England coach Clive Woodward was in a grumpy mood after naming his first side of the 2003 Rugby World Cup tournament.
The smooth exterior we have witnessed up to this point nearly slipped as he fielded fairly ordinary questions from the largely English press gang at the Novotel in Perth.
Asked if choosing Matt Dawson ahead of Kyran Bracken was a simple choice, he said: “I hope Bracken will feature at some stage. Both are fully fit, but you can only pick one. We wanted to put out our strongest 22.”
Woodward was narked to be told that Dawson had started only one of the last seven Tests. He said: “I can’t remember, I don’t dwell on the stats like you. I know he played most of the Grand Slam and we picked him for New Zealand but he was injured, so Kyran came in. They’ll both play on Sunday but Dawson will start.”
He was no more relaxed when asked who would play at full back. He barked: “Lewsey has got the No 15 jersey,” but said nothing when reminded that, against Australia, the wings and full backs had appeared interchangeable.
Woodward said: “A lot of you guys told us not to play New Zealand and Australia in the build up to the World Cup. Now you say we haven’t played enough games before the World Cup.
“I want to go out full on on Sunday night with our strongest team.”
Phil Larder, the defensive coach admitted: “I’ll be hacked off if we concede a try. I always am.
“We didn’t like New Zealand scoring a try against us and we won’t enjoy it this week either.”
Woodward was then asked about the hard, troublesome surface at Subiaco Oval. He said: “We had a run out on the pitch at the end of June, I’m not expecting any problems. They said the pitch in Melbourne would be a problem but it was fine.”
Was he worried Jonny Wilkinson would be targetted by Georgia? “Not really, I don’t think any side sets out to target one member of the opposition any more.
“There are so many cameras out there, it just doesn’t happen these days.”
Woodward confessed: “We’ve never seen them play but we’ve seen a few videos. They’re rugby players, not amateurs. And they’re big guys.
“It’s not my place to talk about the fact that some Georgians have stayed at home with the French.
“And I’m not allowed to watch their training sessions. I don’t think for one second this will be a rout.
“The team is looking forward to it, we want to make a good start and we want to use some of the bench.
“It’s amazing to me how many of the other coaches want to talk about England. You just smile about it.”
Asked how he felt about the Georgians attending an Orthodox Church before the game, Woodward responded: “Do I have to answer that? We will be doing our normal preparations.”
Pre-World Cup tension is upon us.
England team: Lewsey, Robinson, Greenwood, Tindall, Cohen, Wilkinson, Dawson, Woodman, Thompson, Vickery, Johnson, Kay, Hill, Back, Dallaglio.