Brickbats do little to undermine Ashton's England foundations

Brian Ashton knows his World Cup opponents are saying things about him and his team as the defence of the Webb Ellis Trophy draws near, even if he is not remotely interested in the fine detail. "I've never cared what other coaches think about England – quite, honestly, I don't know how they find the time to worry about us – but it does seem to me that people have forgotten the fact that we are the reigning champions," said the head coach yesterday. "No one has ever retained the title. What an opportunity this is for a side written off by so many people."

The criticism of England and their approach to the recent series of warm-up fixtures has been a South African production, by and large, although Bernard Laporte of France has contributed some thoughts on certain technical aspects of the holders' game. Jake White, the man responsible for rebuilding the Springboks from the rubble of 2003, has been particularly outspoken in his judgments on Ashton's team, as has his new sidekick, Eddie Jones, the Australian who guided the Wallabies to the runners-up place four years ago.

"I didn't know Eddie was playing for the Boks!" Ashton said, in mock bewilderment. "All this adds spice to the tournament, and I'm sure the England players will use it as motivation. Where do I think we stand, a week away from the game with the United States and a fortnight out from the South Africa match? We've had seven weeks of training, played three games back to back and we're evolving. The first priority was to get the foundations of our game in place, and I think we've done that. Now, we have to move on pretty smartly in terms of finding our attacking edge. I know this much: there's more to this England side than has been seen so far."

There was precious little sign of an attacking edge – indeed, an edge of any description – in Marseilles a fortnight ago, when England lost 22-9 to France and were deeply fortunate to avoid defeat on a far more damaging scale. That night, Ashton was unwilling to commit himself on the whys and wherefores, except to admit that he was concerned at the lack of creativity shown by those expected to perform with a degree of footballing prowess. Yesterday, he was more forthcoming.

"My reaction on watching the match video was more or less the same as my reaction at the time," he said. "We lost the territorial battle quite significantly, we lost the fight for possession, we gave away twice as many penalties and free kicks as the French, our line-out was undermined by a lack of concentration and composure. Lump all those ingredients together and it's pretty difficult to beat anyone away from home, let alone the French in Marseilles. There again, we've had to cover a good deal of ground very quickly in terms of building a team. As a side plays together, confidence grows."

In an ideal world, Ashton would field his elite XV against the Americans in Lens a week today and keep it intact for the all-important pool game with the Boks at Stade de France the following Friday. Unfortunately, the world he finds himself inhabiting may be anything but ideal. Martin Corry, the best England player in a clear majority of recent matches, is still struggling with strained ligaments in his left knee and might not make the date with the USA.

"Martin has not been training this week, but we believe he'll be fit to do so next Tuesday or Wednesday," the coach said. What about Phil Vickery, the captain, who was concussed in Marseilles? "He's fine, although it's not always easy to tell with prop forwards."

And the decision to give the players a 10-day break – a move that surprised the aforementioned Jones, who felt England should have spent the time working on their combinations – Ashton was in no mood to apologise. "The players have trained incredibly hard, played three Tests, and needed a rest," he replied. "There's a World Cup on next week."

Meanwhile, the South African Rugby Union is backtracking on its hard-line approach towards players who leave the Republic for better-paid work abroad, primarily in English and French club rugby. Having warned that foreign-based Springboks would not be considered for Test selection after the World Cup, SARU has softened its position following threats of industrial action by the South African Rugby Players' Association.

No ban will be enforced until the completion of negotiations between the two sides – a change of tack that will be welcomed by the World Cup quintet of John Smit, Victor Matfield, Gary Botha, Butch James and Percy Montgomery, all of whom have agreed to join the 100 or so of their countrymen who are currently playing professional rugby in Europe.