England wary of early exit

England have adopted a knockout mentality ahead of their final pool B Rugby World Cup match with Scotland.

A win would guarantee the top ranking heading into the quarter-finals and a likely showdown with France.

However, a loss, coupled with a bonus-point win for Argentina over Georgia, would send the 2007 finalists back home.

When asked if he had considered the permutations of a loss, captain Mike Tindall said: “It’s not an option.”

“I always think of it as just another game that you’ve got to go and win,” Tindall said. “As long as this team turns up and we put everything we’ve done in training on to the paddock then I believe we’ll win.”

While he has 14 fellow countrymen on his side on the field, there is another Englishman plotting their downfall.

That man is Scotland coach Andy Robinson, a former England flanker who played eight Tests and also coached them from 2004 to 2006.

Tindall played under Robinson during that time, a period where England won only nine of 22 matches which led to the coach’s demise.

His record is stronger with Scotland – six wins and four losses – including a tight 22-16 loss at Twickenham in this year’s Six Nations.

“Robbo’s a very passionate person. He is intense, he loves his rugby. He’ll do as much homework as he can on us,” Tindall said.

“He’ll be thorough and he’ll try and come up with something he can surprise us with. That’s why we’ve got to make sure we’re ready for anything.”

“If you think back to Twickenham they made a real good mess of contact time. They really put us under pressure there.”

“For our game to really work well we need that quick ball and they were good at Twickenham at slowing that down. That’s been a focus spot for us during the week.”