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Grumpy England look for improvement (40)

• Mark Orlovac
• 9 Oct 07, 04:12 PM

Paris 鈥� 鈥溾��, sang Bobby McFerrin in his 1988 number one hit of the same name.

Jut in case you are too young to know, McFerrin鈥檚 song was the most inanely cheery pop song I can remember and is still as infectious now as it was then.

But I would put my house on betting that this particular ditty will not be on any of the mp3 players used by the England pack out here in France. You see, they're not called the "Grumpy Old Men" for nothing.

And after England sent the with the help of an aggressive forward offensive, there is no plan to lighten the mood ahead of this weekend's semi-final clash against France.

鈥淚f we were grumpy and horrible last week and won I want us to be grumpy and horrible this week again,鈥� said forwards coach John Wells.

The theme was continued by flanker Martin Corry - prime minister of the grumpy tribe - at England鈥檚 first news conference since the squad travelled north to the capital.

鈥淭here are a few things I have mastered in life and one of them is being grumpy,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a common trait among forwards that when you come up to a massive game where it is all or nothing, they find it harder to enjoy the lighter things in life."

When asked whether that means they are grumpy with each other or with the world in general, Corry raised a laugh by answering: "For me, it's across the board."

He was speaking at England's new home, which is a far cry from the party-town atmosphere of Marseille or the stately opulence of Versailles.

The squad are based in the sleepy and affluent Parisian suburb of , once governed by now President Nicolas Sarkozy and home to actor Gerard Depardieu.

England travelled north from Marseille on Monday afternoon, leaving behind a city still nursing a sore head following the weekend's incredible events.

But the mantra from the camp is that the Australia victory has been left there too.

Not for them the luxury of bathing in the afterglow of that incredible win, instead there is the clarion call to focus on the job in hand. France. In Paris.

鈥淚n a World Cup you do not want to keep harping back to a performance,鈥� said Corry. 鈥淲hat we did up front was very special and leading up to the game and playing in it meant the absolute world to us.

鈥淏ut now the focus has switched. If we do not improve on that performance then we will be going home as semi-final losers and what we did in the quarter-final will count for absolutely nothing.

"France are going to pose a completely different threat. The line-out needs to improve as does our execution in terms of turning our possession into points. I still think we can improve as a team, we are not the finished article."

And as for lifting themselves again following their three successive "knockout" weekends, Corry does not think that will be a problem.

"If you do have to look for things to give you an edge for a game like this then there has to be something wrong."

If England are determined to move on from the Australian performance and the praise that came with it, the negative words from earlier in the tournament are still firmly lodged in their minds.

And Corry insists those criticisms, which were at their peak after the , have been used as an inspiration to the squad.

"We have taken quite a lot of justified heat during this tournament and that has brought us really close together," added Corry. 鈥淲e are revelling in that as a squad and it鈥檚 proving to be a big driving force for us."

Corry was not in the room as the journalists gathered at England's hotel began swapping the latest jokes regarding New Zealand鈥檚 exit from the competition.

One of the gags talked about New Zealand doing the 鈥渉okey chokey, New Zealand in, New Zealand out etc..鈥� while another asked the difference between All Blacks coach Graham Henry and Viagra. I can assure you it was very funny but as this is a family show, I don鈥檛 think I鈥檒l be able to tell you the punchline.

And there is no point telling the jokes to England's grumpy forwards - they probably wouldn鈥檛 laugh anyway.

Mark Orlovac is a 大象传媒 Sport journalist based in London. He will be based in Paris for the knockout stages of the Rugby World Cup.

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