UNITED KINGDOM: RUGBY UNION - Criticised England rugby union coach Andy Robinson makes lots of team changes

England rugby union Coach Andy Robinson launched an impassioned plea on Tuesday (November 14, 2006) for fans to get behind his struggling team. Robinson said the lean times had to be endured if England were to develop into a side capable of ruling the world. England face South Africa in the first of two tests on Saturday after seven straight defeats and with their ranking at an all-time low of seventh. A record 41-20 home defeat by New Zealand and a 25-18 first-ever loss to Argentina have led to widespread calls for Robinson's scalp, but the coach said the whole team realised that they had not performed well. "It's important that, you know, we improve from last week, you know, that's a key component for this weekend," he said. "We're all very disappointed with the performance and the way that we let the crowd down, the support that we had and you know, we've got to get this England team out and playing, playing with some pace and some tempo and get the crowd right behind us. "What's important is that we focus on ourselves. What's important is that, you know, England gets the processes right, gets the performance right. We were all very, very frustrated after last week and you know, the boos from the crowds and you know, the heads down from the players, because everybody knew that we let England down last week." The British Press was awash with calls for Robinson to resign, or be sacked, after the defeats, but director of elite rugby Rob Andrew said on Monday the coach would remain in charge for at least the two remaining November internationals against South Africa. Robinson, a former England international flanker and assistant coach to Sir Clive Woodward in the glorious run to the 2003 World Cup triumph, has said consistently that he would not stand down and repeated on Tuesday that he stuck by what he was trying to achieve. Upbeat, even showing a rare smile at times, he dismissed accusations of a lack of passion and said individual errors had undermined the plan to play a more expansive game. "We've chosen the direction to go in terms of our attacking game and I think we've got to back that and move forward with that," he said. "But with it, we are going to make mistakes and you've got to have the courage to see it through." Robinson on Tuesday made seven changes and a further three positional shuffles for Saturday's test against South Africa at Twickenham. He is under huge pressure after Saturday's loss to Argentina stretched England's run of defeats to a record-equalling seven and he desperately needs his new-look side to perform if he is to have any chance of keeping his job. Coach Robinson's selection was partly forced by his commitment not to play anyone in all four Autumn internationals, although the usual Rugby Football Union (RFU) confusion surrounds the exact workings of the rule as players involved for "less than 40 minutes" are deemed not to have played. The Springboks, who have left about 12 leading players at home and were well beaten by Ireland last week, will name their team on Wednesday. England's poor form contributed to a 30 percent drop in profits in the past financial year and directly cost 3.6 million pounds (6.83 million U.S. dollars), the Rugby Football Union (RFU) announced. The RFU released its financial results for 2005/06 on Tuesday, showing turnover down from 87 million to 83 million and operating profits down from 23 million to 16 million -- a loss before tax of 1.7m compared with a profit of 4m in 2005. Since winning the 2003 World Cup, England's performances on the field have slid alarmingly and they have finished third, fourth and fourth in the past three Six Nations tournaments. They go into Saturday's test against South Africa on the back of seven straight defeats, while the fanfare opening of the new south stand, which takes Twickenham's capacity up to 82,000, ended with a record home defeat by New Zealand two weeks ago. In April, Baron announced a series of cuts, including the dismissal of Andy Robinson's three assistant coaches, which were aimed at trimming the organisation's costs. The following England team was named on Tuesday to face South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday: England: 15-Iain Balshaw; 14-Mark Cueto, 13-Mathew Tait, 12-Jamie Noon, 11-Josh Lewsey; 10-Charlie Hodgson, 9-Peter Richards; 8-Martin Corry (captain), 7-Pat Sanderson, 6-Joe Worsley, 5-Ben Kay, 4-Tom Palmer, 3-Julian White, 2-George Chuter, 1-Andy Sheridan. Replacements: 16-Lee Mears, 17-Phil Vickery, 18-Chris Jones, 19-Lewis Moody, 20-Shaun Perry, 21-Andy Goode, 22-Toby Flood.

ITN Source | November 14, 2006

Tags:. .courage. .trimming. .dismissed. .dismissal. .seventh