England v France: Martin Johnson welcomes Marc Lievermont's cold statements
Martin Johnson, England’s boss, has greeted Marc Lievermont, the French coach’s efforts to add flavour to the Saturday’s Six Nations clash at Twickenham. Marc Lievermont added fuel to the fire by giving out anti-English statements on public forums.
The heat has been turned up and the build up to the fiercest clash of Six Nations 2011 is storming up. There were already numerous comments and statements being exchanged and the atmosphere was cold, but not the things have taken a turn and every other statement
is leaving no room for mercy on Saturday. Though, the recent statements by Lievermont have been welcomed by Martin Johnson as a nice gesture towards attracting crowd.
Lievermont stated England as the most hated team of Six Nations and branded Johnson’s side as negative side. Lievermont used the words, “We all don't like the English,” and was expecting a retort, but Johnson kept his calm.
Johnson labelled these statements as French word games and said he won’t buy such stuff. He said, “I don't know about panic, maybe there is a little bit of that there. If I read Marc's quotes properly they value us as a team.”
Lievermont had said that if France thrashes England, then his side has won the Six Nations already. Johnson believes it’s a good sign that French has set England as a milestone and fears his English lads. Johnson, being an experienced rugby personal knows
how to tackle such situations. He had to face a little less against Wales, but this build up has its own intensity and until now Johnson has proven t o be the mature one.
He said, “It is what we want. These huge playoffs are what we exert for. There will be stress, there will be statements used by the media to breed the build-up. There is an adequate amount of record in this game and in the history of the two countries to
spice it up. I quite enjoy it.”
Johnson believes that it’s natural and everybody wants to taste victory. It’s all just a part of the game and such things promote the sport. He added, “People like to beat England. There is history involved with that and most of it is not rugby history.
That is what makes the tournament fun, that is why people like it. It is passion. People want their country to win.”
It is globally a fact that England has always been a target in international sports, considering its Kingdom and colonies. All the countries that have been influenced by the England’s history always have something against it.
Recently in Anglo Welsh match build up, Warren Gatland targeted Dylan Hartley for his track record of failing in big matches. This war of words was media’s favourite topic lately and now this. But in this case French coach has decided to take on complete
English squad at the sword of his words.
Toby Flood responded though and kept his words clear, affirming that English side has not been affected by such acts. He joked, “I like going to Paris so it is frustrating to know that when I go over there they don't like me.”
He added, “Maybe he was trying to unsettle us, I don't know. It shows people are taking notice of us and asking questions about how we are playing.”
Saturday has a lot to decide and is surely a step towards the next clash too, in which France and England will be seeing each other again in the World Cup.
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