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Rugby Union

Ashton pleased with England performance

05/08/2007

Brian Ashton hailed an "outstanding pack performance" in England's record 62-5 mauling of Wales at Twickenham yesterday.

Ashton was delighted with the way his side ruthlessly targeted the opposition's weak point and exploited it.

The coach singled out four-try hero Nick Easter for particular praise and also felt that scrum-half Shaun Perry had an exceptional game.

He said: "People misunderstand me. I talk about open-ended rugby and to me that means the type of rugby which is most likely to cause problems for the opposition.

"The balance between running, kicking and driving was as good as I have seen from England in some time."

England's forwards claimed six tries, outscoring the backs who only came to life in the second half.

Ashton was pleased with the way Andy Farrell played and felt the Saracens centre had his best game in an England shirt, however, the coach wants more from his players as they build for next month's World Cup.

He said: "I would have liked up to have got more ball to Jason Robinson and David Strettle as there were times they were available but were not given the ball to hand and that is something we need to address."

Wales' only score came through winger Dafydd James midway through the second half, but coach Gareth Jenkins said the team would bounce back.

Jenkins felt his team gave away too many penalties and too much territory and that this had contributed more than anything else to the defeat.

"We've learnt a hard lesson but it is a lesson that is not impossible to come back from," the Wales coach said.

"People back home are going to be totally unsatisfied but we have got to keep our heads up."

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