LOAD OF BALLS
Rugby legend furiously slams ‘horses***’ England camp for ‘charlatan behaviour’ days before crunch Six Nations clash
England boss also gave his view on whether Ireland are the best team in the world
FORMER Ireland star Shane Horgan has blasted England's "charlatan behaviour" ahead of his old side's clash with Steve Borthwick's men this Saturday.
England have endured an unconvincing start to their Six Nations campaign, edging past Italy and Wales before losing to Scotland.
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Defeat at Murrayfield was the Red Rose's fourth Calcutta Cup loss in a row, and provoked significant frustration from fans.
Saturday's match with imperious-looking Ireland is a daunting proposition for England.
Ahead of the game, Will Greenwood got together with Horgan to preview the action on podcast.
On his old team, Greenwood, 51, said: "I listened to an interview before Wales and Martin Johnson was on.
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"Mark Chapman was doing it and I think he said: ‘England have talked this week about expressing themselves, Martin.'
"I rang him up straight away and was crying with laughter, and I was going, ‘did you just want to spew?’"
Horgan, 45, then didn't hold back, replying: "Honestly, I think it is charlatan behaviour, it’s horse****."
The Irishman then went on: "If you look at Ireland now, Ireland look like a very progressive and evolved team where they’re throwing the ball around, but that’s only in the last little while.
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“That comes from a real strict, rigid philosophy and game plan that’s established that gives the options that people take.
“It is counter-intuitive. The more structured you are, the more unstructured you can play and the more decision-making you can have.”
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Horgan then continued: "This idea of expressing yourself, you have to have a system in place. Expressing yourself is making the decisions, making the right decisions.
"It’s not like I get the ball on a whim, I decide to do something crazy and so I’m expressing myself as a rugby player, that’s nonsense.
"The right option could be a hitch kick and taking this guy around the outside or it could be a flick in behind the back – it could be any of those things – but it’s based on a framework which allows you to make decisions based on what’s in front of you."
Ahead of tomorrow's match, England boss Borthwick called Ireland the best team in the world.
I saw a lot of players feel the weight of that shirt
Steve Borthwick
The 44-year-old said: "We know that against Scotland there were errors.
"It’s probably the first time in a while that I’d seen the weight of the shirt feel heavy on the players.
"As a player and in teams I’ve been part of, I saw a lot of players feel the weight of that shirt and feel the scrutiny the team was under.
"The environment we want to create is supportive of the players and we understand that mistakes are going to happen. What I’m after is a response to that. What do we learn from it? How quickly do we move forward from it?
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"If you look at the game this weekend, what a game for the shirt to lift you up. What a game for Twickenham to add fuel to the team.
"What a game to add every ounce of energy and fight that’s within the players together, when you are going to be tested against the best team in the world."
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