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The Joe Marchant reason why Lewis Ludlam has confidence in England
By Liam Heagney
England arrived in France last Thursday with a sense of foreboding ahead of the Rugby World Cup. However, the closer it gets to their opening match next Saturday versus Argentina in Marseille, the greater their belief that everything is suddenly about to come just right after an August pock-marked by suspensions, injuries and losses.
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Lewis Ludlam is one such believer. He was a bolter four years ago, a surprise Eddie Jones inclusion off the back of two warm-up games. He went on to make four appearances at the finals in Japan, three as a sub, but he is now very much a back-rower in his prime.
Under Steve Borthwick, the 27-year-old played every single minute of the Guinness Six Nations earlier this year and has now arrived in France oozing enthusiasm that England are ready to click even though they have been so very publicly written off.
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“I can only speak personally; there are a lot of different feelings around the camp,” he said when asked what was giving him reasons to be confident after a run of just one win in England’s last six matches. “We are obviously under pressure but coming into a tournament as underdogs is a beautiful position to be in.
“With lower expectations, you can free yourself up more easily, you can express yourself because nothing is given to you yet. Sometimes when you are No1 and you have achieved things pre-tournament you can be reaching for that too much.
“When you are a little bit behind and your back is up against the wall you are a lot more present with things. Personally, it’s quite a nice spot to be in. It would have been brilliant coming off the back of three or four wins but it’s a situation we find ourselves in and we have got to enjoy that.”
So with skipper Owen Farrell suspended, who has stepped up and shown leadership in recent days to ensure all is in readiness for taking on the Pumas? “Especially this week the most impressive thing is everyone is speaking up, everyone is so keen to make a change,” he explained.
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“We have got voices you wouldn’t necessarily hear, the likes of Joe Marchant who hasn’t been involved a tremendous amount in this team. He is stepping up really well and talking about how we can move this team forward. It’s encouraging – we have got a lot of lads who want to step up, we want to make a change.
“We have got that old voice as well in the likes of Farrell and Ellis (Genge) and Courtney (Lawes) as well who can step up and lead with experience too. We have got a great blend and there are a lot of people who want to move this team forward.
“The good thing is that whatever had happened over the past four, five weeks, there are no games won or lost in a World Cup yet. We are fully aware we are not playing the type of rugby we want to at the moment and are not performing to our potential.
“But I feel like now we are at a World Cup, the lads are really, really keen to go and put a performance on as they always are but there has been a different focus this week and now we are out here it is a completely different challenge. We are looking forward to it.”
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Settling in at Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, their group stage base camp by the sea in the Hauts-de-France region, has helped turn the mood away from recent gloom. “It’s been lovely,” vouched Northampton skipper Ludlam, who has been sharing a hotel room with the Toulon-bound David Ribbans.
“We had the weekend to settle in and unpack our rooms, have a look around. It’s a lovely little spot. Everyone here has been very welcoming to us as well. It seems like the perfect sort of base to start our World Cup journey.
"TOM CURRY'S TRAINING TODAY": Boost for England as Curry, Courtney Lawes and Kyle Sinckler go through their paces in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, but Billy Vunipola had to train on his own… – with Liam Heagney ? #EnglandRugby #ENGvARG #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/OCD2Qr2FrE
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 4, 2023
“It feels really real flying out here and having the opening ceremony. It feels like we are at a World Cup now and it is really beginning, really starting to come together so you can tell in train, the two days we have had, there has been heaps of excitement about the boys and it has been an added sort of edge about us this week. It’s encouraging.”
What does Ludlam make of the Argentinian threat, though? “They are a team that fights tremendously hard. They play as a team, they are physical the way they have got some really good strong carriers; they are extremely physical at the breakdown as well.
“They are a team that have never gone away in their games, they have fought until the very end. They are a team with heaps of character and a really tough opponent to beat.”
I like Ludlam. He reminds me of Mad Dog Moody.