bench.

Katy McLean

Ireland could get nothing from your pack at the scrum - huge focus on that this week?

For us the set piece was going to be a big focus for us this tournament. Coming into a World Cup if your set piece isn’t firing then you will be have problems and that was something our forwards have worked so hard on it. When you are going forward it is so easy to work from.

Outside you Emily Scarratt had a wonderful game today?

Emily allows us to go forward. When we need to punch she can do it and that is maybe something we have developed through the tournament that we haven’t got right at times. We have not punched enough. Ireland have got such a good wedge defence that we knew we had to get into them early doors in that respect and that is what she did for us.

You have a career game ahead of you,  there is no point in pretending the pressure won’t be massive. Do you have any strategies to deal with that?

2010 for us was massive. It was a massive learning curve. If you look at the environment we are in now, all I go on is the feel. This feels different  for us. We are in a better, happier place. 2010 had the pressure of being at home and obviously the French team have had to deal with that. We have been there and done it and we didn't get the result but we are now in a good place. We haven’t been brilliant all tournament but you don’t want to peak on game one.  Game four and five is where you want to and that is where we are. We are a process driven side so if we get it right who knows.

Victoria Fleetwood

The scrum was a huge success for you this week - as a front row player how pleasing was that?

We have been focusing in the scrum for a long time. We always want to set our stall out and say we are the best pack in the world and we have always enjoyed beating teams up front so we do pride ourselves on that. When we started getting Ireland on the back foot we just thought, let’s keep turning the screw and keep going here.

You looked a different team today - what was the difference?

I think we just knew we had to relax and play our game. Canada put a lot of pressure on us and that showed and we knew that that was not the best we could play so we have been just focusing on us and not anyone else.

Surprised by the scoreline?

Yeah I think so. You can never expect that in a World Cup semi final. If you had told us yesterday that was the scoreline you wouldn't have believed it. It is amazing for us.

You have huge experience, does that matter?

Yes it is huge. There were times when England were dominating and didn't know how to deal with other teams scoring first Ireland scored first toady but we had no doubt that we could pull it back. It is our experience from all the games we have played in the past and the amount of caps that we have in a squad.

It also means there is a battle for positions in the squad. You always want to start but at the same time we are all going to be playing in a World Cup final whatever way selection goes. I came off the bench in the last one but Emma and I have had two starts each. I put my all in today but I don’t know which way it will go.

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