Ugo Monye claims there can be “no excuses” for England in this season’s RBS 6 Nations Championship.
The Harlequins wing looks set to make his RBS 6 Nations debut against Italy at Twickenham next Saturday.
And after being an ever-present during England’s dismal autumn series, he has targeted an immediate upturn in fortunes for a country that last lifted RBS 6 Nations silverware in 2003.
Since current manager Martin Johnson held aloft the trophy following a crushing 42-6 victory over Ireland in Dublin, England’s overall tournament success-rate stands at a poor 52%.
England have lost 12 of their subsequent 25 tournament Tests – hardly a record to instill confidence, especially after an autumn when they conceded 102 points in losing comprehensively against South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
And while Italy at home represents the least daunting opener England could have had, they then face successive away trips to Wales and Ireland.
“We have got a lot to put right,” admitted Monye. “But I am very confident that we have got the right squad and the right attitude going into it. There are no excuses now.
“If there is any such thing in international rugby as a honeymoon period, then that is certainly over as well. Expectations are high, especially among ourselves.”
The England squad returned yesterday from a week-long training camp in Portugal, where Johnson and his coaches fine-tuned their preparations.
And the onus is now on players to deliver – a fact Monye does not intend side-stepping.
He added: “It’s great that Johnno has kept the faith, and he has come under criticism for doing that with us younger players.
“We owe it to him, ourselves, our team-mates and our supporters as well.
“We had a pretty dismal autumn international series, and it will be good to start the campaign at home. Hopefully, we can give our fans something to cheer about.
“I feel that we owe them a little bit as well.
“Our pride was dented, and hopefully we can pull tighter than ever and really show them what we are capable of, because the results in the autumn were poor.
“It was probably a pretty poor reflection of where we are as a team. A lot of our players have gone back to their clubs since the autumn and played well.
“You can either be daunted by these things or you can think it’s a privilege and an honour to pull on an England jersey and going to these places. They are Grand Final games.
“I am very patriotic, and hopefully I stand for what English rugby is all about. I certainly don’t want to let anybody down.”
