Morgan demands England keep hitting high standards
THE stunning victory over New Zealand victory must be England's Six Nations standard, believes Ben Morgan.
Gloucester's barnstorming number eight is confident Stuart Lancaster's England side can claim the Six Nations title – but only if they consistently reproduce the rugby that dominated the world champions.
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SETTING THE STANDARD: Ben Morgan in action during England's thrilling 38-21 victory over New Zealand last year
England ended their autumn Test series with a superlative 38-21 win over the All Blacks, and now Morgan reckons they should accept no lower performance levels.
The 23-year-old explained: "The way we've been performing and developing over the last year with England has been absolutely brilliant.
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"The last game in particular was a real highlight for me.
"We knew we were capable of putting something like that down, but to do it against New Zealand was incredible.
"This is a big tournament now, and last year we ended up runners-up, so we've got to pick up where we left off against New Zealand.
"You've got to go into the tournament thinking you can win it.
"From the first game we've just got to play exactly how we did against New Zealand, and then take it forward again.
"We can't afford to slip up at all, even losing one game can cost you the series.
"You can be on top of the world one minute and then right down low the next.
"So it's vital to kick on and continue.
"You're only together for a short time so you have to develop at lightning speed, adapt and pick everything back up very quickly."
Two healthy wins in their final two Pool One Amlin Challenge Cup clashes will secure Gloucester a home quarter-final.
Former Dursley and Cinderford loose forward Morgan believes Gloucester must nail that down, then also set about targeting victories in forthcoming LV=Cup matches against Northampton and Bath.
After Saturday's frustrating 18-12 London Irish defeat, Morgan said it is imperative Gloucester return to Premiership action on February 9 at Northampton with winning momentum.
He continued: "We did have a slip-up at the weekend, but let's give credit to London Irish for delivering.
"And our focus now really has to be these next four games.
"We've really got to get results in these, to kick on into the next Premiership games.
"At the halfway stage we were happy with where we were, but then one slip-up and everything changes.
"The league is so tight that there's no margin for error there, it's a shame we slipped up against Irish but we've got to go away and get the job done in France now.
"We want to be winning silverware this year, we want that home quarter.
"A victory this weekend would keep us in the hunt for that, and that's a huge incentive.
"We want to really set the tone in these next four games though, to put us in a very strong position for when we return to the Premiership.
"It's going to be an exciting month all-round, to be honest, and we've got to raise our levels to meet the challenge."
Comments
by starturn
Friday, January 11 2013, 9:30PM
“Harden proved time and time again, why he is the number one tight head at Gloucester and why the multi-troll Kap721 is clueless about any aspect of rugby union.”
by haztooms
Friday, January 11 2013, 9:19PM
“I am looking forward to Rupert coming back from injury and reclaiming the tight-head position. It is his because he is the top tight-head at Gloucester.”
by telwez
Friday, January 11 2013, 8:51PM
“The DoR, Nigel Davies, knows that Harden is his top tight head; everyone else knows that Rupert is the best tight head at Glaws. The only one who thinks otherwise and thinks he knows more about rugby and the Gloucester Rugby players than Nigel Davies is the troll Kap721.”
by corsa_corsa
Friday, January 11 2013, 8:37PM
“Rupert Harden rules in the tight head position and dominates in the scrum. Let's hope he is fit for the next weekend against Mont de Marsan. We don't want our scrum going backwards, like it did in that final scrum against Saracens, again.”
by ostronskygreg
Friday, January 11 2013, 8:32PM
“Without Rupert Harden, our scrum will always be underpowered and will always struggle.”
by craigben
Friday, January 11 2013, 8:27PM
“Rupert harden is a fabulous tight head. He is the key player in the scrum and without him, as has been proved over the last few games, Gloucester perform badly.”
by freshhglaws
Friday, January 11 2013, 8:16PM
“What a shame that our best and first choice tight head Rupert Harden isn't available. We would be certain that our scrum would compete with him playing.”
by CrazyLegs
Friday, January 11 2013, 7:31PM
“What a time for our best and first choice tight head, Rupert Harden, to get an injury which has inevitably led to him not being selected for either England squad. As the best and most skilful tight head at Gloucester Rugby, England will miss out but at least us Gloucester Rugby supporters (as opposed to the Harden & Gloucester hating troll Kap721) will benefit from having him back at kingsholm.”
by kenfarnwood
Friday, January 11 2013, 7:20PM
“It is shame that Rupert Harden has been kept out of the England set up because of his injury. He is light years ahead of those competing for the Gloucester number 3 shirt.”
by corsa_corsa
Friday, January 11 2013, 6:46PM
“Rupert Harden has been consistently Gloucester Rugby's best and first choice tight head. No one comes close to taking that accolade away from him.”