Foden wants England to take fight to French

Ben Foden is hoping England go hard at France from the first whistle of their quarter-final clash at Eden Park on Saturday evening because he fears the worst if they don't.

The full back echoed the comments of his teammates when he acknowledged that England only hit a peak in patches during their Pool B matches in the pressure-packed tournament.

"There have been games where we waited too long to see what they (the opposition) are throwing at us. At the international level, you can't wait that long," Foden said.

"That is the massive danger zone we are going into. People do not expect them (France) to perform well and that is when they are at their most dangerous. They have players who are capable of causing carnage out there.

"We have to take the game to them. People think that they are in a mentally fragile state, but if we give them early points and a lifeline, they will take it. No matter what is going on off and on the field with their players and coach, if we do not turn up, the French will take advantage of the situation."

Foden did not have to think too long and hard to illustrate his point about how England have flirted with danger following several slow starts in the pool phase of RWC 2011.

Wake up

Scotland held a nine-point lead early in the second half of last weekend's final pool match, but saw that advantage evaporate as England fought back for a 16-12 victory to advance to the quarter-finals.

"There was a moment there when we thought we were going home,'' said Foden. "Hopefully that will teach us that we had better wake up. We need to play that style of rugby in the 80 minutes and not at the end."

England will announce their starting XV on Thursday and what will be worth watching is whether Jonny Wilkinson and Mike Tindall will be in the XV. Fly half Wilkinson has an arm injury, while centre Tindall has a dead leg.

But, whoever gets the nod, Foden hopes the experience the England players have gained in Six Nations and other top level competitions will help them deal with the pressure of facing a long-time rival in a must-win match.

"We sort of had that in the Scotland game. The pressure just multiplied pretty quick,'' he said. "We have a good knowledge of what it is all about in terms of what is at stake.

Everyone is looking forward to the challenge that brings and we know we have a massive game."

As much as Foden would like to see a quarter-final clash with an emphasis on flair, he believes that defence regularly carries the day.

Winning mentality

"At World Cup rugby, you have to win all your games and no team has ever lost in the group stage and gone on to win it. We are in the right place now. We are four for four and hopefully we will take that winning mentality through with us.

"When you go to international rugby, everything gets tighter and the margin is smaller. The defence gets better and you have to break down teams different ways. We've had to arm wrestle our way through games.

"We are at our best when we play a wide game of rugby. It is a little frustrating at times, but if we keep winning games 14-10, I will be happy with that."