He may have been dropped for skipper Phil Vickery, but prop Matt Stevens is loving the challenge. He spoke to www.rucked.com
How are you Matt?
Not bad, how are you?
Fine thanks chap, how’s life in the England camp?
It’s good thanks, obviously we’ve been training hard down at the camp at Bath. It’s been very cold, but it’s close to home and it’s been really fun too.
What’s the mood like?
It’s been good. Obviously we’ve had things to work on, we’re making no bones about that. Against Italy we didn’t perform how we wanted but we’re building towards something and I think this week we’ll show an improvement this week. France at the Stade de France is a massive challenge, so we’ve been preparing accordingly.
After the last two games, some might say France away is the last thing England need…
I think it’s what we need really – we need a game of high intensity, a big pressure game to bring the best out of the individuals. We’ve talented players here and they’ll step up to the mark when asked…
What’s been the problem so far?
With the first game [against Wales] we probably tried to play the wrong type of rugby – we played a little bit behind the gain line against a rush defence. Against Italy, we let them slow our ball down and had some issues at the breakdown when we needed to be getting the ball out as quickly as possibly to put the likes of Iain Balshaw and Lesley Vainikolo into gaps. It’s also a case of the boys gelling, we’re a relatively new team and while we’ve got a good balance of youth and experience it takes a little time to iron out some of the problems. You’ve got to realise we’ve only been together three weeks essentially – that’s nowhere near the amount of time we want, but at the same time we are building towards something so we’re not going to panic.
How do you feel about being dropped in favour of Phil Vickery?
I’m disappointed but you can’t control what the coaches’ think, you can control your own performance though, and I’ve still got a lot of room for improvement. I know when I get game time this week I’ll be coming on to make an impression
Is it a problem fighting with the skipper for a place in the team?
I don’t think it’s an issue, Brian’s told me if I’m playing well enoughthen I’ll be picked. Vicks and I are good mates and it’s a tough challenge but it’s a good environment to be in. A lot of positions within the side are being fought for…
Are you happy with your season so far?
Yeah, I’m relatively happy with the way Bath playing. Last week was disappointing, although Wasps played superbly in that second half and managed to get on top of us, so hats off to them. We’ve got things to work on at Bath but I’m really positive overall.
So what’s the plan?
Top three finish and hopefully some silverware.
Well, good luck.
Cheers.