England captain Lewis Moody wants improvement
English captain Lewis Moody has urged his team to improve on their performances, as they prepare to take on South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday 27 November.
England could move up to second place in the rankings if they can beat the Springboks this weekend.
The team has impressed in the Autumn Internationals so far and their drubbing of Australia has increased the expectations on the English and has drawn comparisons with the World Cup winning side of 2003.
However, Moody believes that this English team is a team that is still building and is nothing like the World Cup winning side.
Moody said, "This is still a young and evolving team so there are no comparisons with the 2003 [World Cup-winning] side, but we are in a good place. As a squad we are happy with how things are going and, as captain, I am enjoying my part in it."
England recorded a 26-13 win over a good Samoan side and the team impressed in the second half of their 26-16 loss to the All Blacks.
Moody warned his team not to become complacent and that England had to continue to build and progress "We have to make sure we take that into the game tomorrow, build on that into the [next] Six Nations and keep constantly improving towards the 2011 World
Cup [in New Zealand]."
The forward admitted that the Test against South Africa would be a serious challenge to England and that it could threaten to ruin England’s progress this season.
The English captain stated that South Africa would be even more dangerous, as they are under pressure to perform following their 21-17 defeat to Scotland.
"The South Africans are huge individuals and having lost against Scotland they will be even more fired up than ever before. They play some extremely physical rugby and it will be a very tough challenge. It is crucial in those situations that we keep our
cool."
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