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Highly rated Bath attack coach Lee Blackett was appointed to the England set-up in September after a successful secondment on the summer tour of Argentina and the United States.<\/p>\n
Scrum-half Ben Spencer, who worked under him at Bath, insists Blackett is operating as he did at club level.<\/p>\n
“He’s definitely been himself,” said Spencer. <\/p>\n
“He’s a great guy, he’s brilliant around the lads and he’s one of those guys who really gets the best out of people.<\/p>\n
“He’s always speaking really positively around the group about scoring four tries in every game that we play.<\/p>\n
“So in terms of that, I’ve definitely seen the same side of Lee that we saw at Bath.<\/p>\n
“We’re all in this together, coaches, players, we’re going through a tough time at the minute. We had a great 2025 and that’s where we want to get back to and the only way we’re going to do it is together.”<\/p>\n
Spencer says the faith is mutual, with the coaches giving the players freedom to go off-script and ignore a gameplan in which contestable high balls are a key way of moving up the pitch, if they see another opportunity.<\/p>\n
“We’re absolutely given the licence,” said Spencer, who kicked the ball 14 times out of hand, the most of any player, in the defeat by Italy.<\/p>\n
“It’s something that Lee talks about and Steve talks about in terms of playing what we see.<\/p>\n
“So yeah, in terms of going away from plan, it’s not an issue.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n