Get those fingers off the panic button
Speaking to rugby365 after England's 20-25 loss to France in Paris last Saturday, the legendary former British & Irish Lions and England prop suggested people are overreacting to a one-off results.
France held a 25-6 lead going into the last 10 minutes, after a blistering first half and an early second-half score, before two late England tries gave them a chance of snatching a win.
However, it was the first hour of the match that had the armchair pundits suggesting that the World Cup hosts are set for an early exit form the global showpiece.
"I think there has been a bit of an overreaction from it [England's loss to France in Paris],"said the 2003 World Cup winner, affectionately know as 'The Fun Bus'.
"The England team is mostly not as bad as what that performance suggests.
"What it did show is that they are a bit rusty, which is what you would expect.
"That particular combination hasn't played any games for months, apart from the game against France."
He felt England realise that is not a performance coach Stuart Lancaster wanted or required.
"He [Lancaster] wanted people to put their hands up and make his selections had for him," Leonard told rugby365.
"You want to put your hand up and force your way into the side – give the coach as many selection headaches as possible.
"The team will be disappointed.
"However, they scored a few tries in both games against France [home and away], so we know they can play.
"Consistency is the issue.
"They got to go out and play, string a few performances together."
That inconsistency is a major threat to the World Cup hosts, as just one bad game or a bad 20 minutes can be the cause of an early departure.
"England being in the pool of death, they know they ave to be on top of their game to get out that pool and finish on top of their pool," said the prop, who has 119 Test caps – 114 of those for England.
"Winning their pool will give them an easier road to the semifinals and Final."
He felt that to a certain degree rustiness, a lack of game time, caused England's poor performance in Paris.
"They also got on the wrong side of the referee, conceding far too many penalties," Leonard said.
"They were penalised more in the second game [in Paris] than the first [in London]."
He also felt it is vital that England must get their set pieces right.
"It starts and finishes up front," he said, adding: "If you are not in control of your own set pieces – i.e. line-out and scrums – it is going to be a very hard day.
"That counts for any team, even the All Blacks. If the All Black scrum and line-out are not functioning they will struggle as well – that is what we saw from England."
By Jan de Koning
@King365ed
@rugby365com
* This interview was made possible by leading energy company SSE, the Official Presenting Partner of Building Jerusalem and is giving its customers an exclusive ticket offer for the one-night-only cinema release on 1st September via ssereward.com
* Don't miss Parts Two and Three of our interview with Jason Leonard, when he talks about the influence of referees, the World Cup's one-hit wonders and give us his predictions.
