EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

OLLY BARKLEY

28/11/1981

GLOUCESTER

BARKLEY FACTS

¹You were left out of the squad for the autumn series when England lost heavily to Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, although you were called up as cover for the Springboks match and watched from the stands. What did you make of it all?
“We learned a lot from the autumn about what we did right and did wrong. Obviously there was more done wrong otherwise we’d have won more games. Objectively I could see a lot when I was sitting and watching, whereas it’s different when you’re on the field with a 19-stone forward running at you. But the guys who played would have reviewed it objectively in just the same way on the Monday afterwards. The good thing for me is that [England manager] Martin Johnson and [attack coach] Brian Smith knew what went wrong and were working to nip it in the bud before the Six Nations.”

Some critics said England had a lot of possession against the Tri-Nations teams, but didn’t do enough with it in attack. As a player with plenty of natural flair, how do you view that?
“I can see what people are getting at. But they must remember that on game day in the autumn England were practising new patterns against the best defences in the world. The sort of guys who don’t miss many tackles, and who’d all been together longer than us. There were new patterns which Brian Smith had brought in and guys at times were getting lost. But the patterns that Brian’s using are very good – they’re sound and if the execution is good they’ll work.”

You have been told by England and your club Gloucester that you are exclusively a No 12 now. That shirt was Riki Flutey’s for England during the autumn, playing alongside Danny Cipriani and Toby Flood, the fly-halves. What do you think you might bring to the inside centre role,
given the chance?
“From my point of view, a large part of the second receiver’s job is organisation of forwards. Making sure they don’t over-commit to rucks, so that after four or five phases you’re not all stuck in 35

metres of space which is not hard to defend. One of the things England changed during the 2007 World Cup resulted from the feeling that we were attacking too narrowly. We tried to open up and we found the gaps between defenders were far bigger. Having options across the field is important.“

That sounds a lot like Brian Smith’s style when he was coaching at Bath and London Irish – using the full width of the field. Do you think England supporters can look forward to better things in the Six Nations?
“We’re in a new England era and I think it’s refreshing. Despite the results in the autumn, it’s a far better era as we go into the Six Nations. But I think we should all be realistic about where the team is and where the coaching staff is at present. This is still the hardest period for England. We’re in the early stages – there are new players, a new style of coaching, a new game plan. You couldn’t change a whole lot more than

that. You change one of those things and it would take a while. You change all three and you’ll have some serious teething problems. Anyone would have. In the autumn we had to play the best three teams in the world very soon after we’d all come together. Even the All Blacks don’t beat those boys sometimes, after four years together with the same coaches. It’s important to realise that. Brian’s a very organised, logical and methodical bloke. He can get across points and rectify things very quickly in training because he is so organised and clear. That’s definitely one of his strengths.”

And we can assume you don’t want to be watching any more Twickenham matches from the stands?
“I’d like to be about 100 metres closer to the pitch. I do like going along and watching games if I’m not involved, as you get used to the atmosphere for those days when you are involved. I would love to play for England again.” n

23 TRIES:

DATE OF BIRTH:

ENGLAND APPEARANCES:

CLUB:

The Gloucester star is hoping

that 2009 will be the year he makes his

international breakthrough

30 / CLASSIC SPORTS SERIES